“Haha. You really are… Puhaha!”
I admit I said something rather foolish. Addressing someone whose name I don’t even know because I have no memories as “husband” is ridiculous. He doesn’t know it, but it’s all the more so because the person inside is a man.
But did he really need to roar with laughter like that? Still, my appearance is that of his fiancée, isn’t it? It’s not strange for someone like that to call him “husband.”
“Haha… Don’t make such a sullen face. I wasn’t mocking you.”
“I’m not sulking. If you don’t like the title, please decide what I should call you.”
“But I like it as it is?”
“I’ve come to hate it now.”
It seemed I would never use the title “husband” again. As long as the original Ryu Sua didn’t return, he would absolutely never hear it.
“You may call me whatever is comfortable for you. You’ve called me ‘darling’ before. ‘You,’ or ‘honey’ are fine too.”
“I would appreciate it if you would simply tell me your name.”
“As I thought, ‘husband’ is still the best, isn’t it?”
“If you won’t tell me, I’d rather call you ‘Master’ as well.”
It looked like I’d be teased until I returned to my original world over one wrong word. I don’t know how the two of them got along before my possession, but seeing how he teases me the moment he gets a chance, they might have been a very playful couple.
“My joke went too far. Being called ‘Master’ is something I absolutely refuse ever again. I’m Sohwi. Ho Sohwi.”
“Then I shall call you Lord Sohwi from now on.”
“Hm… I suppose that will do for now.”
Had there been a problem with titles in the past? Or had “Master” been a title they used after a big fight? Seeing him single it out and refuse it despite saying anything was fine, it was clear that it wasn’t a title with particularly good memories attached.
Calling him “husband” had been a failure, but it seemed I had done well not to call him “Master.” There was no need to dredge up unpleasant memories for no reason.
Even as I let out a deep sigh internally, I peeled the flesh of the grilled fish set before me into easy pieces and placed them over Sohwi’s rice. At the same time, an intense gaze fixed on me.
“I just felt sorry for the food you prepared with such care.”
“But I didn’t say a word?”
No matter what I did, he reacted like that, so I felt like even if I suddenly slapped his cheek, he would respond with something like, “Ah, your hand is still as warm as ever.”
Still, any reaction was far better than feeling rejected.
“I enjoy sharing a meal with you like this, but I must say, using chopsticks in this form is something I simply cannot get used to.”
“Is it very uncomfortable taking a form similar to a human’s?”
“It varies by individual, and most are not greatly inconvenienced since they spend much of their time in human form, but I am the type who spends a long time in my true form.”
Then why did he bother coming to see me in an uncomfortable form? He could have just visited in his true form.
“Then you could have come comfortably…”
“What are you saying? Thanks to this, you take care of me again.”
He doesn’t say it, but I think he does it out of consideration after seeing how frightened I was on the first day. Even now, whenever our eyes meet and I flinch slightly, his fox ears react.
He truly is a male lead overflowing with consideration. Seeing him like this, the original work doesn’t seem to have been a spicy romance fantasy full of regret, obsession, and ruin. Perhaps it was a heartwarming pure-love story where, despite being different species, they slowly opened their hearts to each other as they spent time together.
If the mood is this good, couldn’t I throw out a blunt question? It’s something I’ll have to say eventually, so isn’t it better to say it quickly?
“Lord Sohwi.”
“What is it?”
I set down my spoon and chopsticks, straightened my posture, and called out to Sohwi. He too had been eating the fish and rice I had prepared for him, but seeing me adjust my posture, he set down his utensils as well.
Since I’d decided to do it, it was best not to hesitate.
“You know the wedding we were supposed to have.”
“Ah. I was going to bring that up myself. The date we set has already passed, so we need to pick a new one. How about after the harvest season? It’s a busy time for everyone now…”
The moment I brought up the word “wedding,” words poured out as if he had been preparing them in advance. Of course, there was no way he hadn’t been looking forward to his wedding day with the one he loved. Perhaps the moment the date set before my possession had passed, he had been choosing another.
I’m sorry, but what I want to say isn’t about setting a new wedding date.
“What do you think about calling off our wedding…?”
“…”
I could see Sohwi’s expression, which had looked cheerful until just moments ago, harden in an instant.
To Sohwi, sharing a meal with his beloved Sua was always a joyous routine. So much so that even on days when he did not eat dinner, he would converse with her through the window and watch her dine.
Yet the amnesiac Sua still showed him the very same beloved mannerisms, so it was truly a relief, even if she was still recovering.
Like Sua, who would smile subtly from the moment she smelled the food he had prepared. It was because he wanted to see that subtly blooming, momentary smile visible only during meals—different from her usual bright grin—that he had joined her at the table without fail.
Look. Even now, she makes a sullen face, yet she passes over the grilled fish with the flesh neatly peeled away—exactly as she used to place side dishes in his bowl for him, who was always clumsy with chopsticks when dining together in human form.
Seeing how she still captivated his heart even after losing her memory, one had to wonder which of them was the real fox. He had been thinking that she was truly a woman of exceptional bewitching charm.
“What do you think about calling off our wedding…?”
It wasn’t necessary for her to be exactly the same in this regard too, but seeing her drive a dagger into his heart so nonchalantly, he truly felt that she had lost her memory.
How in the world was he supposed to win over and wear down the heart of that bewitching, fox-like woman who had raised an iron wall around her pure heart?
Still, the present Sohwi knew the reason she had raised that iron wall was due to the gender of her past life, and he had bitterly experienced the eccentric acts she sometimes committed, so perhaps unlike back then, things might go more smoothly.
“Th-that is! No matter what, though I am supposedly supposed to hold a wedding ceremony with Lord Sohwi, from my perspective I have no memories at all… It’s not a light matter after all. Until I recover my memories, I…”
Seeing Sua flustered yet saying everything she needed to say, it felt as though the days ahead were growing dark. Yet he couldn’t even imagine what she might do if he ignored her opinion and forced the matter.
“If that is what you wish, then so be it.”
Sohwi had no choice but to comply with her opinion readily. No matter how positively he tried to think of it, provoking her now was a losing move.
When Sua first came to this mansion, she had been a young child of about ten years, still in the midst of growing. Still, a child who had spent ten years living with her parents in this life and had been adapting to a new life to some extent.
And yet she was a woman who had called herself a fake woman, claimed she could not accept such excessive kindness, and fled in the night. A woman who had hidden in a neighboring village and spent her days doing menial labor at an inn.
If such a woman became a blank slate and began acting erratically, what could happen?
That was absolutely unacceptable. Sohwi was a being who could not leave the region designated as the territory of Horyeongsan. If she ran away, he would have to stay here licking his fur, quietly waiting for Hwaya to bring him good news.
“I have no intention of forcing you, either.”
Thus, he had to agree with her opinion and humor her as much as possible. He had to block any stray thoughts from the start.
Normally she was an innocent woman who giggled brightly, yet she was meticulous only when she was about to act erratically.
Whether she knew of his burning insides or not, the way she simply rejoiced that her opinion had been accepted was truly mischievous, yet he thought himself firmly caught by her, finding even her smile lovely.
“Thank you. Shall I give you some more fish?”
“Please do.”
Even now, he knew not what she was thinking, but it was all a misunderstanding. He wanted to tell her that he knew she had originally been a man, and that even so, they had been lovers.
He wanted to tell her of their memories that she could not recall, even if it took days.
Then that sly woman would likely recover her memories at once and smirk, teasing him with something like, “So that’s how my husband has seen me all this time?” And she would likely press her small lips to his.
He was desperately holding himself back because the physician had said that forcing her to accept things she could not remember was difficult and could instead trigger a backlash.
Moreover, considering how Hwaya had looked at him with a sharp gaze after hearing the physician’s diagnosis together with him, if he went against the physician’s words, Hwaya might help her escape directly this time, so he had to behave.
Of course, seeing this fresh, youthful side of Sua after so long, rather than the sly one, wasn’t bad, so it wasn’t as if he couldn’t endure.
Still, he wished she would not make him wait too long.
Because even the month she had spent in slumber had felt unbearably long to him.