Side Story 3. A Day in the Life of a Married Couple

Tatiana and Gideon arrived at the wedding venue just before the ceremony began, cutting it extremely close.

They hadn’t miscalculated the travel time or dawdled. It was their own way of being considerate, to prevent guests from flocking to them instead of focusing on the bride, groom, and their parents.

Nevertheless, people kept glancing at the royal couple during the ceremony. They seemed eager to greet them in person but, unable to do so, were trying to at least make eye contact.

Ignoring such guests, Tatiana and Gideon focused on their own business. Tatiana gazed endlessly at her friend, while Gideon watched Tatiana with amusement. Her eyes looked quite wistful, making him wonder what she was thinking.

“Are you crying?”

“No.”

“Your eyes look watery though?”

“I’m not. Stop teasing me.”

“You’re secretly quite the crybaby.”

“……”

She wanted to deny it, but Tatiana didn’t think she was particularly dry-eyed.

Few people knew, but she had been a crybaby as a child. However, she was also good at holding back tears. Whenever she thought, “My dad is a Bloom, it would look pathetic to have snot running down my face,” she could immediately control herself.

Gideon knew even these aspects of her intimately.

She didn’t feel the need to make excuses or hide anything from him. It wasn’t like she had only shown him her unsightly side once or twice. But this time she really wasn’t crying, so she gave Gideon a prim sidelong glance.

She was simply feeling a bit moved at the moment.

The moments when a person appears beautiful are as numerous as stars in the night sky. If asked when someone looks their best, she couldn’t readily answer. There’s no need to rank such things.

But who would disagree that a bride’s face, full of excitement and happiness, is beautiful? Especially when that bride is her own friend. It’s not like she raised her, so why did she feel so touched and proud?

“She’s so beautiful.”

When Tatiana murmured in admiration without thinking, Gideon answered as if he had been waiting for this moment.

“You were too. You were even more beautiful.”

“……I’m sorry, but Your Majesty was the most beautiful that day.”

She was sincere, but Gideon thought she was joking and just laughed with a “Huh?” Tatiana ignored his incredulous expression and focused on the ceremony again. Then at some point, she recalled her own wedding.

Did the people watching me that day feel this kind of emotion?

To be honest, Tatiana thought probably not.

At that time, she had been strongly determined not to lose her center in the great current of marriage. Like someone facing a battle that must be won.

So she had pretended to be calm, and sometimes deliberately acted indifferent. Despite it being her own wedding, she couldn’t enjoy it like a party. She didn’t regret it now, but her past self seemed somewhat stubborn. She was like a know-it-all trying desperately to act like an adult.

When Tatiana, who had been looking wistful all along, suddenly smiled, Gideon seemed puzzled.

Did he think she envied the bride? He suddenly made this proposal.

“Titi. Should we have another wedding ceremony?”

Tatiana started and asked, “Another?”

……Do you even know how many hours bridal makeup takes? And you’re asking me to go through that hassle again?

You’re joking, right?

But his words didn’t sound like mere idle talk to her. Recently, among Valter nobles, renewing wedding vows had become quite common.

What had started as a playful event by an elderly couple to reminisce about the past and commemorate their marriage had spread like a trend among the older nobility.

However, compared to them, Gideon and Tatiana were still newlyweds. They hadn’t walked together long enough to commemorate and reflect on anything. So for such an event to happen, they would need to live at least 30 more years.

That day seemed very distant and far away to Tatiana. But if they continued living like this, it would eventually come. Planning for that time in advance seemed quite meaningful.

“If I want to wear a dress like that when I’m a grandmother, I’ll have to exercise diligently. I’ll maintain these back muscles unchanged until then.”

When Tatiana made this firm resolution, Gideon laughed as if amused. He couldn’t understand how she could hear such a romantic conversation and immediately think about muscles.

She poked his side, telling him not to just laugh but to make a promise too.

“Then I’ll…… hmm.”

“……”

“Just stay alive until then.”

Tatiana, who had been expecting him to say something else, blinked her eyes thinking “What kind of answer is that?” before bursting into laughter. Actually, that one thing was enough. All she wanted was for her husband to stay healthy and by her side for a long time.

Seeing flowers makes one feel good, and watching happy people makes one smile along. They were enjoying themselves because the bride and groom looked happy.

But the brief ceremony was already nearing its end, and Tatiana quietly linked arms with Gideon. Seeming to understand her signal, he whispered.

“Shall we go now?”

“Yes, actually I’d like to see the reception too……”

“If we stay, it will get crowded.”

“Exactly.”

The fact that they could read each other’s intentions without speaking was truly convenient and sometimes amazing.

Tatiana nodded, and the two rose from their seats. Gideon smiled as he followed Tatiana, who was walking on tiptoe with her neck hunched down.

* * *

The two giggled all the way back in the carriage. Tatiana, restless from just sitting, played a prank on her husband.

“Actually, I have a confession to make today……”

“Yes. What?”

“This isn’t my first marriage.”

Could any man remain calm when his wife makes such a confession about her past?

It was a bombshell, but Gideon knew it was a joke. He was just curious about how she planned to clean up after such mischief. How impudent.

Gideon nodded for her to continue, though his expression had heated up slightly without him realizing it. Tatiana, undaunted and encouraged by his reaction, actually continued.

“I was married to my sword once before I met Your Majesty.”

But thinking about it, I never divorced it? Am I committing bigamy? Tatiana was grinning, but after seeing Gideon’s expression, she belatedly closed her mouth.

Gideon was a man whose threshold for laughter wasn’t particularly high.

Of course, if she said this, she knew there would be people lined up all the way outside the capital to disagree, including his adjutants and Scarlet. But for her specifically, it had always been that way.

Tatiana had never found it difficult to make Gideon laugh. He always laughed even when she said trivial things. But this time, it seemed to be beyond what even love could tolerate. He looked at Tatiana with a sour expression before coldly evaluating her joke.

“That just now……”

“Yes?”

“Was really not funny.”

“Sorry. I was bored. I just wanted to play with you.”

“……”

“Hmm? But I think you just smiled a little?”

Just admit it if it’s funny. Don’t score and evaluate every single word. There’s no need to force yourself to hold back.

Laughter continuously leaked from the carriage, tickling the soldiers’ ears.

The two were so busy poking each other’s sides and playing around that they could only get out of the carriage long after they had arrived.

Then, holding hands side by side, they strolled through the castle grounds before heading toward Tatiana’s tent as if by prior agreement.

Gideon had recently perfectly rebuilt the prince’s palace that had burned down and gifted it to Tatiana. She accepted it gratefully, but as if her hobby was a separate matter, she had already set up a tent in a corner of the castle.

One funny thing was that Gideon had also become accustomed to visiting her there. Her tent had become so magnificent that at first glance, it resembled a woodland villa. Gideon entered before Tatiana and lay down with his arm as a pillow, making himself at home.