[Marriage First, Awkward Dating Later]
After finishing her preparations, Belita went downstairs to check on breakfast preparations and waited for Rian. While he had gone to his room to change clothes, Belita had come down first and personally attended to the meal preparations.
A week had already passed. Since she started sleeping and eating with him. After that day, he came to Belita’s room without fail every night when it was time to sleep. The first day or two were awkward, but now even that had become familiar enough to not feel uncomfortable. That was also strange. They had slept separately for quite a long time, yet they could become this accustomed to each other in just a week. Perhaps it was because of the time she spent with Crazy Rian that they became familiar more quickly.
“Wife.”
“Your Grace, please eat.”
“Yes.”
His polite speech and manner of pulling out her chair remained the same, but what had changed was the smile on his face. His characteristically cold atmosphere and taciturn nature were still there, but he often tried to smile and make an effort to be together. She was grateful for his efforts.
“What are you doing today?”
“Nothing in particular……”
Though she was the Grand Duchess in name, she had never been in charge of the household affairs. The butler took care of the household matters, and Rian handled external affairs. At most, when there were regular gatherings, she would host guests, but even that disappeared when Crazy Rian eliminated those events, leaving her to spend her days without anything to do.
Even when she went around the mansion and managed the servants, it was just at an observational level, with the butler handling all the actual work. She merely nodded at the butler’s reports, which was too embarrassing to even call work.
Belita wanted to take on some responsibilities now. Not knowing how Rian would feel, she couldn’t quite bring herself to ask him to let her take charge of the household affairs, but she wanted to be of help to him somehow. She wanted to become someone necessary to the household and territory.
“Um, Your Grace.”
“Yes, wife.”
“I have a request……”
Rian, who had been quietly watching Belita as she fidgeted with her fingers hesitantly, put down his utensils and took her hand. When a startled Belita opened her eyes wide, he smiled kindly.
“Shall we go for a walk after our meal?”
“What?”
“Let’s talk over tea.”
“Aren’t you busy today?”
“No matter how busy I am, I should take a walk with you once a day.”
“Ah….. That sounds nice.”
“Then let’s finish our meal first.”
“Yes.”
After squeezing her hand once more before letting go, Rian cut the meat into small pieces and placed them on her plate. Then he smiled again.
Could a person change this much? Belita blushed and responded with an awkward smile, finding it both fascinating and not unpleasant how he had transformed into a completely different person in just a week.
After finishing their meal and coming out to the garden with Rian, Belita’s mind was complicated with thoughts about what kind of work she should ask for. But nothing specific came to mind. She wanted to take charge of the household affairs as the Grand Duchess, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She knew her position well.
Looking down at their interlaced fingers, Belita let out a deep sigh. Though they had become close enough to hold hands now, he still felt distant. They had agreed to start over, but she didn’t even know where they had started from. Come to think of it, it felt like they had continued buttoning a shirt without undoing the wrong buttons first. She was still just a wife Rian had bought with money.
“Haah……”
Hearing that deep sigh, Rian looked at her. The small hand in his was fidgeting again. It seemed to be her habit. A habit that emerged when she was worried or frustrated about something. It must be related to the request she had mentioned.
He wanted to ask but couldn’t find the courage. He was afraid she might say she wanted to go back to her hometown. So he had been stalling, but she still seemed to be contemplating something.
He worried that he might have been too forceful after first learning about his condition, making her accept unwillingly. That’s why he was making an effort. Trying to open her heart by showing a completely different side of himself than before.
At first, it had been awkward to fall asleep and wake up with someone else, but now her presence had grown so significant that he feared sleeping alone. Her hands were warm, and her steady breathing gave him a sense of security. The week that he slept with her seemed to be the most comfortable sleep he’d had in his life. But if she were to say she wanted to leave now, he didn’t think he could bear it.
“Your Grace.”
“Wife.”
“Ah, you go first.”
As they looked at each other and called out at the same time, an embarrassed Belita fidgeted with her fingers again and yielded the opportunity to speak to him. His expression seemed somehow shadowed compared to earlier, which made her courage wane.
However, after a brief pause, he returned the opportunity to speak to her.
“You should speak first, wife. Didn’t you say you had a request earlier?”
“What?”
“But I hope it’s not a request that I cannot grant.”
A request he cannot grant…? Ah…. Did he already know what I was going to ask?
The words she had been debating whether to say or not retreated further. Belita bowed her head deeply and stared blankly at their awkwardly joined hands.
Rian was equally anxious about her behavior. If it was a request difficult to speak about, it could only be that one. Growing uneasy, Rian regretted the absence of a child in this situation. If they had a child as he initially thought, her heart wouldn’t waver like this. She wouldn’t have easily thought about leaving his side.
While contemplating ways to keep her, Rian suddenly had a flash of insight. He remembered how she had tried to do something as the Grand Duchess when she first arrived.
‘Yes, it was definitely from that time. When she started to brighten up.’
“Wife.”
“Yes…?”
“Would you grant me a request first?”
“What…? A request?”
“Yes. I would really like you to accept it.”
At Rian’s words, her lips unconsciously protruded in a pout. She found him annoying for telling her not to make requests he couldn’t grant, then suddenly asking her to grant his request.
“What is it?”
“I need your help.”
“What…?”
“I’ve been so busy lately that I think the butler needs to help me with my work. But if the butler helps me, it would be difficult for him to manage the household affairs simultaneously.”
What does this mean? Belita’s heart began to race with an inexplicable feeling.
“So, would you take charge of the household affairs? I originally intended to entrust it to you from the beginning, but I wanted to give you time to adjust to the mansion……”
Belita’s eyes widened at Rian’s words.
What? Is he asking me to take charge of the household affairs? He intended to entrust it to me from the beginning? Really?
“Wife…? Perhaps, do you dislike the idea? If it makes you uncomfortable….”
“No! Not at all! I’m not uncomfortable at all!”
“Wife?”
“Really! Truly, I’m not uncomfortable at all. But…. can I really do it…?”
Suddenly, her solar plexus tightened and her jaw ached. Her voice trembled and her nose stung. It was the first time. She felt acknowledged by him. It seemed like he was recognizing that she had value both as his wife and as the Grand Duchess.
“Of course. Isn’t this your home? So naturally, you should manage it. If you find anything difficult, please ask the butler for help anytime. I’ll also help whenever I can. So, do you accept?”
My home…. Ah…. Yes, this was my home. Not just this man’s home, but my home.
She had been unable to shake the feeling of being an outsider all this time, but for the first time, it felt like a warm spring breeze was blowing in her heart.
“I’ll do well. I’ll really do a good job.”
“Wife…? Why are you crying?”
“Hic, be-because I’m happy. I’m truly happy…. It feels like I’ve really become the Grand Duchess…. Like I’ve been recognized as your wife. Sob.”
Rian’s brows furrowed at the sight of Belita, who was shedding the tears that had welled up in her eyes while smiling brightly.
‘She wasn’t planning to leave?’
The joy of keeping her was momentary; his chest ached at her inexplicable tears and smile, and her final words. He had no idea she had been thinking like that. No, it would be more accurate to say he hadn’t cared at all until now.
He had simply lived as he always had and done what he always did. He hadn’t been curious about what she wanted or what she was thinking, nor had he tried to find out. He had been busy taking care of the territory. He thought he only needed to maintain minimal courtesy with her. That was his intention from the beginning when he brought her here.
‘Ha, what a fool I am.’
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Nous_Defions
What a fool indeed! Now that you’ve realized it, then you better do something about it, and not let your little wife worry, and feel sad… Don’t be a dumbass!!! Full on Font-mode here… 😹😹😹