<CHAPTER 72>
I Can No Longer Hide It Now
Meanwhile, at that moment,
An enormous accident was happening at the house of the Inspector.
“Your Highness, I will somehow try to fix the door.”
Redemberg’s gaze turned toward the miserably crumpled wooden door.
How many times had the door broken already?
Last time he had only removed the door, but this time the door frame was completely destroyed as well.
But there was a more serious problem than the door.
“I cannot do anything about that.”
What Herond referred to as ‘that’ was—
The bed stuck between the wall separating the white kitchen and the bars.
He had tried to forcibly push in the expected mattress and wooden frame, and it had gotten stuck diagonally.
“As I mentioned earlier, if we force that, the house might collapse.”
“I know as well.”
How could he not know?
When he tried to force it in, a loud cracking sound came from the wall, the entire house shook, so he had left it in that state.
“So why did you try to force such a huge thing in with strength…………….”
“I thought it would work.”
“How would something that huge go in by being forcibly pushed into a narrow gap?”
Redemberg felt wronged.
He knew with his own eyes that the sizes didn’t match.
He thought if he tried hard enough, it would somehow go in.
It can’t be helped. We’ll have to break it and pull it out.
As if reading Redemberg’s thoughts, Herond subtly hinted.
“If you break that, Ehilie will have to sleep on the floor today. Since you turned the old bed into powder, saying it was useless.”
“We can’t break the wall and roughly repair it with magic either. Because of Ehili’s divine power, it will break again soon.”
“Your Highness, I dared not even imagine. That the purpose of the bed I struggled to bring ‘alone’ was for display.”
Herond had been strangely, no, openly scraping at his nerves since earlier.
“Quiet.”
At the sharp gaze, Herond flinched and diligently repaired the door.
Redemberg glared at the enormous bed that he could neither pull out nor push in, then ran a hand down his face.
What is this foolishness?
He never thought he’d be so troubled over a mere bed in his life.
If this weren’t Ehilie’s house, and if that bed weren’t meant to lay her down, he would have cleanly smashed everything to solve it.
When he could do neither this nor that, he sensed Ehilie returning from afar.
Damn it!
Redemberg went out to meet her at the door without hesitation.
To prevent this miserable scene from entering Ehili’s eyes first.
“Rek!”
Ehilie, seeing Redemberg, came running with quick steps.
Her blue eyes curved into half-moon shapes and her rosy cheeks puffed out, truly lovely.
Desire rose in his eyes.
To embrace her right away, take her inside, and lay her down on the bed……………….
……Bed.
Damn it. That blasted bed.
Redemberg barely grabbed his half-flown reason and smiled.
“Ehilie, you’ve returned earlier than I thought. I expected you to come back around dinner time.”
“……Did you want me to come back late?”
“How could that be?”
Yes, it couldn’t be.
If only the bed he had prepared for her weren’t stuck in the corner of the wall.
“I just needed some time.”
Redemberg needed time.
Time to deal with that cursed bed.
He had intended to solve the bed problem before Ehilie returned and welcome her.
Since it might take more time than expected, he had even told her to take her time and enjoy herself.
“Time………………you say?”
“Yes.”
Ehili’s expression instantly became sulky.
The prettily raised corners of her mouth drooped.
“Ehilie?”
Redemberg felt his heart sink.
Other people’s emotions were merely bothersome things not worth worrying about.
But with Ehilie, it was different.
Even at her small changes in expression, his stomach always churned as if hit by a tidal wave.
“……Rek.”
At her voice dripping with disappointment, he tensed.
Even when a knife was at his throat, he had been unfazed.
Yet merely at Ehilie calling his name sorrowfully, his body stiffened.
“Y-yes, Ehilie.”
“Did I perhaps bother you too much?”
“What?”
“Does Rek need alone time too?”
“What, Ehilie, first calm down, properly, tell me, slowly, let’s talk.”
The one who needed to calm down was Redemberg.
Normally, he would have naturally whispered sweet words and smoothly led the conversation,
But at her sulky appearance now, he was fumbling around like a screw had come loose somewhere.
“I heard that men need alone time.”
“Which bast-”
“Yes?”
In a moment of anger, his original manner of speech slipped out.
Redemberg quickly corrected himself to a polite and affectionate tone.
“Which person uttered such nonsense?”
“……The village ladies. They also said that men gradually reveal their true nature after marriage.”
“Ha.”
Redemberg let out a sigh-mixed scoff.
True nature.
How could he show such a thing when he had obtained her.
He had absolutely no intention of revealing his true nature to Ehilie. Even less did he think of having alone time.
His temporarily paralyzed head quickly turned.
And only then did he understand her behavior.
If he had known Ehilie would have such a misunderstanding, he would have had Herond take care of things and followed her.
To quickly clear the misunderstanding, he whispered gently with a refined smile.
“Yes, that’s right. Since Ehilie has already found out, I can no longer hide it now.”
“Yes?”
“I will show you. Please follow me.”
Redemberg led Ehilie into the house.
“Your Highness? The cleaning isn’t finished yet………………”
Herond, who had just finished perfectly repairing the door, quickly stepped aside with keen perception.
Soon Ehilie entered the house and faced the miserable state inside.
“Wh-what is that? Why is the bed standing up like that?”
“It got stuck while trying to force it in.”
“Why didn’t you disassemble it and put it in?”
“I thought roughly pushing it in would work.”
“How would that work?”
Ehilie looked back and forth between the bed and Redemberg.
And soon her eyes and mouth gently drew soft curves.
Pfft.
A smile returned to the previously sulky Ehili’s face.
“So that’s why you wanted me to come back late? To install that flat bed?”
“Yes. I wanted to show you after perfectly installing it, but as you can see, I failed.”
“Indeed. At this rate, we’ll have to sleep on the floor today.”
“That cannot be. I will become the bed.”
“Um, that’s a bit.”
“Do you dislike it?”
“Yes. Rek isn’t that soft.”
“If I had known this, I should have gained more weight.”
Warm warmth circulated through the house.
A flower of laughter bloomed on Ehili’s face, which had been on the verge of tears just moments ago.
That was enough.
Between being misunderstood as wanting alone time and becoming a incompetent husband who destroyed the house trying to install one bed.
If he had to choose between the two, the latter was obviously better.
***
Ehilie was relieved.
Knowing that Rek hadn’t grown tired of or annoyed with her.
“More importantly, what should we do with this bed?”
Ehilie tried to push the bed slightly.
How had he wedged it in? The frame was tightly stuck between the wall and floor, not budging at all.
While wondering how on earth he had moved this huge bed alone.
“Ehilie, a good idea has occurred to me.”
Rek, who had approached at some point, spoke gently.
“What is it?”
“Let’s enlarge the house to fit the bed.”
“Yes?”
“This bedroom seems too narrow to accommodate that large bed. Since it would be a waste to throw away what we’ve brought, how about taking this opportunity to expand the house a bit?”
“Wouldn’t the expansion cost more? We’d need many people…………….”
“You need not worry about that. Herond is a repair specialist.”
“Really?”
The butler does construction too?
Ehilie looked at Herond with surprised eyes.
Herond, who had perfectly repaired the fallen door, was also looking at Redemberg with surprised eyes. He somehow looked like he had much to say.
Come to think of it, he really repaired the door cleanly!
The doors must have been in chaos during the process of trying to force the large bed in.
The door Herond repaired was as neat as new.
It seemed Redemberg’s words about him being a repair specialist were true.
“But it would be hard for Mr. Herond to work alone.”
“Harond will help too.”
“Ah, right. Mr. Harond was there too.”
“Yes. I will also hire reliable workers separately, so do not worry.”
“Then, let’s do that.”
It certainly wouldn’t be bad to have a larger house.
Moreover, if it was just increasing the bedroom size a bit, the construction costs wouldn’t be too high.
Herond knew.
That Redemberg had no intention of hiring workers.
That he would never allow other men into Ehili’s residence.
Probably the reliable workers he spoke of were Herond 1, Herond 2, Herond 3……………….
In conclusion, it meant Herond had to do it all himself.
This is not right!
Herond quickly complained the moment Redemberg stepped outside the house.
“Your Highness, this is too much! Suddenly telling me to expand the house. Do you know how busy I am? Because you have been absent from the demon realm for so long, I am handling all the accumulated official duties!”
“You’re doing well.”
“Of course! Who am I? I am Your Highness’s right hand………………. No, Your Highness! Even if you praise me like that, no means no.”
Herond asserted strongly.
“I absolutely, absolutely cannot do this! Even if the sky splits in two!”
