Insane. Completely insane.
After saying something so embarrassing myself, I was too mortified to even meet his eyes, and my gaze only followed the tips of my feet as they fidgeted for no reason.
I would have preferred it if he had teased me mischievously, but Sohwi gave no answer at all, and only an awkward silence flowed between us.
“Ha… haha. I’m sorry, when you’re so busy.”
And yet I only tightened my grip on the finger I was holding, so I had no idea why I was acting like this.
I should let go.
He was already busy enough, and if I kept holding him back out of some stubbornness I couldn’t even explain, I would only be getting in his way.
One of the reasons he was busy was because of my request, after all.
“You can just go on your way…”
I forced the strength from the hand clutching his finger and let go of Sohwi’s hand.
“Very well.”
“…Pardon?”
My hand, which had been slowly moving away, was suddenly seized by a large hand.
“No matter how busy I may be, surely I can have a cup of tea with my wife.”
And then, as if he had no intention of letting go of an opportunity once he had seized it, he pulled the hand he held toward himself.
Ryu Sua’s body, small compared to Sohwi and even compared to the other maidservants of the estate, was easily drawn toward him without much effort at all.
“Then let us go to the main hall first.”
And I was lifted into Sohwi’s arms as he smiled, looking pleased.
“Wait, p-please put me down!”
It felt as though I could hear the murmuring of the servants working nearby all the way over here.
As expected of a romance-fantasy male lead. The moment he gets a chance, he starts making an outrageous fuss.
And I’m the one who has to be embarrassed.
“Then let us go.”
And my request to be put down was ignored as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
He acts as though he would grant any request I make, so why does he so naturally ignore me only at times like this?
Feeling needlessly choked up, I used my one free hand to pat Sohwi’s shoulder.
“Haha.”
“Don’t just laugh!”
“My wife is truly full of affection.”
My blows, which hardly deserved to be called punches, did not affect Sohwi in the slightest, and I could only see his face right before my eyes, smiling as usual.
In the end, looking as though I were merely sulking out of embarrassment, I was carried off in Sohwi’s arms in full view of everyone around us.
My meaningless resistance only ended after Sohwi carefully set me down on the wooden floor of the main hall.
“You were the one who invited me for tea first, my lady. Why so coy now?”
“Ngh…”
The moment my feet touched the floor of the main hall, I glared at Sohwi irritably.
“I told you to put me down…”
“Ah. Did you? Since my wife did not call me ‘husband,’ I thought you were shouting at someone else.”
Sohwi met my eyes with a shameless expression, offering a ridiculous excuse.
Whether in his true form or in human form, Sohwi had always been larger than me, so I had always had to look up at him.
Now that our eyes met at the same height for the first time, I felt strangely as if heat were rising in me.
“Hus. Band. Did you really have to carry a person around like a piece of luggage?”
“Oh dear. I am sorry, my lady. Next time, I will be sure to be careful.”
But what could I do?
Whether the heat rising in me was because I was angry at Sohwi’s attitude, because I had shown such an embarrassing sight to the people around us, or because my face was growing hot for some other reason.
Even if I acted annoyed for a little while or snapped at him for a moment.
“Please don’t do that next time.”
I had to be the one to take a step back.
What right did I have to get angry at them?
“I shall not.”
I was only able to live thanks to their goodwill and consideration.
“Then shall we truly have a cup of tea now?”
Sohwi, who had taken a seat beside me, patted the spot next to him with his hand as if telling me to sit as well.
I gathered the loose hem of my skirt and sat on the edge of the main hall.
“Is there any tea you would like, my lady?”
“I’d like whatever comes out as quickly as possible.”
I was already taking his time as I pleased, so I couldn’t take even more time by making them prepare tea.
To begin with, I didn’t know any teas anyway, so it was easier to drink whatever they gave me.
But when I received the teacup from the maidservant who had prepared it at Sohwi’s command, I did regret it a little after all.
“Peony tea, I see.”
The tea that could be prepared the fastest was the tea that had already been prepared in advance.
And the tea that would be prepared in the estate right now meant the peony tea they had once served to me.
I should have just named some other tea, even at random.
“It is often drunk around this time.”
“I see.”
Sohwi immediately brought the steaming teacup to his lips, but I stared intently at the blameless cup.
I had not been able to finish it earlier either and had only eaten the candied sweets that came with it.
I did not particularly want to drink it. But I had been the one to suggest drinking together, so it would be strange not to drink.
I also felt sorry toward the maidservants who had prepared it for me again, so I lifted the steaming teacup and brought it to my lips.
“My lady. You do not have to force yourself to drink it.”
Sohwi’s hand blocked the space between my mouth and the teacup.
“You do not want to drink it, do you?”
“Ugh… is it that obvious?”
It seemed Sohwi had noticed that I did not want to drink it.
If my dislike showed so plainly on my face, then the maidservant who brought it must have noticed too…
“You would drink it as medicine, but you disliked it as tea. You said it was scented water.”
Ah, Ryu Sua originally disliked peony tea too.
So it wasn’t exactly that he had noticed what “I” disliked. Then the maidservant must have known too.
“Then why did you accept peony tea when you knew?”
Then why had he accepted peony tea on purpose?
“Were you playing a prank on me as usual this time too?”
Was he testing me?
Was it something he did to confirm whether I was truly Ryu Sua, who had lost her memories?
Surely not.
Sohwi must have heard and known that Ryu Sua’s body was menstruating, so he had only offered peony tea, said to be good for menstruation, to his beloved wife.
Besides, when he asked whether there was any tea I wanted, I was the one who said I wanted whatever came quickly.
I was also the one who had suggested drinking tea.
“That cannot be.”
“Then why…! No. Never mind. Don’t worry about it. I made a mistake.”
Even though I understood it in my head, I nearly shouted without realizing it.
It was just me being overly self-conscious on my own. They were simply taking care of me because I was having a hard day.
Would I perhaps be cast out? Had I done something wrong?
The bitter feeling lingering in my mouth seemed to have spread all the way into my head and made a mess of it.
“Oh dear… This is not good either.”
Sohwi muttered something in a voice so quiet I could barely hear it.
“My lady. I am sorry.”
Then he lowered his head to me and apologized.
Why was Sohwi, who had done nothing wrong, lowering his head and apologizing to me?
“Why are you doing this?”
“You have seemed dispirited often, my lady, and I did not know that my attempt to lift your mood was instead ruining it. I apologize.”
“No. I’m the one who suddenly lost my temper. And…”
It was only because my thoughts had gone astray just now.
Normally, I did not feel that resistant to Sohwi’s teasing.
“…I don’t dislike it. When you tease me.”
Rather, I did not dislike it.
My position in the estate was that of the lady of the house, even if only in name, so the servants could not treat me carelessly and were always polite.
A few fox maidservants would quietly joke among themselves, but they did not say such things to me directly.
There was Hwaya, but even Hwaya felt more like an adult taking care of me than someone on equal footing.
“I’m just feeling a little unwell right now… It really was my mistake.”
If I had to be precise, it was not that I did not dislike it… I suppose I liked it.
Yes. I liked it.
I liked it immensely because it made me feel as though we were on equal terms.
I liked having pointless conversations over dinner every evening too.
This kind of friendship…? It felt a little different to call it that, but no other name came to mind right now.
“I actually like it, so you don’t need to apologize. Husband. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry.”
For now, I would give it the name friendship. A friendship in which I was being cared for a little more.
This relationship between us felt very stable.
“I am grateful that you think so.”
“Then please move your hand now. They prepared it for me, so I should drink it.”
Somehow, I felt refreshed.
I understood why, in the modern world, all sorts of expressions were attached to women on their periods.
My emotions changed so quickly that even I could barely keep up with what I was thinking, making me seem like someone who was ill.
That must be why Sohwi was teasing me, trying to lift my mood.
“Will you drink it?”
“It is medicine, at least. I should drink it.”
Still, since he had prepared it out of consideration for me, I thought I should drink it even if I left some behind.
But at my words that I would drink, Sohwi gave a meaningful smile and slowly removed his hand from the teacup.
“I hope this prank pleases you as well.”
Inside the teacup he had hidden, there was now a piece of candied apple shaped like a flower.
As the honey set into it melted in the warm tea, the loosened flower-shaped confection looked like a blossom that had just bloomed.
“Would this not make it easier to drink?”
This was why I could not dislike Sohwi’s pranks.
As soon as I brought the teacup to my lips, a sweet taste spread through my mouth, and the bitterness that had tormented me all day seemed to disappear.
“Yes. It’s delicious.”
The corners of my mouth naturally lifted.
Yes. It was delicious.
The peony tea that had tasted like nothing to me before now felt as though it might become my favorite tea.
The feeling of the warm tea sliding down my throat and heating me from deep within my chest was truly pleasant.
Still, I must have eaten too many sweets today.
“This is nice. Husband.”
It seemed I was having a blood sugar spike.
Perhaps I was excited from too much sugar, because my heart began to thump.
I felt a little dizzy, and also dazed as though I were sleepy.
It was probably definitely a blood sugar spike.
It definitely had to be.