Lucy’s cheeks had turned red again as Theodore had already started to walk back towards the patio from where she had jumped earlier.
“Hush now,” Theodore lightly scolded without looking at her. “Why don’t you enjoy yourself being carried by me, while you can blame your wound that has opened up, hm? Put your arms around my neck so that you don’t fall.”
“T-that’s not the thing!” whispered Lucy without making too much noise. Right now, she didn’t know if she was supposed to be embarrassed or not.
“Hm? What is it then?” asked Theodore in an oblivious tone. “I miss drunk Lucy. She’s more fun than sober you.”
Alarmed at his words, Lucy asked, “What do you mean by that?” She remembered her aunt mentioning her being taken back to her room by Theodore, but she didn’t know what had happened before that. She raised her eyebrows as if waiting for him to speak. “Are you not going to tell me?”
Theodore opened his mouth before he closed it and then said, “I don’t think it would be right to relive the moment,” he shook his head. “I mean the things you said and you wanted to do to me…” a shuddered sigh escaped his lips.
She did what?! Asked Lucy to herself.
“That’s not possible,” she whispered to herself, “I-I would never behave like that…” Did she? She looked up at him and noticed the grim expression on Theodore’s face.
“I didn’t want to tell you this, but it is the truth,” said Theodore in a solemn voice.
Lucy tried to find out if Theodore was joking with her, but then he had a poker face which was hard to find out. “Did I try to kiss you?” she slowly asked him, and Theodore hummed to it. She wondered what else she had done, but she didn’t go to question and only assumed it in her mind.
“Now, hold tight,” said Theodore once they were right below the patio, and Lucy put her arms around Theodore’s neck, holding him.
Within the next second, Theodore had pushed himself far from the ground, and they had landed right on the balcony. The rushing air and sudden movement had made Lucy move closer to him as if she was hugging him. The action didn’t feel foreign, and instead, it felt natural to stay near him like this. She wondered if it was because Theodore was her first love, a love she had not forgotten, and now that the hate had melted away, her emotions were in turmoil.
Theodore didn’t let go of Lucy, and he took her inside the room before they reached the bed, and he leaned forward to place her on the surface of the bed.
A little awkward, Lucy didn’t meet Theodore’s gaze, but her eyes were quick to follow him when he moved around the room. She could feel her heart beating loudly and the realization of him being able to hear it made her bite her lip.
“Is it hurting too much?” asked Theodore, bringing the first aid box, and Lucy shook her head.
“Just a little,” she replied and said, “I can do it myself.”
“You sure?” questioned Theodore. “I won’t do anything odd,” Lucy’s face lit itself to a flame.
“You can sit here. If I need any help, I will ask you,” said Lucy, taking hold of the box from his hold. But before she could walk towards the divider, Theodore caught hold of her wrist. His fingers slowly grazed on her skin, knowing how his actions affected her.
“I will be right here,” he assured her, and Lucy nodded her head before walking around the wooden divider that hid her away from direct gaze, who was on the other side of the wooden divider.
Lucy was quick to walk around, and she pulled her dress to check the wound had indeed opened up, and it was bleeding now. Though she was a vampiress, her body healed as slow as the human’s body, and she could only tell that Heaven’s had blessed her by giving her life back to her.
She started to remove the bandage one round after another, and a sigh escaped her lips. Some of the bandages’ threads had gotten stuck into the wound, and she didn’t want to pull it out as it would only hurt.
“Do you want me to call the physician?” Theodore asked from the other side.
“No, that won’t be required. The wound is healing…I wouldn’t want to bother the physician for such things,” replied Lucy, knowing Theodore would drag a physician from the town or the village even in the middle of the night.
“What is it then?” He could sense the hesitance in her voice.
“Um, the bandage-” said Lucy to turn her head to find Theodore had arrived at the stand near the wooden divider, “-it got stuck…”
Lucy had worn bloomers inside her nightgown, and to remove the bandage, she had pulled up her nightgown. “Can I see?” Theodore’s words were polite and serious. And it was the seriousness that had attracted her, along with the calm demeanour making one wonder what was beneath it.
She could call the maids who were outside, but Lucy didn’t know why she felt compelled not to call them and instead let Theodore make his way to her. It wasn’t like she had stripped n.a.k.e.d. It might have been because she trusted him more than she thought she did.
Theodore suggested, “Why don’t you sit here so that I can take a look,” and Lucy took her seat on the big chest of the cupboard that was on this side of the room.
When he leaned forward to take a look at the wound, Lucy couldn’t help but clutch the edge of the wooden chest. Even in the past, she and Theodore had shared innocent things, the most being a kiss and a hug.
“We’ll need something to cut it. I don’t think I noticed the loose ends,” murmured Theodore, his eyes still on her skin and his hands rummaged through the first aid box. Picking up the needle, he brought the candle closer to them before placing the needle on the tip of the fire. Once it was burning hot, he used it to break the thread gently and free the threads. “There, all better,” he said, standing upright and in front of her.
For the last two days, Theodore had given her time whenever Ethan had appeared to come to see her. The way he stared at her, she wanted to tell him nothing was going on between her and Ethan. Ethan had mentioned wanting to say something to her, but being interrupted by the maids, the subject had never come up again.
Theodore didn’t look away from her and instead looked right through her, his gaze steady.
“Thank you,” she whispered, her gratitude for his help.
“I was sure you were going to scold me for coming in here. You would in the past, what changed?” questioned Theodore before picking up a piece of cotton and pouring the medicine on it.
Did he want to be scolded? Asked Lucy to herself.
“Life is too short to hold grudges,” replied Lucy without beating around the bush, and she heard Theodore hum in response. She took a sharp breath when he placed the cotton where it had started to bleed.
“Does it hurt?” asked Theodore, and Lucy’s gaze lowered, and she then looked up to meet his eyes that looked brighter than before.
“It will get better.”
“I am glad to hear that,” his voice lowered down as he continued to dab the cotton before putting it away.
Lucy didn’t know why their voices had dropped down when it was just them in the room, and she felt the room turn warmer. “I heard one of the villages is going to set up the village fair in the coming two weeks,” said Theodore as he picked up the new bandage. “I usually go there for work. Would you be interested in visiting it?”
Her gaze didn’t leave Theodore’s face, watching him concentrate on wrapping the bandage around her stomach.
Years ago, she had always been eager to visit the fairs, but the guards often found her to be brought back to the castle on her grandmother’s command.
“I am not sure about it,” murmured Lucy.
