Chapter 130

***

Thud.

Returning to his bedroom, Ash leaned his back against the door.

The composure he had maintained in front of his wife crumbled helplessly the moment the door closed.

He clamped a hand over his mouth.

His palm was burning from the heat that had surged to his face.

“…This is driving me crazy.”

He tried to cool the heat with the chill coming through his back.

He’d never lost his composure in any situation before, but when faced with his wife’s defenseless appearance, he simply couldn’t help it.

“It’s all right. We’ve been married for two years, after all… Accidents like this can happen.”

But recalling how his wife had regained her composure so quickly made his mood sink, cold and heavy.

It had been an accident, just as she’d said. Maybe he was overthinking it.

Surely, she hadn’t been completely unfazed either, given how flustered she’d seemed when he’d accidentally picked up her underwear.

“……”

Once the heat that had been making his stomach churn subsided a little, he adjusted his disheveled appearance and recalled the owner of the envelope he’d seen earlier.

Henry Reginald.

Outstanding as a painter, with a background check that turned up nothing suspicious—just an ordinary young nobleman.

And yet, the fact that he and Ash’s wife were exchanging letters nagged at him like a splinter.

What sort of letters had they exchanged?

Had Henry been as bold and direct in his interest as he was when he had asked for Nina’s patronage in front of him?

Or had he cloaked his feelings in the roundabout, formal language of the nobility?

And what would his wife write back to him?

“…This is ridiculous.”

Ash let out a hollow laugh, even he himself finding it absurd.

To be so conscious of a noble’s second son who had nothing to his name except a talent for painting.

Now, perhaps, he could understand, at least a little, why his wife had sometimes watched so carefully the women who spoke to him or caught his eye for even a second.

“Ha…”

He let out a slow breath, trying to settle the discomfort swirling inside, and headed down to the dining room.

The round dining table.

As Ash took his seat, Nina arrived and sat down beside him.

“…Look at this, it’s proof that the thing from before isn’t mine.”

Swish.

Nina pushed a letter across the table with her fingertip.

“You mean, from earlier?”

“Yes, and it’s also why I went down to the basement this morning.”

Ash unfolded the letter Nina handed him.

Hearing her refer to it as ‘that thing from before’ was oddly amusing, but the slight smile that had formed on his lips slowly faded.

“…So it really wasn’t yours.”

“I told you so.”

Ash wiped his hands with a napkin.

As soon as he confirmed it wasn’t his wife’s, he felt as if he’d touched something dirty.

“Anyway, as long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, that’s enough.”

Nina finally looked relieved as she sipped her aperitif.

A short while later, the maids began to bring out the food one by one.

“…After the meal, I was thinking we could have lunch tea in the greenhouse. What do you think?”

As he spoke, Nina replied, cutting into her meat.

“Sounds good, let’s do that. It’s been a while since I’ve had tea time in the greenhouse. I’ll use the tea set that Marquis Saldersford sent us.”

Ash nodded as he began to cut his steak.

“Ugh.”

Suddenly, Nina covered her mouth and started to retch.

Ash shot to his feet and instinctively took Nina’s steak and put it in his own mouth.

No poison.

Then why…?

Ash, his face serious, patted Nina’s back and asked.

“Are you all right?”

“Huu… Ugh, water, some water, please…”

Ash quickly handed her a glass of water, and Nina gulped it down desperately.

A moment later, she finally calmed down and wiped her cold sweat.

“…Eating meat just made my stomach upset. Maybe it’s because of what I saw in the dungeon this morning.”

Of course, the stench of the dungeon and the wretched state of the footman would have been unbearable for someone raised in such luxury.

Ash gazed at Nina’s lips, which were flushed as she let out a weary sigh.

Because she’d drunk so quickly, her lips and chin were damp.

“In the future, it would be better not to go down to the dungeon yourself.”

Without thinking, he reached out and wiped her lips with his fingertips.

Startled, she froze in place.

In the lingering silence—

“…You said we should act like a loving couple in public, didn’t you?”

Realizing what he had done, Ash spoke as if making an excuse.

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