Everyone expected Lucas to lose his temper over the Sword Dance, but in the end, all my husband did was frown a bit and calmly hand me the desert rose.
“Damn it… I’m your husband, Cece. You were beautiful, so beautiful. It felt like I was watching a fairy. I wanted to lock you in a cage and keep you there. I was so moved, honestly, I forgot all about my anger. Dance for me like that again when it’s just the two of us.”
Even though he was still frowning as he spoke, and punctuated his words with a massive sigh, I could see the crimson blush that had taken over his whole face. And with such a sweet response to my dance, how could I not swoon over him?
I really did love how Lucas always told me how he felt after I did something. I loved that about him so, so much.
And I actually kind of liked the way he came right out and said it anytime he didn’t like something, too.
It might sound strange, but the fact that someone as capable as he could still feel anxious made me fall in love with him all over again. He was so handsome, and yet the way his sincerity showed up in the strangest ways lent him a certain cuteness, too.
All the maids and Princess Yana were totally staring at him.
“Honestly, this is even scarier,” Finn muttered, and deep down, I couldn’t help but agree with him.
But in the end, no one in the audience faced any repercussions, except for the main instigator from the Tikrit family. No one got hurt, and the whole thing blew over without turning into a disaster. I felt a satisfying sense of closure.
Lucas and I were walking down the hallway together when I suddenly felt something strange in the air around us.
“Huh?” I looked round warily. The wide corridor was empty save for me and Lucas, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I was just about to call his name when I happened to catch sight of the courtyard fountain in the distance behind him. And in that moment, I understood what had happened.
The fountain wasn’t making any sound. The water spouted upward and fell without even the faintest splash. It wasn’t just strange…it was impossible.
Nor could I hear any noise at all from the party we’d just left. And only one person could pull this off.
We were inside of Lucas’s special soundproof barrier.
I held my breath, anxiety seizing me, and that’s when he stopped walking. His arm was curled around my waist, so I had to stop, too. I turned my head slowly to look up at him, feeling nervous.
“Cece.”
“Y-yes?”
“I knew you were up to something, making me deal with Yana’s little brother. But I didn’t think you were practicing a dance. You were such a tomboy as a child, and it seems as my wife you’re still quite wild.”
“Eep!”
I squealed in panic, and he let out a low chuckle, then brought up what happened tonight. My whole body tensed up, and I couldn’t get another word out. He brushed lightly over my exposed collarbones and scooped up a handful of my hair before planting a kiss on it.
The gesture was so painfully chivalric that it sent a shiver down my spine, and a cold sweat dripped down my back.
“Your Sword Dance was very beautiful. It was wonderful, and I really mean that.”
“Th-thank you.”
He said it was wonderful, but he had to be scheming something if he was telling me that inside a barrier… Wait, no. He’s not just going to talk. We’re in the middle of a hallway that’s practically outdoors… Is he going to punish me?! I have to do something!
I panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to mind, desperate for a change of subject. But of course, I walked right into his trap.
“U-um, how did you know I was a tomboy when I was younger?”
“Of course I’d know. I kept myself busy doing all kinds of things just to distract myself from the pain of not being able to do anything but watch you.”
He said that on purpose!
He was dredging up painful memories to compare them to our present situation, and methodically guilt-tripping me so I wouldn’t run away!
“But the past is the past. No matter how you struggle, you can’t change it.”
I gasped, and just as I did, he let my hair slip through his fingers, almost like he’d timed it that way.
A faint smile shadowed his face, and when he spoke, it was with a carefully controlled tone that brought me to the brink of tears.
“What matters is right now. Don’t you think?”
Right now, I’m Lucas’s wife.
And right now, he couldn’t accept the fact that the second princess of Bern, a woman who should’ve been honored as a royal guest, had to go out of her way to put on a political show in a foreign country.
He could’ve put up with it if I’d asked him to, if he’d known about it ahead of time. Which meant he intended to absolutely ruin me right then and there, and he had plucked the ornament from my hair in preparation.
That kind of warped consideration made me want to cry.
“Isn’t that right, Cece?”
Ahh, now he’s forcing me to agree! I mean, he’s not wrong, but I really don’t want to do this here!
“Y-yes, but…”
“But what?”
The moment I didn’t agree with him fully, his golden eyes that had been curved with his smile turned cold and sharp. And at the same time, a wave of dark mana—almost like what had enveloped Lord Barnabash before—twisted around his wrists, ankles, and even his throat. I froze.
It was like he was punishing himself.
And when his devilishly handsome face tipped to the side this time, it wasn’t cute. It was scary. I felt the blood drain from my face.
I messed up. I really messed up!
I’d gotten so used to the gentleness he’d shown lately that I’d forgotten that the unhinged part of him that resided deep inside had never left.
Lucas didn’t really forgive me for dancing in front of everyone. He was furious that I thought that I could solve things by showing off my body like that, and furious that I thought humiliating myself would be enough to keep our kingdom safe.
He only asked me that question because he was at his breaking point. If he thought anyone else had a hand in this, or if he thought this was anyone’s idea but mine, he would already be out for blood.
Lucas was terrified of losing me and was prepared to put his life on the line to keep me beside him. He wouldn’t hesitate to do what needed to be done. He never did.
So right now, he was barely holding himself together just so he could hear what I had to say. He was still choosing to listen even though I knew it was tearing him apart.
That was what hurt the most.
Princess Yana had been right. I should’ve told him everything from the beginning. We should’ve talked it over, even if it would have been difficult.
I only wanted to protect him, and now I’d ended up hurting him instead. What kind of wife did that make me?
I was ashamed for thinking I could ever fix this by offering up my body. I reached out and placed my hand over his, gripping the hair ornament tightly.
“I’m sorry.”
“That’s not what I asked you,” he said in a low, strained voice. But his tone was firm. And it made the tears spill out of my eyes even faster.
“I-I mean, I was apologizing for acting without thinking about your feelings,” I said.
“So in other words, you had a reason for forcing me to hold back so much?”
That was petty. Petty and childish. He’s saying this just to back me into a corner and make me feel even worse. And it’s working! But also, he’s making it easy for me to say it, so I’ll just go along with it.
“W-well, you said I could do whatever I wanted! So I did. I got carried away and put my feelings first. I just wanted them to see that I’m the only one who’s your wife.”
I bit down on my lip hard to keep from crying.
Lucas was right. What mattered was now, not what happened in the past.
When we first met, I was a candidate for the second princess, and he was training to become a knight. He was assigned to be my guard, and that was it. I was already betrothed, and he was a member of the Herbst family, the shield sworn to protect the royal family. We were absolutely forbidden from falling in love.
If the old me saw us now, fighting in a hallway because we loved each other too much, she’d be speechless. After all, Lucas was so cold and stoic back then.
I kind of wanted to go back in time and tell the old Cecilia that he was secretly childish and extremely petty.
But right now, all I could do was continue to desperately talk to the man whose love for me was too fierce and too earnest.