The Crown's Obsession (WN)

With Lucy, who was now awake, his heart cracked on seeing the bruises on her face and her eyes that hadn't returned to their fullest light as they looked at him. "It was late when we found out about him. I should have known," he felt guilty for not being able to protect Lucy, not once but twice now from the same demon.

Lucy pursed her lips, "It is fine, Theodore. I am fine now," and she then offered him a smile. "Will you promise me something?"

Theodore replied to it, "Anything. Anything you want."

"Don't hide anything from me," she said, and Theodore nodded his head. And she then winced in pain when she tried to move, her breathing coming out as a laboured one.

Theodore spent some more time with Lucy by offering his company before falling asleep again because of exhaustion. As an angel had healed her, he had decided not to let any physician examine her. It felt good to sit with her in the room, explaining to her some of the things she wasn't aware about. She didn't push him away from her and instead welcomed his company. Maybe it wasn't the same as before he had broken her heart, but right now, he was willing to take whatever she would offer him.

When Lucy woke up from her sleep again, while they were speaking, she said,

"It is good that Lady Madeline and Lady Elizabeth have returned safely to the castle," her face held a serious expression. "Did the High House charge anything on brother Calhoun for the massacre of the people in the castle?"

"Helena and Dimitri arrived this morning to visit Calhoun. He told the truth about what actually happened so that it doesn't bring any more problems to him or the people in the castle. I think the High House members are trying to wrap their head around everything that exists and has happened until now," explained Theodore.

"That's good to hear. I was worried where they would charge brother Calhoun for all the murders," sighed Lucy.

From what she had heard, most of the guests who had stayed back had died in the hands of the demons while they had also lost their guards.

The anger that Lucy had felt towards Theodore before she had been injured had slowly started to crumble, and there was some kind of awkwardness in the air.

Both of them had spoken about what had happened last night during the attack, but they hadn't addressed their feelings. Theodore didn't want to push her and had decided to give her all the time she needed, but that didn't stop Ethan Moryett from coming to meet Lucy.

He knocked on the door firmly, and Theodore opened the door with a sliver of annoyance that appeared in his eyes when he saw who it was.

"You are supposed to be taking rest, Mr. Moryett and not be roaming out of your bed," stated Theodore, his eyes trained on the injured man who had a bandage around his neck to support his hand.

Ethan smiled at Theodore, who looked as if he was showing him concern and said, "This is nothing compared to Lady Lucy. I heard from the maid that you were awake, and I decided to come here to see you right away." And he stepped inside, walking to where Lucy sat on the bed. "I am so happy to see you alive and awake, Lady Lucy! I thought we really lost you, and I couldn't tell how hard it was to see you lying on the floor.

The man didn't hold back, and he leaned to where she was, putting his good arm around her so that he could hug her. Lucy was startled by this action, and before she could reply to him, her eyes met Theodore's, whose face had turned back to ice.

Ethan said, "I am so glad that you are okay. I don't know what I would have done."

Lucy's eyes didn't leave Theodore's eyes, and she said to Ethan, "I am doing better now, Ethan. Thank you," and the man pulled away to look at her.

"I will give you guys some time while I go check if the King needs me," said Theodore, offering a small bow before he left the room, but not too far away. He left the room just so that he wouldn't injure a man who was already injured, and he took a deep breath before releasing a short, frustrated sigh.

It wasn't like him to go and stir trouble. Oh, who was he kidding, thought Theodore to himself. He enjoyed stirring trouble and getting into one himself. It was only after he had entered the castle, he had held himself back.

He loved her too much, and now that he had seen what it felt like to not have her anymore, he wasn't going to let her go. It was time to bring back the older him to woo her back, said Theodore to himself.

For now, he would give them the time without being jealous.

Back in Lucy's room, a small worry appeared in her mind as Theodore had left the room quite abruptly. She didn't know why but it felt like there was something important she wanted to share with him, but she couldn't recollect what it was about.

Thankfully, Ethan had let go of her, and he had come here only because he was extremely worried about her.

"I should apologise. It is because of me that you are hurt," Lucy pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Please, don't blame yourself," Ethan hurriedly spoke, "If not now, it would have happened some time in the future. I wasn't going to let him off the hook for doing something so unscrupulous to you," he offered her a warm smile.

From what she had known about this man, he wasn't someone who resorted to anything with violence and was rather a peaceful man. His words made her smile.