Chapter 109

Breaking the bed (9)

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“Queen Mother, are you raising your hand on my wife now?”

A lazy voice as deep as the roar of a beast rang out.

The queen’s hand trembled in the air as Tarkan’s grip tightened on her wrist.

“W-What…”

The queen muttered, her lips pale. She twisted her arm to try and release the grip on her hand, but Tarkan didn’t budge.

“How dare you act so rudely to me, the Queen! Will you unhand me this instant?!”

“Before I do that, you must answer my question, Mother.”

Every time Tarkan called her ‘mother’, veins bulged on the Queen’s forehead.

“Let go!”

The Queen struggled.

“Tarkan, let Her Majesty go immediately!”

“How dare you do this to mother!”

“This is impudent!”

Even the princesses who felt overwhelmed by Tarkan’s presence began to yell at him.

But Tarkan didn’t even glance at them. His eyes were only looking down at the queen. He tightened his grip on her wrist, squeezing it tighter, and pulled her close.

At that rough action, the Queen stopped squirming.

The moment she looked up, Tarkan whispered softly.

“Hm? Your Majesty, were you trying to hit my wife?”

The Queen sucked in a breath in spite of herself.

Those golden eyes that seemed unhuman were looking down at her as if they wanted to pierce through her.

His beast-like eyes gleamed in front of her. It felt like blood was draining out of her body.

Her back broke out in cold sweat.

The thought of this being insolent or arrogant didn’t even cross her mind. She was completely overwhelmed by the intense pressure he was emitting.

Tarkan looked at the Queen who was trembling and pale, then he let go of her hand.

The Queen’s legs went weak, so she staggered and fell but Jacquelin caught her. Inwardly, he wanted to just let her fall but if he did that, things would get worse.

Tarkan turned and his gaze swept over the princesses one by one.

The princesses were startled and looked away. Even though they wanted to glare at him, they couldn’t withstand it.

“Wife.”

Tarkan held out his hand to Aristine. It was a soft gesture unlike when he grabbed the Queen’s hand.

Aristine placed her hand on his callus-filled hand. Tarkan squeezed her hand firmly.

“We shall take our leave now, Mother.”

It was a one-sided notification.

Tarkan began walking out without waiting for the Queen to reply. And Aristine was walking beside him. Their hands were tightly clasped together.

“…”

The people left in the room stared blankly at their departing backs then they came to their senses.

With Tarkan’s overwhelming pressure gone, they could finally breathe.

The Queen was helped to her seat by the court ladies. They quickly brought a cold towel to put on the Queen’s forehead and neck and to moisten her lips.

Seeing this scene, Yenikarina glared fiercely at the tea-room door. Aristine and Tarkan were already gone.

‘To that low-born, I…!’

Venom filled her eyes. Yenikarina bit her lips tight.

* * *

Aristine silently followed Tarkan’s lead.

He suddenly barged in and brought her out, so she thought he wanted to tell her something, but he hadn’t said anything even after they had walked for a while.

“Tarkan.”

Even when she called him, he didn’t answer.

After following him for a while, she called him again.

“Tarkan.”

Tarkan stopped walking and stood still. But he didn’t look at her.

Aristine tilted her head puzzled, then stood on her tiptoes and looked up at his face.

When their eyes met, Tarkan flinched then suddenly plopped down.

“Ah—.”

Tarkan covered his face with his palm.

Aristine was startled and patted him on the shoulder.

“Why, what is it? Is something wrong?”

However, Tarkan didn’t react. He just remained like that, with one hand over his face.

‘Well, I don’t think he’s sick.’

Aristine shook her hand which was clasped with Tarkan’s, thinking something was up. But he didn’t let go.

Aristine stared at him without saying a word, then she went ‘mph’ and began to pull down the hand that was covering his face.

Tarkan was startled when a soft hand suddenly touched his face. He tried to hold on but when Aristine gently scratched between his fingers, he couldn’t endure.

But he was still able to cover his nose and lips.

Tarkan’s eyes met Aristine’s.

The eyes which had suppressed the Queen with choking pressure earlier seemed nowhere to be found.

“What’s wrong?” (Aristine)

Tarkan’s expression looked complicated.

There were so many emotions running through his face that Aristine, who wasn’t used to dealing with people, couldn’t read him properly.

Silence persisted for a while.

Tarkan glanced at Aristine who was looking at him worriedly.

《 You see, I really like my husband.》

《 I am proud of my husband, and I think I did well marrying him.》

《 Despite all that, I know Tarkan is a good person.》

“Aristine”

“Mn.”

“Aristine.”

“What.”

“Aristine.”

“Why do you keep calling me?”

“Aristine.”

“…”

Aristine stared at him without replying.

‘Oh, she looked peeved.’

Her face was as expressionless as always, but Tarkan could tell what she was feeling.

Since when could he read it?

He just thought it was interesting to see when her emotions peeked through and couldn’t help but watch her and somehow, he could tell.

Tarkan dusted himself and got up.

“Let’s go.”

Aristine narrowed her eyes at him but eventually nodded without saying a word.

“Mn.”

Even then, the two of them were still holding hands.

Tarkan walked slowly. His pace was completely different from when he was coming to the Queen’s palace.

If you think about it, running over such a long distance was incredibly inefficient. But at the time, he didn’t even think of getting a horse.

And for some reason, same thing was happening now.

It took them a while to arrive, but he felt fine with it.

The sensation passing through his hand was warm. Perhaps it was because he slept holding this hand every night so now, he was used to this warmth and softness.

With every step they took, Aristine’s hair fluttered.

Tarkan looked down at her.

Her round forehead, long eyelashes, tender cheeks, and light pink lips.

“Aristine.”

When he called, she looked up.

Her purple eyes, which were hidden when she was walking beside him, were now completely directed at him.

“…”

Since you became my wife, I’m also…

What I mean to say is…

The words wouldn’t leave his mouth.

After looking at Tarkan for a bit, Aristine wrinkled her nose and turned away again.

Her steps suddenly grew much faster.

She seemed angry.

‘Well, anger shows pretty well, I’d say.’

If you just looked at her normal expression or the way she acted, you wouldn’t think she’d ever get angry.

“Ari—.”

“Don’t call me. If you call me one more time…”

“If I do?”

“I’m going to scream ‘pervert’ here.”

“…”

Tarkan’s face froze.

‘Ah, I forgot how she usually is.’

The mood was non-existent, or maybe there was no such thing as a mood between them.

She was a very peculiar woman indeed.

Tarkan chuckled.

Regardless of what happened, the two walked side by side, not ever letting go of the other.

Their destination was naturally their honeymoon room.

But there was someone who was watching all this…