16 - Not Your Son, But Your Father
Chapter 16
Edith only laughed and fed me another candy. I took it without thinking and gently touched it with my tongue, immediately frowning. "Ugh."
"Eating them continuously makes them really taste bad. Can I spit it out?"
"Tomatoes are good for your health."
"Tomato-flavored candies covered in sugar aren't good."
Despite my firm refusal, Edith's long fingers went back into the candy jar. "You've never had this before, have you?"
I acted quickly, snatching a candy and putting it directly into Edith's mouth. He ate it obediently. He leisurely moved his jaw, chewing a few times, and then, without hesitation, threw the jar full of candies out the window.
Unfortunately, someone below seemed to have been unlucky enough to get hit.
"Gwaek!"
"Commander!"
It was Vega and Procyon's voices.
...Hmm, it seems like I should pretend I didn't hear anything.
It seemed like revenge for the two of them whispering outside the door earlier.
Anyway, Edith's taste buds were normal.
"It tastes bad, right? Give me something else."
Edith took out another dessert. This time, something relatively decent came out. It was an orangette, orange peel candied in honey and coated in chocolate.
I cautiously put the end in my mouth and felt relieved. This had a normal taste.
Because it was delicious and I wanted to cleanse my palate, I ate it all in an instant, and Edith smiled contentedly.
"I'm glad you're eating well."
"Edith, do you like desserts? Sweet things keep popping out."
"I don't dislike them."
It was a similar answer to when I asked if he liked coffee. Hmm.
"We're married now, how about we become a little more honest with each other?"
"My wife asks for a lot."
I smiled at the harmless grumbling.
"Let's ask each other questions, one at a time. No lying."
Edith tapped the desk with his fingertips.
"May I ask a question first?"
"Why not?"
As soon as I readily agreed, he went straight to the point.
"My son may have a terrible personality, but he has skills that make him difficult for ordinary people to deal with. What method did you use to take his sword?"
"I drank the blood of a Magical Beast."
"Simply drinking the blood did that?"
Edith looked skeptical. There were occasionally people who ate Magical Beast meat as a delicacy. But not all of those people had the same effect as me.
"It was blood I received from directly contracting with the Magical Beast. Fair and square."
At those words, Edith finally showed an expression of interest.
"I didn't know my wife was close to Magical Beasts."
Actually, it wasn't a big deal. I noticed a little earlier than others that the Magical Beast was clumsily imitating a human, and I told it to run away because it would be hunted if it stayed here.
Then the Magical Beast said that it had something absolutely necessary that it had to obtain. I didn't know it would be a land deed.
It was a very old Magical Beast. It also spoke human language and was very calm.
I had heard that there were only a handful of Magical Beasts that could disguise themselves as humans and communicate, so I think I approached it out of half curiosity.
Anyway, I knew that Gilbert, who could only do brute force, would come up to the capital triumphantly, so I needed a way to fight back, and it wanted a place to die.
—Girl, I need land. But not just any ordinary land. It can't accept the poison that will spread as my body rots and become contaminated.
At that time, the Magical Beast habitually checked its cloak with hands that were strangely colored and severely wrinkled for human hands.
—I will die soon. That's why I want a tomb that no one will dig up.
It, which was neither human nor gendered, was basically looking for a wealthy aristocrat.
An aristocrat who could lightly invest a large sum in a desolate wasteland where no one would set foot and forget about it.
If desired, it was prepared to pay any price.
In many ways, my interests aligned well with it, so the contract proceeded smoothly.
But I was still sometimes amazed. To invade the human world to buy its own tomb. It was really daring. Did it know what would happen if it got caught?
I closed my eyes and opened them, my eyelashes fluttering.
"I was just lucky. It won't happen again. Then is it my turn?"
There were so many things I was curious about regarding Edith. Exactly how old he was, how he didn't die or age, why he adopted Gilbert and Rigen, etc. I couldn't even count them.
But those were things I could find out gradually. First, the most important thing.
"What's your ideal type, my husband?"
Suddenly, Edith coughed.
"...I think I misheard, what did you say?"
His tone was strangely off.
"Is it difficult to say? Then how about your three sizes?"
Edith became serious.
"Are you really curious about such things?"
"Such things?"
I'm a little hurt right now.
Edith saw me wrinkling my nose and obediently recited the numbers containing his physical secrets, but he still seemed reluctant.
"I feel like a scoundrel for extracting my wife's most important secret as soon as the opportunity arose."
"Oh my, aren't you being too harsh on yourself?"
It was a question I expected anyway. I even doubted if he had anything he was curious about regarding me other than that.
Even though I said it was okay, Edith couldn't shake off his guilt.
"I want to help my wife as a way to atone. If an ordinary human uses the blood of a Magical Beast to enhance their physical abilities, there will be significant side effects. Moreover, it seems like my wife will continue to use it in the future."
Well, that was true.
Gilbert had strong pride in his strength. Sooner or later, I was planning to thoroughly crush Gilbert in the field he was most confident in. So that he could never crawl back up again.
Edith was lost in thought, his gaze fixed on me.
Soon, slowly, his hand reached out.
Edith's long fingers touched my hair. It was the tangled part from earlier.
"Can you tell me the characteristics of the Magical Beast you contracted with?"
"It was a very old Magical Beast. It was looking for a place to die... It also spoke human language."
I answered softly, letting him touch my hair.
"I received blood in exchange for preparing a tomb."
"How did you end up contracting with a Magical Beast?"
The tangled hair was lightly untangled by whatever he was doing.
"Is that also included in the truth game?"
Edith neatly backed down.
"Please answer when you want to. I can't make the same mistake within five minutes of atoning."
Soon, Edith got up from his seat. Wow, his legs are really long. It was a mesmerizing figure that was hard to obtain both congenitally and postnatally.
Ugh. I was thinking about it yesterday too, but I want to make him wear bright-colored clothes instead of black.
It would be okay to wear matching outfits. Without having to explain it in a few words, it would seem like we were getting along reasonably well.
My parents, who I thought were calm when they entrusted all the decision-making to me, seemed more worried than I thought, so I was concerned.
I wondered why he got up, but Edith returned with a comb. He brazenly asked for permission even though he had already decided to sit behind me.
"May I?"
I obediently offered my hair and drooped my shoulders. My eyelids were about to close.
Before I knew it, the clock was pointing to one in the morning. As I looked at the scenery outside the window, dyed with pale darkness, sleepiness crept in.
I felt the touch of hands carefully holding my hair that covered my waist. He combed the strands of pink hair with considerable effort.
"Edith, were you originally such a diligent person?"
Really, how could he be so different from the image in the novel?
Edith, realizing the meaning of the question, chuckled softly.
"I don't know what rumors my wife has heard, but I need to make some clarifications."
"..."
"It's not that I was lazy and holed up in my bedroom, but that there was nothing I particularly wanted to be enthusiastic about."
"..."
"I want to be good to my people."
I listened carefully to the voice like white moonlight.
It was a bit of a strange thing to say.
As far as I knew, Edith had never tried to be this good to anyone in the novel.
The only character who was treated like a person by Edith was Rigen... So does that mean even Rigen wasn't one of Edith's people?
In the end, I couldn't resist my curiosity and opened my lips.
"It seems like there's no one in the North that Edith cares about?"
I asked including Rigen, and Edith answered including Rigen.
"Let's just say that."
I was glad that I was facing away from him. He wouldn't be able to see my flustered expression.
Edith combed my hair with concentration, as if it was the first time he had touched such flowing hair. He first gently softened the ends that were easy to tangle, then went up and swept down once each.
Rustle, rustle. It didn't hurt and only a pleasant drowsiness spread, making my eyes close repeatedly.
Ugh, I'm relaxing. I want to hold on a little longer...
It's our first night.
Although Edith doesn't seem to have any intention of consummating it at all.
As I put strength into my eyes, Edith suddenly laughed briefly as if he had thought of an interesting story.
"By the way, Eve, can you really not whistle?"
"...Pardon?"
"That's what the maid said when she was caught earlier."
I will exercise my right to remain silent.
I should be grateful that I didn't say that I didn't even know how to curl my tongue...
Unfortunately, my tongue was outside the brain's control except for speaking and tasting.
"You also seem to be a picky eater."
Why are you suddenly starting a shame play! I object to this topic of conversation.
I changed the subject with a sulky face.
"Edith, if you're free, can you do me a favor?"
