“So I gave Escalion a gift, and as soon as he received it, he said with a sullen face that he didn’t need such a thing?”

Scarlet said in a loud voice.

Belladonna, sitting across from her, smiled quietly as she looked at her.

“I was so angry that I shouted at him to throw it away, threw the gift I had bought on the floor, and went straight to sleep. But when I woke up the next day, the gift I had thrown on the floor had disappeared without a trace, can you believe it?”

[What was the gift you said you gave to Escalion?]

“A doll!”

Pfft……!

Belladonna burst into low laughter. A doll as a gift for Escalion?

Scarlet shrugged her shoulders and blurted out.

“What did I know when I was young? I liked dolls, so I thought Escalion would like them too.”

[It must have been a cute gift.]

“At the time, he used to stuff it in his pocket and carry it around, but now it’s nowhere to be seen, he must have thrown it away somewhere……”

Escalion, during his mercenary days, carrying around a small doll in his pocket? It was a sight completely unimaginable now.

[Really? What happened after that?]

Escalion’s story as told by Scarlet was always interesting.

The him from the past that she didn’t know had a softer and more malleable side than now.

Belladonna excitedly moved her pen, asking this and that.

“And after that……”

Just as they were in the midst of their conversation, the reception room door opened and Escalion, the protagonist of the story, appeared.

He seemed to have just finished training, as there was a little dirt on his clothes.

“Scarlet, stop bothering my wife.”

“Ah, did you hurt your eyes during training? You don’t seem to see that your wife is smiling brightly.”

Escalion passed by the sarcastic Scarlet and approached Belladonna.

He covered Belladonna’s ears and said playfully.

“I wonder if her ears are bleeding. She’s not just a little talkative.”

“Why is he really like that?”

Scarlet glared at Escalion in irritation. Belladonna laughed once more, finding their relationship endearing.

“Oh right, how was Astanya? I really want to visit Astanya if I get the chance!”

At that moment, Scarlet, who had been glaring fiercely at Escalion, seemed to recall something and turned her head towards Belladonna, blurting out.

Astanya? If it’s Astanya, then of course……

“Are there many handsome priests?”

Of course there are many handsome priests…… No, that’s not it!

The startled Belladonna’s hand holding the pen slipped. Suddenly?

“The priests who came to escort you last time. Honestly, they were my type. White, thin, with an appearance that looks somewhat gentle and kind!”

Ah….. So that’s the type Scarlet likes?

As Belladonna sat blinking her eyes without moving her pen, Scarlet asked again.

“Honestly, how do you feel about such men, my lady?”

Scarlet’s eyes sparkled with mischief, just like her brother’s.

Men? When it comes to men……

Belladonna slightly turned her eyes to look up at Escalion beside her.

Dark tanned skin and fierce-looking eyes, along with a bear-like large build and threatening atmosphere……

‘Huh? But……’

Escalion’s expression, who had been listening to the conversation between the two, was not good.

He was carefully observing Belladonna, as if tense about his wife and sister discussing men in front of him.

Could it be……?

‘Is he nervous about what answer I might give?’

As soon as she realized this, she couldn’t help but want to laugh.

Belladonna forcefully held back her lips that kept trying to curl upwards, and then pretended to be seriously considering.

Hmm, let’s see……

“Indeed….. It must be hard for you to make up your mind too, right?”

With Scarlet’s help, Escalion bit his lower lip nervously.

He roughly brushed back his hair that had fallen forward and exhaled a low breath.

“Let’s stop…… that kind of talk?”

“Why? It’s fun!”

“You should go back now. It’s getting late.”

“What? I just got here!”

But Escalion grabbed Scarlet’s arm and forcibly made her stand up.

“Bella gets tired. People usually feel drained when they’re with you.”

“No, at least let me hear the answer……!”

“I’ve called for a carriage, so you can get in right away. Take care.”

“My lady……!”

Scarlet tried to turn her head to look at Belladonna, but Escalion’s strength was too much.

He grabbed her and tucked her under his arm like a bundle, then carried her out of the reception room.

Uh……

Belladonna waved her hand slightly at her as she was dragged out, dangling.

Seeing Belladonna waving at her, Scarlet let out a dry laugh.

She soon opened her mouth and said cheerfully.

“I’ll come again next time! Let’s continue the ideal type talk then!”

Belladonna nodded her head towards Scarlet with a smile.

As she and Escalion disappeared, the air in the reception room settled into silence.

Scarlet had been particularly talkative, and the sudden silence wasn’t entirely unwelcome.

‘It was fun, but also tiring……’

Belladonna slowly leaned back in her chair.

Was her energy drained as Escalion had said? She felt strangely powerless.

“……”

Left alone, Belladonna fell into quiet thought.

At times like this, when she was alone, Astanya kept coming to mind.

It wasn’t that she missed Astanya at all.

It was just that Fabion, who remained there, and the siblings Timothy and Tina kept lingering in her mind.

Is it okay to turn a blind eye to everything like this and just be happy?

Is it okay to live as if nothing happened, as if she had been Saint Belladonna from birth, pretending not to know anything?

The answer to that wasn’t easy to give.

‘I don’t even know my own heart….. But it’s not like I want to go back there.’

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Just then, a crooked voice was heard from the doorway of the reception room.

Turning her head, she saw Escalion standing with his arms crossed, leaning his head against the wall.

Perhaps because of Scarlet, he looked somewhat displeased.

Belladonna got up from her seat with a small smile.

As she moved closer to Escalion, he looked down at her quietly.

“……?”

“Answer what you were going to earlier.”

Earlier? Which……?

As Belladonna blinked her eyes with a puzzled expression, Escalion bowed his head with a groan.

“No, never mind. Let’s go to the room.”

Why is he like that……?

Looking at Escalion, who seemed uncomfortable somewhere, Belladonna’s eyes widened. Could it be?

She quickly followed Escalion as he walked down the corridor.

As soon as they entered the room and closed the door, Belladonna opened her mouth.

“Are you worried about what kind of man I like?”

“That’s not even worth mentioning……”

Escalion muttered as he started taking off his dirty clothes as soon as he entered the room.

Seeing him like that, she felt like teasing him more. Hmm…… It seems a bit cute? When Belladonna kept her mouth shut, Escalion stopped undressing and turned to look at her.

“……Why?”

“The answer?”

“What answer?”

As she kept pretending not to know, Escalion sighed and shook his head.

After rolling his eyes for a moment, he moved closer to Belladonna.

Belladonna looked up at him as he stood close in front of her.

“Is my answer important?”

“No, actually it’s not that important.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve already married me.”

After finishing his words, he grabbed Belladonna and lifted her up in his arms.

Belladonna naturally wrapped her slender arms around his neck as she wrapped her legs around his thick waist.

Escalion, who was looking into her eyes intently, opened his mouth.

“Kiss me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m upset.”

Belladonna laughed and lowered her face to him.

Escalion raised one hand to grab the back of her head.

He turned around and walked towards the bathroom, still holding Belladonna.

Soon, the couple’s bathroom was filled with heat.

[This is the timeline separator]

Belladonna slowly opened her eyes.

After blinking her heavy eyelids a few more times blankly, she looked around and saw the bedroom still filled with darkness.

What is this? Why did I wake up when it’s not even morning yet……

Belladonna closed her eyes again, feeling the thick arm wrapped around her waist and the hot warmth clinging to her back.

The bed she was lying on with him was extremely cozy and comfortable.

“……”

But what is this?

Belladonna, who was trying to go back to sleep with her eyes closed, lifted her eyelids again.

She kept feeling strange.

For some reason, she felt goosebumps, and things that were no different from usual suddenly felt unfamiliar.

What is this feeling?

At that moment, Escalion’s arm, which had been loosely wrapped around her, moved very slowly.

It seemed like a careful movement not to wake his deeply sleeping wife, but also like a secretive action trying to go somewhere without anyone knowing.

‘What’s going on……’

Just as she was about to turn her head to look at him, Escalion moved his body very quickly.

At the same time, she heard the sound of something sharp stabbing into the place where he had been lying.

“……!”

Startled Belladonna curled up without even turning her head.

Soon, she heard the sound of someone moving nimbly from behind and another person choking.

Wh-what sound is that……?

Belladonna, who had been frozen in shock, forcibly raised her body.

The thought that the person being attacked could be Escalion made her whole body tremble with anxiety.

‘Th-then what should I do? Who on earth invaded this bedroom……?’

As she forcibly turned her body that wouldn’t move due to fear, she saw two men tangled together in the dim light coming through the bedroom window.

Fortunately, the one being attacked was an unfamiliar face.

Escalion, who was choking the intruder with his thick forearm, noticed Belladonna waking up.

Soon, his golden eyes shone in the darkness.

“……My wife has woken up.”

“Kuk…… Kek, kheuk.”

“That means I no longer need to keep quiet for fear of waking my wife.”

With those words, he completely crushed the man’s neck with a sound of exerting force.

The man went limp without even letting out a single scream.

At the surreal scene unfolding before her eyes, Belladonna raised her trembling hand to cover her mouth.

What on earth is happening……?