Chapter Four: My Eyes Are Amazing, So I’m Great at Finding Things
THE large cast-iron double doors stand open, just as they had when I arrived that morning. Soldiers in uniforms less decorated than my lord husband’s salute him from their post on either side as we walk through. The carriage is already waiting, the guards on their horses and the footman ready with the stepstool.
My lord husband offers his hand and helps me onto the stool. I can mount it myself, but Tabitha told me that I must wait for a gentleman to assist me. I twist to look at my lord husband. I’m one step above him, and he still stands much taller. I should be as big as him by now. I’m already seventeen.
He bends a little to place a kiss on my cheek. “I’ll be home at the usual time.” The sparkle in his blue eyes is soft like spring water in sunlight. I’m often told I’m cute when my eyes shine, so that must mean he is cute then as well. But he’s always cute.
He frowns when I share my thoughts. “Abby. I’m a grown man. Men aren’t cute.”
“They aren’t?”
“…Don’t worry about it. Anyway, isn’t there something you want to do?”
“Oh, yes!” I stretch to give him a kiss as he stoops further.
I usually kiss him before he heads to work, but should I when I’m the one leaving? My urge to bounce is the same, so I suppose it’s okay.
“Is that you, Gerald?! Long time no see!” calls a cheerful girlish voice just as he places another kiss on my forehead.
Gerald? How casual. Yet the voice doesn’t sound like Mother-in-Law’s.
The hand smoothing my bangs freezes. I turn at the sound of footsteps dashing toward us, and my lord husband moves to stand in front of me, blocking my view with his large body.
“Perfect! I was just about to look for you in your office.”
“…What are you doing in the capital, Haydn?”
My lord husband’s voice is so deep! I can feel his anger. During our trip to Longhurst, I was instructed to duck behind him whenever strangers appear. Maybe this is one of those times!
“Oh my! Still as cold as ever, Gerald. I’ve been gone for four years and this is the welcome I get?” chirps the lively voice, and I glimpse a slender hand reaching for my lord husband’s arm before he slaps it away. “Meanie!”
What a strange woman.
Slowly, with exceptional calm, Rodney has been inching his way toward us. “Please get on, my lady,” he whispers without moving his lips,
Huh? Aren’t I supposed to hide behind my lord husband?
“I’ve told you not to address me by name.”
“Why not?! We’re the same age.”
“And I’m a major. Age has no bearing on the fact that I outrank you. Know your place.” He reaches behind himself and hooks my waist, pulling me close so that my face is squished against his back. Rodney lightly taps my lord husband’s arm and indicates once more for me to board the carriage. What should I do?
“Wait. What are you hiding behind you?”
I sense the woman trying to peer at me, so I move. I promised Tabitha I would hide. My lord husband shifts as well, a physical barrier between the stranger and me.
“Don’t tell me those rumors about you marrying are true after all?”
I’ve been spotted! But I hid so well!
My lord husband clucks his tongue in annoyance and sighs. He swivels to lift me up the rest of the steps so I stand just outside the carriage door. I’m finally taller than him and can look down at the stranger.
She’s much smaller than my lord husband, yet her chest is so big! The front of her military uniform is unfastened, and the buttons of her shirt underneath seem seconds from bursting! Maybe she’s outgrown her clothes, and nobody thought to buy her new ones.
Her hair, secured in a high ponytail, is a mixture of blonde and a brown so light it looks peachy pink, the ends nicely curled. Her flashing eyes are a dark red that shifts to bright scarlet, hinting at a certain magical prowess. But she’s not very powerful, not half as strong as Father-in-Law.
“This is my wife, Abigail. Abby, this is Wendy Haydn, third daughter of Earl Haydn and a second lieutenant in the military, which means she has no business with you.”
“Meanie! I’d love to be friends, yes?” she says, turning to me.
Wendy Haydn.
Her lips part wide as she smiles with all her teeth, the expression totally different from the serene smiles I’ve been trained to do.
I’m sure Tabitha will teach me how to smile like that if I ask her, but since I can’t just then, I should greet the lady the way I’ve learned. I squeeze my lord husband’s long and rough fingers, and he stops trying to push me into the carriage.
“Abby?”
I place a hand gently on my chest and adopt a proper smile. “I am Viscount Noel’s wife, Abigail Noel. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Lady Haydn.”
I’m sure I did a good job introducing myself, as Tabitha once praised me, but Wendy’s eyes widen in surprise and she bursts into laughter. “Oh my! No need to be all formal. You’re really so cute.”
I’ve presented myself as a noblewoman should, yet she doesn’t return the greeting. Perhaps she’s bad at introductions.
“As you can see, the woman is without an ounce of etiquette,” my lord husband says. “She’s not worth your attention. Go on, time to head home.”
“Maybe she can’t help it. Not everyone has a kind teacher like Tabitha,” I say.
“…I-I guess so. You’re very forgiving,” my lord husband mumbles as he looks at the ground, his body trembling. Rodney is in a similar state, but my focus is elsewhere.
“Do you like potatoes, Wendy?” I ask. “Shall we have some together next time?”
“Huh?”
Wendy is the small human who shared his potatoes with the Monster King. I can tell!