When You Don’t Get Along With Your Husband - Chapter 39

“Is that so.”

“Yes, Your Highness. Though it’s not my place to say this as commander of the royal guard, the path of a female knight is never easy. The physical limitations are too obvious.”

“……”

“No matter what she did…… reaching my position would have been impossible.”

Gideon listened quietly to those words and suddenly felt an odd sensation.

He knew he had a tendency to twist others’ words. It was an unavoidable habit developed because royal language always carried implications and often concealed daggers beneath the surface.

But am I being particularly twisted today? Gideon found Sir Muller’s words quite irritating. 

 It sounded as if Tatiana had been forced into a situation where she had no choice but to give up the sword. Yet he hadn’t intended this marriage to clip Tatiana’s wings.

There aren’t many who believe it, and various speculations still circulate in social circles, but he truly married Tatiana because he liked her.

There were other parts that sounded uncomfortable as well.

Tatiana had long surpassed the level that a female swordsman could reach. Among the female knights who passed the entrance exam and served in the royal guard, there would be no match for Tatiana.

But that fact wouldn’t make her very happy.

Combat wasn’t a gentlemanly sporting event. On the battlefield, they don’t separate fights by weight class and gender.

In that sense, Sir Muller’s words pointing out the physical limitations were correct.

Even Gideon couldn’t refute that fact itself. Yet what was unpleasant was…… why say such things now and upset his wife? Tatiana already knew that fact better than anyone.

‘I can’t even say such things to her carelessly. So why are you saying that stuff.’

Gideon frowned and quickly checked Tatiana’s expression. But Tatiana’s face was completely calm. Was she desensitized to such words? She was even nodding her head as if to acknowledge, yes, that’s true.

Watching this, Gideon strangely…… felt even more twisted inside. It’s one thing not to get upset, but why nod as if it’s something pleasant to hear.

Gideon felt his irritation rising slightly and pondered what to do about it. The contemplation wasn’t long, and the answer was simple. He decided to just express this irritation.

“Something suddenly made me curious.”

“Yes? Yes, Your Highness. Please speak.” 

 “You are the commander of the royal guard, aren’t you?”

“Yesss.”

“Then could you…… win against my wife with a sword?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Duke Muller soon wore a troubled expression. In truth, the answer was already as good as given there.

Tatiana hit Gideon’s side in disbelief. This wasn’t about instigating a fight between children — what childish behavior was this?

“What kind of question is that?”

“Just suddenly curious.”

Tatiana lightly pinched his thigh under the table as if telling him to stop. Then Gideon mouthed the principle that had somehow become established between them.

‘No violence.’

He had muscles wrapped around his thigh like armor, and there wasn’t much flesh to grab. Even thinking this isn’t violence, Tatiana released the pressure from her fingers. Then, trying to salvage the atmosphere belatedly, she said:

“Father is no longer at an age to be active in the field.”

A knight’s prime is very short. Sir Muller was no exception.

The head of the knights was usually held by a senior, and his duty wasn’t to engage in duels and behead enemy commanders. It was to manage his subordinates well and establish appropriate strategies at the right time.

Of course, it would be ideal to have both the ability to go to the frontlines for commander duels and the wisdom of a senior, but it’s difficult to enjoy both physical prime and senior wisdom simultaneously.

Above all, Tatiana didn’t want to point a sword at her adoptive father whose hair was starting to turn white.

Her birth father had taught her since she was young:

‘Tania. You can’t go around beating up just anyone because you’ve trained. Especially don’t touch the elderly and children. That’s not manly behavior.’

‘But I’m not a man?’

‘……Ah, right, that’s true.’

Back then when female knights were hard to find in the castle, Sir Bloom would sometimes fall into such confusion while speaking strictly like an instructor.

Feeling awkward at his own mistake, he told his daughter who was looking at him with wide eyes:

‘Uh, well…… That’s not behavior befitting a strong woman, as kids these days would say.’

‘Yes, I’m going to be a strong woman.’

‘Our Tania, how admirable.’

Sir Bloom, as if he really found her adorable, sucked on Tatiana’s soft cheeks  zhuup, zhuup  and whispered:

‘Don’t get intoxicated after defeating an opponent you’re obviously going to win against. A desire for recognition that’s satisfied by such things is evidence of a weak mind.’

‘……’

‘Showing mercy to the weak is the true proof that you are strong. Both in body and mind.’

‘……’

‘Tania, do you understand what Dad is saying?’

‘Don’t know. Why are you suddenly talking so difficultly? You’re just saying don’t bully weak people, right?’

‘My goodness. My daughter is smart too. Thankfully she took after her mother’s brains. God, thank you. Sincerely.’

Was Sir Bloom’s early education successful? Or was it because Tatiana wasn’t cruel by nature? She didn’t grow up to be reckless, pointing her sword at just anyone.

In fact, it was natural. Someone who prioritizes improving their own skills has no interest in weaker opponents. They’re too busy satisfying their competitive spirit wanting to face strong opponents at least once, their desire to learn something. 

 If someone feels joy from trampling the weak, that person is not a knight but a neighborhood thug.

However, Gideon had to hide his emerging smile at Tatiana’s words. Because with just one sentence, she had essentially dunked Sir Muller underwater.

Saying he’s not at an age to be active in the field ultimately meant that she would win.

While it seemed considerate at first glance, she had revealed the painful reality that her opponent was at the age of retirement.

The winner and loser were determined without even having a real match, so Gideon should stop now, but……

“Then if we’re talking about during your prime……” 

 “Aish, why make such useless assumptions?”

Tatiana pinched his thigh again as if really asking why he was doing this.

Gideon whispered the reason in her ear.

“I hate frogs.” 

 “Frogs? Why frogs?”

“They’re disgusting.”

“……”

Tatiana didn’t think ‘Ah, so Your Highness has a phobia of amphibians……?’

She had told Gideon something like this before. Let the frogs jump as they please, don’t waste time no matter what people say.

Gideon wasn’t now confessing his amphibian phobia. He was honestly telling her that he got a bit irritated because he didn’t like Duke Muller talking carelessly about her.

Although Tatiana understood completely, she still gently stroked Gideon’s thigh as if telling him to stop.

She wondered what he would gain even if she won after instigating a fight between the two. She didn’t want to fight her adoptive father with full force either.

Gideon had fully expected Tatiana to react this way.

Going by his personality, he should have continued being more sarcastic and made the atmosphere completely awful, but he decided to stop here. Because he quite liked Tatiana stroking his thigh. And because he hadn’t wanted to make her uncomfortable in the first place.

He fell into thought for a while, tapping the table with his fingertips.

This action was actually meant more to draw people’s attention than to organize his own thoughts. And when Duke Muller fixed his gaze on him, Gideon opened his mouth. For him, this gathering was actually to say these words:

“There will be much for the royal guard to do from now on.”

“……”

Puzzlement settled in Duke Muller’s eyes, and simultaneously, a hope of ‘perhaps’ also bloomed.

Gideon nodded and continued speaking.

“I know the royal guard also had grievances in the process of handling the situation after Sir Bloom’s death. But state affairs are state affairs, so I hope you will continue to work actively to assist the royal family going forward.”

Gideon ultimately moved as the nobles had predicted. He reached out to the royal guard once again.

Though he asked them to assist the royal family, no one would interpret those words literally. The implied meaning beneath was to help him, not the Second Prince.

Duke Muller listened to Gideon’s words with a grave expression and replied.

“We weren’t aggrieved at all. Wasn’t it an unprecedented incident where nine royal guards died? I know Your Highness must have felt great distress and disappointment. As commander of the royal guard, I once again express my deepest apologies.”

Though he hadn’t directly carried out duties at the scene at the time, this was a natural apology that had to be offered as the commander of the royal guard.

However, even after hearing those words of apology, Gideon shook his head, seemingly wanting to ensure accuracy.

“No, there were eight deaths. And one more person missing beyond that.”

“……Though that may be so, Your Highness.”

The Duke couldn’t continue speaking, but most people know. That in disaster and accident situations, a missing person means essentially the same as a deceased person whose remains haven’t been found.

“Your Highness…… do you perhaps think he might be alive?”

It was an extremely unlikely assumption. Realistically impossible. Time had flown by like an arrow and it had already become the past from three years ago. If they had miraculously survived, wouldn’t they have at least informed their family even if not the royal family?