Too Lazy to be a Villainess novel Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Angry Papa

And then—from the far end of the hallway came a thunderous, panicked yell.

"PRINCESSSSSSS!!!!!"

I turned my head innocently. There stood Theon. Face red. Eyes wide. Hair slightly mussed, like he had run into a wall. Twice. Maybe three times.

He looked like a man who had just been accused of kissing the Emperor in front of the entire court. Papa still hadn’t moved. His arms around me were like iron. His face? Absolutely unreadable.

I blinked up at him, then turned to Theon. "Huh? What happened?"

The papers in Theon’s hands slipped through his fingers and scattered like sad little confessions across the floor. He looked at me like I had summoned Satan himself.

"Princess," he gasped, rushing toward us like his life depended on it. "What did you just say?!"

I tilted my head, blinking innocently. "Huh? What did I say?"

"That... that me and His Majesty... we..." He looked like he was about to pass out. Or combust. Possibly both. "You can’t just say things like that!!"

I frowned. "But... you and Papa are in love, right? Isn’t that why Papa never married?"

The air went still.

Deadly still.

Nanny. Marella. Theon. Even Papa—everyone froze like the palace had been hit with a Medusa curse.

Then—

"Princess..." Nanny gasped in horror, clutching her chest like she’d just witnessed a murder. "It’s not like that!" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"What?!" I furrowed, "But—but Theon and Papa are always together!"

"It’s not like that, Princess!!" Theon yelled too, hands flailing as if trying to erase my words from the air. "We’re not—! That’s not—!! I SERVE HIS MAJESTY!!"

I squinted at him, dead serious. "But Theon, you look at him like you’d die for him."

"PRINCESS!!" Theon choked. "You can’t just say things like that!!"

Huh?! Was I wrong? Why are they behaving like this? Did I misunderstand them?

I blinked again, still confused. "But... I saw many times... Papa stands naked when he’s alone—"

"LAVINIA!!" Papa raised his voice.

I looked at him, and then he sighed like he was trying very, very hard to hold onto his last shred of dignity. "It’s not what you think."

"But Papa—" I started again.

"IT’S NOT WHAT YOU THINK!!" he said, louder this time—like he was stamping a royal decree on the conversation.

The hallway fell into stunned silence.

Except for Marshmallow, who was licking his paw like we weren’t all in the middle of a social meltdown.

Papa exhaled sharply and muttered, "Is that really... How do you see me?"

I gave him a sympathetic look. "But Papa, loving another man isn’t a crime. You can love who you want!"

"LAVINIA," he said firmly, face twitching. "Enough."

I shut my mouth immediately, sensing I might be one sentence away from being grounded until I turned ten.

Then, his eyes slowly slid toward Marella. "And you... stop reading those ridiculous romance novels out loud where she can hear them. If I see another one, I’ll rip them apart page by page."

Marella hiccupped in fear and dropped into a bow. "Y-Yes, Your Majesty! I apologize!"

I looked back at Papa. "So... you and Theon are not—?"

"NO, PRINCESS, WE ARE NOT!!" Theon wailed, nearly on his knees.

Then, eyes still glistening with panic, he added, "Even if I did like men, I would never fall for His Majesty!"

...

Silence.

Papa turned his head slowly. Very slowly.

"What’s wrong with me?" he asked, voice eerily calm.

Theon’s face drained of all color. "N-No! That’s not what I meant—!! I just meant—!! You’re amazing! Beautiful even! But terrifying! So terrifying! Like a majestic beast! With abs!!"

A pause. Even Marshmallow stopped licking.

Papa stared at him.

I whispered, "So... is that a maybe?"

Theon looked like he was going to faint. Honestly, if someone had handed him a fainting couch, he would’ve collapsed onto it dramatically.

Papa, on the other hand, simply let out a long, weary sigh. The kind that carried the weight of an entire empire... and one overly curious toddler.

It was the sigh of a man who deeply regretted every life decision that had led him to this exact hallway.

"Take the princess to her chambers," he said.

"Papa, wait—!"

"Before she destroys any more reputations," he added, without even looking at me.

Then he scooped me up and deposited me into Nanny’s arms like a cursed relic he couldn’t wait to be rid of.

As I blinked up at him, he turned toward Theon and said with royal authority, "You. Come with me. We need to—"

He stopped.

Theon looked personally offended. "I wasn’t planning to! I don’t want to see your face either!"

He did look angry.

Like very angry.

Papa and Theon looked so close... like those best-friends-to-lovers in a BL novel. I might be a little corrupted. But whatever—as a good daughter, it’s my duty to win Papa back

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