Chapter 140: Reinforcing My Position As Her Husband

After a while, the house was clean of people. Uthed had gone inside to rest, Nischov and Odette had gone back home under the escort of the Elven guards Asterion had assigned them, and Asterion himself was back in the midst of his people.

Theo sat looking at Sesan, who had been sleeping since then, her breathing slow and even. Then he stood up.

Estea was looking at him.

And he knew she was looking at him.

"You’re not going to stop me, right?"

She sat there in her wheelchair, and nothing about the cold look on her face changed. Anyone watching would have thought she didn’t care one bit about Theo.

"Are you a child? Why would I stop you?"

For the next two seconds she said nothing. Then she spoke again.

"I have come to terms with how obviously foolish you can be."

Theo shook as though he had been hit by a stray.

But Estea smiled.

And Theo’s eyes went wide. Perhaps it was not only his eyes that went wide just then, but his entire world, and it filled with beautiful colors.

She muttered:

"It is a good thing..."

Then she looked at Theo, and the smile slowly drained from her face.

"You chose this, did you not? You chose this painful life, caring for sick older women, with a good chance of never living your own life to your satisfaction. And as if that were not enough, you take on the role of battling creatures more than capable of killing you."

She chuckled.

"I do not envy you, boy."

Theo frowned.

"Boy?"

He crossed the floor in quick steps, one after the other, and stopped in front of her, looking down.

Craning her head slightly, Estea glared up at him.

"What are you doing so close? Have you forgotten your manners?"

Theo leaned down, took hold of the armrests of her wheelchair, and whispered:

"You seem to be the one forgetting her manners. Dear wife."

She frowned.

"You are taking this too far. Do not fool yourself."

Theo laughed shortly.

"I’m not taking anything far. This isn’t a pretend marriage, as far as I can remember. We’re legally and consensually married, which means you also consented to the rights and privileges of married people. We could even decide to do what married people do, you know."

At that, Estea’s face went hard.

"Oh? True colors now?"

Theo chuckled.

"I think you’re color blind, if you’re only just seeing it."

He leaned even closer to her face, and she went stiff in the chair. It was an abrupt switch. Theo saw it, but said nothing about it.

He stayed there while the red climbed from Estea’s ears down the side of her neck and her face seemed to boil. Then Theo smiled, leaned in, and placed his lips on hers.

Her ears all but exploded with fumes.

Theo drew his head back, straightened up, and slid his hand into his pocket.

"Don’t worry, dear wife. I won’t die. I’ll bring you that thing’s head."

Estea was too flustered to care just then. She lowered her face, burning up and panting as if she had just run ten kilometers, which she was plainly incapable of doing.

Theo walked out smiling.

Estea stayed where she was, bent over in the chair, her eyes wide and her face red.

’Tha— that bastard! How dare that BASTARD! That was my first... first... he took it!!’

She said nothing aloud, but the look on her face was doing more than enough of the talking.

Meanwhile, Theo walked down the porch steps and headed towards the northern forest.

Uthed, his hand in a splint and his sandals quiet on the grass, was the first to follow behind him. It was, of course, a useless thing to try on someone Favored by Darkness.

Without looking back, Theo said:

"Go back, Sir Uthed."

Uthed was slightly surprised. Before he could speak, Theo added:

"And you too, Aster."

The elf revealed himself, stepping out of the darkness between two trunks.

"My stealth is supposed to be flawless. I find it conflicting that you can tell so easily."

Sighing, Uthed revealed himself from behind a tree.

"Forgive me for following you sneakily, Mr Theo. I only want to watch."

Theo glanced back, giving the man a look of disbelief.

"Watch? Watch what?"

With a small smile, Uthed answered:

"The fight, of course. The thought of how much you have grown again excites me."

Asterion turned to Uthed.

"How irresponsible can you be, for a guard?"

Uthed glanced at the dark elf, grinning barbarically.

"As if you are not curious yourself. Do not lie. You have been itching to see why Mr Theo is different since you came here, and this gives you the perfect opportunity. Especially since you could not even defeat that thing, and only stood there frozen in fear."

Asterion lowered his gaze and sighed.

"This is why I dislike humans. They know not when to stop talking."

A dagger manifested in his hand.

"Shall I cut out your tongue, guard?"

Theo looked between the two of them, raising a brow.

"Do you both realize I’m still standing here?"

Asterion turned and bowed.

"I apologize, Lord Theo."

Uthed lowered his head.

"Forgive me, Mr Theo."

Theo sighed.

"I think you’re both overestimating way too much. Anyway, I’m not stopping you from following me. Keep your distance, and let’s see if I can take care of this on my own. If I can’t, all of us might have to work together."

He turned to go, then glanced back at the two of them again.

"Even though I asked you not to come, it’s not like I didn’t expect one of you to disobey me. I was thinking of punishing whoever did it by using them as bait."

He grinned, and that grin sent a chill down Uthed’s and Asterion’s spines.

"Now I’m lucky enough to have two scapegoats to use as bait."

And Theo carried on into the forest.

A half moon hung in the distant sky, casting a pale grey light across the land. But the light only lay on the tops of the trees. Beneath the canopy sat a darkness far deeper than it had any business being.

Theo walked on alone, with Uthed far behind him and Asterion moving through the dark somewhere.

And soon enough, he began to suspect something.