Chapter 149
<Extra Chapter 2>
Ian was busy kissing his guardian angel's feet when someone knocked on the bedroom door. A servant's voice came from outside the door.
"Master, your bath is ready."
He was annoyed at being disturbed during his time with Laura, but he couldn't scold the servant. Preparing a bath as soon as the master returned home was an important rule that could not be broken in this mansion.
He carefully covered Laura with a blanket and went to wash.
As always, the bathroom was filled with a large bathtub full of warm water. He slowly took off his clothes. As the clothes fell away, his angular muscles were revealed. He had rowed in the rowing club every day since he was a teenager and had not neglected exercise even after graduation, so his entire body was packed with muscle.
He sat in the tub, washed his face, and wet his hair. When the neatly styled black hair fell over his forehead, his face looked about three years younger.
While Ian scrubbed his body with a soap-covered brush, male servants went in and out of the bathroom, draining the water from the tub and pouring in fresh water.
After washing for a while, he felt clean enough to satisfy himself. He instructed the servant to bring him a cigar and an ashtray.
Smoking while soaking in warm water was one of his favorite pastimes. He leaned back in the tub, lit a cigar with his water-wiped hand, and lightly inhaled the smoke.
He felt good with the cigar smoke lingering in his mouth. He squinted and recalled his four-day trip to London.
The purpose of this trip was to attend his friend William's wedding. The most splendid moment was the wedding, and the warmest moment was probably when he saw off the newlyweds on their honeymoon.
However, Ian's memory album was filled only with moments with Laura. The moment they sat facing each other on the train, drinking coffee. The moment they hugged each other and took a nap in the hotel. The moment they chose gifts together at Harrods.
And.
-I love you. I love you with all my heart.
At that moment, Ian, who was sitting in the tub, dropped the cigar he was holding. Fortunately, he was reaching his hand outwards, so he prevented the accident of dropping the cigar into the water, but the lit end fell on the wet floor and became unusable.
As he blankly watched the servant clean up the stub, Ian repeated inwardly.
'Laura loves me. Me... Ian Dalton...'
His eyes became hazy again. He felt like he was floating up into the sky.
It was not surprising that a wife loved her husband. However, he could not naturally accept this obvious fact.
To Ian, Laura was an angel who had come down to spread happiness in the world. Laura was the source of loveliness, sweetness, and coziness in his life. Ian had enjoyed a reasonably satisfying bachelorhood before he met her, but now he would not want to go back to that time even if he died.
That angel Laura had told him that she loved him. That she loved him with all her heart.
'Oh my god. Laura loves me... me...'
The sound of drums echoed in his left chest. It was so loud that his ears were numb. He washed his face to cool down his flushed face. But despite his efforts, his ears soon turned red.
'Let's calm down. If I go back to the bedroom like this, I'll wake up the sleeping Laura and bother her.'
He slipped into the tub and stayed submerged for about two minutes before coming out. He was panting, but his mind calmed down a little.
He wiped his face and hands with a dry towel and took out another cigar. As the nicotine seeped into his mouth, his excited mind seemed to calm down.
He leaned back in the tub, smoking and thinking.
'When will I get used to Laura? When will I become indifferent to the fact that Laura loves me, and naturally accept the fact that we will be together forever? Will that day ever come?'
For now, it was only distant. It was their first year of marriage, but he was still the same as when he first married Laura.
Whenever Laura called him 'Ian,' his spine tingled and his heart pounded. When he was facing her, he couldn't concentrate on anything else. It wasn't just once or twice that he had been scolded by his wife for wasting time, just staring blankly at her face.
He looked like a fool even to himself, so how much more would she think so? He sometimes worried that Laura might think he was pathetic.
'No. Laura is humble and kind. She is generous and benevolent. Even if she is disappointed, she won't leave me easily. Angels don't do that.'
Ian calmed himself and looked at the clock in the bathroom. It was already close to midnight.
He stubbed out the cigar in the ashtray and got out of the tub. He wiped off the water with the prepared towel and shook his head. By the time he was fastening the bathrobe that the servant was holding out for him, he was already in a good mood.
He would go to the bed where Laura was waiting, hug her tightly, and bury his nose in her neck. He would smell her scent, match their breathing, and fall asleep. He smiled just imagining it.
But just as he was tying the bathrobe belt, a thought flashed through his mind.
'Is Laura really in bed?'
What kind of nonsense was this? Where else would Laura go? The only place she could sleep was in the bedroom of Whitefield Hall. The king-size bed surrounded by light blue curtains, shared with her husband. There was nowhere else for Laura to stay.
He laughed at himself for having such absurd thoughts and continued to dry his hair with the towel. But strange thoughts kept coming to his mind, which should have been calming down.
In his imagination, Laura always had wings as white and fluffy as freshly picked cotton on her back.
For an angel, wings were a means of transportation connected to the sky.
'No matter how much she loves me, an angel belongs to the sky. If God orders her to return, she won't be able to refuse.'
His heart began to falter with anxiety in an instant. A vivid picture flashed before his eyes. Their bedroom. The wide-open window. And Laura standing on the windowsill, spreading her white wings wide and trying to reach the sky.
He threw down the towel and ran out of the bathroom. He ran down the long hallway, pushed open the bedroom door, and rushed straight to the bed.
"Haa... haa..."
He was panting. He felt like his body was collapsing with relief.
Laura was still in bed. She had her braided hair neatly draped over her right shoulder and was sleeping soundly, wrapped in clean bedding.
'What a fool.'
He swept back his fallen black bangs.
What kind of crazy delusion was this? Laura was human. She was as kind and beautiful as an angel, but she was an English woman who had married him with a human identity.
'My fantasies have gone too far. I've even been called Romeo, but at this rate, I'll become King Lear. Romeo is at least romantic. King Lear is just miserable. Don't let yourself go crazy, Ian Dalton.'
Even as he scolded himself, he couldn't take his eyes off Laura. Laura, asleep in her white nightgown, was an angel herself. It wouldn't be strange if she suddenly got up and flew into the sky.
And he, without wings, would never be able to catch her.
'I can't take my eyes off her. If anyone tries to take Laura away, I'll tear them to pieces. Even if it's God.'
Ian gritted his teeth.
He was sometimes seized by such irrational obsessions. Perhaps it was because he was too happy.
He had experienced many partings since he was a child. Mother, nanny, sister, Sheldon Teacher, friend. And father. Loss had made him grow, but it had also hurt him. He was always a little uneasy in the face of the happiness that humans gave.
And the greater the happiness, the greater the fear. The thought that Laura would fly away might be foolish, but his fear of losing her was serious and sincere.
'I wish Laura was less beautiful. Less kind, less lovely, less devoted... If my happiness was only half of what it is now, I wouldn't be so anxious.'
He bit his lip. He felt like his head would explode with anxiety.
'I want to confirm that Laura is human.'
He hesitated for a moment, then took off his bathrobe.
A moment later, Laura opened her eyes.
"...Ugh..."
She felt a large hand groping around her waist. Her husband, who was lying on top of her, was showering her face with kisses.
Laura quickly realized her husband's intentions.
"...Ian, I'm sleepy..."
"I'm sorry. I'll finish as quickly as possible."
Ian pulled up the hem of Laura's nightgown.
The day after returning from London, the Daltons visited Dunville Park. They visited Dunville Park at least once a week, so their visit was nothing new, but they were welcomed more than usual because of the gifts they had bought in London.
Laura gave gifts to each member of the Fairfax family. A sapphire brooch for Mrs. Fairfax, a fine pair of hunting gloves for Robert Fairfax, a trendy London hat for Olivia, and a new Sherlock Holmes book for George.
These were items that Laura had carefully chosen with the Fairfax family in mind, and they brought great joy to the recipients.
She was unable to deliver the gifts directly to the young Ian and Daniel among the family members. Young Ian was taking a nap, and Daniel had left home last month to attend Eton College.
Daniel had shed a river of tears before leaving. Eton College was known for its strict discipline and was renowned as an academic institution. Daniel realized that his childhood, where he could just play, was over, and he felt like the sky was falling.
Mrs. Fairfax and Uncle Ian were positive about Daniel going to school. They believed that the housemaster, teachers, and strict seniors would correct Daniel's reckless personality from the root.
It was a correct prediction, but it was not comforting to a young boy facing the end of his childhood. The child complained about his sadness to his beloved Laura Teacher, who was now his aunt.
Laura fully empathized with the child's feelings and tried to encourage him.
She connected Daniel's dream of becoming a brave naval officer with Eton College. She said that life at Eton College was a time of training to develop the knowledge, patience, and courage to become a naval officer.
