Perhaps uncomfortable with the green gaze staring at him, Lucas cleared his throat softly and moved his steps.

“Let’s go in together!”

Giselle, who had been standing in a daze, finally came to her senses and hurriedly followed him inside.

Perhaps because the sweet smell vibrated whenever the box moved, her heart felt ticklish.

* * *

“Oh my, it’s ‘Aulene Bakery’!”

As soon as Giselle put the box down on the table after entering the bedroom, a maid exclaimed excitedly.

“Tsk, what’s this commotion in front of the madam?”

The head maid frowned and cautioned the maid as she placed a dessert plate in front of Giselle.

However, Giselle herself seemed more curious than displeased by the maid’s excitement and tilted her head as she asked.

“Aulene Bakery? Is it a famous place?”

“Uh, umm, yes! It’s the most popular bakery these days.”

The maid, who had ducked her head after being scolded by the head maid, glanced around cautiously before answering, afraid of being reprimanded again.

But instead of a scolding, Giselle’s curious gaze followed, and the maid became excited and offered unsolicited additional explanation.

“It was opened by a baker who worked exclusively for the royal family. Whether noble or commoner, anyone who wants to buy their bread or desserts has to stand in line personally. I heard there have been several disputes with high-ranking nobles because of that……”

The maid was enthusiastically continuing when she seemed to realize something in her words and blinked. The head maid also seemed to have noticed something and made a strange expression.

“……?”

Among them, only Giselle hadn’t noticed anything and looked back and forth between them with a puzzled expression.

At her reaction, the head maid tried to suppress a smile and pointed to the ‘Aulene Bakery’ box.

“It seems the master personally stood in line to buy this for you, madam.”

“……What?”

Giselle’s eyes widened as she heard the head maid’s words. She looked again at the box placed on the table, her eyes still wide.

She recalled the man who had gotten out of the car holding the box with the strawberry cake drawn on it and handed it to her.

‘He personally stood in line?’

No matter how much she tried to use her imagination, she couldn’t picture the tall man with the cool impression standing in line with other people in front of a bakery.

“Surely…… Wouldn’t he have sent a knight or secretary?”

“If that were the case, I don’t think he would have handed it to you personally, madam.”

The head maid replied with a smile despite her mistress’s skeptical response.

Her attitude was almost as good as a certainty.

Indeed, if he had sent someone else on the errand, he probably would have had that person deliver it to her as well.

Given Lucas’s personality, he wouldn’t take credit for something someone else had done.

‘……So, did he really stand in line personally to bring this to me?’

“My goodness, how sweet of him! I never imagined the master could be so affectionate!”

Kyaaaa. The maid clasped her hands together and let out an exclamation that was almost a scream as her face turned red. Giselle felt awkward under the envious gaze and smiled uncomfortably.

“The master must really love you a lot!”

But at the following words, her expression momentarily froze.

Love?

Love, she said.

There’s no way that could be true.

It was just a marriage based on a transaction.

Perhaps Lucas had bought this out of consideration for others’ eyes.

After all, they were newlyweds, so he had to show an appropriate appearance.

“Please open it, madam.”

“……Ah, y-yes.”

At the head maid’s words, Giselle hid a bitter smile and opened the box with a composed expression.

The sweet smell that had been leaking from the box vibrated at the tip of her nose.

“Oh my, how pretty!”

The maid exclaimed in admiration, cupping her cheeks with her hands. Giselle too couldn’t help but inwardly marvel at what was contained in the box.

The dessert was so beautiful that it made her forget even the bitterness she had just felt.

Cream puffs about one and a half finger joints in size were proudly displayed in their cute shape, neatly arranged in the box. And on top of them were sugar-preserved rose petals.

“They really are cute and pretty.”

“Indeed. Almost too beautiful to eat.”

Giselle nodded in agreement with the maid’s excitement. The head maid placed a cream puff on an empty plate and set it in front of Giselle, encouraging her.

“Still, you should try one, madam. Master Lucas bought them personally for you to enjoy.”

“……Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

She hesitated unnecessarily in front of the beautiful dessert. It felt like a sweetness that didn’t belong to her, making it hard to reach for despite being unable to take her eyes off it.

Giselle slowly extended her hand at the head maid’s repeated encouragement and put one cream puff in her mouth.

As soon as she bit into the fluffy pastry, rose-scented cream permeated her mouth, and her expression softened naturally.

At that very moment, the door opened and Lucas entered.

“Ah! Master.”

The head maid and maid immediately bowed to him. But Giselle, absorbed in savoring the sweetness in her mouth and soothing her bitter feelings, didn’t notice his entrance.

Lucas couldn’t take his eyes off her and quietly nodded to the head maid and maid. It meant they should leave.

The head maid, with a smile on her lips, quickly left with the maid without making a sound.

They didn’t want to disturb the intimate time between the master and his wife.

“This is really…… delicious. I feel like I could eat them all right here.”

“……”

“Of course, I shouldn’t do that, right? A host with chubby cheeks before a tea party would be ridiculous.”

Giselle spoke in a deliberately cheerful tone and suppressed the temptation of sweetness that made her want to take another bite. It was dangerous to become too attached to something that couldn’t be hers.

Just as she was about to rise from her seat with a regretful heart, a man’s hand suddenly appeared beside her.

“……!”

Only then did Giselle realize that Lucas had approached her. And before she could say anything, he picked up a cream puff and placed it in her slightly parted lips.

“It would be fine if you gained a little more weight than now. Not chubby, but plump.”

“Uh, that……”

She was flustered when she realized Lucas had heard everything she said and tried to respond, but paused momentarily to swallow the cream puff in her mouth.

Meanwhile, Lucas moved to sit across from her. After calming her flushed face, she belatedly protested.

“What do you mean it’s okay for your wife to get plump? What kind of talk is that!”

“Why? I’m just saying what I feel. So don’t skip proper meals trying to lose weight.”

“Hmph. I heard other men scold their girlfriends or wives if they gain even a little weight.”

Giselle pouted but smiled slightly, not disliking his words. Lucas stared at her before picking up another cream puff from the plate.

“Eat.”

“I’ll eat it myself.”

“Since I’ve already picked it up, I’ll feed you. Open your mouth.”

⟨Open wider, Giselle.⟩

She blushed as she heard the man’s low voice overlapping with the memory of him sitting between her legs and exploring her the night before. Lucas narrowed his eyes and tilted his head.

“You just thought something naughty, didn’t you?”

“N-no! Who…… would think such things.”

“I think you did.”

Instead of pressing further, he smiled and placed the cream puff in the flustered Giselle’s mouth. She fanned herself frantically before chewing it.

“It’s just a cream puff, why are you trying to hold back?”

“……Just because. I’m afraid of getting too used to this kind of thing.”

Giselle awkwardly smiled as she tried to shake off the lingering sweetness in her mouth. Lucas frowned and shook his head as if finding her words difficult to understand.

“Oh! Would you like to try one too? They’re really sweet and delicious. There’s also a subtle rose scent. Look, with flower petals on top of the cream puff, it makes me feel like I’ve become a fairy.”

She changed the subject, afraid he might detect her bitter feelings. It seemed quite effective as Lucas smiled.

“A fairy……”

As he trailed off with a smile at the corner of his lips, Giselle frowned and pouted.

“What? Are you laughing at me for being childish?”

“No, that’s not it.”

Lucas waved his hand at her. It wasn’t just empty words; he really meant it.

Rather, he was thinking that the woman before his eyes truly resembled a fairy.

Her sparkling green eyes and naturally flowing pink hair.

And her delicate body that accepted him every night despite struggling……

“Ahem.”

Suddenly feeling hot, Lucas pulled at his cravat to loosen it. Completely unaware of his state, Giselle casually picked up a cream puff and held it out to him.

“Try one, Lucas.”

He stared at the woman who seemed like she had flown to him with transparent wings on her back, and then opened his mouth.

Just as Lucas had fed her the cream puff, Giselle now placed one in his mouth.

At that moment, something unintended happened to both of them. The tip of his tongue briefly touched her fingertip before pulling away.

“……!”