When You Don’t Get Along With Your Husband - Chapter 12

Recalling the past, he lifted his eyelashes and soon spoke calmly.

“At that time, I thought you were……”

“Yes.”

“Strong. Very strong.”

“……”

“A strong little girl?”

“……”

She didn’t expect expressions like fairy or angel either. She had been crying uglily with a runny nose and then suddenly started smiling broadly and dancing with a sword, so it would have been stranger if he had said something nice. Someone might have thought she was possessed.

But for a husband’s first impression of his wife to be ‘very strong’… This was clearly wrong from the start.

Yet Gideon was still muttering words like ‘strong little one? strong baby?’ as if he wanted to find a more accurate expression.

“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on me right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“……Do you really think we can become close like this?”

“You said to be honest.”

“……”

“Back then, you had chubby cheeks, so you looked like a strong baby.”

“……Ah, chubby.”

Tatiana repeated his words with a sour expression.

But words are all about where you put the emphasis. Gideon was now emphasizing ‘girl’, ‘little one’, ‘baby’, and so on in ‘strong little girl’. At first, she wondered how there could be such things, but in reality, his intention was more like ‘you were kind of cute back then?’

Tatiana let out a sigh of resignation as if all was lost, while Gideon chuckled. In front of them, steaming tea for cleansing the palate was prepared.

Tatiana erased her sulky expression and lifted the dainty teacup. Then she slowly looked around the room.

Upon marriage, Gideon had split the space in the prince’s palace in half and assigned it to her.

But to be honest, the prince’s palace wasn’t a particularly interesting place to look at. Although Tatiana’s bedroom showed signs of being carefully decorated, perhaps due to the maids’ influence, most other places were rather bland.

On their wedding day, when he appeared with a historically memorable appearance and splendid attire, she wondered then if he might be interested in decorating as well, but looking at the living space, it didn’t seem so.

Tatiana’s gaze, which had been wandering through the air in order, naturally settled on the wall. But there was an unexpectedly eye-catching object that held her gaze for a long time. It was a sword displayed like a decoration.

‘A masterpiece sword.’

If someone were to ask how she could know that without even using it, Tatiana would have no choice but to answer like this:

That’s just how swordsmen are.

When a person reaches a certain level, they can tell that much even with just one eye open.

Tatiana began to wonder if Gideon, while he doesn’t have a hobby of decorating spaces, had a hobby of collecting good swords.

It was a sword that clearly conveyed the concerns and devotion poured into it by the blacksmith. It seemed a waste for it to become a decorative item, just accumulating layers of dust. Of course, there was no dust in the dining room.

When Tatiana’s gaze fixed on a specific place, Gideon smiled faintly. Then, pretending not to know while knowing full well, he asked in a subtle tone.

“What is it, Tatiana? Is there something that interests you?”

“It’s just such a good sword.”

“Then you can try using it if you want.”

“……”

“If you like it, you can keep it.”

Really? With that one sword, it seems like you could easily buy several territories, right? You’re giving me something like that?

Of course, Gideon was royalty who wouldn’t miss that amount of money. Nevertheless, his words were so unexpected that Tatiana chewed her lips several times.

But she soon shook her head left and right.

That sword was far too good to be used for swatting mosquitoes or flies.

If she were to try it now, it would only feel heavy and burdensome to her. In fact, it might even be a bit embarrassing. Her swordsmanship had stagnated at some point.

Tatiana hid her complex inner thoughts and said with a faint smile,

“It’s alright. For me right now… it seems like too much.”

“……Ah, I see.”

Gideon nodded and uttered an unremarkable response. But Tatiana felt as if the tone of his ‘Ah, I see’ dropped suddenly from high to low.

It wasn’t an illusion. The surrounding air was actually becoming strangely chilly. It felt like sharp needles pricking living flesh.

This aura, depending on how and to what extent the user employs it, can give those around them a sense of pressure and intimidation.

What is this commonly called…?

‘No, why are you suddenly emanating killing intent after eating a good meal?’

What wrong have I done again so soon…?

Why did no one tell her that marital crises could come even while eating or just drinking tea?

Tatiana blinked in bewilderment.

His aura was cold and clean, befitting the top disciple of Sir Bloom, and she admired it even in this situation.

However, this wasn’t such a serious situation. Gideon had merely shrugged his shoulders slightly, as if to say, ‘Oh, I’m quite displeased right now.’

The problem was whether ordinary people could perceive the situation in the same way.

If there had been a child present, they would have surely burst into tears with a ‘Waaah,’ and it wouldn’t have been strange if they wet their pants.

Tatiana turned her eyes to follow where Gideon’s gaze and aura were directed.

Gideon was looking at his staff with an indifferent gaze. But inwardly, he was thinking, ‘What are these things for, to be so useless?’

And Tatiana realized just by briefly scanning them.

Among Gideon’s staff, except for one skilled individual, there were no swordsmen at all. Judging by the complete lack of any trace of exercise on their bodies, they were clearly from intellectual backgrounds.

If someone were to ask how she knew that, she would have to give a similar answer as before.

That’s just how swordsmen’s discernment is.

And perhaps even ordinary people could easily notice this.

‘Some of you show signs of developing a turtle neck soon. You should sit up straight at your desk. Aren’t your faces too precious to waste?’

But what’s truly surprising is that they were somehow enduring this situation.

Although their complexions were uniformly poor, none of them were trembling or collapsing in their seats. No embarrassing situations of soiling their pants occurred either.

Tatiana, who had been puzzled, only realized the reason much later.

‘Ah, they’re all used to this situation?’

No, what must it have been like normally for non-knight officials to become accustomed to killing intent?

Gideon would surely gain a fearsome reputation throughout Valter if he were to become a training instructor.

Tatiana looked at them and Gideon with some curiosity. But Gideon’s staff had a look in their eyes as if they desperately wanted to convey something to her. They kept glancing back and forth between her and the problematic masterpiece sword. Occasionally sighing with a look of dismay.

‘What? You want to say I’m the cause? Actually, I noticed that too.’

Tatiana felt a sense of obligation to somehow smoothly wrap up this situation.

Originally, after getting married, when the husband acts strangely, the wife is supposed to nudge him in the side and such.

“Your Highness, I’m not sure what’s going on, but please use words for now.”

“What.”

Gideon took a sip of tea with a face that said he had no idea what she was talking about. It seemed he wanted to play innocent after emanating killing intent towards people who had spent their entire lives sitting at desks.

Tatiana whispered to Gideon to let him know.

“You look quite scary right now.”

Gideon made an expression that still said ‘That can’t be’ and that he didn’t understand.

It was an exasperating act, but he didn’t hide the smile that escaped. He also cleanly withdrew his aura that had been pressing down on the room.

The complexions of the staff who had been struggling to breathe became more relaxed. Nevertheless, they didn’t stop occasionally glancing at the sword and Tatiana.

So Tatiana could also confidently conclude while looking at the sharply forged sword.

‘You mean I should have accepted that, right?’

She thought about bringing it up again even now, but Gideon, whether considering it a closed matter or not wanting to mention it further, just sipped his tea.

He even gave Tatiana a look that said, ‘What are you doing? Aren’t you going to drink?’

She quickly grasped the handle of the teacup. And she could only puff out one cheek sulkily, thinking that pleasing her husband was quite difficult.

The newly inducted princess consort’s only schedule for the day was over, and she became free. But Tatiana wondered if she had properly handled even this insignificant schedule. She felt slightly uneasy about it.

She singled out the head maid from the group with a gesture. It seems everyone shares the desire to talk to the person in charge and seek a resolution when something seems to have gone wrong.