We lost much of the day after that, rushed hither and thither to speak with various so-and-sos, but we were at last left to our own devices in the evening.
The priests offered to let us stay at the temple, but I refused, and instead we took a room in the best inn in the city.
Several of the priests had been quite insistent, but they shut right up when I asked them outright, “Do you really think two newlyweds like us aren’t going to go at it like dogs tonight?”
The priests of the goddess of law were famous for adhering to strict precepts of propriety. Sex in the temple would surely merit a summary excommunication, which just as surely was something the priests could not do to their newly minted hero.
That said, I was grateful to them for putting us up in a nice inn as a replacement. There was even a bath! It was a huge communal bath, so of course there was no privacy to be had, which was a bit of a shame.
When I’m famous, I should make a bath for my wife. Then, I swore, I will bathe with her in it.
“Eeyah! Oh, Lord Chriiis, you mustn’t…”
Oops. While I was lost in thought about our future bath, Olivia had apparently returned from her real bath. There I was, unconsciously groping my wife’s breasts. It seemed my love for titties had become an addiction—
not that I especially cared to recover from it.
“Goodness! I wish you wouldn’t startle me so, Lord Chris.”
Her pale skin sparkled. She must have brushed herself thoroughly in the bath. She’s so pretty… Before I knew it, I had wrapped my arms around her.
“You’re a vision, Olivia. We’ve been through so much together, but now that your curse is lifted, I want to ask you again. Will you be my wife, forever and always?”
“Gladly.”
I’d talked big about us going at it all night, and it would be a lie to say I wasn’t getting excited at the sight of my wife, more beautiful than ever before. But giving into my desire and pushing her for sex when I well knew how exhausted she was would have left me feeling no small sense of guilt. So instead Olivia and I lay in bed, cuddling and chatting, drowsy from our long travels.
Before I knew it, I’d fallen asleep, but I was certain that, before my consciousness faded entirely, I felt something warm against my lips.
The day after Olivia and I were officially married, an extensive development plan was announced to celebrate the second prince, Charles Magne. Charles had recently been adopted into his wife’s family, making him Margrave Charles Caroling. The timing could not have been better: it was the perfect opportunity for this country boy to make a name for himself. Olivia encouraged me, saying that if my services were valued enough, I might be ennobled—granted a title of the peerage.
But more urgently than that…
“Dearest, say aaah! ♪”
As I hoisted a bite of Olivia’s favorite potato salad, she fed me a bite-sized chunk of bread.
“I’ve never had bread this good. Maybe it’s because the person feeding it to me is the best, huh? I should return the favor! Here, open wide.”
I held out the potato salad to my blushing bride, and she delightedly took a bite. A maid turned away from us, looking uncomfortable, but I decided to ignore her.
Amidst the breakfast laid out for us, we found a small tomato, apparently a high-sugar tomato found only in this region. I took it in my mouth and gently lifted Olivia’s jaw.
“Oh, dearest…”
Correctly guessing my intent, Olivia closed her eyes and blushed even more deeply, whereupon I fed her the tomato via mouth-to-mouth.
“Mm… Mmch… Aahm.”
She bit it in two, then snaked her tongue into my mouth to offer me one of the halves. It was my first time ever eating a tomato, and wow, it was
sweet. Almost like a fruit.
“Please, dear. You can’t tease me like this during a meal.”
“Worry not. I wouldn’t do this if anyone were around. We haven’t had a relaxed meal, just the two of us, before, and I couldn’t resist playing with my new bride.”
Incidentally, yes, the maid ran off the moment she saw me holding the tomato in my mouth. What a relief.
“Besides. Though you accuse me of teasing you, Olivia, you were the one who started it.”
“Oh, um, yes, I did, didn’t I?”
Considering Olivia had lived her whole life being hated by men, she had only a very small circle of friends. She often spent her free time reading, finding solace especially in romance novels. All her life, she’d dreamed of living one of those romances.
“I always wanted to try it after getting married. But until I met you, I’d given up on ever finding a husband.”
Ahh, how adorable she was with that bashful smile. I couldn’t resist the temptation, so we continued feeding each other.