After Rosenta and Vivian left the room, only the three of them remained.
However, it wasn’t long before even Lysander rose from his seat.
"Oh, I have to piss."
It was a very vulgar thing to say.
When Theodore heard that, he frowned and narrowed his eyes at Lysander.
Still, Lysander didn't care. On the contrary, he even asked Enoch in a very loud voice.
"Where is the bathroom?"
"This is the duke's private room, so go out into the hallway and head to the left."
One would normally say ‘thank you’, but Lysander, instead, quickly turned to leave.
He only greeted Theodore.
"I'll head out for a moment."
Contrary to his tone, his posture was still cheeky.
Then, as if he were in a hurry, he rushed out into the hallway.
Now it was just Theodore and Enoch.
Then, Theodore's mood changed in an instant as if he had been waiting for this moment.
"You, you’re annoying."
It would be normal to think that this was the start of a fight, but Enoch responded casually.
"Is that so?"
Instead, he approached Theodore, who was glaring at him frighteningly while holding up a teacup.
‘Pour.’
The only sound that could be heard was the sound of black tea flowing from the teapot.
However, Enoch began to subtly change the position of the teapot's snout.
Naturally, the teacup overflowed with tea, and the table got wet.
Theodore hurried to his feet.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
Enoch, who had actually caused the accident, laughed brightly. As if it was intentional.
He even repeated back what Theodore had just said.
"But I find you annoying too."
The atmosphere quickly turned sour.
However, Theodore clenched his fists and tried to suppress his emotions as much as he could.
Instead, he stared at Enoch with bloodshot eyes.
"I don't know where you came from, but smooth words won’t work on the duke; you’d better get away from him."
Theodore re-emphasized his words to Enoch.
"Stay away from my dear friend."
However, Enoch provoked Theodore with an openly sneering smile in his eyes.
"What if I don’t want to?"
"Then I have no choice but to get rid of you by force."
Golden holy power glowed in Theodore's hand as if it were a warning.
Soon, he created a long spear out of the light and thrust it right in front of Enoch's neck.
"Hmmm."
Enoch remained un-frightened.
He just looked at Theodore with hazy eyes, unable to tell where this was going.
"What are you planning to do with this?"
"If I say you tried to hurt me, Rosenta will fire you."
"Really?"
Enoch smiled strangely.
His eyes were darkly sunken, but the corners of his mouth were raised.
"Oh dear. What should we do? The duke cannot abandon me."
He even grabbed the body of the spear in front of his neck as he said so.
As it was a spear made of ancient holy power, smoke began to rise from Enoch's palm as it burned after touching it carelessly.
Even though the burning flesh could be smelled, he never let go of his hand.
Rather, he laughed at Theodore as if he were provoking him and said something that could cause misunderstanding.
"You asked what the leash was, didn't you? I received it directly from the duke. I belong to him."
Only then did he release the spear.
It may have been painful, but Enoch never moaned. He just kept wearing that strange smile.
"……what."
Perhaps the provocation worked; Theodore was so agitated that he dropped the spear.
The spear evaporated.
" ’Leash’ only meant……. it's his……."
Theodore's brow furrowed.
He grabbed Enoch's neck. As if he was going to break it then and there.
"…… You're playing tricks."
"What tricks?"
Enoch burst into laughter.
"I asked the duke to put me on a leash. Then he gave me this leash himself."
Enoch raised his head slightly. Then the black cloth hanging around his neck gently revealed itself.
"Didn't he say earlier that you used ‘leash’ to mean loyalty between superior and subordinate?"
"That was the duke’s idea."
Enoch was smiling, even though his throat was caught by Theodore. It was as though he was going crazy with happiness.
On the other hand, Theodore's expression continued to change.
Desperate, then confused, then hopeful, then vibrant.
But one thing seemed certain.
It was clear he hadn’t realized what his feelings were yet.
"……what are you implying?"
At Theodore's question, Enoch licked his upper lip.
Then, he hazily closed his eyes as if he were a boy in a dream.
Enoch's voice grew sweet.
"Love."
His expression and tone, all of which were nothing short of a man in love.
Of course, Theodore, who was watching this, couldn’t help but notice.
"Why..."
Theodore let go of Enoch's neck.
Then he took a step back and began to tremble as if he was confused.
‘Why are you making that face? And why am I angry at what he said?’
"Why the hell am I..."
***
All the clothes given as apology gifts were entrusted to the maids.
The two of them then headed back upstairs toward Rosenta’s private room where the others would be waiting.
But as soon as Rosenta stepped into the hallway, he found Lysander, who looked strangely restless.
"What are you doing there?"
Vivian also noticed Lysander’s unusual behavior.
"Shh!"
Contrary to their concerns, Lysander seemed fine.
Rather, he seemed like a child overwhelmed with joy after finding a sweet candy.
What was certain was that Lysander's delight was a source of uneasiness for Rosenta.
It was especially suspicious to see him silently peering inside the slightly opened door.
"Let’s head in."
"Wait a minute."
Although Rosenta attempted to head inside, Lysander didn't budge.
‘I can't believe I'm being told to stay out of my own room.’
It was ridiculous.
Vivian glanced at Rosenta and pulled her brother's arm.
Yet Lysander remained unmoved.
"Why are you stopping us from going in? Your Majesty! Wolf! Can you hear me?!"
Rosenta sought assistance from the people inside.
There was no way they couldn’t hear him through the door, but no response came.
Vivian, who eventually gave up on pulling Lysander out of the way, sighed and raised the white flag.
"When my second brother latches onto something, he goes a little crazy..."
"Vivian."
Vivian continued to make excuses as though she were a spokesperson for Lysander.
But Rosenta cut her off.
Instead, he offered Vivian another solution.
"Would you mind if I use my power?"
"Power? Uh... Use as much as you want!"
Now that he had Vivian's go-ahead, should he go all-out?
He put on a refreshing smile with his eyes.
There was no way those two would ignore Rosenta’s calls when the door was open like this. Something must have happened.
"Then excuse me, Young Lord."
Rosenta reached out to Lysander's forearm with no response.
He then chanted the words,
"Puppet."
It was his first time using this curse.
Puppet was one of the skills he’d seen in the books on the top floor, along with Prohibito.
But there was one fatal drawback to this ability.
There had to be physical contact with the opponent, and the more magical power the opponent had, the shorter the duration of the curse would be.
Therefore, he made sure to give his order to Lysander quickly.
"Move."
Lysander, with unfocused pink eyes, followed his order.
Vivian seemed to find this fascinating and waved her hand in front of Lysander’s eyes.
"Uh? Oppa?"
Rosenta gave a brief explanation in case she was worried.
"Don't worry, it'll wear off in a minute."
"Will it really wear off soon?"
"Yes."
"Oh, that's fine, then."
Vivian accepted it more easily than expected. No, rather than accepting, it seemed like she simply hadn’t cared either way.
Then, she stared at Rosenta as though she wanted to go into the room.
"I don't know if my brother’s done something. Let's hurry up and head in."
Vivian naturally thought that Lysander might have caused an incident.
Whatever the case, both were equally worried about the two figures inside.
As a result, Rosenta roughly opened the door with no consideration as to who would enter first.
"Enoch?"
"Your Majesty?"
Fortunately, it was quiet, without a single sound, when they entered the room. It wasn't due to magic; the room was just really quiet.
However, the air surrounding the two men was very uncomfortable.
Enoch was leaning against the wall and rubbing his neck, and Theodore...
"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell?"
Theodore looked precariously balanced.
He was barely holding onto the table and holding his face with his other hand.
Vivian and Rosenta rushed over and tried to help him.
But Theodore shrugged things off.
"I’m fine, I’m fine."
He shook off Rosenta’s hand in surprise as if he had seen something he shouldn’t have.
He solely relied on Vivian.
Rosenta stared blankly at Theodore. It was his first time being rejected so strongly.
But there was someone more surprised than him: Theodore.
"You suddenly opened the door and came in…. I was flustered and out of reflex……. Ah…."
Rosenta had never seen Theodore speak so disjointedly.
Even though it was he who was rejected, for some reason, he felt as though he should be the one to console Theodore.
He calmly shook his head.
"No, I don't know what's going on, but I think you'd better rest."
"………I have to return to the Imperial Palace now."
Theodore left without looking back.
Looking at him, Theodore looked shocked and devastated.
However, Rosenta did not needlessly follow him out.
Instead, he left the work to Vivian.
"I'm sorry, Vivian, but I want you to see His Majesty to the Imperial Palace."
"It's okay. Don't worry."
Vivian tried to follow after Theodore quickly but suddenly turned around again.
She then asked him for a favor instead.
"Then, when my brother comes back to his senses, could you send him back home?"
"Of course."