♡ TL: Khadija SK
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After the two finished their meal, they wandered through the market to buy the things Annette needed.
Since it was a small town, there weren’t any high-quality goods, but they managed to get the necessities.
The first thing Theodore bought for Annette was clothes.
Annette had borrowed some clothes from Lisa and Emma, but they were all too loose for her body and unsuitable for going out.
In the dressing room, Annette tried on a dress and some pieces of clothing that were at least worth looking at. After adjusting the fit, they looked a little better on her.
The fabric was of low quality but looked nice, and Annette would have liked it if she looked in the mirror, but today Annette didn’t complain about anything or even express any admiration.
There was no excitement or enthusiasm on Annette’s face as she tried on her new clothes.
She didn’t ask Theodore why he bought her clothes, nor did she tell him she was tired.
It was just boring.
The only thing she asked the tailor for was to shorten the length of her skirt slightly after looking at the clothes.
Unlike her curiosity about the village, she wasn’t interested in things that directly concerned her.
It wasn’t that she didn’t like buying clothes, she just lost interest because she was only doing it out of obligation.
Theodore remembered the day his father gave his mother new clothes.
His mother made a big fuss about her new clothes and boasted about them everywhere.
She caused a commotion about the emperor’s clothes, even though the emperor neither tailored them nor supervised the tailoring process himself.
His mother was ecstatic as if she had received a treasure not found in this world, even though the person who tailored them was the same designer who usually made her clothes. The only thing that changed was the source of the money—from her to the emperor—while she was still wearing clothes made by the same person.
It was completely different from Annette’s reaction now.
Buying clothes wasn’t a luxury; it was a practical necessity due to not having anything she could wear immediately.
Of course, this was due to the difference in circumstances and the relationship between them, and the clothes he bought weren’t valuable, but her indifferent reaction reminded him of his mother.
Maria longed for the emperor’s affection, while Annette didn’t care about Theodore, so the difference between the two was natural.
Apart from the meaningless level of appreciation, the clothes served their purpose.
Annette, who wore clothes that fit her body, walked more gracefully.
She moved naturally in the direction she wanted without being hindered by oversized clothes.
Annette’s steps as she walked weren’t aristocratic, but they were graceful and confident.
If she had a bit of the arrogance to ignore anyone blocking her path, she would be able to walk safely in front of others.
That day wouldn’t be far off.
Theodore had a feeling that the day Annette would show herself to others would come sooner than expected.
As he watched her walking lightly, Theodore realized that they had delayed their return to the villa too long.
***
The two returned to the front of the villa, but Theodore didn’t go in.
He said he would return to Laider immediately.
“Are you leaving so soon?”
“I didn’t know you would miss me like this.”
“I didn’t mean that.”
“Alright.”
From Annette’s perspective, Theodore was a nuisance.
She couldn’t ignore him because he was considered her guardian, but she disliked and resented him a lot, and he wasn’t someone she wanted to be with for a long time.
Annette’s attitude toward Theodore’s return was that he had come a long way from the village to the villa, so she thought he must be tired, and that’s why she wondered if he was really so busy that he would rush back without resting.
Silver, who knew the two had returned, came running, panting, and circling Theodore in excitement.
Theodore didn’t pet the dog’s head. Instead, he pulled a small box from his pocket and threw it toward Annette.
“Take this.”
“Whoah!”
Annette caught the box without thinking, but she didn’t intend to open it. She just stared at it.
Only after receiving a longing look from Theodore did she realize he was waiting for her to open the box, so she lifted the lid.
“What is this?”
“A ring.”
“I know it’s a ring. I’m asking what its purpose is. What is the use of this ring other than its material value?”
“It’s a wedding ring.”
“Oh.”
Annette felt that her voice, when she said “Oh” briefly, sounded so foolish.
It was a reflection of her sluggish body, which noticed the ring but didn’t think it might be a wedding ring until now.
“It’s my mother’s ring. I thought about having a new ring made, but after thinking it over, it wouldn’t seem natural to make you a new ring after the marriage. Even if it was done in secret, it would be strange to tell the jeweler that we exchanged wedding vows but didn’t have a ring at the wedding, so this was the best option in my mind.”
“It seems this ring holds more meaning than I expected.”
The ring was adorned with a large emerald stone. It was crafted in a rectangular shape with unmatched engraving skills, elegant and free from any imperfections.
The thick emerald stone was surrounded by small, delicate diamonds.
The luxurious sparkle of the emerald intertwined with the brilliant shine of the diamonds, giving the ring a unique radiance.
Annette recognized what this ring was.
It was a memento from Theodore’s mother, Maria.
Shortly after the death of the first empress, Elianora, Emperor Dominic gave this ring to Maria and made her the second empress.
The day Maria received this ring had been very tumultuous.
Elianora’s ring, the first empress, had a single row of diamonds surrounding the emerald, while Maria’s ring had two rows of diamonds.
Everyone mocked Maria behind her back, saying that the grandeur of the jewelry might not reflect the emperor’s affection, and their words weren’t entirely wrong.
The emperor had quelled the resistance that arose within the court by elevating Maria, a low-ranking concubine, to the status of empress with relentless affection.
Maria never removed this ring from her hand until the moment of her death.
There was a chapter in the novel that told such a story.
Annette held her breath as soon as she saw the symbol of the former emperor’s love and the memento of the unfortunate empress.
It was hard for her to handle because she never imagined he would give her something like this.
Annette closed the box without even attempting to take out the ring.
“Are you objecting because it’s a used ring?”
“Excuse me?”
Theodore asked in a slightly disgruntled voice.
Annette looked at him, not understanding what he meant.
“Usually, when someone receives a wedding ring, they wear it on their hand.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Annette realize how disrespectfully she had acted when she received this imperial treasure.
Theodore calmed himself when he saw her realization.
At this point, he knew she hadn’t meant to be careless, but it only made him feel more vexed.
He began to wonder whether she was disregarding the ring or Theodore himself.
“Why do I feel like your eyes sparkled more when you looked at the wine?”
“I don’t feel like this ring is mine. In fact, I still can’t believe that Your Grace, the Grand Duke, is my husband.”
Through Hans, Theodore had shown Annette the documents that proved their marriage.
Hans said that, thanks to his hard work, their union had undergone all the necessary legal procedures and was completed without any issues.
These documents were created to dispel any doubts from others, but Annette still harbored suspicions about her marriage.
Marrying the Grand Duke was the best way to protect her, but on the contrary, it was a loss for Theodore.
In fact, it would have been much easier for him to lock her away in a mental hospital or a villa if he simply wanted to use Annette’s knowledge of the future.
“No matter how I think about it, Your Grace gains nothing from this marriage. Marriage is one of the most valuable trades in your path, so why waste it on me?”
“I didn’t expect you to ask that now.”
Theodore ran his hand through his hair, irritated.
“Do you know how my first marriage ended?”
“Yes. If I’m correct, I doubt we should even call it a wedding.”
“It’s easier for me to explain now that you know what actually happened. Marriage is just a transaction for me, but it’s not a stock I have to sell. If I had to compare, the things I had to be cautious of were far more beneficial than what I could gain from any marriage.”
Annette seemed to understand his point of view.
When everyone saw how the daughter of the prestigious Stadler family died on the wedding day, who among them would desire the position of Grand Duchess, knowing they might die before even becoming a wife?
No family would send their daughter to a place where she would die and disappear, while she could return to them with greater wealth if she were sent to another family.
Even Theodore wasn’t a prize they wanted to acquire, given all the risks involved.
Instead, if someone were to marry a girl to Theodore, she would have to be prepared to fight the imperial family.
Even if there were such a girl, the family she came from wouldn’t be strong enough to support Theodore’s family.
“There’s no bride like you. So, you’ll fill the position and leave when the time comes.”
“I understand.”
Annette opened the ring box again.
Even after looking at it from different angles, the emerald stone shone brilliantly under the light.
Though it was a different shade of green, it somehow seemed as if Annette had taken out her own eye and placed it in the ring.
It had come from another world to an entirely unfamiliar place, polished to shine and made beautiful, then elegantly sealed in a box.
The ring resembled her too much at that moment.
Annette felt a shiver of fear and quickly closed the box.
It felt as if it would devour her soul if her eyes reflected in the gemstone.
She looked at Theodore’s frustrated face and spoke cautiously.
“I will wear it when I go to Laider later.”
Theodore seemed displeased but didn’t insist she wear the ring immediately.
“Do as you wish. I’ll be on my way.”
With an abrupt farewell, he turned without waiting.
Before grabbing the reins of his horse, he looked at Annette once more and said:
“If you don’t like going out with me, tell me in advance next time. I don’t force people to do things they don’t enjoy.”
He left her with a blunt message, then the horse began to gallop without waiting for a reply.
Annette looked down at the box in her hand and realized something important.
Too late, she reflected on how her behavior must have appeared to Theodore.
‘It’s not something I’m particularly grateful for, but… Was my reaction too much? … No… Should I have been kinder to him?’
She was fully aware of how busy Theodore was, yet he had still taken her to the village and bought her clothes.
It was entirely for her benefit that he gave her a chance to look around the town since she couldn’t go out on her own.
She hated him, but she couldn’t be upset with him for taking time for her today.
In any case, giving her his mother’s ring clearly meant he was sincerely cooperating with her.
But due to her exhaustion and stress, she had unintentionally acted cold toward him, and because the ring frightened her, she had overreacted in the end.
Annette rushed out of the villa, trying to catch up with Theodore’s horse.
“Hey….”
By the time she found him, Theodore was already far ahead.
Annette shouted something as he disappeared into the distance.
She couldn’t be sure if he heard her or not, but he left immediately, and she didn’t see him again for quite some time.
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