WFMW 25

Chapter 25

The Denial Stage of Falling in Love (1)

March 25, 2024

‘Why am I acting like this?’

Cedar’s mind was a complete mess. He lifted his gaze to look at Nelly.

It was instinct — when faced with a problem he couldn’t solve, his eyes naturally sought the cause of it.

“Um, husband.”

Right then, Nelly was getting up from her seat. The straw hat she’d found somewhere in the house was far too big for her small head, wobbling this way and that.

Her long hair shimmered like strands of golden silk, fluttering behind her in the wind like a soft cape.

‘She really should cut her hair. It’s too long for her frame.’

If she had it in a bob, she’d probably look more lively. That would suit her quirky, unpredictable nature, too.

‘Wait— what? It would suit her?’

Cedar suddenly snapped out of his thoughts.

Suit her? Why would that matter to him at all? Since when did he care what suited her or not?!

‘Am I out of my mind?’

It had to be because they were spending too much time together. With a deliberately flat tone, Cedar addressed Nelly as she toddled toward him.

“I’m pretty sure I told you to sit there and only open your mouth if I gave you something to do.”

“……H-hiccup!”

He hadn’t spoken harshly or threateningly, yet she still seemed frightened — her hiccups started up again.

She clamped her small hand over her mouth and crouched down, looking for all the world like a fluffy baby chick.

‘Cute.’

Why was everything about her so small? Her face, her hands, her feet— nothing about her was big.

She looked so frail, as if he could easily break her just by holding on too tight. He almost felt like he had to cradle her in his palms like a tiny bird.

As he stared at those little hands moving about like restless chicks, Cedar caught himself.

‘Cute? What the hell!’

What was he thinking? Clearly, something in his head had broken.

Cedar yanked the pickaxe out of the ground. This was all because he’d been doing something so out of character for him.

‘I need to finish this quickly.’

Once this unfamiliar task was done, his heart would settle down again. That’s what he told himself as he forced his body to keep moving.

He wasn’t exactly skilled, but his strength was easily double that of an average man, and before long, neat furrows stretched across the soil.

Sweat trickled down his back, and oddly enough, his body felt lighter. Cedar rested the pickaxe on his shoulder and looked down at the field he’d just worked.

Then, a small, timid voice called to him.

“Um, excuse me…”

It was the very woman he’d been trying not to think about. Cedar deliberately kept his tone gruff.

“What is it? Something else you want to order me around for?”

He had only turned to look, but Nelly startled like a spooked bird.

Then, waving both hands frantically like a chick flapping its wings, she blurted out,

“I-I don’t think you’re weird or anything like that!”

Cedar blinked, speechless.

“…Weird? Me?”

“N-no! I mean, you’re not weird!”

Her words said one thing, but her reaction said another. Clearly, she had thought he was weird — otherwise she wouldn’t have felt the need to say that out of nowhere.

Still, the situation itself stunned Cedar.

‘This strange woman just called me strange.’

He had always thought she was the odd one.

A woman who didn’t know how to wear proper clothes, who didn’t seem to enjoy eating, who refused to rely on him even though he, Cedar Granite, was right there beside her.

He’d always thought she was strange.

‘How did it come to this?’

At first, he’d only agreed to this arrangement to avoid unnecessary trouble.

His marriage to a comatose archmage had caused quite the stir, and he knew that a divorce would be an even bigger hassle.

He just needed a wife who didn’t act like one — and when Nelly herself offered to pretend she was still comatose, it seemed like a perfectly convenient deal.

‘But can I really call this just a convenient, hassle-free arrangement now?’

She cooked him three meals a day, he stayed up listening to her breathing at night, and when she had nightmares, he held her hand.

And when she got sick, he panicked and even used up his unused leave days just to take care of her himself.

‘No. Anyone can see this has gone way past the line.’

Hyle’s words from earlier suddenly echoed in his head like a slap.

[Love truly is a powerful thing.]

At the time, he hadn’t even considered that the man might have been talking about him. He’d brushed it off.

But now… it was clear.

And the realization shook him to his core.

‘No. Absolutely not.’

Love? Him? The man who married a woman in a magical coma just to avoid marriage pressure?

Sure, he hadn’t sworn off marriage forever — someday, maybe, if someone truly stirred his heart…

‘But not now. Definitely not now.’

Everything in his life felt unsettled. Even if love were standing right in front of him, he didn’t want it now.

Cedar lifted his head.

Two clear, pale green eyes — fresh like newly sprouted leaves — were gazing up at him.

There was no affection, no infatuation in them. Just innocent curiosity. Childlike.

He bit his lip.

She didn’t feel anything for him. And just thinking these things on his own made him feel guilty.

A red warning light flashed in his head — stop.

But before he could rein himself in, words slipped from his lips.

“For the time being…”

“Yes?”

“For the time being, I’ll be… busy.”

And with that, Cedar turned and fled the mansion.

His thoughts were tangled like a ball of yarn gone wild, and the pounding in his chest threatened to burst out of him.

‘When did this start happening to me?’

He should’ve known — this is why you never let anyone else into your home.

He needed distance. At least until he could sort out his own feelings.

Meanwhile, Diana — who had just learned that Nelly might have woken from her comatose state — hurriedly sent a letter requesting to visit the Granite Duchy.

But every reply she received was a polite refusal.

“What on earth!”

The reason the Granites refused her visits was simple.

Cedar, rebelling against his mother, the Duchess, wasn’t staying at the main mansion at all — instead, he was living at a residence attached to the Blue Dragon Knights.

And the Duchess of Granite found this deeply embarrassing, doing everything she could to hide it.

If Diana had sent her letters directly to the Knights’ headquarters, Cedar would have surely answered.

But she didn’t know that — so she only chewed on her nails in frustration.

“This won’t do. I’m too worried. I’ll have to go there myself.”

Diana dressed up brightly and headed for the Granite estate, certain that they wouldn’t turn her away in person.

But she was wrong — she couldn’t even get past the main gate.

“Nelly Periway is my sister! I just want to see her!”

“I told you, we can’t let anyone in today! The Madam said not to admit anyone!”

“You’re telling me I can’t even see my own sister without permission?”

“I’m sorry, Miss, but not today. Please go back!”

Diana refused to give up, but the gatekeeper’s unyielding stance left her no choice but to withdraw.

And as her carriage drove away, a pair of eyes watched quietly.

“…Seems lively here today.”

The man had shoulder-length black hair tied loosely behind him. He was slender but tall and broad-shouldered — not weak in the slightest.

Facing him, the Duchess of Granite, Briar, gave a forced smile.

“I refused all guests, but it seems someone else showed up uninvited.”

“Why refuse visitors? You could’ve carried on as usual.”

His voice was polite but cold. The Duchess tightened her grip on her fan until it creaked — but didn’t break.

Even so, the charming smile never left her face.

Once a mere maid, she had risen all the way to become a Duchess on beauty alone — and she knew exactly which expression made her look her best.

“How could I entertain anyone else when I heard you were coming, Grisha?”

The man before her — her stepson, the trueborn second son of the Granite line — didn’t even offer a courtesy smile.

The servants watching from behind them exchanged nervous glances.

After years away, the legitimate heir had finally returned — Grisha of House Granite.

Cedar, meanwhile, had decided to keep his distance from Nelly until he could calm his heart.

But where else could he go?

In the end, his steps took him back to the Blue Dragon Knights, where he’d already requested an extra week of leave from Hyle.

It should’ve been training time, yet the place was strangely noisy.

‘Don’t tell me discipline’s fallen apart just because I wasn’t here.’

With a frown, Cedar made his entrance deliberately loud.

“Why’s it so noisy in here?”

“Captain!”

Normally, they’d be startled and straighten up, but this time the knights rushed toward him, excited.

“Sir! Did you know that Sir Jacques is an elf?”

“An elf?”

What kind of nonsense was this?

Cedar turned to look at Jacques, who stood surrounded by the others, scratching his cheek awkwardly.

“I knew he wasn’t human, but an elf?”

Elf? That was a race Cedar had never even heard of before.

‘Do they all know something I don’t?’

No wonder — it had been over a hundred years since an elf was last seen among humans.