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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Do You Have a Lover?
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I stammered, continuing my line of questioning.
“Th-then... what about privacy between a married couple...? Wait, does this mean we're together 24/7? In this room?”
Eric looked troubled.
“During the day, I'm usually in my office or the training grounds, of course. Sometimes I leave the estate entirely to inspect the territory. As for... clothes...”
Eric ran a hand over his face as if lamenting the fact that he had to explain such things. With his head lowered, he pointed to a small room connected to the bedroom.
“You can change in that dressing room. There's another room inside, so you can use one as your personal dressing room.”
“...What a shame.”
Eric lifted his head, a “what are you talking about?” expression on his face.
I licked my lips and said.
“I was hoping... you'd change in here.”
“...Be quiet.”
“I was talking to myself. Words meant for my ears only.”
*Why are you responding to my private thoughts?* I shot him a look that said as much.
Eric clenched his jaw and sighed.
“As for other aspects of our private life... once this social season is over, I plan to strongly insist we stay at the southern country house.”
Eric glanced down at my stomach with a grim expression.
“The fact that your belly isn't growing is also a problem, isn't it?”
Ah, right. It's not just one or two problems.
I muttered.
“Do I... really have to go get pregnant by someone else...?”
Eric looked at me seriously and said.
“I've been thinking about something since yesterday...”
Eric hesitated, which was unlike him, before speaking.
“That...”
“That?”
“Your lips...”
“‘Shut your mouth?’”
“No, that's not it. Can you please use more refined language?”
“It means the same thing.”
“...I mean!”
Eric struck his chest in frustration. He took several deep, calming breaths before finally speaking.
“I'm talking about the kiss. I felt it when we did that.”
Eric spoke with unnecessary gravity.
Why is he bringing that up again...? I thought we had an unspoken agreement not to talk about it!
*'First, if you want a real kiss, you have to open your mouth.'*
What a dark, embarrassing past.
Thinking about it now, who was I to teach anyone? I've never even been in a relationship before...!
Forget kissing, Eric is the only man other than Philip whose hand I've ever held!
I felt shame grip my heart with crushing force.
But, whether he knew what I was feeling or not, Eric continued speaking seriously.
“What I mean is... of course, it doesn't really have anything to do with me, but...”
“...”
“I'm only saying this because it might be relevant.”
“Just say it already!”
I couldn't stand it anymore and threw a cushion, shouting. I'm dying of embarrassment!
As I yelled, Eric ducked his head and asked.
“Do you have a lover?”
“Pardon?”
Eric looked at me with an anguished expression.
A lover?
I watched Eric's profile, wondering about his intentions in asking such a thing.
There's a bed here... and we're married now...
I scowled as my imagination ran wild with branching possibilities.
Just then, Eric spoke.
“For instance... a delicate man, like a flower-like deer...”
A delicate, flower-like deer of a man?
I felt like I'd heard that phrase somewhere before. But the words came out before I could pinpoint where.
“Why? Is it wrong if I do?”
Eric furrowed his brow.
“No. That's not it.”
Eric's expression became strange. He stared at the floor before slowly lifting his head to ask.
“...So you do... have one?”
*I don't. I've never had one in my entire life...*
I couldn't say that. I felt my pride rear its head and replied.
“Two or three, maybe?”
Silence filled the room for a moment.
Eric's pale, well-defined features seemed to waver for a moment at my words before settling back into a calm expression.
His red eyes studied me for a long time. Finally, his lips parted.
“You're lying.”
“I am not.”
Do I have a tell when I lie? No, not at all.
Philip once told me during a fight that I was the kind of person who could lie with a straight face even while falling into the fires of hell.
*'You little wench, you'd even trick the devil!'*
...is what he said.
I figured Eric was just prodding me, so I widened my eyes innocently. In response, Eric waved his hand dismissively and said.
“I get it now. You have a tell when you're telling the truth.”
“Not when I'm lying...?”
“You lie every day, so there's no tell for that.”
What kind of bizarre approach is this? Ah, so because I lie all the time, I seem normal when I'm lying, but not when I'm telling the truth?
Wow, this jerk...
But Eric, for some reason, seemed relieved. He leaned back on the sofa at the foot of the bed and said.
“In any case, you don't have a lover right now.”
“Wait, why do you need to know whether I have a lover or not...?”
Come to think of it, I don't have to answer this question honestly in the first place! Feeling as though my weakness had been exposed, I asked indignantly.
This is a fraudulent marriage anyway, and nobles keep plenty of mistresses and lovers even after they're married! Such promiscuous people...
As my thoughts reached that point, I recalled a memory that already felt like a distant past.
Young Lord Eric on the balcony at Margaret Beaufort's 60th birthday, looking like he was waiting for someone.
After all, it's obvious what a balcony signifies at a noble's party. The memory struck me like lightning, and I said triumphantly.
“What about you? Do you have a lover? You do, but...”
You've never even kissed them!
But if it's Princess Ella, there's no way she wouldn't have kissed him. I bet they've already done everything imaginable.
The stubbornly upright man sat perfectly still, not once shifting his posture during our argument.
Having observed him closely for a week, I'd noticed he made very few extraneous movements. Whether it was because he was physically trained or due to his rigid personality, he would often hold his head high and stare intently at the other person. And especially that way of speaking!
That damn way of speaking—I couldn't tell if it was arrogant or naive, or perhaps arrogantly naive. He always seemed sincere, but his sincerity had a way of being strangely irritating.
Then there were times he would catch me off guard with that peculiar tone, as if he never suspected a hint of malice from others.
How would this Eric act toward someone to whom he had to show his most intimate self?
Even if it wasn't the princess, his partner would be a noble. Whether a man or a woman, they would be someone like Eric, who had lived such a prosperous and happy life that they never had a moment to reflect on the world's malice, or their own...
*'Tee-hee, Young Lord. You're so sweet~'*
I scowled, picturing a secret rendezvous between Eric and this imaginary partner playing out in my head.
*'Sweet, my foot. How could this arrogant young master possibly be sweet...'*
“A lover...? What lover? Surely you don't believe the rumors, do you?”
“What rumors?”
“The ones about the princess and I, this and that.”
Eric spoke with an expression of disgust, as if the words themselves were unpleasant. The moment the word "princess" left his lips, the person in my imagination suddenly adopted the snottiest tone in the world.
In my mind, she was lounging on that bed, looking back and forth between Eric and me before speaking.
*'Want to join me, both of you?'*
Ah... damn it all...
Can we really let someone like that rule the country!
“So are you and the princess really... you know?”
While imagining Eric's rendezvous with a generic partner had strangely felt like a wildfire in my chest, picturing him with Ella now sparked a wave of concern.
*'You're going to be used... Get out of there! Shoo! That's not for you!'*
Fortunately, Eric replied as if she were spouting nonsense.
“She was simply someone I served during my time in the knight order. I don't have a lover. And...”
Eric gazed at me steadily with his red eyes.
“Until this marriage is concluded, I have no intention of ever taking one. Marriage is sacred.”
He said this with a face that looked, for some reason, rather angry.
“Don't you remember signing the marriage vows? It says we are to be faithful to one another.”
“It also says we're supposed to love each other. Do you love me?”
I pointed a finger at my own chin with a look of disbelief. At that, Eric simply stared at me, speechless.
