<CHAPTER 71>
A Married Couple’s Quarrel Is Like Cutting Water with a Knife
Princess Beatrice’s room.
“If turbid energy mixes in, divine power can become disrupted. While the treatment is being performed, no one must enter this room.”
Clarisse firmly locked the door and drew the curtains before approaching the princess.
Soon she took out a hand mirror from her bosom.
A black shadow flowed out from within the mirror and wrapped around the princess’s body.
What will happen now?
Though she had boasted she would heal the princess, Clarisse actually knew nothing.
She merely followed the goddess’s will.
She hadn’t thought about what results her actions would bring.
The only choices she made of her own will were selecting which new dress or luxury items to buy each day.
The flickering shadow slowly seeped into the princess’s body.
Then the princess’s eyes opened wide.
“Gasp.”
Clarisse took a startled breath.
Heavens, the princess has really awakened?
The princess, who had inherited thick Imperial blood, turned her unusually golden eyes toward Clarisse.
Ah, expression management, expression management!
Clarisse hid her surprised look and made a benevolent smile.
“Are you conscious? Your Highness the Princess.”
What? Why isn’t she speaking?
The princess, who had been quietly watching Clarisse, slowly began to raise the corners of her mouth.
“Eek!”
Clarisse unknowingly let out a scream-like groan and stepped back.
The princess’s expression was too bizarre.
Wh-what is that!
As if someone had forcibly pulled up both sides of her lips with an invisible fishing line, the corners of her mouth rose to an abnormal angle. Her eyes were empty and unfocused, yet her mouth was stretched wide in a smile, creating an ominous sense of alienation.
It was as if something wearing human skin was forcibly imitating a human form.
Soon a calm voice flowed from the princess’s mouth.
“Not a very excellent body.”
“Yes? Wh-what…………….”
“Well, it doesn’t matter since I won’t be using it for long. Don’t stand there blankly, go and speak. Say that the princess has awakened.”
A manner of speech unbecoming of a child.
It was an alien atmosphere, as if someone else’s soul had entered the body.
Clarisse felt momentary puzzlement but didn’t think deeply about it.
Everything is as the goddess said.
Since she had cured the princess’s illness that no one else could heal, now the Emperor would trust Clarisse completely.
Soon a puppet Emperor who could not defy the Saintess’s words would be born.
***
Ehilie had been troubled since early morning.
Because the bed had broken last night.
I thought it was creaking unusually severely these days!
Ehili’s bed was too old and small to accommodate a newlywed couple in their prime.
“Shall we buy a new one this time? I was thinking of changing the bed soon anyway since it’s so old. This is perfect timing!”
Naturally, she thought Rek would agree.
But he had a thoughtful expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s a bit of a waste.”
“Yes? A waste…….”
Ehilie was bewildered.
She never expected such words from his mouth.
But she soon agreed.
“Well. Beds aren’t cheap, and it is a waste to just buy one carelessly. Then shall we try fixing it with wooden boards for now?”
“That’s not the reason. I just thought there’s no need to buy one when there’s already a bed at the mansion.”
“Ah!……………is not what I meant. You’re going to bring that here?”
“Yes.”
“It’s too far from the mansion to here. It would be too troublesome to go back and forth just to move one bed.”
“It’s fine. I had already asked Herond to bring some of my belongings here, so I’ll have him bring the bed as well.”
“If that’s the case………………. Alright.”
After the wedding, Rek had naturally settled into Ehili’s house.
“How could a married couple live separately?”
He had said, and since it was essentially true, Ehilie had gradually grown accustomed to living with him in this house.
“Didn’t you plan to have tea with the ladies today? I’ll take care of the bed, so please go comfortably.”
“Wasn’t Rek coming with me?”
“I couldn’t possibly intrude on a gathering of ladies.”
Ehilie made a dumbfounded expression looking at him answering as if it were obvious.
Because Rek had never once let Ehilie go out alone after their marriage.
Wherever Ehilie went, he always followed like a shadow.
She thought they were too attached for a newlywed couple, so one day when she tried to firmly separate them.
“Was it a lie when you said you would never leave my side?”
“Yes?”
“……I understand. If Ehilie is uncomfortable, it can’t be helped. I will remain here in this house, lonely and forlorn.”
“I’m fine, so please go comfortably.”
She had just gone out to buy some fruit, yet he acted as if the world was collapsing, so she eventually gave up.
What is this, he’s like a dog with separation anxiety.
Anyway, the man who had desperately followed her around was now strangely allowing Ehilie’s outing without resistance.
“Alright. I’ll be back before dinner.”
“No. Since it’s a rare outing, don’t worry about me and enjoy yourself. It’s fine if you return around sunset.”
Tomorrow the sun will rise from the west.
Ehilie set out with a strangely uneasy feeling.
***
“Newlywed, why are you alone today?”
“Oh my, that’s right, what about your husband?”
“Ah, he has some matters.”
She couldn’t bring herself to say that the bed had broken and Rek stayed home to bring in a new bed, so she awkwardly laughed it off.
Perhaps taking that laughter negatively, the ladies asked with concern.
“What’s going on? Did you fight?”
“Yes? No. No!”
“Of course you did. It shows all over your expression. Don’t worry too much, newlywed. It’s natural for couples to fight while living together.”
It seemed a serious misunderstanding had occurred.
“That’s right. How could people always be happy?”
“Right. My husband too, he used to follow me around so much when we were dating, but now he doesn’t even come to meet me when I say I’m going somewhere.”
“My husband is the same. He actually gets so happy when I say I’m going out!”
The ladies all complained about their husbands.
“That’s how men are. They act like they’d give you their liver and gallbladder before marriage, but the moment they marry you, they change suddenly.”
“Right. When a man acts differently than usual, that’s when he starts slowly revealing his true nature.”
Ehilie, troubled that Rek was being cursed for no reason due to a misunderstanding, slowly interjected.
“True nature?”
“Yes, true nature! Think about it, newlywed. Hasn’t your husband changed since marriage? Saying he’s tired and going to bed early at night?”
No.
Rather, the problem was that the person who had been so delicate during the day overflowed with energy at night.
Ehilie was always the one who wanted to go to bed early saying she was tired.
“Naturally leaving all the housework to you?”
This was also the opposite.
Rek, who had already been attentive, became even more devoted to her after marriage.
When Ehilie tried to do some housework, he would naturally step in saying “I’ll do it” and take the work away from her.
The sight of such a noble man, who seemed like he’d never cleaned in his life, wiping windows with a rag was truly—
Magnificent!
Thanks to his outstanding face, whatever he did looked like a magazine spread.
Rek didn’t seem to have changed before or after marriage, but—
“Or, does he tell you not to worry about him and to enjoy yourself when you go out?”
Ehili’s eyes wavered instantly.
She had heard exactly those words today.
“Oh my, is your husband like that too? My husband always tells me to come back as late as possible when I go out.”
“Right! He tells me to come back leisurely around sunset.”
Goodness, when the exact same sentence came out without a single word different, Ehilie asked with a trembling voice.
“Why does he tell you to come back late?”
“Well, obviously…………….”
The ladies answered in unison.
“To enjoy his alone time.”
“Alone time?”
“Yes. Since there’s no one to bother him with work or nag him, he wants to fully laze around during that time.”
The thought of Rek lazing around.
She couldn’t imagine it.
Yet at the same time, she felt very uneasy.
I don’t think I’ve particularly nagged him……have I?
Ehilie wasn’t very confident. This was only her own thinking after all.
I spoke as usual, but to Rek it might have sounded like nagging.
So was that why he wanted to have his own free time today?
Ehili’s expression grew increasingly dark.
The ladies, belatedly noticing this, began to smooth things over.
“No, well, you see. Newlywed, that’s just how it is. But this also varies from person to person.”
“Right. They say a married couple’s quarrel is like cutting water with a knife.”
The more they said so, the more serious Ehilie became.
A married couple’s quarrel?
Could it be that Rek had been holding back a lot until now?
But now he couldn’t endure it anymore…………
“I’m sorry, but I think I need to go home early today.”
Ehilie stood up abruptly.
She couldn’t possibly enjoy tea with this anxiety.
