Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: Beautiful Eyes
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‘I should’ve just stayed quiet...’
Lara immediately regretted her attempt to seem a bit more lively, as it hadn’t ended well.
Lara wasn’t good at much, but she was confident in reading the room. And the current atmosphere... was unbearably awkward.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.’
A memory from the past surfaced as Lara bowed her head.
The director had often called her an irritating child who skulked around like a filthy rat. A gloomy, depressing kid. A jinx who would surely bring misfortune someday.
The director’s endless attempts to sell Lara off continued, but strangely enough, the buyers always failed to show up on the appointed day.
And on those days, the director would unleash even more fury on Lara. Amid the nonstop violence, Lara had sometimes thought it might be better to be sold off somewhere—only to regret it right away.
‘Being sold off... I hate that.’
To Lara, the walls of Laden Orphanage were an impenetrable barrier she could never cross. She had never found a way over it, nor the courage.
But now, she was here. It was nothing short of a miracle.
Lara looked at Theodor again.
How could she stop being a gloomy, creepy child and become one worthy of love?
Lara didn’t want to be the bearer of misfortune, as the director claimed. The only one she knew with luscious auburn hair, a constant bright smile, and cheeks rosy like rose petals was Helen.
‘Should I try smiling a little?’
Recalling Helen’s image in her mind, Lara awkwardly lifted the corners of her mouth just a tad. Theodor, who had been watching her quietly, turned his head away with what sounded like a sigh.
‘I shouldn’t have smiled.’
Lara regretted it again. She felt mortified.
Theodor had simply averted his gaze because he felt a laugh bubbling up unbidden.
Laughing would be unbecoming of him, and he had no idea how the girl, already drowning in regret, might react.
Honestly, it was amusing. Watching this tiny human child, barely a mouthful, earnestly ponder something before doing the most obvious thing.
There were plenty who put on false fronts before Theodor. Humans and beastkin alike.
It was better to trust oneself than others, better to see through deceptions than pretend to be fooled.
But right now, he wanted to play along.
“Let’s take a short walk after dinner.”
Lara blinked once, then nodded a beat late.
“Yes.”
It was Lara as usual. She followed Theo’s words unconditionally, as if they were commands.
And she even seemed a little pleased. Unlike earlier, when her smile had been forced.
In moments like this, Lara looked almost imprinted on Theodor.
Though the human herself would never understand.
It was a shame the walk was confined to the Aren mansion, but that couldn’t be helped.
Moonlight was fast approaching. Leaving the safety of the mansion during such a time would be unwise.
Not just for Theodor, but for all wolfkin—they became incredibly feral during this period.
Theodor glanced down at Lara, who was quietly following beside him.
‘She doesn’t seem to dislike it.’
The mansion was so vast that there were still plenty of places Lara hadn’t seen.
He hadn’t restricted her movements inside, letting her roam freely, but reports said she mostly stuck to the familiar areas she frequented.
Theodor showed her several spots within the grounds that might appeal to her.
Her mood seemed much brighter than the night before as she toured the winter garden meticulously tended by the gardeners, the glass greenhouse, the stables with the newborn foals, and the newly renovated annex.
‘...Ridiculous.’
Theodor let out a hollow breath upon realizing he was concerned with whether Lara was enjoying herself. What he was doing right now didn’t suit him at all. Strolling the Aren mansion with a human girl.
Though she wasn’t an ordinary human.
This moment itself felt awkward to Theodor.
“......”
Habitually, Theodor fiddled with the buckle of his leather gloves. Lara watched the motion quietly.
Feeling her gaze, he asked,
“What is it?”
Lara hesitated, not expecting the question, then answered in a small voice.
“You’re... always wearing gloves.”
It was winter now. Gloves in winter weren’t strange.
But...
In Lara’s mind, Theodor’s case seemed different. He didn’t just wear them outside—he kept them on even indoors, where it wasn’t cold. Even during meals.
He didn’t seem particularly sensitive to cold, either.
“Does it seem odd?”
“No.”
In Lara’s eyes, Theodor was always perfect.
From head to toe, without a single flaw, his impeccable demeanor reflected his meticulous nature. His spotless clothes and furnishings, free of even a speck of dust, were the same.
‘He’s so perfect, his personality must be neat too.’
Thanks to Butler Marsha and Chief Physician Breina’s careful attention, Lara now looked somewhat presentable herself. But recalling her appearance at Laden Orphanage when she first met Theo made her a little embarrassed.
A shabby dress, wild unkempt hair, standing there holding a dirty rag like a wretched mess.
Lara pondered why Theodor had brought such a girl as her here and what resolve it must have taken him, trying all the while to compose herself properly.
Even at meals with Theo, even in this moment walking with him, she focused to avoid any mistakes.
“It’s not odd.”
Shaking her head, Lara added one more thing.
To Lara, Theodor was perfection incarnate. Everything he did was right. At least to her.
Theodor could guess what she was thinking.
But she didn’t know the crucial truth: that her “perfection” stemmed not from completeness, but from its opposite.
“I can’t take them off, even if it’s stifling.”
“You can’t... take them off?”
Surprised by his casual remark, Lara looked up at him.
What was Master Theo saying right now?
“Why can’t you?”
“Who knows. Maybe I’m hiding something dangerous or horrific inside.”
Theodor continued calmly, without batting an eye.
He’d phrased it that way mostly out of mischief.
Watching the reactions of this human girl—who seemed to fear him on the surface but actually trusted him unconditionally—was quite intriguing.
Lara stared blankly at Theo and his gloved hand for a long while before finally speaking.
“Like my eyes?”
Theodor stopped in his tracks the moment he heard her response. Her mismatched eyes were fixed on him.
Once, Theodor had asked Lara this at Laden Orphanage, on the carriage ride back to the mansion after picking her up.
‘Why avoid my eyes?’
To which Lara replied,
‘My eyes are symbols of misfortune.’
‘What?’
‘So... it’s better not to look too long.’
Lara had said it as if stating an obvious fact.
It wasn’t true, but she believed it was.
Like a child still clinging to some nonsensical fairy tale. And that tale was anything but beautiful.
‘Look me in the eyes from now on.’
That day, Theodor had ordered the small child sitting across from him in the carriage.
‘Never avert your gaze from mine again.’
He simply found it annoying to see a child so cowed before him.
The director’s petty ghost haunting her like a shadow irritated him.
He had no need for a bride who couldn’t even meet his eyes.
And now?
To Theodor’s words that he might be hiding something dangerous or horrific, Lara naturally thought of her own eyes.
And looked at him with them.
Theodor slowly opened his mouth.
“No.”
His red eyes, so like hers, flickered.
“Your eyes aren’t dangerous or horrific.”
Theodor slowly raised his hand.
“Your eyes are beautiful.”
He brushed aside the strands of hair half-covering Lara’s eyes and said,
“Just like you.”
He was a man as cold as the winter north wind.
To rise to a position ruling countless souls, Theodor Diarc had always been rational, unflinching, never swayed by unnecessary emotions.
Thus, he had never uttered such words to anyone before.
All the sensations that constantly tormented Theodor vanished in Lara’s presence.
The world around him fell silent, as if he stood in the midst of falling snow.
The only sounds were Lara’s breaths facing him, and the small, rapid beating of her heart.
Lara’s hand grasped Theodor’s.
Realizing it belatedly, Theodor froze.
Belatedly? Me?
“You’re not dangerous or horrific either, Master Theo. Not ever.”
No one could touch the duke. At least, not until now.
Theodor gazed down at Lara, who was creating so many exceptions, and said,
“How can you be so sure?”