Chapter 6 - Differences in the way beds are shared

6.Differences in the way beds are shared

Unknowingly, my mouth was wide open. Poverty beyond my imagination.

Anna then began to look at my face with a slightly anxious look. She seemed worried that she might have made a slip of the tongue.

“Pavel knows the details… Should I go get him right now?”

If it was Pavel, it was the butler whose name she had heard from Anna many times.

At the thought of meeting someone new, my timid heart began pounding furiously. Though, I couldn’t help it.

The maintenance of the castle is the responsibility of the hostess.

On the first day I got here, I had called on the butler to take over the books and keys, but the handover was delayed because I fainted. If I delay any further, I will be branded as a lazy lady who only likes to play and eat.

In order to establish their position, one must first get close to the employees. These were the teachings of my late mother.

“Right. I met the butler… No, NO!”

I made up my mind and nodded my head sullenly, then immediately remembered my appearance and hurriedly shook my hands. I got drunk and fainted last night, so I looked terrible.

I can’t meet the butler like this.

“I think I need to take a bath first.”

“Ah, yes! That must be the first thing. I’ll prepare water for your bath!”

Anna jumped as if the thought had never crossed her mind and went into the bathroom connected to the room.

Perhaps because she was not proficient in her work, there was a loud noise every time she moved, but her hands moved fast enough to quickly prepare a warm bath.

“I’ll help you wash up.”

“It’s okay. I can do it alone. Will you prepare a meal while I take a bath?”

“Yes, madam.”

After I let Anna go, I took off my clothes and soaked myself in a bathtub with warm water. It just felt like the fatigue from the past had completely disappeared.

When I saw Anna’s clumsy appearance, I didn’t expect much, but the water temperature was just right. Even though it was a low-end product, she also prepared perfume for my batch.

However, just after taking a bath and trying to get out of the tub, a problem arose. Maybe it was because Anna was so focused on preparing the bath water that she didn’t have a towel ready to wipe my body.

It was as simple as pulling the rope and calling the maid, but the problem was that the rope in this room was broken.

‘What should I do?’

As I rolled my eyes around in the bathtub, the water gradually cooled and my body became cold. I might catch a cold if I stayed here like this.

I figured I should hurry and get out of the water. As soon as I got up I heard the sound of a door opening from outside.

‘Did Anna bring the towel late?’

I carefully stepped out of the bathroom, shivering in the cold air. It was a highly plausible guess, since me and Anna were the only people who could go in and out of the baroness’s room.

However, it was not Anna who opened the door and entered. Instead, a man whom I never thought would be here stood tall with his eyes wide open towards me.

‘A, Altair…?’

I froze at the sudden appearance of this person as I was leaving the bathroom.

Altair also opened the door, went inside and stood motionlessly.

It was as if time had stopped.

“My Lord, what are you doing? Are you not coming in?”

It was a familiar voice that broke the awkward air of silence. It was the knight named Blan, who acted as the groom’s representative at the wedding.

As soon as I heard his voice, my head, which had blanked along with my body, recognized the situation.

“KYAAAAA!”

I screamed and ran back into the bathroom and closed the door tightly. My heart thumped violently. I was worried that my heart might explode at this rate.

‘W-w-w-w-what do I do?!’

Standing in front of Altair without a single thread on!

My eyes twirled with surprise and embarrassment.

“Huh? Madam you just screamed, didn’t you? What’s wrong..?!”

Blan’s surprised voice snapped at the same time as the “thump!” sound.

“Ugh, lord! If you close the door suddenly like this, I’ll bump into it.”

“Foolish for bumping into the door.”

“I’m not exaggerating. Do you think a knight is made out of steel? I think my nose is broken.”

“So if your nose is flat, it’s a good thing. Stop whining and get lost.”

“But inside, the scream of the madam…”

“I’ll take care of it. Get out of here!”

The end of the conversation followed after Altair’s roaring voice. It seems that Blan heeded to his command, and in an instant, the surroundings became quiet. But my mind was still buzzing.

What the hell is going on and how am I supposed to deal with this? Then, my brain that had been squeaking for a while found the answer.

‘L-Let’s get dressed first!’

Fortunately, the clothes I had taken off before entering the bathtub were still inside.

I quickly picked up my clothes and glanced at the tightly closed door. I was in a hurry because I thought Altair would open the door at any moment.

Contrary to my hastened mind, my hands kept moving slowly. My body was full of water, so I couldn’t get dressed as quickly as I thought I would.

I couldn’t tie the string in the back by myself. I don’t know if it’s the way I took off my clothes, but these clothes seemed to need the help of a maid to be put on in the first place.

While I tried to get dressed quickly, it was quiet outside.

Did Altair go back? But I didn’t hear the door open.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm my still pounding heart, and carefully opened the bathroom door.

Using the door as a shield, I gently pulled my head out, and Altair was still standing at the entrance.

The only difference from before I ran into the bathroom was that he was hiding his face in his hands and had his head down.

“What the hell.”

Perhaps feeling my presence, Altair opened his mouth with his head still bowed.

“What the hell is wrong with you..? Why are you in that condition?”

I choked up at the scolding tone, so I clenched my skirt with my hands.

He was the one who trespassed. I’m the one who should feel embarrassed! It was me, not Altair, who should be reprimanding someone in this situation!

However, the protest that came out of his mouth was very timid, unlike his scolding.

“This is my room… I thought no one would come in… If you had given me a message before your visit, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Huh.”

As I hesitated and carefully expressed my opinion, Altair smiled in vain and raised his head.

As soon as our eyes met, I could clearly see his shoulders shaking. When he gets angry his face turns stone cold.

“Do you send a message every time you go to your room?”

“Pardon…?”

“Why do I have to send word every time I come to your room?”

“But… this is my room…”

The conversation took a strange turn. Altair took a step closer towards me, sweeping up his hair roughly, seemingly frustrated at my words.

“Hey. Since when did a married couple’s bedroom belong solely to the wife?”

“A married couple’s bedroom?”

It was the first time I had ever heard of it.

Married couple. Bedroom. Can these two words be used at once?

My head went blank because I couldn’t comprehend his words.

“Then, ‘couple’s bedroom’ means…”

“This is your room, but it’s also my room. It’s natural for a married couple to share a bedroom and a bed together.”

“I’ve never heard of such a story before…”

A married couple sleeps in the same bed only on certain days. On other days, it was a custom for capital aristocrats to spend the night in their own bedroom.

If a married couple share a bedroom and share a bed every night, they will be criticized for being lewd and undignified.

Sharing a bed every day, every time… That only happened when dealing with the government.

“My parents always had separate bedrooms and all the other nobles……”

“Now that I’m at this age, I have to be with a woman? And with my wife?”

When I saw Altair pinch his forehead as if he was in trouble, my shoulders shrank.

‘In the east, do married couples share bedrooms?’

I was aware that different regions practiced different customs. However, I never considered how different our cultures would be since we’re from the same country. I didn’t think much of getting married and moving to an unfamiliar place.

But share a bedroom with my husband? More so, my husband, ‘the villain’ Altair?

My body was soaking wet since I couldn’t dry off properly. Upon remembering my embarrassing state, my body started to tremble. Altair wrinkled his brows tightly, as if showing distaste.

Altair’s smirked and the sight caused my shoulders to flinch.

Not knowing what to say, I lowered my head weakly and put strength on my small, timid hand on the skirt, when something heavy fell on my shoulder.

When I raised my head in surprise, my shoulders were covered with a coat. It was the clothes Altair was wearing a while ago.

And Altair is…..

‘thud!’ And with the sound of the door closing violently, Altair’s figure disappeared.

* * * *

Altair violently closed the door and ran out.

He had been walking across the hallway for a long time, as if he had to attend to something serious. He suddenly stopped and buried his face in both of his hands.

“……It’s crazy.”

Altair’s ears were burning. He let out a series of loud sighs.

Even if he tried not to think about it, the scene he saw as soon as he opened the door shimmered in front of his eyes.

Her gentle scent was so pleasant. How can he forget that?

When he remembered Nadia with her head bowed and her small shoulders trembling in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel the heat.

In front of Nadia, he desperately tried to be patient and covered her with his coat, but he almost inadvertently touched her.

Recalling that moment again, Altair involuntarily touched his forearm. However, unlike Nadia’s body, which looked white and soft, his arms were filled with muscles and were as hard as a rock.

‘Wake up, Altair Ailsford!’

Altair bit his lip and closed his eyes, and began to sing the Imperial Army song in his head. After singing three times from the beginning to the end, he was able to come back as a calm and usual self.

He took one last deep breath and opened his tightly closed eyes. He made eye contact with Pavel, who was looking at him with a dumbfounded face.

“…….”

” ……My eyes are not wrong, my lord?”

Pavel glanced at Altair from head to toe, as if he had just seen something strange.

“There’s a lot of weird stuff going on today. Blan’s nose was broken and he was bleeding. My lord is standing in the hallway like a madman.”

“I was just standing here.”

Altair coughed a couple of times trying to ignore Pavel’s gaze, who seemed to have a lot to say. Pavel was holding a pile of books in both hands, so he quickly changed the topic.

“What’s all that?”

“These are the estate records from the past three years. I was about to give them to the madam, since she will now be in charge of managing the castle.”

“Manage?”

Originally, it was the hostess’ job to manage the castle. The butler’s words

But Altair doubted that the little, frail woman, who fainted from fatigue, would be able to do that job.

“If you can’t do it, don’t pass it on. I’ll try and do it myself with little help.”

“She’s from the Marquis Vain, one of the most prestigious families in the Empire, so she should be a lot more capable of doing this than I am.”

“What? A guy like you?”

Altair frowned and lightly tapped Pavel’s shoulder at the words that contained a hint of discrimination regarding her origins.

In most cases, the butler that manages the internal affairs of the castle usually came from a family that passed down the position from generation to generation. However, Pavel was a commoner with no lineage or experience.

“Don’t use strange notions as a weapon. Don’t you know that I avoid making excuses because I don’t want to needlessly add on to work that I already have.”

“Oh, I got caught. That’s too bad.”

Pavel sighed exaggeratedly and shrugged his shoulders.

“Then I’ll go see the madam. As My Lord said, I can’t play with strange things as a weapon. We need to fix the rope.”

“No, wait!”

Altair hastily stopped Pavel, who was about to move.

“Not now.”

“What? Why?”

“Right now…”

While trying to find the words to explain, Altair’s face grew hot as he remembered Nadia again. He clenched his fists and clenched his teeth, to disperse his thoughts.

“In any case, no. Go see her in an hour-… no, two hours.”

“My Lord. You know that you’ve been acting suspicious since a while ago, right?”

“Nonsense.”

Pavel narrowed his eyes and looked at Altair. Obviously, the Lord today is very different from usual.

‘Did something happen between him and the madam?’

Altair’s sigh reached Pavel’s ear, who was trying to figure out why in his own way.

“And clean up a room. So I can get some sleep.”

“A room? Are there any guests coming?”

Altair’s personal relationships were very scarce, so it was very rare for guests to visit.

“Just clean it up like I told you to.”

“What kind of coercion is that…”

“I don’t have the energy to argue with you. Get the hell out of here. Don’t forget to be back in three hours.”

“Yes? You said to come in two hours…”

Did I do that?

Altair, who was agonizing for a moment, frowned, and opened his mouth again.

“……then make it six hours.”

“WHAT? Six hours? Why did the time increase again, My Lord?”

“Two multiplied by three is six.”

“No, what nonsense is that……. My Lord? My Lord!”

Pavel, who was not convinced by his order, called out Altair at the top of his lungs. But Altair continued to walk down the hallway without looking back.