Gideon was someone who had acknowledged her father’s skills and great capacity. He had tried to give her father, a war hero who remained at the rank of Count due to his commoner origins, a higher position.

Her father had treated Gideon the same way. He was her father’s cherished disciple, and at the same time, the lord her father had chosen.

So Tatiana wished Gideon wouldn’t be too bound by that day anymore. His words about not constantly living in the past but not forgetting either made even her feel sad.

If he felt any responsibility and guilt, she wanted to lighten it somewhat.

So she had used all her eloquence to give the bridge example but…… Was it problematic that she phrased it as a question? He seemed determined to answer that too.

“No. That wouldn’t be your fault, Titi. So I’d first order the execution of whoever built the bridge…… and then swim across to you.”

“……It’s just an example. Something that won’t happen. Don’t answer so seriously like it’s real.”

Tatiana shook her head, wondering why he was being like this.

Gideon chuckled seeing that, but the conversation wasn’t over. He continued speaking with an utterly calm face. Listening to it, his words were enough to turn someone’s insides upside down.

“And since we’re on the topic…… I’m going to the principality soon.”

“……Where?”

“The north.”

“……My goodness. Look how brazen you are.”

Tatiana was so dumbfounded she lost her words.

After trying hard to think and speak positively, did he think she had truly overcome everything? After stirring up past events and making her uneasy, how should a wife react when her husband says he’s going to the north too?

This felt somewhat cruel. She even thought it was heartless.

“Aren’t you being too harsh to me right now?”

“How so?” 

 “Honestly, I think you can be quite mean sometimes.”

Though Tatiana rolled her eyes, her voice declaring ‘you’re being mean!’ was so clear and bright that Gideon ended up chuckling again.

But had she only realized his meanness today? If that’s the case…….

‘You still don’t pay attention to me even after getting married.’

Gideon kept snickering.

However, for whatever reason, laughing in this situation could only make one look annoying to the other person. Tatiana’s eyes and voice grew increasingly sharp.

“Why does Your Highness need to go there?”

“The royal family regularly conducts northern inspections when the time comes. We’ve just been postponing it because the situation hasn’t been good.”

“No, I mean why do YOU have to go personally?”

Then some nasty questions arose in Gideon’s mind.

Then which knight should I send this time? Should I send your adoptive father after your birth father? But even then…… would you be okay with that?

He deliberately didn’t voice these thoughts. Saying this would hurt Tatiana. Instead, he made an equally nasty joke.

“Should I ask my father to go instead?”

“……”

“Your father-in-law’s health is such that it wouldn’t be strange if he passed away tomorrow……”

“Agh! Stop……”

Though there was no one eavesdropping, Tatiana pushed his shoulder as if telling him to stop.

Gideon seemed to take half a step back, then came forward again. And wrapped his arm around Tatiana’s waist to pull her close.

When their bodies pressed together, Tatiana momentarily hesitated. Soon she placed both hands on his chest, but her green eyes and cheeks still held a sulky look.

Gideon smiled while watching this and asked in a gentle voice:

“Should I not go?”

Even if she said don’t go, he had no intention of accepting it.

This inspection held symbolism, and he no longer had any knights he wanted to entrust with this mission in his place. He had even less intention of letting his younger brother use this opportunity as a stepping stone.

Yet the reason he deliberately asked this pointless question was…… Well. He probably just wanted to know how Tatiana would answer.

‘Even after getting married, I’m still curious about you.’

However, Tatiana’s expression wasn’t very good. She thought this kind of question was rather unpleasant.

Nevertheless, she had heard such things quite often in life. When Sir Bloom had to leave for long journeys, he would often say things he didn’t mean like ‘Should I just not go?’ while gauging his family’s reaction.

Each time, Tatiana’s mother would sigh and answer like this:

‘Do whatever you want. Can you stop asking now? Honestly, I’m tired of it.’

‘……Really?’

‘Yeah. Just bring back a gift when you return.’

Though it was a response so cool it felt cold, it might have made things easier for the person who had to leave. Perhaps her mother had considered her father in her own way?

However, Tatiana wasn’t confident she could act with such deep consideration like her mother.

No matter how she answered, the unsettled feelings would remain inside her and probably show eventually.

If she says ‘go,’ she’ll be gloomy the whole time he’s gone due to worry and resentment. If she says ‘no, don’t go,’ she’ll feel uncomfortable with guilt thinking he can’t do his work because of her, that she wasn’t mature enough.

In the end, she wouldn’t be satisfied with either choice.

But are you bringing me these kinds of questions and choices just to ease your own mind? Why, so you can say ‘you told me to go’ if I complain later? So you can say ‘you told me not to go, why are you acting like this now’ if I feel sorry later? Are you going to say it was all because of me?

Tatiana didn’t like that Gideon had brought about this situation in the first place.

However, when you’re married, similar situations keep coming. They come endlessly. Only the topic changes slightly each time.

She can’t make this sulky expression every time, so it would be more productive for Tatiana to research her own method at least once.

Respecting that the other person has their own dreams and life without forgetting, while being honest with her own feelings too.

If she pretends to be fine on the outside while accumulating disappointment, she might end up resenting him someday.

She didn’t want to just be considerate and end up feeling victimized, nor did she want to make her husband into an inexplicable perpetrator.

Tatiana pondered for a long time. Even while doing so, she didn’t forget to glare at Gideon occasionally.

She decided to first explain what the north meant to her, what part of her he was touching right now. Wouldn’t she look less petty even if she reacted sharply after laying such groundwork? This kind of setup is usually necessary.

“Your Highness. They say most knights have their own jinx. You know that, right?”

Gideon nodded.

People who must step out with their right foot first when going into battle, people who won’t exercise that day even with a sword at their neck if they cut their cheek while shaving. Knights’ jinxes were varied, and sometimes even creative.

Tatiana once thought their jinxes looked cool when she was young and naive. They felt like honorable scars or medals that all knights naturally had, you could say.

And as time passed and she became an adult, she too developed something she wanted to avoid just from hearing about it.

“The north is like that for me. Just hearing the name feels ominous and makes me think something bad will happen.”

“……”

To her, it was a land of death.

But during his lifetime, her father had told her this about jinxes. Who has time to worry about such superstitions? More precisely, he meant that in that time you should rush out and take down one more enemy.

Though he was startled by his own words and tried to gloss over them, Tatiana had heard it all then.

This is why you shouldn’t speak carelessly in front of children. Children understand and remember everything.

But perhaps Sir Bloom had spoken well. After that day, Tatiana came to think that Dad was definitely different somehow, that it was better not to have jinxes.

That if by chance you developed a jinx you couldn’t control, it would be better to overcome such things.

Tatiana fidgeted with her hands on Gideon’s chest and fiddled with his button for no reason. Then she looked up and spoke her mind.

“Still, since you’ve decided to go, come back with the results you want. And don’t get hurt anywhere.”

“……”

“Your Highness needs to return safely for my jinx to break.”

A smile gradually bloomed on Gideon’s lips as he looked at Tatiana.

Tatiana’s green eyes that were like a dense forest. Lovely lips that only spoke pretty and cute words. A face that made him want to make any oath, now as before. A wish he wanted to grant, had to grant, and could grant.

Gideon softly pressed his lips to hers and nodded.

“……Yes. I will. I’ll break it for you.”

Gideon really liked Tatiana. 

 * * *

 After Gideon left for his external schedule, Tatiana spent peaceful days just as before. And she spent them very productively.

There’s a saying that if you’re not lonely when alone, you won’t be lonely when married. It’s true.

The other person can’t watch over your every move 24 hours a day staring only at you. A spouse isn’t someone who exists for that purpose in the first place.