Chapter 148

Esadien’s sharp intake of breath was transmitted through our bodies, which were pressed tightly together.

“…I’m sorry.”

With his apology, Esadien’s arms loosened, and the pain that had felt like I was being bound disappeared. Only then did I realize that he had hugged me too tightly, causing the discomfort.

‘He’s got a lot of energy early in the morning, doesn’t he?!’

I was dumbfounded, but at the same time, I felt a sense of pride. I was an inescapable doting wife.

‘Yeah… I guess he likes me that much. Of course, of course.’

I chuckled and burrowed deeper into Esadien’s embrace.

“Let’s sleep more. I like… yawn… my husband too.”

Esadien flinched and held his breath. He exhaled before I could open my eyes again, but I knew.

‘Ah, he’s just too cute.’

I’ll have to tease him more… no, call him that more often.

While I was thinking this, sleep was once again overtaking me. Esadien’s hands, patting me with a steady rhythm, were at the level of a skilled nanny.

‘He’ll be good at putting our baby to sleep later on, too…’

Of course, that was a distant thought, but it didn’t matter to my mind right before falling asleep.

A short sigh touched my forehead. It sounded like Esadien was lamenting something softly.

“You’re too… so I can’t… have to hold back…”

What did that mean?

His patting hand seemed to move away, and he gently caressed my ear and cheek. It was a touch so different from the bone-crushing hug from before, as if he was afraid I might break.

I thought he was worrying too much, but I didn’t dislike his ticklish affection. However, Esadien soon got out of bed.

‘Where is he going…?’

Through my half-opened eyes, I saw the door close with a click, and soon after, the sound of running footsteps flashed past the window, just as they had last night.

So it wasn’t a dream.

‘Was he always this active? Are all knights like that?’

Sister Elga only trained at set times.

“I don’t remember him doing that when he was staying at our mansion…”

Well, I hadn’t watched him for 24 hours a day.

All my sleepiness had vanished. I rolled my eyes and thought about Esadien’s strange behavior for a long time. When I heard the sound of the bedroom door opening, I instinctively closed my eyes tightly, pretending to be asleep.

‘Oh, oh?’

I didn’t need to do that, did I? I wondered if I should open my eyes now and greet Esadien, but a heavy weight and a chilly air had already come to my side.

The forest air must be cold at dawn, but he showered with cold water. What if he catches a cold?

‘If I raise the temperature, he’ll know I’m not sleeping.’

I rolled my body over and hugged Esadien tightly.

“Minuelle. You weren’t asleep?”

Even though he sounded a little surprised, I pretended not to hear and kept my eyes closed as if I were in a daze. Esadien’s body gradually warmed up. I hugged my husband, who was no longer cold, even tighter. Relieved that he wouldn’t catch a cold, the drowsiness that had temporarily receded returned.

“…Ha.”

It sounded like another sigh scattered above my head.

***

Our routine was quite simple. Esadien would wake me up late and show off his incredible cooking skills. After meals, we would take the boat out or walk along the lakeside. In the evenings, we would read books while leaning on each other’s shoulders.

And… before bed.

“No, no more…!”

“Minuelle, just a little more. We haven’t even done half yet.”

“But I feel like I’m going to die!”

I looked back with a flushed face, but Esadien wasn’t fazed at all.

“Relax your shoulders. It’s no use trying to stretch your arms; you need to stretch the muscles in the back of your legs.”

Yes… we, no, I was being ‘forced’ to stretch, something I had never done before.

Who told Esadien that I was so stiff? That was top-secret information.

As soon as I had that thought, the face of my beloved and respected older sister, Elga, flashed through my mind.

“Sister Elga put you up to this, didn’t she! I’m healthy now! You traitor!”

I screamed a logical suspicion, and with a laugh, the pressure on my lower back was slowly released. I made a zombie-like noise and was about to collapse, but Esadien held me firmly.

“I agreed to this because I want to live a long life with a healthy you, Minuelle.”

“Ugh… me too.”

How could I refuse that? How could I say to his serious face, ‘Can’t we just live comfortably and call a priest when we get sick?’

Esadien then smiled softly, as if he had been waiting for this.

“To do that, you need to exercise moderately.”

“…”

“I’ll only do as much as you can handle without it being too difficult.”

“Hmph. Okay.”

There was no way I could win against Esadien. He had both justification and beauty on his side. And as soon as I agreed, Esadien repeated the same movement as before.

“Inhale deeply. Exhale and bend once more.”

“Aaaah!”

I’ve been tricked!

But even during these ordinary days, Esadien would consistently leave the bed every night and early morning. If he was exercising like that, shouldn’t he feel refreshed? But his dark circles were getting darker. And the same was happening to me. I was spending a lot of time in bed, but I kept waking up whenever Esadien left, so my sleep was shallow.

Finally, on the third day, I made a decision.

“I need to ask him why he’s doing that.”

I was tired of just observing and letting things get awkward and worse.

“…Minuelle?”

Esadien, who had just returned from another run, flinched when he saw me sitting on the bed, hugging a pillow. He had taken a cold shower again, and his hair was still damp.

“Why, why did you wake up so early?”

Because of you!

But I couldn’t blurt out what I was thinking in front of his pure beauty. Instead, I patted the spot next to me.

“Sit here.”

Esadien, though puzzled by my resolute voice, obediently came and sat beside me.

I put down the pillow and held Esadien’s hands tightly.

“Esadien. Lately, you’ve been different, so I’ve been thinking.”

Esadien’s body stiffened reflexively.

“…Is it… that obvious?”

“Yes, it is. Do you normally wake up in the middle of the night to exercise?”

“So you knew…”

Of course I did.

“I’ve also been trying to figure out why you’re doing that.”

“That, Minuelle…”

Esadien tried to make an excuse, but I raised a hand to stop him. The man who wanted me so much he couldn’t even finish the reception was now avoiding a kiss. On top of that, he was embarrassed by the word ‘husband’ and couldn’t even get a proper night’s sleep. I thought about it for a long time, but no matter how I racked my brain, there was only one conclusion.

“So you’ve… become melancholy.”

“…Melancholy?”

At Esadien’s question, my gaze slowly lowered. He belatedly caught on and exclaimed.

“Minuelle!”

“Ack, you startled me! Why are you yelling!”

“I’m sorry, no, it’s not that, it’s just that I can’t help but yell right now…!”

Ah. It seemed Esadien couldn’t accept his own change. I gently patted his arm. I even nodded my head with a calm expression.

“I understand everything.”

Esadien lifted his gaze with a look that said he was losing his mind. I could understand that too.

“You must be flustered, of course. Since it happened so suddenly… When we go back to Roquate, you should consult a doctor right away.”

“That’s really not it.”

“You should be honest with me. I’m really okay. I married you because I truly love you.”

My feelings for him may have started with his looks, but it was different now. His chiseled face and body were just one of the things that made him Esadien. So platonic love was possible. Completely possible!

However, it seemed my feelings weren’t getting through to Esadien, as he ran his hands over his face repeatedly. After burying his face in his palms for a while, he spoke clearly.

“That’s a misunderstanding. I am perfectly normal.”

Each syllable was laced with injustice. I couldn’t just disbelieve that, and as my conclusion crumbled, I became frustrated.

“Then what on earth is going on? Just tell me honestly. What did you say that morning? That I was too… what?”

“You, you heard that and you’re still saying this?”

“I only heard bits and pieces because I was half-asleep.”

As I pouted, Esadien’s expression became subtle. With his gaze becoming more heated, I felt even more embarrassed for having misjudged his condition. I consciously averted my eyes and asked.

“Did you say something like… ‘You’re too pushy, so I can’t get in the mood. You have to be patient’?”

Esadien froze for a few seconds and then finally sighed.

“How could you make such a guess… Minuelle.”

“Well, because something like that happened the day we arrived.”

“I would never say something like that to you!”

A shocked Esadien grabbed my hand tightly. It hurt a little as the veins stood out on his large hand, but for some reason, the corners of my mouth kept twitching up.

“Then… ‘You’re too impatient, so I can’t match your pace’?“

“That’s… not the case now.”

“So it was before. I see.”

I hummed and pressed my forehead against his, and Esadien’s eyes trembled like an aspen leaf.

“Mi-Minuelle.”

“Anyway, then what did you say?”

He wasn’t ‘melancholy,’ his health was ‘normal,’ and he said I wasn’t being ‘pushy.’ That was all the answers I could think of.

Thankfully, I still had a cheat code left.

“Honey♡ Just tell me quickly. Hmm?”

Esadien was silent for a moment, staring at me.

‘I guess this one was right.’

I had a feeling that every time I called Esadien ‘husband’ or ‘honey,’ he was embarrassed but also seemed to expect another pet name. Looking back, the man who had proposed to me by revisiting all our memories in Caduren couldn’t have forgotten the name ‘honey.’

‘He’s just so cute.’

I liked his flushed face and gave him a little wink, and Esadien moaned and covered my eyes.

He’s just! So cute!

Unaware of my internal roar, he slowly gave me the correct answer.

“You are too fragile for me to touch you. I have to hold back… and it’s getting harder and harder.”

I quickly hugged Esadien. Platonic love, canceled!

“Don’t hold back. It’s a problem if you hold back!”

“But I don’t have the confidence to control myself. You’ll get hurt…”

“Weren’t you worried about that on our wedding night?”

“Back then, I still had some composure. But…”

Ah, right. A lot of time had passed since then.

I lamented.

‘Gabbie, you little…!’

You really need to be good to Esadien.

I mentally tallied a hundred head-knocks for Gabbie and spoke clearly once again.

“You don’t need to control yourself.”