When You Don’t Get Along With Your Husband - Chapter 6

The first thing that came to mind was Gideon’s features, which had put in even more effort than usual today.

Tatiana had once heard this from a tea party member who had married early. That in a wedding, the husband is nothing more than a handle for the bride to hold onto so she doesn’t stumble in her high heels.

The protagonist is the bride, and the groom is just an attendant.

However, the moment she saw his beauty effortlessly pulling off even the splendid ceremonial attire, Tatiana thought, ‘It seems I’m the attendant today.’

If by any chance Gideon had uttered words like ‘You’re beautiful, wife,’ even if just out of courtesy, she might have felt uncomfortable, but he was silent. He just looked at Tatiana for a long time and then extended his hand as if to say, let’s go now.

And during the ceremony, Gideon opened his mouth only once.

It was when signing the marriage vow.

‘……’

Women of the royal family often use their family name in the middle of their name before marriage.

However, Tatiana had to hesitate for a moment then. It was brief, but she was confused whether to write Bloom or Muller, or if she should write both.

Gideon, who was watching this intently, said.

‘Why are you pondering over that? Write Bloom.’

He even held the back of her hand and moved it to write ‘Tatiana Bloom Ainsler’. After making her look like a fool who couldn’t even sign her own name, he calmly said.

‘Wife seems to be quite nervous. Let’s continue.’

He was a man who was rude and arrogant, yet strangely never lost his kindness in an odd way.

Tatiana smirked while holding the edge of the blanket.

At that moment, the chamber door opened, and Gideon entered the room alone without any attendants.

Unlike Tatiana, he was wearing light casual clothes, not pajamas.

Feeling like she should get up to greet him, she raised her upper body, but he showed his palm towards her as if to say stay comfortably lying down.

“It’s fine, just stay as you are.”

“……”

She thought he might be being polite because people were around, but Gideon continued to speak formally even when they were alone. It seemed like they used to talk casually when they were young.

Is he saying that neither you nor I are that age anymore? Anyway, it wasn’t a bad feeling. In a way, it made her feel respected, and his formal speech sounded quite elegant to Tatiana’s ears.

Gideon walked over steadily and lay down next to Tatiana without changing his clothes. Then he placed his forearm around his eyes, and after that… he just kept lying like that.

Naturally, Tatiana found this situation very awkward and couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable lying next to a man. It was still too much to accept him as her husband.

But shouldn’t she get used to it someday? Couples… have things they need to do at night, don’t they? They’re not just going to hold hands and sleep, right?

Tatiana stared blankly at Gideon, who was lying with his arm covering his face.

“Are you sleeping?”

He answered without moving.

“No.”

“Um, we……”

“Yes.”

“Are we just going to sleep like this?”

For a moment, he let out a short laugh through his lips.

There were rumors that he was cold to the point of having a bad personality. Even recalling memories from childhood, he seemed far from being sociable, but he laughed quite easily at whatever Tatiana said.

Gideon, who had been lying straight, raised his upper body slightly, propped his chin, and looked at Tatiana obliquely.

Their faces were closer than before, and their gazes met. His sky-blue eyes were shining, seemingly interested.

“Wife……”

“……”

“Aren’t you… afraid of being embraced by a man you’ve barely talked to?”

“Well……”

“I’m scared because I don’t know what I might do right now.”

Who said that attacking first ensures victory? Tatiana wanted to find the person who said that and argue that it wasn’t true.

She had probed ambitiously, but the response was so unsettling that she rolled her eyes aimlessly.

As Tatiana hesitated, Gideon smirked as if it was trivial, or as if he understood without her saying anything, which made her feel even more uncomfortable. Somehow, it felt like she was being treated like a naive child. Feeling a bit disrespected, her pride was slightly hurt.

Afraid of being embraced? To be honest, Tatiana was very nervous. But he didn’t feel like a frightening presence to her.

Even if she encountered unidentified thugs with blunt weapons in an alley in the middle of the night, she wouldn’t be trembling on her side.

Of course, subduing a robust opponent without even a long stick would be tricky for her too.

But Tatiana was always confident.

Confident of winning? No. Confident that even if she ultimately lost that fight, she would leave her opponent in an unrecoverable state.

In short, she was saying she absolutely wouldn’t die alone.

So why should I be afraid of you? What kind of bad things are you planning to do in this room?

As Tatiana gradually tensed her body and scanned his physique with dangerous eyes, Gideon opened his mouth after a while.

“Wife.”

“Yes.”

“I asked because I wanted to know if you’re lying here reluctantly or if you really want to. I’m not trying to force anything.”

“……”

“So if you’re not up for it, let’s just sleep quietly.”

“……”

“Don’t use violence on your husband.”

At this, Tatiana’s expression became even more enigmatic. In reality, she was in the process of recalling the locations of vital points one by one.

Was it that obvious?

“Did I… just emit killing intent?”

Tatiana tilted her head, thinking that couldn’t be possible.

She had been playing with wooden swords since she was exactly five years old. Not satisfied with just that, she had always been eyeing her father’s real sword. Someone like her wouldn’t have made such a beginner’s mistake of exposing killing intent at this point.

Then how did he know?

“It’s not that, you just had an expression that said you’d kill me if push came to shove.”

“……I see.”

It seems it wasn’t the killing intent she failed to hide, but her expression. I should be more careful from now on.

But Tatiana didn’t want to kill him at all, nor did she intend to harm her newly wedded husband.

She just… hoped that he wouldn’t treat her carelessly in bed. Even if he didn’t treat her preciously.

Tatiana stared blankly at Gideon.

He was now lying straight as if he had sufficiently confirmed her intentions. His face, so calm it even seemed leisurely, showed no sign of tension.

Does the impatient urgency of a man on his wedding night not exist for someone like him?

‘Could those noisy rumors actually be true?’

Although she didn’t understand why Gideon was acting this way, Tatiana felt she knew at least one thing.

If she didn’t want it, he really wasn’t going to do anything tonight. So she was able to relax her tense shoulders and belatedly put on a bit of bravado. Even to the point of making a somewhat impertinent joke.

“Your Highness.”

“……What is it now?”

Gideon propped his chin again and met her eyes. He was frowning on the surface, but it was as if he had been waiting for her to speak.

“My birth father told me this. He said to avoid fights as much as possible.”

“Yes, and?”

“Yes, and. He also said that if it’s an unavoidable fight, it’s best to end it quickly. He said war is about speed.”

“……”

“One-hit kill. Do you know it?”

If there’s something that must be done between a married couple, wouldn’t it be better to do it quickly now? That was the implication.

However, there wasn’t even a speck of desperation in Tatiana’s eyes as she said this, which made Gideon’s lips twist slightly.

It’s good that you’re not afraid… but I don’t like the analogy. To you, is this a fight, an unavoidable procedure? Is it just a rite of passage?

He moved his face, which had been propped up crookedly, closer to Tatiana.

“Lovemaking is not war, and if it could end in one hit, you and I would be rabbits.”

This was as good as saying that once we start, I absolutely won’t end it in one go.

Without giving her time to ponder this meaningful statement, he asked pressingly.

“Do you see me as a man?”

“Surely you don’t mean I see you as a woman……”

Gideon frowned and cut her off.

“Not that.”

“……”

“I’m asking if it’s okay for you to be embraced by me today.”

“……”

“If you’d like it.”

With her feeble wordplay blocked, Tatiana closed her mouth tightly and fell into thought. As if this simple question was difficult, she remained in that state for a while.

Gideon knew well why she couldn’t answer readily.

It wasn’t that she outright disliked it, but it was ambiguous to fully admit that she liked it.