Chapter 22

Chapter 22

It’s only natural for McCain to go, but I don’t think Bleon would like it very much…

“Yes. He said that he was more confident than anyone since he knew the capital well. He said he had to go.”

“Hmm… I got it.”

Well, everything will be alright. I decided not to think about it any more.

“If anything happens, you should contact the mansion in Hares right away.”

“Understood.”

So I asked Jace about what to do while we were away and went to the office where Bleon was. I decided not to think about it any more, but I felt like I should talk to Bleon. When I arrived, the servant who I scolded the other day was guarding the door.

He looked at me and was startled, but this time he did the right thing without making the same mistake as before. And when he heard that I had come from inside, Bleon opened the door and greeted me.

“Wife…”

Bleon always smiled like the happiest person in the world whenever he saw me. So when I saw him like that, I felt good at the same time.

“Come in quickly.”

Bleon’s hair was a bit frizzy, perhaps he was very busy with urgent matters before leaving later. I grabbed Bleon’s outstretched hand and followed him inside. And as I sat down on the sofa, Bleon sat right next to me.

“What happened? Are you ready?”

“I’m almost done now. I think we could leave in an hour.”

“Really?”

“Yes. However…”

I paused for a while. Then, a look of anxiety crossed Bleon’s face.

“About the escort problem…”

“The escort?”

“Yes. While we are in Hares, some of the Knights decided to follow…”

I didn’t feel sorry for that. But as I said this, his mood subsided and I felt a little sorry for him and my mouth did not open easily.

“Did Sir McCain Holster decide to go?”

“Huh? Yes…”

But before I could speak, Bleon spoke up first. And he didn’t look that bad either.

“Wife is really… so nice…”

“What?”

“You can’t speak well because you’re worried… I’m fine, Wife.”

I looked blankly at Bleon’s unexpected reaction as he said that and smiled slightly.

“I thought it was natural for the Sir to follow.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. It’s probably been a while since we’ve both been to the capital city, and Sir McCain Holster grew up in the capital, so he’ll be familiar with it.”

“Sir McCain grew up in Hares?”

‘Ah, that’s why Jace said that before too.’

But how did Bleon know that? Did he do a background check?

“Yes. I looked into it. Oh, of course, I didn’t do it out of an impure heart… He’s going to be the commander of the Duchy’s knights, so I have to make sure he’s a trustworthy person to hire…”

Bleon made hasty excuses for fear that I might think of him as strange.

“I know. Good job.”

I praised him.

“…Yes?”

“Good job. You have to make sure you do that in the future. Alright?”

When bringing people into his house, he could neither let anyone just go in. Above all else, it was a job of hiring a knight commander to protect the Ducal family, but it was probably natural to investigate behind the scenes. It was fortunate that Bleon seemed to already know such basic things. And I inwardly felt proud that he finally took his first step as the head of the family.

Bleon, who had a bewildered expression on his face at my compliment, soon seemed to be in a very good mood and a smile filled his face.

“Yes. It feels so good to hear the compliments and to have my wife worry for me. Thank you, Wife…”

Saying this, Bleon gently placed the hand he had been holding on to his cheek. Then, for a moment, he quickly removed his cheek again.

“Oh, I’m sorry…. This kind of touch, I said I wouldn’t do it if the wife didn’t like it…”

He cried and said with a pitiful expression.

“It’s okay. I don’t dislike it.”

I smiled and patted his cheek softly, indicating that this was all right. Then, Bleon’s expression returned to the bright image he had just before, and he looked at me with a warm gaze.

“Wife said that if I listen carefully, you will absolutely never leave me, so I will listen to you well…”

I somehow felt he was emphasizing the word ‘absolutely’.

“I won’t do anything you don’t like and I’ll never do anything you don’t want to do… So just stay by my side like this…”

This shouldn’t have happened, but his words somehow tickled my heart again. Apart from Astell’s heart, somehow, my heart felt drawn to him. It was not difficult to deal with him from a distance by telling him not to cross the line, perhaps because Bleon has been re-awakened of his blindness these days.

When I tried to step back, he’d come forward two—no, ten steps more. That didn’t mean I saw him completely as a man, but I didn’t not like it, so it made me feel complicated.

‘How can I hate you when you cling to me like this?’

Still, I kept trying to stay vigilant. And even if it wasn’t really Philia, if another woman appeared in front of him, I was willing to let him go.

Not yet…

I could still keep my rationality.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out, so come take a look around.”

I quickly erased any worries that had not yet come from my mind and thought of things I would like to do in Hares.

‘I should also clean up the mansion and take a closer look at what this world looks like.’

I used to hate going to new places, but somehow it even made my heart flutter.

“Anywhere with my wife is good.”

And Bleon heightened my excitement with these pretty words.

An hour later, we were all ready to leave. In front of the carriage stood several knights of the Duchy, including McCain, with their horses.

“Let’s go.”

McCain suggested getting into the carriage. I turned around and looked at Jace before getting into the carriage, then nodded slightly. It’s to tell him that he should do well while I was away. Then I got into the carriage with Bleon, and as soon as we got on, the carriage started.

“Fortunately, it is not very hot. Right?”

Although it was summer, it was quite cool inside the carriage because we departed early to avoid the sun when it was the highest. In the carriage, it was only me and Bleon. The servants and maids had been sent to the mansion in Hares earlier yesterday for cleaning.

“Even so, I will fan you, Wife.”

And then Bleon started fanning me hard.

“It’s okay.”

“No. I’m not tired at all. And I am happy with everything I do for my wife.”

There was a smile on his lips as if he really liked fanning me. His fanning wasn’t enough to completely dissipate the heat, but it was still quite cool, so I stopped talking.

“Is it cool?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I grabbed his other hand in gratitude. Then, Bleon was surprised that I grabbed his hand first, but for a moment, he warmly wrapped my hand around me. And soon he started fanning more. I smiled broadly at him, it was so cute how he was so innocent.

The carriage ran and ran and arrived at a village about five hours away from Kren. It was late at night, so we decided to stay here for the day and move on again tomorrow morning. As a couple, we decided to share the same room because it was difficult if each of us shared a different room.

And I thought that there would be no discomfort because we slept in the same bed all the time. But that was a mistake.

It was only after I went into the room and looked around that I realized that the bed wasn’t that big.

“The bed… Isn’t it too small?”

“Oh, that’s right…?”

Of course, Bleon didn’t sleep so far apart because he slept holding my hand every day, but still, we didn’t sleep close to each other. However, if the two of us were to sleep together in such a narrow bed, it seemed that we could only sleep if our shoulders were close together. Confused about what to do, I glanced at Bleon.

“Wife, I will sleep on the floor.”

“What?”

But, perhaps knowing how I felt, Bleon decided to sleep on the floor first. However, I thought that no matter how uncomfortable it was, putting Bleon to sleep on the floor was not acceptable.

“No. Let’s just sleep together. After all, we sleep in the same bed every day.”

“Still, I think the wife will be uncomfortable…”

“It’s okay. It’s one night.”

“If it’s okay with you, Wife, I will…”

So we made a conclusion and prepared to wash up before going to bed. None of the employees came with me, so I had to wash myself here. However, unlike other nobles, in my case, I was not a noble person, so I was used to washing by myself, so it didn’t really matter.

Oh, but it was really hard on my body. No matter how much Bleon fanned it, riding a carriage for more than five hours in midsummer required a lot more stamina than I thought. I was exhausted and had no strength to wash myself, sitting in a chair and lying on the table.

“Wife, are you very tired?”

“I’m tired, but with a little rest, I’ll be fine.”

I didn’t have the strength to raise my head, so I kept lying on my face and answered.

“Can I wash you?”

“Huh?”

I was startled for a moment and raised my head to look at him.

“It was because I thought the wife was very tired, I didn’t mean it with a bad idea… And we haven’t done it recently, but we used to wash together…”

As he said, Bleon was looking at me with a rather plain face, perhaps with a really pure intention.

“No, it’s okay. I can do it myself.”

I thought he would really wash me if I showed any signs of exhaustion here, so I gathered all my strength and got up.

“…I see……”