“Hmm, what’s this?”

Just then, Carlie walked in with the sheet wrapped around her body. Raham turned to look at her.

“Why are you coming here? I was going to bring it to you.”

“Hmph.”

She sniffed amusedly and pulled out a chair to sit. Raham ladled some stew from the pot he’d been stirring and placed it in front of Carlie.

“This reminds me of old times.”

“I couldn’t cook like this back then.”

“True.”

Carlie giggled. She remembered the table that only offered boiled, steamed, or grilled dishes. It had been a truly modest diet for her, but Raham had always been a decent cook. She suspected his desire to eat delicious food had driven his skill.

Now this man cooked to feed his wife tasty food, and each time he prepared a meal, it became more impressive. Carlie’s eyes curved happily.

“Carlisle should have seen this.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

The two burst into laughter.

After finishing their quite respectable meal, they went for a walk to the nearby port. They noticed the small details of the city that they hadn’t observed when they first disembarked, eager to lie down.

“Oh.”

In Raham’s mind, a port city meant a place full of fish, but in reality, it was a massive trading hub filled with all kinds of goods coming and going.

The couple walked arm in arm through the market. Raham was excited to be at a market after so long. Living in the lord’s castle meant he rarely had reason to go to markets. Having entrusted all financial matters to his wife, he boldly held out his hand.

“Carlie. Give me some money.”

Carlie took out a money pouch from her bosom but then tucked it back in.

“…?”

“Beg for it.”

“Please…?”

“No, not like that.”

After a moment of confusion, Raham tugged at her collar. He glanced around and whispered:

“If you give me money, I’ll torment you later.”

Carlie lowered her eyes as if considering. Her silver-white eyelashes fluttered over her blue-gray eyes. A slanted shadow fell across her straight nose.

Raham swallowed hard as he gazed at his wife, whose beauty hadn’t changed one bit in over ten years.

“How many times?”

He wouldn’t forget this.

“Twice.”

“Twice, huh…”

Carlie seemed to consider it, then walked away. Raham followed her in confusion. Carlie bought only a skewer for herself from a vendor and put it in her mouth. She stared up at him while chewing the plump, golden-brown grilled shrimp on the skewer.

Raham looked down at her, wondering what she was doing, when something clicked.

“Th-three times.”

“Hmm…”

Carlie bought another skewer and held it in her hand. She didn’t give it to him, just held it, even though she couldn’t eat both herself.

Raham, realizing he had lost, said:

“Four times…”

Carlie giggled. The skewer in her hand transferred to Raham’s.

“You’d better keep your promise.”

Carlie took out the money pouch from her bosom and placed it in Raham’s hand. The heavy pouch that Carlisle had given her returned to his hand.

Raham felt satisfied with a skewer in one hand and the money pouch in the other. Then he flinched and quickly stuffed the pouch into his clothes. Finding this cute, Carlie didn’t bother telling him that no thief would be bold enough to steal their money pouch.

The couple walked around the market with skewers in their mouths, buying various items: new reagents for Carlie, distinctive hair ornaments for Rarien, and even a book on sorcery for Calsien.

Though Raham felt sad seeing the thickness and number of books Carlie selected at the bookstore.

‘When Calsi gets those, he’ll lock himself in the library for about two weeks…’

Raham, feeling anxious, tried to persuade Carlie:

“What do you think about teaching Calsi swordsmanship?”

“Oh. Sir Pail asked him recently, but he said he didn’t want to because it was too much trouble.”

Raham, left with nothing to say, meekly accepted the books.

‘Why did he have to inherit this trait…’

Yet he himself had only played around and never studied… Perhaps Carlie reading fairy tales to her belly during pregnancy had been a bad influence. Reading too many books just makes people tired.

They stopped at a nearby tea house to drink tea and enjoy the sea breeze, then finished selecting gifts for their nephew, Sierra, and Carlisle before returning to the mansion. Nothing could be more peaceful than appreciating the sunset while feeling the flower-scented breeze in the mansion’s vast garden.

Carlie stretched like a cat.

“Mmm, this is nice. Don’t you think?”

Raham nodded as he braided Carlie’s hair while she lay with her head on his thigh. His rough hands weren’t naturally talented at such things, but after braiding Rarien’s hair so many times, he could now create quite a presentable style.

Following what he’d learned from the nannies, he braided her abundant hair to make it look even fuller and decorated it with wildflowers picked nearby. It looked quite nice. Satisfied, he bent down to kiss her forehead. Carlie rolled over to face his upper body. Something bulky pressed against her cheek.

“……”

“……”

Carlie rubbed her cheek against the large bulge and asked:

“Strange, husband. Where could this excitement have come from right now?”

With a slightly reddened neck, Raham brazenly replied:

“Isn’t it similar to how you’re always wet inside?”

She narrowed her eyes and smiled.

“You know, I think my husband has become more perverted than me.”

“Don’t slander me.”

Raham retorted and bent over her again. He took a mouthful of her br*ast through her clothes, making Carlie laugh pleasantly as she embraced his head with one arm. She whispered in his ear:

“Hey, did you know there’s a dungeon in the basement of this house?”

“……”

For a moment, Raham recalled the time he had been imprisoned. Then he looked down at his wife, who gazed up at him with sparkling eyes, wildflowers decorating her hair.

He took off his outer garment, bundled it up, and moved Carlie’s head from his thigh onto it.

“…Wait here a moment.”

“Where are you going? Raham? Honey?”

Raham hurried into the house. First, he went down to check the condition of the abandoned dungeon, then came back up with an armful of cleaning supplies—a broom, mop, water bucket, and more.

‘I should have asked the house cleaners to clean the dungeon too.’

But what reason could he have given? Clean the dungeon spotlessly because he planned to put the noble La Denen Carlie Albanas in the dark basement cell and torment her thoroughly?

He swept and scrubbed the dungeon inside and out while listening to Carlie grumbling behind him. Seeing him meticulously cleaning even the bars, Carlie approached with a curious face and tried to pick up a spare rag.

Raham pushed her into the freshly cleaned cell with a stern face and closed the door.

“Aww, me too.”

“Just stay still. I’ll tie you up.”

“I’d like that.”

“Ah, just wait a little, will you?”

After a playful argument, Raham finally finished cleaning. He put the cleaning tools away at the far end of the corridor and washed his hands thoroughly at the tap. Then he seized Carlie’s chin as she pressed against the bars, peering out.

“Wait quietly.”

“…!”

Leaving Carlie visibly excited, Raham went upstairs. Then he began preparing dinner.

Sizzle—

As he grilled shrimp and oysters, made salad, and blended fruit, he checked the clock intermittently. He wondered if Carlie might get impatient and come upstairs shouting “Why aren’t you coming down!” but she was more persistent than she appeared.

‘She really is a pervert.’

Raham prepared the meal with a thought that no longer affected either spouse. The large tray was filled with exquisite food.

Afterward, he found contraceptives in Carlie’s bag and swallowed one, then picked up a small wooden table and carried it down to the basement with one hand. He could see Carlie lying stretched out in the cell.

At the sound of his footsteps, she jerked her head up, about to complain, but seeing that Raham was bringing something, she lay back down. Though it was the same position, she somehow looked more pitiful than before when she had just been sprawled out.

Raham set the table down in the corridor outside the cell and made several trips upstairs to bring down the food. Carlie raised her head slightly and grumbled:

“We could eat after playing, you know.”

“What are you talking about? Who would give a prisoner a meal like this?”

Carlie was pleased again.

Mealtime was approaching. They had eaten breakfast, skipped lunch in favor of market snacks, admired flowers in the garden, cleaned the dungeon, and prepared dinner.

Before marriage, Carlie would often skip meals, absorbed in her research, but after marriage, Raham would come into her laboratory and carry her out, ensuring she never missed a mealtime. With a table full of delicious-smelling food outside, her appetite was sure to be stimulated.

Raham sat at the table without eating himself and boasted:

“It’s a bit much for me to eat alone… but I can’t give it to a prisoner.”

“Hmph. That’s too cruel…”

“Make me want to give it to you, then.”

Carlie thought for a moment. Her husband was always aroused by just a flirtatious glance from her, so she hadn’t needed to seduce him before.

Soon, Carlie cast a pitiful glance and turned her back to him. Then she began unbuttoning her top one by one.

“……”

When there was no sound, she glanced back to see Raham staring intently. Carlie turned her head primly again and continued unbuttoning.

With her unbuttoned top still draped over her shoulders, Carlie adjusted her position slightly and looked back again.

“Husband. Give me your shirt.”

Raham quickly took off his shirt and handed it through the cell bars. Carlie replaced her own clothes with it, draping it over her shoulders. Then she began removing her other clothes from under the large shirt.

Rustle, rustle.