When The Silent Peony Blooms - Chapter 37

Arkan sought agreement with a very excited expression as if to say ‘isn’t that right?’, but Erdene’s reaction was indifferent.

If it had been usual, a childish retort would have come back immediately, but he seemed so happy that he didn’t even care.

“Isn’t this a place that fills you up just by looking at it?”

“I guess I married a bookworm.”

Arkan’s brow furrowed slightly at Erdene’s merciless reply.

“I mean food for the soul! It means becoming rich in spirit. A bookworm, how absurd. Who said I eat books for a living?”

“Seeing how much His Majesty likes it, eating a page or two seems like nothing. Anyway, I’m leaving. Just looking at books makes me feel bloated rather than full.”

Arkan quickly turned and blocked her way as she tried to leave.

It was quite funny to see a seemingly normal man standing with his arms spread wide… but Erdene deliberately put on a fierce expression while biting the inside of her cheek.

“What is it, Your Majesty?”

“You can’t go.”

“What do you mean I can’t go? I have legs, don’t I?”

“I let it slide when you beat up Bellen Wizard. So you should fulfill one of my dreams too.”

Incredulous, Erdene snorted.

“A dream? What dream?”

Arkan smiled. It was a soft smile mixed with excitement.

Hugging the books he was holding in both hands to his chest, he said in a serious voice.

“I dreamed of reading books with my wife and discussing them until we lose track of time.”

Erdene nodded.

“That’s a nice dream. Keep dreaming. Dreams are happiest when they don’t come true. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

As Erdene took a big step forward, Arkan’s pointed words flew at the back of her head.

“You know it’s hilarious when you say things like that?”

Damn it. Erdene stopped in her tracks and twisted her lips with an expression of suppressed anger.

‘Where’s a big book? I’ll threaten to crush him between the pages.’

But unfortunately, among all those books, there wasn’t a huge one that would be useful to Erdene.

There were some that were so big you’d wonder if they were books or just models, but those seemed like they could only crush Arkan’s face at most.

And Erdene didn’t really want his face to be crushed…

‘His face is the only bearable thing about him.’

Unaware of what Erdene was thinking, Arkan took the two books he had chosen and settled into a soft sofa.

It must have been his usual seat, as the cushion had sunk into a comfortable shape.

“Don’t just stand there, come sit down. Oh, right. I prepared something you might like too.”

Arkan rang a bell and a servant came in carrying a small box.

It was modestly wrapped in paper, with a delicate ribbon decoration that made it look cute.

Erdene, who usually took a step back first when it came to cute and adorable things, frowned as soon as she saw the box.

“What on earth is it?”

“It’s something you’ll like, I told you. Want to guess what it is?”

Erdene sat down with a thump next to Arkan as if she had no choice.

This time too, she was so focused on the box that she didn’t notice Arkan wearing another suspicious smile.

After staring at the box for a while as if having a staring contest, Erdene said,

“Things I might like wouldn’t fit in such a tiny box, Your Majesty. I have bigger tastes.”

It was a sarcastic remark implying ‘You must have brought such a small thing as a gift because you have small tastes.’

A green vein popped up on Arkan’s temple, who was still wearing a suspicious smile, but quickly disappeared.

“Size isn’t everything. Don’t you know about rarity?”

Erdene snorted.

“What, did you go catch a talking toad somewhere?”

“Ah, that’s still in the works. The tadpole just won’t grow, you see.”

Sighing, Erdene finally unwrapped the box—or rather, tore it open—. Throwing the soft ribbon to the other side of the table and carelessly ripping the paper, Erdene’s expression became indescribably strange when she opened the lid.

“…What is this?”

Inside the box was a rubber dragon toy that Arkan had pilfered from among Pellerhar’s outlandish souvenirs.

Erdene stared into the box for a long time as if she couldn’t believe what she was seeing, then looked at Arkan, then back at the box.

During this time, one question hazily arose in her mind.

What on earth did he do right to be smiling so proudly like that?

“Did the mole you’re raising bring this? To thank you for feeding and sheltering it?”

“I don’t raise moles. Their noses are gross. This is quite fun. It’s gross but you keep wanting to squeeze it.”

Then, Arkan took the rubber dragon out of the box himself and squeezed it hard.

As the two eyes and tongue inflated and popped out, Erdene’s expression became even stranger.

“Try it.”

“Why should I… No, don’t hand it to me. Ugh, damn it. It’s squishy!”

Inadvertently squeezing it, the dragon’s eyes popped out again. Erdene grimaced while looking at the dragon in her hand, then squeezed it once more.

And then once more…

“See, it’s fun, right? I thought you’d like it.”

Arkan calmly said as he placed one of those thin books on Erdene’s lap.

“Let’s read this first.”

“How can I read something when I don’t even know what it’s about? Have you already forgotten? I told you I didn’t learn the letters used inland.”

“I knew you’d say that, so I prepared something easy. It’s best to start with the basics, so I’m telling you to read this. It’s perfect for learning letters. I read this when I was two years old.”

Erdene felt the urge to squeeze Arkan’s brightly smiling face like the rubber dragon…

She must have unconsciously applied force while thinking that.

The dragon’s eyes, which had been precariously inflated, suddenly burst with a pop!

Arkan looked at the dragon, which could never open its eyes again, with a shocked expression.

“Did you just kill the dragon?”

“Thanks for making me a dragon slayer.”

Erdene tossed away the dragon with its eyes burst and waved the book Arkan had handed her.

“Are you joking now? You want me to read a book you read when you were two?”

“No, why are you getting angry? I heard you’ve been practicing writing diligently lately. I’m trying to help, so why are you suddenly getting mad?”

“This is really unnecessary help.”

Erdene put the book down on the table with a thud and tried to stand up.

But at that moment, Arkan embraced her waist and sat her back down.

Until now, no one had ever held Erdene like this, so she couldn’t hide her bewilderment.

Arkan said,

“You can’t go. Aren’t we a married couple? Couples are supposed to enjoy each other’s hobbies together.”

“This is ridiculous. When have you ever enjoyed my hobbies with me?”

“Didn’t you know? Earlier at the training ground when you were beating up Bellen, I was cheering for you instead of Bellen who was getting hit.”

Then Arkan firmly fixed Erdene’s waist with one arm—ready to grab her immediately if she even flinched—and started reading the book.

Unable to just sit there stupidly, and unable to mourn the poor dragon with its burst eyes, Erdene also sighed and opened the book.

He said he read it when he was two, so it must be for infants, with big letters written on each page, and illustrations of cheerful earth fairies blurting out contextless words like ‘apple’, ‘mother’, ‘be quiet’.

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Around the time Erdene was receiving the rubber dragon from Pellerhar as a gift, Bellen, who had fainted, woke up.

It was hard to open his eyes as if someone had put rocks on his eyelids, and his vision was blurry.

But strangely, he felt like someone was sitting next to him.

He mustered all his strength, even the strength he used to suckle milk, to lift his eyelids, and tried to see who the loyal subordinate watching over him was.

But it wasn’t a subordinate. The person watching over him was Sophia Fiddlers.

“Oh, you…!”

Bellen, who tried to suddenly sit up in surprise, let out a groan. Ugh.

His waist, shoulders, everywhere hurt. While all the muscles in his body were screaming ‘I’m dying’, Sophia lightly touched Bellen’s shoulder.

“Just lie down. The court physician said that for about five days, you’ll feel like you’d rather die than walk on your own feet.”

“It’s, it’s not that bad.”

He tried to clear his throat forcefully, but even that wasn’t easy.

Bellen suppressed his groans as he curled up, clutching his stinging abdomen and chest simultaneously.

But even in such pain, it was impossible not to be aware of Sophia Fiddlers’ presence.

Bellen could smell the faint scent of lilac and wisteria emanating from her.

He couldn’t believe that her clean and small white hands, which seemed to have never even touched paper, were patting his shoulder.

“Shall I bring you some water, Commander?”

Bellen raised his head in alarm.

“N-no, it’s fine. How could I trouble the Marchioness’s daughter…”

Sophia chuckled at his reddened face.

Then, as if she had prepared it in advance, she immediately brought a glass of water and a spoon.