Episode 30: A Man’s Jealousy(4)
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“Ribbon?” Aristine repeated.
Did her ribbon come loose?
Aristine quickly looked down at her outfit. But there wasn’t a ribbon on her dress.
Aristine’s gaze turned back to Tarkan.
For some reason, Tarkan looked awkward, embarrassed, and bashful. He told himself that he would say ‘Rineh’ correctly this time and opened his mouth.
“Ri…n, bon.”
“What about a ribbon?”
She was just asking because she didn’t understand but Tarkan frowned and abruptly turned his head away.
“Forget it.”
‘What?’
Judging by his reaction, she must have done something wrong, but she had no idea what it was. Aristine felt sorry even though she didn’t know why but at the same time, she felt his sulking face was quite entertaining.
‘Actually, the bashful, awkward and embarrassed look isn’t too bad,’ Aristine thought.
Seeing that sort of expression on a man who had the aura of a ferocious beast stimulated something inside her.
‘He’s so shy that I can’t really tell but is the reason for his shyness because he likes ribbons?’
Even Mukali was the same; it seems the men here liked to hide what they liked.
‘He raised up the courage to tell me his secret but now he’s pouting because I couldn’t really understand.’
Aristine carefully watched Tarkan as he sat down across the table.
‘Tarkan with a ribbon…’
The image seemed completely out of place, but it also seemed to fit.
“What is going on between you and that foxy bastard?”
Tarkan asked, careful not to sound too jealous.
It soured his mood to know that he was bothered by Hamill’s words, but he couldn’t fully extricate himself from it.
Because it concerned Aristine.
“I told you we’re friends.”
Tarkan didn’t seem satisfied with that answer and pursed his lips, “…him.”
“Hm?”
“You told him that you…like him.”
“I can’t really hear you. Speak a little louder.”
Tarkan frowned.
He bit his inner cheek and clenched his first for a moment, then he covered his mouth with the back of his mouth and said, “You said you like him.”
“Of course, I do,” Aristine replied without hesitation.
Seeing her staring at him as if asking ‘what is the issue’, Tarkan instantly felt frustrated.
‘Even though you said you know why I am your husband.’
Sure enough, he was just a political marriage husband; so did that mean she felt love and romance for other people?
He told himself not to let his guard down but getting confirmation like this felt more painful than he expected.
His heart deviated from its original path and was crushed to the floor in an instant.
Right then, Aristine opened her mouth, “If I didn’t like him, how could we be friends? He might be a little strange, but he’s still a pretty good person in his own way.”
Tarkan stared blankly at Aristine.
Before he could even process those words, the extinguished light in his heart slowly began to rekindle.
He placed a hand over his eyes.
‘She keeps making my heart go up and down.’
He was still unhappy that she had a good impression of Hamill, but after confirming that it was just ‘as a friend’, he felt a little relieved.
At the very least, he felt relaxed enough to feel pity for Hamill who was evaluated by Aristine as a strange person.
Of course, he felt more happiness than pity.
Even though he knew that he shouldn’t expect too much, the corner of his lips slowly and words couldn’t help but spill from his mouth.
“What about me then?”
“Huh?”
“What do you think about me?”
Aristine looked at Tarkan and blinked, then she started laughing.
Oh dear, my husband is really a handful.
—That was the kind of look in her eyes.
“I’ve told you before. You’re very shy, a little anno—.”
“Forget it,” Tarkan immediately stopped her.
‘What was I expecting? I will just end up hearing pervert,” He thought, propping his hand on his chin.
But there was a faint smile on his lips.
How come he found himself liking even this part of her?
Aristine helplessly looked at her husband who liked to ask for praise regularly.
But how come he always stopped her before she said it was good or that she was fond of it?
Was he embarrassed?
He was the one always asking yet he was embarrassed.
‘Does he enjoy feeling embarrassed?’
Sure enough, her husband was a very shy pervert.
“By the way, what do you mean foxy bastard?” Aristine gave a light laugh, “I think he’s more like a gold-digger.”
“Gold-digger?”
“Mhm.”
“That fits too, actually.”
That aspect of his that never reveals what he is thinking.
Tarkan chuckled.
“Because Lu is a little too nice sometimes.”
“Too nice? Him?”
“Mhm, he’s kind, isn’t he?”
Kind how? Tarkan frowned.
The reason that bastard smiled all the time was because he didn’t care about anyone. You couldn’t even call that kind or nice.
Instead of pointing that out, Tarkan brought up something that had been bothering him since earlier.
“By the way, do you plan to keep calling him that?”
He didn’t ever want to say ‘Lu’ with his own mouth.
“What else should I call him? That’s his name.”
“…What?”
‘Isn’t it?’—Seeing Aristine turn to him with such question in her eyes, Tarkan was enlightened.
“Then, the reason you keep calling him that is…”
Because she simply thought it was his name.
Tarkan covered his mouth which was about to curl up.
She wasn’t calling Hamill that because she liked him or because he was special. This was a contrived situation by Hamill.
‘So this means, she doesn’t know that he’s Hamill?’
Tarkan readily opened his mouth to tell her the truth, then a thought crossed his mind and he shut his mouth.
‘No, it will be better for her to find out than for me to tell her.’
That would help her understand than fox’s true nature. How calculative and petty that guy was.
Even worse, he was hiding his true nature and wagging his tail like a fox in front of a married woman.
Normally, Tarkan didn’t care what Hamill was doing but right now, he was pulling out all the swear words in existence and throwing it at Hamill’s head.
Tarkan never thought he could have such petty thoughts. But the thought occurred to him that he didn’t mind being petty to become someone special to Aristine.
While Tarkan fell momentarily silent, Aristine looked out the window.
A very chilly wind was driving away the last scent of the last summer.
Fall was here.
In one or two weeks, the lush-green garden would begin to turn reddish yellow.
Aristine was moving under the assumption that Nephther’s death, which she saw through the Monarch’s Sight, was happening this year.
‘The time is too short.’
Not only did she prepare a countermeasure against being planted as a poison assassin, she also made a plan to counterattack.
However, she could not find any clue to prevent Nephther’s death.
She asked Tarkan to inspect the management of the palace servants and court ladies, strengthen the security of the King’s palace, and check again for any signs but such measures were only as a precaution.
Right now, she was seeking non-existent signs and clamping down on them.
Doing that couldn’t make her feel relieved.
‘I wish I could see something about the incident in the future just one more time.’
Aristine glanced at the water basin out of habit.
But the water surface was calm.
Tarkan stared at Aristine, who was quietly admiring the flowers.
Lately, Aristine seemed to be spending her spare time appreciating the flowers in the water basin.
Flowers had never held any meaning for Tarkan. But if Aristine liked it, that was a different story.
‘I should build her a greenhouse.’
Just imagining Aristine’s eyes sparkling when she sees the greenhouse with beautiful flowers made him feel good already.
But for some reason, Aristine looked gloomy as she stared at the flowers.
‘Is she tired? Or is she hungry?’
He was slowly figuring out his wife. Unfortunately, his guess would have normally been correct but this time, it was wrong.
Tarkan checked the time. It was almost time for dinner.
“Shall we go eat?”
Hearing that, Aristine lifted her head.
Nephther’s issue bothered her, but food was still very important.
‘I need energy to think anyway.’
This was an investment for the future.
Aristine nodded and was about to get up.
But right then.
The calm water surface in the basin began to shake.
Aristine’s eyes grew wide.
She quickly pushed the flowers in the basin aside.
Images began to appear on the water surface.
