Theon is in here.
Everyone would laugh at me if I said that I couldn’t sleep just thinking about it. My thought, burying myself in the duvet.
Theon and Ray’s room was in the hallway opposite me, and I could feel Theon from that distance.
While I avoided encountering Theon, I never forgot that he was here.
Theon seemed to be staying for a few more days because of Ray.
Although angry, I had no right to expel Ray and Theon. Because this was a private palace owned by the imperial family, and Ray was higher than me.
‘I can’t sleep.’
It was insomnia that had been coming for a long time.
Turning to his side, I saw Theon’s handkerchief on the side table.
‘I’ll have to give it back.’
I gently rubbed the handkerchief with my fingertips. Taking a deep breath, the handkerchief fluttered slightly.
‘I must have forgotten, isn’t it strange to give it back now?’
It’s just a handkerchief.
I eventually got up from my seat, placed the handkerchief in question on my palm, and stared intently at it.
It’s not a very important issue, but it can be so troublesome.
There are so many things in the world that are more important than this, so why are you pouring my energy into it while I can’t sleep?
How can I blame myself like that?
It’s a dilemma.
Dorothy lifted her head, stared at the black ceiling, and sighed again.
The darker it gets, the more I think of Theon.
I don’t know if it’s because he’s a ‘Fried’ or because his black, charming hair resembles a chestnut.
‘is he supposed to be sleeping by now?’
Thinking of Theon sleeping, my heart pounded again.
before returning. I loved watching Theon sleep. The time Theon was asleep was the only time allowed for me. Theon always avoided seeing me, so it was difficult to see his face, but it was different when he was sleeping.
Fortunately, Theon likes to take naps, so if you are lucky, you may find Theon sleeping somewhere.
I was not lucky.
I was always tempted to have my servants find out where Theon was taking a nap, so finding him who was taking a nap was not luck but inevitability.
Theon’s nap was the only time K was allowed.
Instead, in the dark night, when Fried’s time came, I was not allowed a handful of times.
I wanted to be with him every night, but I failed every time.
When I went to his room on a dark night and opened the door, I couldn’t see him.
Instead, what greets her is a terrifyingly cold, suffocatingly lonely darkness.
He always drew the curtains to avoid even seeing me looking out the window, so at night his room was so dark that not a single light came on.
However, the soft burnt smell of the candles wafts wildly.
It was obvious that he had quickly turned off the fire when he felt I was coming towards him.
Were you writing a letter to Julia?
Do you take a nap like that because you’re doing something else at night?
I did not have the courage to lift the darkness and enter.
I’m afraid that if I turn on the light, the hatred and resentment hidden in the dark will be revealed. I’m afraid I’ll run into an enemy’s gaze.
I was worried that those eyes would hurt.
If I had the courage then, if I had forced the light to enter Theon’s room…
‘Perhaps my sins have grown bigger.’
Theon’s death may have been much earlier.
Theon’s death.
‘I can’t.’
I closed my eyes tightly. Theon can’t get over my thoughts.
I went out to the terrace overlooking the night sea with a handkerchief in my hand, wondering if it would get better if I got some wind.
The sea at night was so dark that I couldn’t see an inch ahead, and the stars barely pointed out the horizon.
The sky was still, and the sound of the waves crashing in the night breeze could be heard in the distance.
The white handkerchief fluttered along the wind that called the waves, wiping the air.
In the dark, a white handkerchief seemed to shine white alone in the moonlight.
Then the wind blew and snatched the handkerchief in my hand.
“No!”
I almost fell under the patio railing as I reached for the handkerchief.
I barely managed to take my eyes off the handkerchief blowing in the wind.
The handkerchief that had once circulated in the air fluttered and fell into the garden just below.
At the moment I thought I was lucky that it didn’t fly far.
Someone picked up a handkerchief.
‘Who’s in the garden at this time of night…’
I grabbed the railing and looked at someone in the garden.
He picked up the handkerchief and looked up at the terrace where the handkerchief had fallen.
And.
“Theon…?”
My heart throbbed as if it had been pierced by an arrow.
“Princess?”
Theon, who met my eyes, also looked at me with his eyes wide open in the dark.
“It was late at night, but you didn’t sleep.”
My face flushed red when she realized that the handkerchief was in Theon’s hand.
Theon noticed that he still had his handkerchief.
Besides, I was caught coming out to the terrace with the handkerchief in the middle of the night.
Could it be more embarrassing than this?
I wanted to find the mouse hole and hide right away, but it would seem weirder to run away.
“Ah yes.”
“Well, this is…”
Theon checked the handkerchief in his hand and scattered his words.
What should I say?
My mind was confused as if someone had scribbled it.
In the end, a childish excuse came out.
“I was going to give it back. I was thinking about how to return it, and this is how it was returned to the owner.”
by accident, by exquisite.
I smiled and looked away. Theon then followed me and smiled lightly.
“You look better when you smile.”
“Uh…?”
My smile stopped at Theon’s words.
‘What did Theon say to me now…’
“Would you like to be there for a while?”
“Yes.”
I answered with a frown, and Theon’s words were frozen in place as if they were corporations.
Then Theon lightly climbed the almond tree next to him and sat down on a thick branch that stretched out to the height of the terrace.
Theon approached in an instant, and I turned to ice, not knowing what to do.
The moonlight shone over Theon.
The waves crashed behind Theon.
Stars fell around Theon.
“Thank you for not running away.”
Sitting on the almond tree, Theon said to me with a smile.
‘What should I do, I think I’m going to cry.’
I struggled to contain my emotions that were overshadowed by the friendly Theon.
He, who always ran away from me, thanked me for not running away from him. lt felt like a dream at this moment.
Maybe this was really just a dream.
There’s no way Theon could be so kind to me in the first place.
I secretly pinched my thigh under my sleeve.
It hurts. So is this a realistic dream?
“Why haven’t you slept until this hour?”
Theon asked, leaning slightly against the wooden pole, grabbing the handkerchief I had dropped.
I couldn’t sleep because I was thinking of you.
Those words lingered on the tip of his tongue and melted.
“just…I couldn’t sleep.”
“Is it because of me…?”
Theon asked quietly, and I shook my head in surprise like a thief with numb feet.
Did you even read my mind?
I was grateful that the pounding of my heart was buried in the sound of the waves.
“What a relief. I was worried that you might not be able to sleep because it was uncomfortable for me to stay here.”
“It’s not like that!”
I shook my head vigorously.
Honestly, it’s uncomfortable for Theon to come.
Because I care about him, I become cautious about every move and become conscious of him. But it was a willing and tolerable inconvenience.
Although I was angry with Ry, it was clear to me that Theon was something I wanted to see.
A dangerous existence that I miss so much that I don’t want to see it.
I glanced at Theon with an anxious mind.
“Hmm, Theon.”
“Yes, Princess.”
“Can’t you just come over here and talk…? I’m so nervous if you are there.”
I’m afraid you’ll fall
The almond tree branch looked thick and strong, and I was terrified that Theon was going to die at any moment, even though he was leaning on it stably.
This is a disease of the past.
Just the sight of him perched on a branch reminds me of his last appearance hanging on the bed.
I reached out to let Theon cross over to the terrace.
Theon looked at the white hand extended to him.
During the day Dorothea tried to run away from him, but now she reached out to come closer.
White pajamas, long loose golden hair, and blue eyes in the moonlight.
In the middle of the night, Dorothea’s invitation to her room seemed unacceptable for some reason.
“Even if I stay here…”
“you hate me.”
Dorothea says firmly with dry lips. Her face was full of anxiety as if she was afraid of an imminent reaper.
With those eyes, Theon had no choice but to hold her hand.
“Then…”
Theon took Dorothy’s hand and crossed the stone railing as gently as a cat. As the distance from Dorothea became much closer than expected, Theon even stopped breathing.
Dorothea smelled of a gentle aroma, like a woman who had just taken a bath. Feeling strange, Theon hurried a step away from Dorothea.
“The princess is a very mysterious person.”
“So do you.”
I said to Theon.
Theon smiled and nodded.
Everyone is like that. Others say that it is a mysterious world that has not always been reached.
Theon wanted to know the mysterious Dorothea.
“Why couldn’t you sleep? Are you sick?”
Theon remembered that during the day I was in the infirmary saying I was sick.
I thought I was going into the infirmary to turn him down. Was it really painful?
“no. I woke up from my sleep. The terrace window must have been open.”
I skillfully pulled out the lies without realizing it.
“Then why were you out in the garden so late at night?”
“I like the night.”
“A night?”
“I think it’s because I am Fried. Even when I was in Episteme, I used to go for walks at night secretly.”
“Ah.”
Yes, I know That you sleep late at night and enjoy naps. I somehow became proud as if I had got the answer right when Theon’s habit was mentioned.
“Then, Princess. You just have to go back to sleep. It was very late.”
“Yes…”
“And this. You can keep it with you if you need it.”
Theon held out the handkerchief he was holding to me.
A handkerchief for him was nothing more than a light item that could be given to me.
After all, if I give back to him, it’s just like any other ordinary handkerchief for him…
* * *
