When You Don’t Get Along With Your Husband - Chapter 11

He didn’t leave her alone in the bedroom, he was considerate about the pace of their intimacy, and he even said he wanted to have meals together by clearing his schedule.

Tatiana just found it difficult to grasp his intentions.

That night at the debutante ball. Why did you look at me with those eyes and speak as if you had been waiting? Why did you propose to me and act like someone who’s trying to treat me well? You don’t have to go that far.

But it seems Gideon had his own curiosities about Tatiana as well.

He sat with his legs crossed and rested his cheek on his hand so deeply that one side of his face was almost squished. Even so, with his flawlessly handsome face, he stared blankly at Tatiana.

“Do you have something to say?”

“No.”

“Then why are you staring at me like that?”

“Hmm.”

Seems like sugary phrases like ‘Because you’re pretty’ aren’t registered in Gideon’s dictionary? Tatiana didn’t expect such creepy jokes either. Instead, he said with a nonchalant face, as if catching someone off guard,

“I’m just curious.”

“……”

“What did you do, sneaking out of bed alone at dawn?”

“……”

“While someone was sleeping, secretly.”

Just as there’s no law saying married couples must use the same bed, there’s no need to match wake-up times down to the minute.

Yet Tatiana found it hard to hide the feeling of being interrogated by royalty in a courtroom.

Wondering if she had committed such a grave mistake, Tatiana asked.

“Were you upset?”

“It’s not that.”

Rather than being upset, his mood just soured a bit every morning seeing the empty space beside him.

If you’re not even going to say a basic greeting like ‘Did you sleep well?’ in the morning, why did I go all the way there leaving a perfectly good room… though I probably would have slept there anyway.

Gideon was also a bit puzzled about how Tatiana could sneak out every day without him noticing.

Unaware of his curiosity, Tatiana smiled slightly and asked.

“What do you think I was doing at that time, Your Highness?”

“Exercising, I suppose.”

“If you know so well, why are you asking?”

“Because I want to hear it directly from your mouth.”

“Ah. I just did some light stretching.”

Could what happened earlier really be called ‘light stretching’? Isabelle and Connie thought that stretching wasn’t meant to be used like that.

But Gideon nodded as if he understood, and after a bit of banter, the meal seemed to start smoothly. Until the newlywed groom of three days frowned.

Tatiana first picked up a rye bread studded with raisins.

But was that such a big mistake? Gideon stared so intently that Tatiana stopped eating and started to read the atmosphere.

‘What did I do wrong again….. Should I have said a pre-meal prayer? Should I now give thanks for the noble sweat shed by the farmers…..’

Though she didn’t know exactly what displeased him, Gideon had an unpleasant expression.

He coldly scanned Isabelle and the maids, as if wondering what these useless things were for, looking at them like utterly useless trash.

But that was only for a moment. As Tatiana cautiously observed the atmosphere while chewing her bread, his expression changed once again.

Now his eyes held puzzlement rather than displeasure.

“……Tatiana, does that taste good?”

Is there any reason it shouldn’t…?

Even if it tasted like sawdust, anyone would know to nod in response to that question.

Tatiana nodded with a face that said she was so happy right now she could die without regrets.

In reality, all the food was excellent. Even the flowers in the vase were beautiful.

The atmosphere had almost become awkward, but the newlyweds’ meal was able to resume once again.

Tatiana had predicted just this dawn that her husband wasn’t the type of person with enough leisure of mind to wait endlessly for someone.

That was also the evaluation of him in social circles, and even in their occasional encounters during childhood, he had an unyielding atmosphere unlike ordinary boys.

But is this normal? Gideon had impeccable table manners.

Not only did he use the utensils elegantly, but he also made eye contact with her from time to time and asked short questions. Then he would look at the raisins with an expression that still couldn’t comprehend.

In any case, she could feel his sincerity in wanting to focus on his wife during this time. And as soon as she put down her fork, Gideon immediately said,

“Eat more, Tatiana.”

“Ah, I’m finished now, Your Highness.”

“If you eat more, I’ll eat with you.”

“Pardon?”

“I mean, tell me if anything is lacking.”

His words sounded as if he really wanted her to eat more, so Tatiana jokingly asked back.

“Why? Do I look like I have a big appetite?”

Surely there wouldn’t be a rude man who would answer ‘yes’ to that? But what to do. It seems Gideon was such a man.

“Isn’t it not enough for you?”

“……”

Suddenly, a sigh settled in the room.

Since it wasn’t Tatiana who exhaled, someone who felt the same as her must have sighed on her behalf.

‘Right? This means I look like I eat a lot, doesn’t it?’

Tatiana was actually a good eater. Though she had a slender and agile physique, her unusual amount of exercise meant her metabolism was also unusual.

And being a good eater was a very good thing. It meant she was healthy.

Yet the reason Tatiana now wore a dubious expression was because she too was of noble birth.

Nobles, unless they are very close, do not ask for additional food in someone else’s house. That would mean they were starving and poor.

Tatiana could bet her right hand that a considerable number of Valter’s noble women would take that comment sulkily. If that wasn’t convincing enough, she could even bet on shaving her head.

When Tatiana showed a blank expression, Gideon enjoyed observing her reaction. And fortunately, as if it had been a joke, he tried to explain his statement belatedly.

“A long time ago, Sir Bloom, you see.”

“……Why my Dad?”

“He sighed in front of me once, saying he had to work hard to manage Tania’s food expenses.”

“……”

“He seemed to be considering giving private lessons. Well, it must have been a joke.”

Tatiana, who had been waiting to hear what he would say, was left speechless.

No, if my Dad went to teach swordsmanship to the prince, shouldn’t he just teach swordsmanship? Why was he unnecessarily talking about his daughter? Still, seeing them exchange such casual conversation, they must have been close.

Feeling awkward, Tatiana averted her gaze and said as if making an excuse.

“That was just for a short time during my growth period. When I was young… I thought I could grow if I ate a lot.”

Of course, even then, Tatiana knew that physique was largely inherited.

But watching the development of boys her age that changed day by day, she felt anxious and impatient.

So at one point, she really ate stubbornly until she was about to vomit. She even got indigestion a couple of times.

At that time, Tatiana’s parents sighed and had this conversation in front of her:

‘Who on earth did she take after to do such an ignorant thing….’

‘Honey, this is something all knights do at least once when they’re young. It’s no big deal.’

‘There’s still such an ignorant group in Valter….’

‘I’m the commander of that unit, honey.’

‘Is that something to be proud of?’

Her mother would rub her forehead as if she had a headache, but in the end, since she grew much taller than her mother, isn’t this much okay to pass off as a memory?

Of course, she didn’t grow as tall as Sir Bloom, but that was impossible even if the sky split in two. Probably even if she had been born a different gender, that physique would have been impossible.

But as Tatiana sat across from her husband reminiscing about her childhood, she suddenly became curious about something.

This train of thought was natural in a way. They hadn’t had any exchange for the past three years, so they didn’t have much in common other than childhood stories. Not yet.

“Your Highness.”

“Yes.”

“By any chance. Do you remember the day we first met?”

Now, don’t I sound like a woman with too much backstory and clinginess? Tatiana had an expression that said she felt a bit creeped out by her own words, but Gideon immediately nodded.

“Isn’t that obvious?”

That day remained a quite memorable impression for both of them.

But Tatiana had also long harbored an uneasy feeling. So she ended up deliberately bringing up their first meeting. She shouldn’t have done that.

“You saw from the beginning, right?”

“Probably?”

“What did you think of me then?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes, honestly.”

At this, Gideon seemed to ponder for a moment, stroking his sharp jawline.