Chapter 57: CH 56

He did it because he suspected that the doll was talking. However, he didn’t even think that the doll would move, so he almost screamed when he saw that the doll was hit by an arrow instead.

Somehow he managed to hold back the screams, but the shock did not go away easily. The scene he saw was unbelievable. Because the doll talked and moved.

“The doll moved… How is that possible?”

It was completely unbelievable and out of common sense for the doll to move. No matter how much he thought about it, it was impossible. If he hadn’t seen the scene that day, he would have dismissed it as nonsense and moved on.

However, he had already seen the bizarre thing with his own two eyes. So he had to figure out why.

“Robert, how do I get a doll to move?”

“A doll?”

“Yes. To move and speak freely.”

Robert thought Constantine was crazy. Otherwise, there would be no way to ask him why he was asking that, given Duke Esirene’s personality. But he was his butler. He could not have thoughts like this be discovered.

“Well, I’m not sure. Wouldn’t it be possible if a skilled puppeteer handled it?”

“It’s not that.”

Constantine replied flatly. The only person there was Mikael Orlov. Then it must be that Mikael was a puppeteer, so he handled the doll, but to say that such a man was a skilled puppeteer was absurd. Rather, it was more likely to say that the doll moved on its own.

“Well, then… Could it be some kind of magic?”

“Magic?”

“Yes, I don’t know anything about magic either, so I’m not sure… I don’t think the magic to make a doll move will be that difficult.”

“Magic, magic huh…”

He was deep in thought. The Empire was not a society where magic was generally accepted, but that didn’t mean there were no wizards at all.

Most wizards belong to the imperial family, so for ordinary nobles, magic was just a fantasy story. However, if it was Archduke Orlov, since he was familiar with the imperial family, he might be able to be in touch a wizard.

“Certainly that makes sense.”

“Yes, it must be magic. Maybe it’s black magic. Of course, black magic is illegal, but magic isn’t common in the first place.”

When Constantine nodded, Robert excitedly added his words.

And that word gave Constantine a hint. He didn’t think much of it, but as soon as he heard it, Constantine’s eyes lit up.

He couldn’t have used black magic unless Mikael Orlov was insane. What could it be that he regretted about being an Archduke such that he’s dabbling in black magic?

But wouldn’t shedding some suspicion be enough to get him into trouble?

Whether the doll was a product of black magic or regular magic, or whether Mikael had gone crazy about dolls, the truth was none of his business.

The important thing is that, as a result, it could damage Archduke Orlov.

It just came to his mind, but it was a plausible idea. Constantine let out a malicious laugh at the unexpected income.

“Hmm, good. That should be enough for me.”

***

Thus, this body became gwanggong’s attachment doll, ah, no, his lover. Sparkle-★

The youthful voice he had heard before came again.

Yul, who had risen from gwanggong’s attachment doll to his lover overnight, did not rise in status, but forcibly raised the corners of his mouth that kept drooping.

“By the way, Mikael, what are you doing?”

Yul tilted his head as he saw Mikael taking several small pieces of cloth and putting them around his ankles.

“I’m looking for a color that suits me.”

“Ah, are you trying to get my clothes tailored again?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“Legcuffs.”

“Ha… ?”

What kind of bullshit was he talking about, this noble gwanggong?

Yul froze at the unexpected answer. Either way, Mikael continued to concentrate on putting different colored cloths on Yul’s ankles as if he didn’t care.

“Oh no! What footcuffs! I’m not running away! I’m well-behaved, so why!”

“Metal footcuffs can hurt, so I’ll make them into cloth footcuffs. It won’t rub your skin.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about right now!”

Who’s doing this because they’re afraid they’ll hurt their ankles!

The conversation simply didn’t work. That’s why he was a gwanggong.

He wasn’t brutally crazy like the original, but he wasn’t sane enough even now.

Did it make sense to make footcuffs that didn’t hurt?

“I said I would be obedient, so why, why!”

“I don’t know about that. Because you’re not a doll, but a human. If you turn into a body that’s easy to run away with, if I lose sight for a moment, you might run away without me knowing? And if you don’t like footcuffs, there’s also a way to put on a leash, so tell me what you want. I will consider your opinion as much as possible.”

“Then the footcuffs is more… no! Oh, I won’t run away, I won’t run away!”

Thinking of himself wearing a leash, he thought the footcuffs were better. However, the best option was a free state without any one of those.

“Then Yuri. Let me ask you something.”

“What now?”

From experience, every time he asked a question, it went into a situation that was not good for him, so Yul had no choice but to be vigilant about his words. His eyes became sharp immediately.

“If there was a way to get back to your world, wouldn’t you run away?”

“…”

Yul was unable to answer the unexpected question. In fact, he felt like he had been hit. He was going to go back if he was lucky enough to go back after spending time pleasing him.

At this question that seemed to see through his thoughts, Yul only pursed his plump lips.

“As expected.”

He didn’t answer, but he seemed to understand Yul’s words. There was an indescribable loneliness in his voice.

A quiet face stared at Yul. His heart felt heavy at the expression he never expected to see from him.

“You would be ready to leave whenever you can. It’s a matter of course, actually. Because you have your own world.”

“… Mikael.”

“But you appeared in my world. It wasn’t me who showed up one day, it was you, Yuri.”

He couldn’t bear to deny what he said. He didn’t want to admit it, but he was right.

If he hadn’t appeared, he would have felt a crush on Levi and fell in love with him, just as the main character’s life was set by the novel’s setting.

But he wouldn’t go down that route any longer. As Yul appeared, the original story was reversed.

Of course, his appearance in this world was not his intention either. He didn’t mean to, and even if he tried, it wasn’t something he could do.

He honestly felt unfair because he didn’t even understand how this could happen.

However, Mikael looked so lonely and so sad that he couldn’t bear to say that he was wronged.

He couldn’t understand himself feeling this way, but for the first time he felt sorry for him.

“So, let’s order footcuffs. As expected, red color suits you.”

… Never mind. It was me who is pitiful. Not that crazy guy.

***

Mikael actually ordered footcuffs.

The outside of the footcuffs was covered with a soft red cloth, but the tough leather was put inside, so it didn’t look like it would break by any means.

Of course, there was a long, thick chain hanging between the ankle cuffs and the clasps on the legs of Mikael’s bed.

The length of the chain was so long that it was not difficult to move around the room, but it seemed that he could not get out of the room.

It didn’t matter if the length of the chain was long or short. The feeling Yul felt when he saw the footcuffs stuffed on my feet was really shit1.

t/n: if i remember correctly, i don’t think he puts the cuffs on him again. it’s a momentary lapse in judgement (*side eye*)