TOML CH 05

“I was worried that you were so kind that you’d just let people walk all over you, but you’re actually pretty good at lying too… I guess I don’t have to worry anymore.”

Pretending I had no choice but to follow Theo’s lead, I walked along with him and said,

“That’s not true. I’m only kind to you.”

‘Says the man who told me to sleep first because he was worried I’d be tired on our first date in two weeks.’

Before I knew it, we had reached the bedroom while chatting and fooling around together.

“Get some sleep, and when you wake up, let’s have dinner together.”

Theo opened the door leading to the dressing room attached to the bedroom.

Then he turned around, saying that he would go change into his pajamas in another room.

“You could change here with me.”

Theo’s steps became awkward at my obvious attempt to tease him.

“I don’t know anything. I can’t hear you.”

He covered his ears and hurried away as though he had heard something he absolutely wasn’t supposed to hear.

‘My little kitty didn’t hear anything, so why are his ears red?’

Once again, I was delighted by Theo’s adorable reaction before changing into my pajamas.

When I entered the bedroom wearing a chemise-style nightdress, Theo, who had already changed, made room beside him and said,

“Rebecca, come lie down.”

The way he patted the bed was surprisingly firm.

Apparently, my dark circles had really shocked him.

There was no reason for me to refuse. More importantly, the combination of a bed and Theo was simply too tempting to resist.

When I lay down as instructed, he stretched out his beautifully muscular arm for me to use instead of a pillow.

I immediately rested my head on it.

He pulled the blanket over me and even gently patted me as though telling me to hurry up and sleep.

‘Full service.’

As my exhausted body became surrounded by freshly dried pajamas, soft bedding, and Theo’s pleasantly cool body heat, I began to feel sleepy almost by reflex.

He had even prepared a place for me to sleep.

Wouldn’t it be only natural to actually sleep?

“If you get hungry later, make sure you wake me up. I already slept a little earlier, so I don’t need much sleep.”

With my eyes already drooping, I left behind those utterly unconvincing words and immediately fell asleep.

It was a deep sleep so sudden that it felt as though someone had switched off my consciousness with an anesthetic.

‘It’s so bright.’

I had been sleeping soundly for quite some time when the late-afternoon sunlight streamed deep into the bedroom through the west-facing window.

Like a vampire exposed to sunlight, I groaned and slowly crawled across the bed to escape the light.

‘A south-facing house really is the best.’

Just as I finally reached a spot where the sunlight couldn’t reach me and shifted around to get comfortable, Theo’s arm wrapped around me and pulled me closer.

“If you go any farther, you’ll fall, Rebecca.”

His voice was a quiet whisper, as though he didn’t want to wake me completely.

‘I can’t fall.’

Half-asleep, I slowly rolled back toward the direction of his voice and nestled myself against Theo.

His body, warmed by the blanket, was pleasantly cozy, and the sunlight no longer bothered me.

Perfect.

I rubbed my face against Theo’s chest in place of a pillow, and a low chuckle vibrated through me from above.

‘I’d like to sleep for just two more hours.’

But it was time for us to get up.

I didn’t want to spend our rare day off sleeping the entire time.

When I showed signs of getting up, Theo slowly patted me as though telling me I could sleep a little longer.

‘No. I’m getting up.’

Unfortunately, the sophisticated communication method known as conversation was beyond me in my half-zombie state.

Perhaps even my tongue was still asleep, because my thoughts simply refused to turn into words.

So, in order to defeat the suspiciously sleep-inducing hand that was preventing me from getting up, I launched an attack.

While still in his arms, I followed the shortest possible attack route and gave Theo’s neck a little bite.

Theo’s gentle patting immediately stopped.

“Rebecca?”

He called my name in a startled voice.

“Mm.”

I answered while my consciousness remained halfway between sleep and wakefulness.

Still half-asleep, I continued nibbling around his neck like a sleepy little creature.

“Hoo.”

After I repeated it several times, Theo’s chest rose deeply as he took a breath.

Thinking that perhaps I had bitten him too hard, I gently soothed the spot afterward as my way of apologizing.

‘I guess I didn’t control my strength.’

No.

Apparently, I hadn’t bitten him nearly hard enough, because my sleepy mind immediately began wandering in a completely different direction.

‘Oops.’

Theo’s normally somewhat cool body had become noticeably warm.

My sleepiness disappeared in an instant.

Theo was at an age when he was full of energy, and the two of us hadn’t seen each other properly in far too long.

I pretended I was still half-asleep and rolled away from him.

‘Sorry, Theo. I’ll eat something later and try to recover my energy.’

Theo’s gentleness and consideration tended to become somewhat less effective when we were alone in the bedroom.

Normally, even the slightest sign that I wasn’t comfortable would make him stop immediately.

But when we were alone, he sometimes seemed remarkably unwilling to take no for an answer.

It wasn’t that I disliked it.

It was just that my body, exhausted from working late, didn’t have much energy left.

I naturally tried to turn over when—

“Whoa!”

I suddenly felt myself slipping toward the edge of the bed.

Fortunately, instead of hitting the floor, I found myself caught by a strong arm.

“I told you that you’d fall if you went any farther.”

My heart nearly stopped.

Theo had caught me just before I rolled off the bed.

“Are you awake?”

After letting me go, Theo moved closer to the wall on the other side of the bed and spoke to me.

“Yeah. You didn’t sleep?”

I rolled back toward the space Theo had made for me.

When I looked closely at his face, there wasn’t even a trace of sleepiness in his eyes.

“I slept a little too.”

“You should have woken me up. You must have been bored by yourself.”

What kind of person falls asleep right in front of someone like that?

When I became embarrassed, Theo smiled mischievously.

“I should have tried kissing you awake, like in the story about the princess with the heart of ice.”

Then he kissed me and whispered,

“Wake up, Princess.”

The story about the princess with the heart of ice was this country’s version of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

I deliberately closed my eyes again and then opened them, throwing myself into the role of a princess awakening from a magical sleep.

“Oh? You’re not the prince. You’re a fairy? I guess I should keep sleeping until the prince comes to find me.”

When I pretended to fall asleep again, Theo laughed and kissed me once more.

“Don’t sleep. I’ll keep kissing you until you get up.”

The kiss lingered a little longer this time before he pulled away.

I was curious about what would happen next, but I knew I shouldn’t encourage things when I was already exhausted.

So… I needed to get up.

“Actually, our Theo was a prince from the fairy kingdom all along. Oh my, the princess who received the prince’s kiss has awakened!”

After ending our little role-play with my own narration, I exaggeratedly yawned and sat up.

Theo’s ears turned red as he gave me an awkward smile.

Even though he had called me a princess first, apparently this kind of conversation still embarrassed him.

‘Okay.’

I had found something I could use against him.

I smiled mischievously, my eyes sparkling.

Theo, who knew my playful side all too well, visibly panicked.

His eyes darted around as though desperately searching for another topic to change the subject.

‘Theo, you’re still no match for me. Baby.’

I was faster on my feet when it came to teasing.

“Oh, right. Theo isn’t a fairy prince. He’s actually a baby kitty.”

I covered my mouth dramatically like an actress performing on stage.

“But where is Theo’s tail? Is it here? Or maybe over there?”

I pretended to search for his imaginary tail while playfully tickling him, never giving him a chance to respond.

Cruel?

Women are children at heart no matter how old they get.

You just have to understand us.

“Rebecca.”

Theo, now completely red from head to toe, called my name.

I could practically hear the silent plea behind it.

Please don’t call me that.

“Why? My adorable little kitty?”

I even added a playful wink like a cast member at an amusement park.

Theo finally seemed unable to take it anymore.

He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his large, beautiful hands.

His hands couldn’t even completely hide his bright-red face, but somehow, the more desperately he tried to hide, the cuter he looked.

‘Ugh. Theo is so cute that I punched the wall, and now my house is a studio apartment.’

I happily admired Theo’s reddened ears.

The Himeron Empire, where I had transmigrated, revered martial arts.

That was why the most popular male ideal in this country was naturally the extremely muscular, rugged type.

To give you an idea, imagine someone seeing a car parked illegally and simply scratching his head before picking the entire car up and moving it.

‘Cute is the best’ was basically my life motto, so this country and I were incompatible in many ways.

Of course, there might be people who found muscular, somewhat airheaded men adorable.

But my definition of cute was a little more universal.

In that sense, Theo’s existence was like an oasis in the desert to me.

I gave myself a mental pat on the back for going to that bookstore on Larissa Street exactly 182 days ago, at exactly that time.

But Theo didn’t answer me.

When I stopped thinking about it and looked back at him, Theo seriously opened his mouth.

“I’m not a baby, Rebecca.”

His voice sounded genuinely offended.

“Of course you’re not a baby. I just mean you’re cute.”

Cats are cute.

Babies are cute.

Babies plus cats are even, even cuter.

That’s all I meant.

If I actually thought you were a child, would I be acting like this around you?

‘Your big sister here comes from a country with strict laws protecting minors, you know.’

“I don’t want to be called cute either. Does Rebecca only think I’m cute?”

After hearing my excuse, Theo began complaining in earnest.

“No. Our Theo is cute, pretty, and lovely.”

I said it firmly.

I had only omitted cute, pretty, and lovely before because of time constraints.

Cuteness was the highest virtue in my book, but saying that Theo was only cute would practically be blasphemy.

Theo was light itself.

Sunshine.

I regretted having disappointed him with my limited vocabulary.

But apparently, I had completely misunderstood what he meant.

As though determined to show me that he could be more than just cute, pretty, and lovely, Theo suddenly interlaced his fingers with mine and gently guided my hand toward himself.

“Don’t I make your heart flutter, Rebecca?”

Theo leaned closer, his expression suddenly much more serious.

Only then did I realize what he had been trying to say.

In short, Theo was asking whether I saw him as a romantic partner rather than simply someone adorable.

I had been completely oblivious.

But it also felt unfair to say that I treated Theo only like a pet or a child.

So, instead of trying to explain myself with words, I decided that my actions could make my feelings clearer.

I moved closer to Theo, slowly and deliberately, making it clear that I understood exactly what he was asking.

And, at that moment, the playful teasing between us quietly gave way to a more serious romantic atmosphere.