Episode 26: My Wife (2)
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Jaquelin’s gaze moved back and forth between Tarkan and Mukali like a ship in the middle of a storm while Durante’s expression was chillier than usual as if a demonic beast was in front of him.
The court ladies didn’t know what to do while Umiru watched with amusement on her face.
Meanwhile, Aristine, who threw out the bomb, had absolutely no idea.
“I should put this in a vase, right?”
Once Aristine said that, the court ladies quickly took the bouquet like they were fleeing the scene.
Even as they were bustling with activity, Tarkan’s gaze did not move away from Mukali.
‘W-Why haven’t you given her flowers already?’ Mukali thought to himself bitterly, but realistically, he knew it was almost impossible for Tarkan to give a woman a bouquet of flowers.
That was what the others thought too.
The idea of Tarkan with flowers was a more unsuitable combination than Mukali with flowers. Anyone could tell that the only idea Tarkan had about flowers was whether they were poisonous or not.
“Thank you for coming, Sir Durante and Sir Jacquelin.”
Aristine had known Durante for a while now, and as for Jacquelin, she met him the last time she went to the training ground.
“Not at all. I’ve never visited someone recovering before…sorry that I came empty-handed.”
When it came to visiting the sick, the only experience he had was raiding the wards of his colleagues, so he didn’t think of bringing a present.
“No worries. You didn’t even have to come all this way to visit. Stop standing around; take a seat.”
They could feel Tarkan’s gaze, telling them to get out already but the three of them took a seat as Aristine asked.
“Do you feel better?”
“I feel great. Nothing hurts at all. As they say, a good rest is the cure for overwork.”
“It’s not good to overdo it. You’re already weak to begin with…”
“No, I’m not that weak. At least for a Silvanian, I…”
The small talk continued about what they had all been up to and the things that happened recently.
A court lady came in, pushing a trolley.
“I have prepared some soup as Miss Umiru requested.”
“Hm? Isn’t it lunch already?”
“You must keep taking it to recover your energy. You skipped dinner last night and you didn’t eat very much this morning,” Umiru replied while checking the soup.
The savory brought back Aristine’s appetite instantly.
Honestly, she wanted to eat a lot during breakfast, but she restricted herself because she knew it wasn’t a good idea to eat too much on an empty stomach.
‘Wait, am I supposed to just eat alone?’
She wondered if she should bring snacks out so everyone could eat together.
After stirring the soup, Umiru scooped out a spoonful and blew on it.
‘Is she wondering about the taste?’
While thinking that, Umiru held out the spoon to Aristine.
“Princess Consort, please say ‘ah~’.”
Aristine looked at the spoon, feeling bewildered.
Maybe Nephther was different, but her own hands were perfectly fine.
“…Umiru,” she began to say.
“No, you have to drink this. Come on, ah~,” Umiru said sternly and held out the spoon again.
At that very moment, a strong force grabbed Umiru’s wrist and pulled her back.
It was Tarkan.
Umiru looked at Tarkan with a very amused gaze, “Would you like to feed her, Your Highness?”
At those words, Tarkan’s brows furrowed slightly.
“No, I…”
“Let me go then,” Umiru grinned.
“…I’ll do it,” Tarkan chewed out the words and took the spoon from Umiru’s hand.
Umiru’s amused face was already annoying enough but warrior’s mind-blows expressions and the sparkling eyes of the court ladies was even more burdensome.
However, Tarkan stubbornly grabbed the spoon and held it out to Aristine.
‘What are you even doing?’
Aristine looked at Tarkan with bewilderment on her face.
He was frowning as if he didn’t like it, but his ears were red.
Aristine blinked, then she opened her mouth and bit over the spoon.
It was only the spoon touching her lips, but Tarkan flinched like it had touched his hands.
And right then…
“…Your Highness Tarkan?”
A faint voice was heard.
It was Dionna.
“Just now…”
Dionna’s lips trembled. She couldn’t finish her sentence.
As she was entering the palace to see Tarkan, she saw the warriors rushing off to somewhere.
She was worried that something happened or that they were setting out but then she saw flowers in Mukali’s hands.
It was her first time seeing such an unlikely combination.
When she asked the court ladies what was going on, they told her that Aristine had collapsed yesterday.
Serves her right.
Dionna swallowed her laughter and asked for Tarkan’s whereabouts.
~
‘Perfect timing. While the princess is bed-ridden, I must get His Highness Tarkan all to myself.”
Dionna swallowed a laugh and asked where Tarkan was.
But apparently, Tarkan was with Aristine.
《His Highness Tarkan has been taking care of her since she collapsed yesterday.》
At those words, Dionna’s chest blazed with anger. How dare the princess make Tarkan take care of her.
She simply couldn’t stay still.
At this rate, that fox of a wench might act weak and sickly to stimulate Tarkan’s protective instincts and steal Tarkan away completely.
‘I can’t let that happen. You think I’ll let you have your way?’
While thinking that, she rushed towards Aristine’s room.
But the scene she saw as soon as she walked in was that of Tarkan feeding Aristine soup.
Imagine that Tarkan feeding someone. Was that even possible?
Dionna turned pale and her head shook slightly.
She had been at Tarkan’s side for so long, but she couldn’t even dream of that. She could only stay by side, without being driven away.
That was all she wished for.
Even though she wanted to wish for more, she couldn’t.
Even just staying by his side was so difficult.
Not just Dionna, it was the same for everyone else.
But why…
‘To this princess…!’
Waves of emotion swept through Dionna’s sea-blue eyes as she glared at Aristine.
‘Um…’
Aristine looked around, a little taken aback.
‘Is this one of those?’
One thread to Dionna and one thread toTarkan.
Tarkan, who should be the most taken aback and rushing to plead with Dionna right now, was indifferent.
‘Come on, if your lover catches you feeding another woman soup, you should be a little worried.’
Even if Tarkan said it was purely for nursing purposes, wasn’t this enough for Dionna to misunderstand?
Especially since Aristine wasn’t just any other woman but Tarkan’s wife.
‘Even if it’s in name only.’
Aristine gulped, swallowing the soup, then she opened her mouth.
“Welcome, Dionna.”
Dionna didn’t respond. She still hadn’t gotten over her shock.
The princess consort greeted her first, but she had the audacity to ignore it, so this had already become rude.
But Aristine didn’t plan on scolding Dionna.
‘Don’t tell she heard that Tarkan did that…uh, um… thing yesterday to help me recover from hypothermia?’
—Because another similar thought entered her mind.
Your lover warmed up another woman in bed. And naked at that. Who wouldn’t lose their mind over that?
‘Oh, this feels really icky. I’m in the middle of a love triangle.’
And she wasn’t just in the middle but dragged inside.
‘I really hate things like this. If you’re going to have a lover’s quarrel, please do it among yourself. You don’t have to involve me.’
Meanwhile, Tarkan was agitating Dionna.
“Did you not hear what my wife said just now?”
At that soft but sharp rebuke, Dionna came to her senses with a start and looked around.
“Oh, I…”
Everyone in the room was giving her strange looks.
Dionna plastered a smile on her stiff face, “Please forgive my rudeness, Princess Consort.”
“It is alright, pay it no heed,” Aristine replied and glared at Tarkan.
He hadn’t even comforted her so why was he doing the scolding?
‘For my sake, this misunderstanding needs to be cleared up as soon as possible.’
She wanted to get out of this messy situation.
‘And I’m sure the other warriors know too.’
There was the fact Dionna came to the bridal waiting room and spoke so confidently, but she was certain after seeing Durante’s reaction that day.
Aristine looked straight at Dionna and said.
“I will be straightforward with you. Nothing happened with your lover yesterday so don’t worry.”
