2. You’re Home Early
2. You’re Home Early
Rushing down the stairs, I saw Rohtas and Mr. Fisalis speaking in the entranceway.
It’s been a while since I’ve actually seen Mr. Fisalis. Hmm, more than three or four days, probably? More than that, actually. He’s been working on the days he usually has off, so I’ve kinda lost track of time.
Mr. Fisalis, on his part, looked remarkably dignified for the late hour, showing not a bit of the exhaustion he must be feeling after working so long. Hurrah for attractive men! I mean, what? But actually... Has he lost weight? Kinda looks like the lines of his pretty face are sharper than usual.
Come on, Viola, now isn’t the time for admiring your hot husband!
“Welcome home! You’ve been working hard!” I said, quickly approaching him.
“Ah, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you awake, Viola!” cried Mr. Fisalis, giving me a tight hug.
Wait. Did he just say “seen you awake” or am I just imagining something kinda creepy?
“You must be exhausted, working from early morning to late night every single day. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. Have you eaten? If you haven’t, we can ask Cartham to whip something up for you.”
“No, I’m fine. I’ve eaten already. But never mind that...”
“Never mind that?” I echoed.
Mr. Fisalis looked away hesitantly. Don’t stop right after saying something like that! I stared into his beautiful dark brown eyes as I waited for him to finish.
“I heard that you’ve been told about Aurantia’s princess wanting to marry me.”
“Ah...”
He sounded like he had to really brace himself to say that. But how do you know that when it just happened today? Ah, he might’ve heard it from Rohtas just now.
I looked up at him, surprised that he’d actually brought it up, only for his face to close in on mine. Like, super close. Close enough that I had to bend myself backwards. But his brown eyes weren’t smiling like usual—instead, they looked very serious. What could be the matter?
“I’m sorry for having you woken up when you were just getting to sleep, but I needed to talk to you.”
“Okay...?”
“I’ll explain once we’re settled in the salon.”
“Okay...??” Swept up by Mr. Fisalis’s momentum, I couldn’t even tell him to wait until morning. I just ended up giving him some half-hearted replies.
“Rohtas, have some drinks brought to us, with something warm for Viola so she doesn’t catch a chill.”
“As you wish.”
“I’ll be back as soon as I get changed, so just wait for me inside, okay?”
“All right.”
After making some brisk arrangements, Mr. Fisalis headed to his room to change, and I moved to the salon to wait for whatever talk he’d decided we were having. Finally, he came back downstairs in a casual white shirt and black trousers.
“I want to talk to Viola alone, so please leave, all of you,” he ordered, clearing the room of servants.
“Certainly.”
Wait, that included Rohtas?! That leaves me a bit...no, a lot on my own here!
After watching everyone leave the room, Mr. Fisalis took his usual seat right beside me. Was he worried about something? His pretty face wasn’t sporting his usual smile, but instead a slight grin that looked kind of forced.
“Would you like some tea?”
“Yes.”
“Want some sweets too?”
“Yes.”
“Wonderful weather we had today.”
“Yes.”
He kept talking to try to break the ice, but I didn’t give him much by way of answers. Wah, what should I do? This is so awkward!
While I had a sip of the warm tea that had been made for us to fill the awkward silence, he finally began to speak, “About what I mentioned earlier...”
I quietly set my teacup back on the saucer and turned towards him, ready to hear him out.
“I didn’t tell you about the thing with Aurantia’s princess because I didn’t want to worry you. But in the end, you heard from someone else, and it made you even more upset. I’m sorry. I rushed to get home, and then I found out from Rohtas about the state you were in when you returned... I just had to explain things to you myself, so I asked Rosa to wake you up,” he said apologetically.
So Rohtas told him all about me pouting like a little kid?! Dammit, Rohtas! That’s embarrassing!
“Ahh, um, I was just a little bit surprised, since I hadn’t heard anything about it...” But my fear, or worry, or whatever wasn’t actually about that. What should I do? Should I ask him straight up, or just leave it since it’s already all over? I fell silent, lost in thought.
“What’s wrong? Is there something else you’re worried about?”
Damn, he’s sharp. He cut straight to the point.
“Oh, not really. You’ve already refused, haven’t you?”
“Of course I did! I already have an absolutely adorable wife named Viola, so I don’t need some weird princess from another country!”
“Pfft! ‘Weird’...! You’re talking about a princess, you know!”
He sounded so sincere, but the way he worded it was just so funny I had to laugh. Who would call a princess weird?! Really!
He smiled in relief when I laughed. The tension in the room vanished, and I calmed down a bit, too.
“She’s weird to me.”
“Oh, Mr. Fisalis! I really wasn’t mad or sulking or anything like that. I was just kind of surprised to hear it. I’m not worried, but I just couldn’t help but wonder if you’d hidden it because you had something else to feel guilty about.”
“...Yep, you really do go for the throat, don’t you, Viola?”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing at all. I-I mean, yeah, that sometimes happens. I’m sorry for hiding it.”
I might have been a little bit too blunt, because he flopped face down onto the table, clutching his chest. But he popped right back up! That’s my Mr. Fisalis!
“I heard that you sent them a rejection extraordinarily quickly.”
“Of course we did! A normal, proper royal envoy would take ages, so I spoke with His Majesty and we sent Corydalis with our reply instead! The Aurantians got a special next-day delivery of my complete and utter rejection,” Mr. Fisalis said proudly, but...
Poor Corydalis. He was probably riding all day and night. Maybe I should send him some refreshments next time... Oh, but now’s not the time to think about that.
“If you rejected it immediately, couldn’t you have told me about it, even just a little hint? I would understand if it was some big secret, but it wasn’t, right? Miss Verbena said she heard it from her brother, after all. That means it was tea party-level chatter.” Ah, I was kind of pouting a bit again when I said that. Am I really that upset about him hiding this? I’d been feeling gloomy earlier when I was talking about it with Rohtas.
Embarrassed by how sulky I sounded, I peeked up at Mr. Fisalis, only to see him looking at me in shock. Was he surprised that I was actively pouting while insisting I wasn’t? Did he think I was actually really angry at him for keeping it from me? I watched him, confused internally.
“I... I thought that if I told you, you’d cut me off in the middle of the explanation and tell me to just divorce you and marry her instead. I didn’t know if I could handle hearing that. But I didn’t think you’d get this angry with me for hiding it,” he murmured.
I knew it! No, that’s not what I want to say. That really does sound like something I’d say, doesn’t it? Wait, that also doesn’t work. I mean, yeah, I would’ve probably said that when we first got married, but...
But, you know...
“I’d never say something like that anymore! I know how much you treasure me now!” I nearly yelled, glaring into his beautiful dark brown eyes.
Yes, I can be a bit oblivious, but even I can tell that! Sometimes I even forget I started out as a show wife! Now, he loves me so much that people are getting jealous. I would never say anything like that anymore!
“Viola?”
“And you told me, you know...b-back at Le Pied...”
Where did all that energy go, self? I looked away. I’m sorry—it’s way too embarrassing to repeat myself, so I just kinda trailed off instead. Ahhhhh, but I feel like I just said something big! I’m making myself feel even more self-conscious! Ugh, my face is on fire!!
Unable to look Mr. Fisalis in the eyes anymore, I turned my entire body away, only to hear him chuckling behind me. Jeez, stop laughing at me!
“I see! I’m sorry, Viola. I was wrong,” he said, hugging me from behind.
Eeek! Mr. Fisalis?! It isn’t good for my heart when you do things like this out of the blue! It feels like it’s about to explode!
While I panicked in his arms, he just laughed again, loosening his grip. I kept looking away, not wanting him to see how badly I was blushing, but he twirled me around to face him. When I glared up at him, all traces of his earlier stiff, serious look were gone, and his usual smiling brown eyes were back.
This is mortifying. So mortifying! He’d looked so grim before, but a single word from me could change his mood entirely.
Hm? Wait, isn’t that a good thing? Whatever.
“Yes, yes, you were wrong.”
“There shouldn’t be secrets between husband and wife, huh? I can’t do much about top-secret info, but in light of that whole mistress fiasco, I’ll make sure to tell you everything that I can.”
“It’s okay if you just tell me enough that I won’t get the wrong idea...” Please don’t tell me anything too heavy.
“Okay, okay,” Mr. Fisalis said, squeezing my hand as he gazed deep into my eyes.
“So the princess will be coming along with the crown prince’s party, right?”
“Yes. Since I rejected her proposal, she needs to find someone else.”
“Miss Verbena and the other girls said that Celosia was a good candidate.”
“Hmm... He’s probably the most likely pick, but he really doesn’t want to be chosen. He’s desperately searching for someone else to take his place,” he said, smirking as he thought of his friend. It’s someone else’s problem now, huh?
“He doesn’t want to marry her either?”
“His preferences lie elsewhere.”
He said it without hesitation, but political marriages don’t usually take the couple’s opinions into account, do they? Could he really reject a diplomatic match just based on his taste? I’d never heard of that happening before. Mr. Fisalis only got out of it on account of already being married (in Flür, concubines and lovers aren’t a necessity, so you don’t need to take any if you don’t want to).
But what kind of person could this princess be if people didn’t even want to marry her for political gain...?