22 — Enter the Bear

Some time later, Mr. Fisalis and the other men showed up in the salon.

Guess they’re done with the business talk.

“Vi? What’s the matter?” Mr. Fisalis asked, sensing that something was off about me as he gazed thoughtfully at my face.

It wasn’t like I could just say, “I look like this because your mom gave me another expensive gift I don’t want,” so I said instead, “Lady Fisalis just gave the most wonderful gift. I’m just speechless! Ah ho ho ho!”

I handed Mr. Fisalis the box, which he accepted like being handed a literal ruby was an everyday occurrence before picking out the jewel with his fingertips and scrutinizing it from every angle.

“Ohhh, what a magnificent pigeon blood! It’s been some time since we’ve seen one this nice, hasn’t it?”

It really must have been rare and valuable for him to say that to Lord Fisalis with that pleased look on his face! Too bad I’m a pearls-before-swine kind of person—or maybe I should say, rubies before swine!

The ruby, held above its box between Mr. Fisalis’ fingers, was absolutely flawless and seemed to glow with its own red light.

A gentle smile broke out across my father-in-law’s face and he said, “I would have been fine selling it to the Royal Palace or a jeweler’s shop, but when your mother said she wanted to see it on your wife, I brought it along as a souvenir.”

Hearing that only made me twitch more. This rock is valuable enough to present to royalty!? I felt faint. Am I to understand that they just up and decided to give it away as a souvenir instead!?

“Considering its size, I think it would make for nice earrings rather than a necklace. Mimosa, contact our jeweler. I’ll have him make some.”

“As you wish.”

Mimosa left, practically skipping in glee, to make arrangements with the jeweler like Mr. Fisalis told her. She doesn’t even try to hide how happy stuff like this makes her.

“I suppose you will have to leave soon.”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

Not all that much time had passed, but it was getting to around when Mr. Fisalis and Lord Fisalis needed to start getting ready to leave for the Royal Palace, so they rose from their chairs and left the salon.

I stood next to Lady Fisalis in the entryway as we saw them off.

“Have a nice day at work!”

They told us they’d be home early before heading out, leaving Lady Fisalis and I to take care of things around the house.

She’d earlier said that she’d heard the cottage had been renovated and asked to see it, so I took her out to give her a little tour. I wasn’t sure which parts had been changed and how, but she still seemed to like it, commenting, “It feels more natural and relaxed than it did before. Very nice! We’ll have to stay here next time. Which reminds me, Vi, if you’d like some privacy while we’re here, don’t hesitate to come out to the cottage! I know I’ll be doing the same.”

Yup, that’s exactly what it’s for! And I’ll certainly take you up on the offer.

The jeweler came by rather promptly that afternoon. What sort of VIP treatment is this, coming over just a few hours after being contacted!?

“Never in a million years... did I imagine I’d ever see a stone like this! It’s magnificent!” The ruby was of such high quality that even the jeweler’s hands trembled as he picked it up. Well, his hands are shaking for a different reason than mine were.

From that point onwards, Lady Fisalis and Mimosa were absolutely on cloud nine! They excitedly pored over design ideas and which other stones would best compliment it. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, so I let them do as they pleased (they were basically ignoring me anyway) until Lady Fisalis started to say “Ooh, we should have a dress made to go with this,” at which point I could no longer be a passive spectator and stepped in to nip that plan in the bud. You can’t leave these nobles alone even for a second! This went on until late afternoon when Mr. Fisalis and Lord Fisalis returned from the palace.

“So what were you ladies up to today?” my father-in-law asked me over dinner.

“We took a look at the renovated cottage. It looks so lovely now! Seems like it would be a nice place to stay if we came to visit for a bit longer,” Lady Fisalis answered excitedly instead of me. I wanted to say something about her apparent plans for a long visit, but they really wouldn’t have caused much of an issue if they were staying in the cottage.

“We certainly did make some drastic changes. It’s almost like a completely new cottage. I’m sure you’ll like it as well, Father. Please feel free to use it whenever you visit.”

“Is it really so different now? You’ll have to show me, later,” Lord Fisalis and Mr. Fisalis went back and forth.

I’m not all that sure what changes were even made, so I’ll just focus on my food. It looked like an assortment of Wahlish cuisine that night. The Wahl region is near the sea, so many of its dishes feature seafood, and it’s known for its simple seasoning that really lets the flavor of the ingredients shine through. If I’m honest, it was pretty close to what I ate growing up in terms of simplicity, so I didn’t have to worry about succumbing to gastrointestinal terrorism at a dinner like this. I could feel Cartham and his cooks’ consideration in the way they reasonably portioned my food, too. Much appreciated, guys! This grilled fish is so succulent and the accompanying warm veggies are delicious, too.

I was quietly enjoying my steamy, flaky dish, when Mr. Fisalis suddenly motioned to me, saying, “So you’ll show Father around the cottage, right, Vi?” causing me to nearly choke on my vegetables.

After that, everyone talked about what the jeweler had told Lady Fisalis and Mimosa. My mother-in-law was in an extremely good mood, her eyes sparkling, as she excitedly talked about designs and whatnot, so I just silently looked on.

Eventually our cheerful dinner ended and we had our after-dinner tea, and it began to feel like the day was winding down. I assumed my in-laws must be exhausted, having only arrived just that morning. Not to mention I was exhausted too after the day I’d had and the one before it, as well.

No sooner had my in-laws followed Mr. Fisalis into the salon than Dahlia called out to me in a hushed voice.

“Madam, a word.”

“Yes, what is it?” I replied back in an equally hushed tone, stopping in my tracks.

“Unfortunately, between yesterday’s unexpected guests and all of the staff—and Rohtas—being so busy today, we haven’t had the time to take a cot up to your room,” she whispered in my ear apologetically.

“Huh? There’s no cot?”

“I am terribly sorry, but yes, that’s the situation.”

Rohtas had been occupied making arrangements of some sort with Mr. Fisalis and his father since this morning, and then afterwards helping with meal prep. The servants, too, have been head-spinningly busy setting up for today in tandem with cleaning up after yesterday’s party and the subsequent overnight guests. Moreover, sneaking a big cot from the storeroom up to my bedroom without Lady Fisalis noticing would be next-to-impossible now.

And so, for all those reasons, the ultimate result was that a cot hadn’t been taken up to my room.

“Alas, I am subject to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,” I groaned dramatically, crossing my arms. “It looks like I’ll be sleeping on the sofa.”

“You shall do no such thing!” Dahlia replied menacingly, leaving no room for argument on my part.

“Okaaay.”

“...For mercy’s sake, Master, you make things harder than they need to be...” Dahlia grumbled to herself, unbeknownst to me.

“...and that’s why they haven’t been able to bring up a cot. I’m very sorry.”

I had just come back from showing my in-laws to their room for the night when Mr. Fisalis asked where the cot was. I repeated the explanation that Dahlia had given me earlier.

“You don’t need to apologize. We can just share the be—”

“No, I’m at fault for not keeping tabs on things, so I’ll sleep on the sofa!” I interjected. The sofa is suuuper soft and comfy! My napping habit is proof of that. Hm? Why does he look disappointed?

He only appeared glum for a second, however, before his brown eyes filled with energy anew and he found his voice, declaring, “I can’t let you do that! I’ll sleep on the sofa!” and offering me the bed like a true gentleman.

He says that, but I’m not convinced he could actually sleep there. His feet would hang off the end! ...That’s not a very good reason, though.

“No, no, please! Sleep in the bed! I’ll be perfectly fine on the sofa, heck, or even the floor...”

“If you sleep on the sofa, then I’ll sleep on the floor!” he still persisted.

Oh, so no one will use the bed? Genius move, a voice in my head said. You’ve been awfully brat—persistent today, Mr. Fisalis!

“Look, I don’t want you to have to sleep somewhere other than in the bed...” I tried one more time, sighing in exasperation.

“Okay, then you can share the bed with me!”

You have got to stop smiling when you say stuff like that. Well, this is it. This is where I fold. Mehhh, I’d be lying if I didn’t say this bed was stupidly huge. You could fit five people in it and still have room. There should be plenty of space to spare with just two.

“Fine. That side is yours then, and this one is mine. Neither of us can cross the middle line.” I laid a string down the center of the bed, creating a clear line of demarcation.

Perfectly centered!

“You didn’t have to put an actual line on it...”

Don’t pout like that, Mr. Fisalis. You’re a grown man.

“I do! I’m used to sleeping in the middle of the bed, so this way I won’t unconsciously shift over to your side! Imagine you were renting a room out to a stranger—you wouldn’t want them just wandering into your part of the house!”

“Renting to a...” he made another sour face, but this time I ignored him.

Just a string won’t do any good if I roll over in my sleep, though. I couldn’t live with myself if I intruded into his territory, I thought to myself as I racked my brains for a solution.

“Hmm, I don’t think this will be enough. Oh, I know! Mimosa!” I called. She scurried over.

“...You got that? Thank youuu!” I whispered in her ear.

“Got it! I’ll be back in just a moment!” she said back with a deep bow before exiting my room.

In the meantime, we took baths and changed into our night clothes. Of course Mr. Fisalis took his bath in the bathroom attached to his room. That was something we had decided on the last time. There shall be no gray areas here!

Mimosa returned with the goods while Mr. Fisalis was still in his room.

“Ah, this is it! Perfect!” I quickly took it from her and arranged it on top of the string line. Much better.

“This will make for a great physical barrier,” I said to Mimosa as I looked over my brilliant solution with satisfaction.

“Oh, yes! It’s very... impenetrable!” Mimosa nodded back. I wasn’t sure what her hesitation was about, but I didn’t dwell on it.

Mr. Fisalis came back from getting ready for bed while Mimosa and I were whispering to each other, pleased with our idea. He uttered but three words when he realized what was on the bed.

“...the bear figurine...”

“Yup! Now if I roll over in my sleep, I’ll hit the bear. This way, I don’t have to worry about intruding on your side!”

Yes, folks, it was the statue of the bear with a salmon in its mouth that we had received as a wedding gift, but which I just kept in the storeroom. I had suddenly remembered it, sitting there all by its lonesome, and decided that this was the night it would make its grand entrance! Thank you, unknown wedding guest!

Mr. Fisalis stared unblinkingly at the bear on the bed.

Gosh, is he really that tired?

“Today must’ve been very hectic for you. Are you going to go to bed soon?” I asked him. I’m sorry we have to share a bed, but at least now with the bear here, you can sleep soundly knowing I won’t encroach on your space!

“...Yes.”

I assumed my guess was correct based on how slowly he went around to his side of the bed.

“Well, good night then!” I told him before burrowing under the duvet on my own side.

“Good night...” Mr. Fisalis silently got into bed next to me.

The next day:

Mr. Fisalis was just barely on his side of the line, sound asleep with the bear in his arms.

That can’t be comfortable; it’s made of wood. And are those tear stains on his cheeks? He must’ve jabbed himself with one of the edges. Poor guy. Too bad he didn’t have something softer to cuddle.