chapter 10
A brief moment revealed just how furious he was at her current humiliating situation and treatment.
A beast-like growl sent chills across her entire body, but Fiorentia showed no sign of it.
Instead, she remained relaxed, composed, and casually brushed it off.
“Hmm. That’s my surname. My name is Fiorentia.”
She kindly repeated it, but Theodore acted as if he had no intention of ever speaking it.
He spat out his next words as though chewing on them.
“What did you do to me last night?”
“You’ve got worse memory than I expected. That’s a bit disappointing.”
“Stop changing the subject and answer me.”
“I told you already. I saved you. Isn’t that what matters?”
She brushed off his question carelessly, then added weight to her next words.
“Don’t doubt me. I’m on your side.”
“As if.”
Theodore scoffed.
“I knew you wouldn’t listen to a word I say.”
Fiorentia muttered in a tone that showed no sign of damage, then opened the iron-barred prison door.
As she approached, she felt him flinch slightly.
She lowered herself to match Theodore’s eye level as he sat on the ground.
“Are you hurt? How are you feeling?”
She lifted his chin and examined his face from side to side, speaking in a dry tone.
“Let go.”
Instead of answering, he responded coldly with resistance.
Fiorentia smiled.
“So you’re saying you’re fine. That’s a relief.”
There were a few wounds left on his face, but they seemed likely to heal cleanly with time.
Theodore, who had been silently glaring at her, asked in a guarded voice.
“Are you a doctor? Or an apothecary?”
“Of course not.”
“Then are you a sorcerer too?”
“Neither.”
Fiorentia shrugged playfully, and at that light gesture, Theodore’s brows furrowed so tightly they almost met.
He took a deep breath as if trying to empty his chaotic mind, then spoke sharply again.
“You. You knew who I was.”
“Yes.”
“So that means you’re allied with Duke Marcella too?”
At that, Fiorentia frowned in clear disgust.
“Could you not lump me in with someone like that? It hurts my pride.”
His ocean-blue eyes quietly studied her.
He was likely trying to determine whether she was lying.
Even knowing that, she didn’t avoid his gaze.
Instead, she met it head-on.
Because she was confident he couldn’t truly read her thoughts, she silently challenged him to try all he wanted.
After a long silence of staring at each other, Fiorentia suddenly remembered something.
‘Maybe I should try building some rapport with him first?’
But how…?
Fiorentia had never really socialized with people before.
Naturally, she had no friends and knew almost nothing about human relationships.
She also didn’t know how to win someone’s favor—she had never even tried.
So her plan had been extremely simple.
Treat Theodore well until he escaped from House Marcella.
That was it.
But now that she had to actually carry it out, she realized she hadn’t thought through the details.
‘Then I’ll just think about it now.’
Standing in front of a clearly exasperated Theodore, she folded her arms and tilted her head.
Her feather-light hair swayed and slipped down with gravity.
‘Hmm. I’m not really sure what counts as treating someone well.’
She tried to think seriously, but quickly gave up.
Meanwhile, Theodore could only stare blankly at her.
Her hair shimmered like summer sunlight.
It felt like it had been so long since he’d last seen sunlight that it was almost blinding.
He silently watched her, then swallowed without realizing it.
The movement of his throat was so strong that he noticed it himself.
And the moment he became aware of it, his stomach strangely grew hot. His throat felt dry.
Then, Fiorentia—having decided to stop pointless thoughts—spoke again.
“Hey, Theodore.”
“…What.”
At least he’s answering now.
Even though the mask hid it, she smiled brightly at him.
“Can I call you Theo?”
Theodore’s face slowly crumpled.
“That’s ridiculous.”
He rejected it outright, and she let out a small hum.
“Hmm.”
She wasn’t particularly hurt.
She hadn’t expected much when she asked.
It would be nice if he agreed; if not, it couldn’t be helped.
That was all it was.
Because she didn’t understand emotional distance between people, she had apparently skipped several steps.
It seemed it wouldn’t be easy to break through his guard right away.
‘Well, calling him a nickname wouldn’t realistically close the gap anyway.’
She had another approach in mind.
Without trying to persuade him again, she simply nodded.
“Fine. If you don’t like it, I’ll just call you Theodore.”
A dry, incredulous laugh escaped him.
Ignoring it, Fiorentia continued.
“Instead, let me borrow you for a moment.”
Theodore immediately frowned.
She had just been rejected for a nickname, and now she was acting like he owed her something else.
He was about to scoff, but froze.
His expression quickly shifted into confusion.
Because Fiorentia suddenly reached toward his pants.
“W-wait—!”
Startled, Theodore tried to pull his waist back.
But the wall behind him blocked his movement.
Fiorentia leaned in closer.
Theodore raised his voice in alarm.
“Hey! You! What the hell are you doing right now?!”
“Can you stay still for a second? I’m kind of short on time.”
Clicking her tongue slightly as if his resistance was annoying, Fiorentia continued what she was doing.
Theodore swallowed hard.
A pleasant scent drifted from her hair brushing near his nose.
It was so strong he almost wanted to bury his face in it and inhale deeply.
He wondered if he was going insane.
But that thought didn’t last long.
“Hey!”
It was because she kept targeting his lower body.
Theodore raised his voice again, irritated.
And at that moment, Fiorentia slipped something into his pants pocket.
As if that had been her real goal from the start, she immediately pulled back.
Having lost his chance to get angry, Theodore kept his brows furrowed as he stared at the white mask.
His blue eyes darted between his waistband and her face.
“What is this?”
Since it wasn’t something particularly secret, Fiorentia answered casually.
“When you enter the beast enclosure later, eat that.”
“What?”
He didn’t understand immediately.
Back when he lived in the House of Beringham, all his tutors had praised him endlessly as an exceptionally gifted student.
Yet at this moment, he seriously wondered if all those compliments had been flattery.
Otherwise, how could it be so hard to understand something someone was saying?
‘Damn it! If only my hands were free, I could’ve checked it immediately!’
Theodore narrowed his eyes, trying to deduce why this unknown woman was ordering him around.
But nothing came to mind.
Finally, unable to hide his irritation, he spoke sharply.
“Can you explain it properly? And what exactly did you put in my pocket?”
But Fiorentia was never the kind of person who was especially kind.
“Don’t understand it. Just memorize it.”