To ease her friend’s concerns, Tatiana had said,

‘Just send it. Send it, and if it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t come.’

‘But still…… Won’t His Majesty feel slighted? He even sent a gift last time.’

‘He’s not at all the type to feel slighted over something like that…… Anyway, I’ll explain it well. I’ll just say you’re keeping it small, with just family.’

From the beginning, if Tatiana said she wasn’t going, he was the type who wouldn’t care about someone else’s wedding.

Of course, she desperately wanted to see her friend looking beautiful up close and congratulate her in person. But what did her own disappointment matter?

Brides and grooms become incredibly sensitive before and after the wedding. The couple’s comfort should be the priority. She could easily coordinate and accommodate her friend on this.

However, in Valter, weddings sometimes become more about the parents’ generation than the couple getting married. It becomes an occasion for them to boast to acquaintances, “I’ve finally raised my child to adulthood and today…… I complete this assignment!” At such times, every connection, whether close or distant, would be mobilized.

‘But my father seems to secretly hope His Majesty will come. He keeps asking me about it.’

‘……So what do you want me to do? You need to make up your mind.’

For her friend who was finding it difficult to decide immediately, Tatiana had given a hint. If she wanted them to attend, send the invitation through His Majesty’s chamberlain; if she only wanted to inform them of the news, send it through Isabelle.

Seeing that Gideon had brought the invitation, it seemed she had decided to honor her father’s face. Tatiana thought this wasn’t a bad choice either. If one attaches great significance to their wedding, then taking control of it would be good.

But if one thinks a ‘ceremony’ is just a ‘ceremony,’ then using the occasion to see parents happy would also be quite a nice experience.

Meanwhile, as Tatiana wore an enigmatic smile that was hard to decipher, Gideon seemed puzzled by it.

“Titi, you’ll go, right?”

“Yes. I should go. ……What about Your Majesty?”

Aren’t external events naturally attended by couples?

Gideon wondered why she was asking this, but answered readily.

“If you go, I should go too.”

“Hmm.”

Tatiana nodded. But Gideon sensed something in her murmur and asked.

“Were you planning to go alone?”

“No? Of course not.”

Moving alone comes with its own set of challenges. It’s not that couples always have to move as a set, but everyone asks where her husband is and what he’s doing. Just answering that becomes a task.

That would be fine, but since they were a famous couple who received everyone’s attention, even such trivial matters eventually become grounds for rumors of discord. Just thinking about it made Tatiana weary, and she strongly denied it.

But Gideon had already sensed several times that something wasn’t quite right.

“But why do I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me?”

Tatiana inwardly stuck out her tongue.

Where does my husband keep finding these clues? Is it my expression that’s the problem? Or is this just intuition?

Fearing he might next ask “Would you prefer I didn’t go?” she quickly changed the subject. Whenever her husband started acting like an inspector with persistence, she was always helpless.

“Shall we head back to the fortress town now?”

“……”

“Oh, would you like to watch the training a bit more?”

Tatiana poked her head out of the tent entrance to look outside. The knights and mages, seemingly relieved that the royal couple had disappeared, were again fighting over who was better.

Gideon looked back and forth between them and Tatiana, then shook his head. He untied the ribbon of the rolled-up tent cloth, covering the entrance.

“Let’s watch the training later and rest a bit today.”

“……”

“I also worked until noon before coming here.”

Tatiana suddenly remembered that Gideon had arrived less than a few hours ago.

Though he had traveled through a gate, he had come from a distance. Unless there was something urgent, it was right to let him rest on the day of arrival.

But why did he suddenly cover the entrance? People outside would think it strange.

Sure enough, as if that had been his purpose, Gideon moved closer to sit beside her.

“We haven’t seen each other in a while. Let me hold you.”

“With monsters nearby…… you’re in the mood?”

When Tatiana threw his own words back at him, Gideon chuckled.

He was aware that this wasn’t an ideal place for creating a mood. He also felt that the surroundings weren’t helping. But his desire to hold her right now was much stronger than his desire to go to the fortress town……

“True. But I am.”

He gently took Tatiana into his arms.

But as he caressed her back and buried his nose in the curve of her neck, his eyes suddenly narrowed. Though he had managed to block the monsters from view by covering the tent entrance, something else caught his eye.

He spotted a lizard clinging to Tatiana’s forearm. It was small, about the size of an adult’s index finger, but was it his imagination? Somehow its skin resembled that of the monsters.

Gideon frowned deeply, but Tatiana just yelped “Eek!” before quickly laughing it off with “Oh, it’s a lizard?” She even added unnecessarily detailed information. The characteristics of this lizard, you see……

“Your Majesty, this one doesn’t close its eyes even at night.”

“……”

“It doesn’t have eyelids. But actually, this is a kind of camouflage……”

“It has a transparent, thin membrane that substitutes for eyelids.”

Tatiana paused.

“……How did you know?”

How did he know? In the early days of their marriage, when he had a dark desire to know her every move, his adjutants had recorded and reported it to him. He couldn’t reveal that secret now, so he quickly changed the subject.

“Are you really going to keep it? Why is your surroundings always like this?”

“This isn’t because of me.”

“Then whose fault is it?”

Well. Probably because of those men outside? I haven’t used magic once since coming here. Maybe it was just living here originally.

Tatiana tried to chase the lizard out of the tent before her husband’s frown deepened further.

Gideon seemed intent on doing this for her and held her back. He pinched the tip of the lizard’s tail between his thumb and index finger, his face contorted with disgust.

His expression remained unchanged even after he threw the lizard out of the tent and returned to his seat.

“Slimy things…… haa, I hate them.”

“That’s why I said I’d do it.”

Why did he insist on touching it when no one asked him to, only to react like that?

Tatiana giggled at his irritated expression. But Gideon suddenly became serious, perhaps misinterpreting her laughter. He seemed to think he had just shown an uncool side of himself to his wife.

“Titi, I just hate it. I’m reluctant.”

“……”

“Not scared.”

“I know. ……Did anyone say otherwise?”

Tatiana asked with wide, innocent eyes. But she still couldn’t stop laughing, and Gideon pointed that out.

“Then why do you keep laughing?”

“Because I’m happy.”

“……”

“I told you earlier.”

That she was so very happy he was here. That she was as delighted as if she’d received a gift because they could end the day together.

Tatiana hugged his neck with a bright smile, and Gideon, after a moment’s hesitation, embraced her back as if he couldn’t help it.

He acknowledged it once more. What did it matter if monsters with unsettling appearances roamed outside, or if lizards crawled around inside the tent? Regardless of the environment, he was happiest and most joyful when he was with Tatiana.