Even if he’s disappointed in me, I don’t need to be hurt.

He and I are merely in a contractual relationship, and nowhere in those contract terms is there a clause about being faithful like a married couple.

So his preparing meals for me is purely out of Cedar’s kindness, and I have no obligation to finish everything without leaving anything.

There’s no rule that kindness must always be reciprocated with kindness.

‘But I can’t help feeling concerned.’

I could just tell him I don’t like vegetables and we’re only in a one-time relationship, so he doesn’t need to balance nutrients in the diet, but strangely, I couldn’t say those words.

And I had this odd feeling of not wanting to disappoint Cedar.

‘Why am I…’

I felt confused by these conflicting emotions. Meanwhile, I timidly raised my head and glanced at Cedar.

I wanted to see what expression he had, but I felt I couldn’t fully lift my head, thinking he’d probably be looking down at me with a pathetic expression.

Cedar, who had been staring at me quietly.

Thud―

He pulled out a chair next to me and sat down.

“Huh?”

I thought he’d be angry because I didn’t properly eat the meal he prepared, so why is he sitting next to me?

‘Don’t tell me he’s sitting next to me to scold me?’

As I blinked and looked at him, his face was just as stern as usual.

Cedar picked up the fork in front of me and stabbed a vegetable on the plate.

Then he held it out to me.

“Ah, open up.”

“What?”

It felt like my brain had momentarily stopped working. Cedar urged me with a nod.

“I said open up. I’ll feed you.”

“Aah?”

The fork slipped into my bewildered, open mouth.

The grassy taste I despised filled my mouth, but I was too shocked to even taste it.

Since I couldn’t talk while eating, I quickly chewed and swallowed.

And just as I was about to protest again, Cedar, as if he had been waiting, stabbed another vegetable with the fork and held it out.

“Ah.”

“W-wait a second!”

I couldn’t take another bite. Afraid that vegetables would slip into my mouth the moment it opened again, I covered my mouth with one hand and waved the other quickly.

Cedar’s eyebrow quirked up.

“I said you have to eat it all.”

“No! I’m not saying I won’t eat it!”

Actually, if I didn’t have to eat it, I wouldn’t want to, but it doesn’t seem like the right time to say that!

Shaking my head repeatedly, I quickly pointed out the part that surprised me.

“Why is my husband feeding me? I can eat with my own hands. So please give me the fork.”

Even my parents never sat next to me and fed me like this! Suddenly sitting so close to a stranger made my heart pound.

Tensing up with hunched shoulders and narrowed eyes, Cedar exhaled through his nose and retorted:

“I thought you didn’t have the strength to eat and were just sitting there.”

“That’s not it!”

“What do you mean it’s not? You don’t seem to understand your own condition.”

He suddenly raised his hand and grasped my wrist. Then, shaking it slowly and lazily, he added:

“Look at this. Even a tree branch would be thicker than your wrist.”

“Eek! It’s not that bad!?”

What was a heart-stopping distance for me seemed to be nothing to Cedar.

At his nonchalant response, I flushed red with indignation.

‘He’s really annoying at times like this!’

I didn’t realize it before, but now I understand.

Cedar not speaking much is actually a great consideration. Because the more he talks, the more annoying he is!

‘Plus, his nagging is increasing.’

Was he originally this nagging? I wanted to let the whole world know that he’s an unstoppable nagger who’s seriously dedicated to correcting others’ picky eating habits.

As I puffed up my cheeks like a fish, expressing my dissatisfaction, another vegetable slipped into my mouth.

Cedar diligently stabbed vegetables from the plate and pushed them into my mouth, saying:

“Alright. That’s enough, just eat. When someone feeds you, you should say thank you and eat, that’s all.”

Not at all!

As if concluding that listening to me would only prolong mealtime, Cedar didn’t even give me a chance to speak, just kept popping food into my mouth.

Receiving such unfamiliar care from someone, the plate was quickly emptied.

I suddenly felt extremely tired and wanted to collapse onto the table, but my full stomach made even that difficult.

Leaning back in the chair, I sighed heavily and mumbled:

“Ah, I really feel like my stomach’s going to burst.”

“It’s not that much.”

“It really is. I feel nauseous from eating too much.”

“Then we should exercise.”

Not only did he force-feed me, but now he’s talking about exercise right away!

As I bristled and started to get up, a brown straw hat was plopped onto my head. Cedar gestured towards the dining room exit as he stood up.

“Let’s go out. We’ve already wasted too much time.”

“Huh? Where to?”

Wasn’t I supposed to be in a coma? Shouldn’t I avoid being seen by others?

Though confused, I obediently pressed down the hat and stood up. Cedar shrugged and answered:

“Didn’t you say you had to do fieldwork?”

“So I just need to plow from here to here?”

Cedar’s voice was light, almost refreshing.

I stared at him with blank, fish-like eyes and muttered in a very small voice.

“…The hoe suits you better than I expected.”

After the meal, we came out to the small garden in front of our residence.

While he carefully provided me with a straw hat and even a handkerchief, Cedar himself stood there without even gloves, holding just a hoe in his bare hands.

Under the sunlight, his black hair shone like obsidian. His smooth face was a light brown color, like well-ripened grain.

It wasn’t from farming, but from practicing swordsmanship that his skin had tanned.

Yet here he was, holding not a sword but a hoe.

‘If the people of the Granite duchy knew, they might throw stones at me.’

The Granite duchy has been a strong warrior family protecting this country for generations.

Cedar, a Sword Master produced by this family, was one of their greatest prides.

To have such a Sword Master hold a hoe instead of a sword.

‘It’s not just the Granite duchy.

There are plenty of people in the empire who revere Cedar Granite. If they knew it was because of me, they’d surely be furious.’

So I hoped he would put down that hoe as soon as possible.

Seemingly oblivious to my discomfort, Cedar not only didn’t put down the hoe, but with an inexplicably refreshed face that looked like it might make a cheerful sound, he lifted his head and said energetically:

“There’s nothing that doesn’t suit me.”

Could it be that being a farmer was his dream? Why does he look so pleased?

Anyway, it seemed he was willingly trying to help me with my work.

Feeling it would be impolite to reject his goodwill, I also rolled up my sleeves.

‘Alright, since it’s come to this, let’s finish quickly!’

I explained to Cedar what needed to be done.

“Those lines on the ground divide the sections. We’ll plant different medicinal herbs in each small section. Today, we’ll slightly raise the soil to create furrows in each one.”

“Like this?”

“Scrape the soil to make it round like this…”

As I was explaining, I realized some parts were difficult to explain verbally, so I moved closer to Cedar to demonstrate directly.

But Cedar waved his hand broadly, shooing me away.

“Don’t even think about setting foot here! Just sit there and speak!”

“What? But still…”

“No buts, just sit there! I’ll do as you instruct.”

“O-okay. If you say so.”

No, I can’t explain everything just with words!

But seeing Cedar burning with determination to not let a speck of dirt touch my hands, I couldn’t bring myself to stand up.

‘Sigh, it would probably be faster if I just did it myself.’

I scratched my cheek. In the end, I diligently instructed Cedar on what to do as he ordered, and Cedar, though clumsy, began to earnestly till the field.

‘He certainly is strong.’

Every time he struck the hoe down, the hard ground made a clang sound as it was dug up.

Sometimes it seemed to hit rocks, but whether he was breaking even those stones, all that came out of the overturned soil was gravel fragments.

‘But this is my work, is it alright to leave it all to him like this?’

Though I thought I should leave him be since he said he wanted to do it, watching Cedar work so hard made somewhere in my heart ache as if being pricked.

‘Why is he being so kind to me?’

Even if we were in a mutually beneficial contract marriage, helping with personal matters seemed to cross a line.

Preparing three meals a day himself was also like that.

‘Do I look that inadequate?’

That was the only reason I could think of.

He might have planned to leave me alone if I lived properly, but I looked so lacking that he couldn’t bear to do so.

‘He didn’t seem like such an affectionate type. I’m doing fine, aren’t I?’

Even at the academy, I was quite good at taking care of myself.

What’s wrong with eating boiled potatoes? Other seniors would burn pots while boiling potatoes, or collapse from eating raw potatoes out of laziness.

As I was recalling those tearful days of mage training, I felt a sharp gaze.

I glanced in that direction and jumped in surprise, my shoulders twitching.

Cedar was staring at me intently with narrowed eyes.

“W-why are you looking at me like that? Hic!”

Did I miss something? Did he speak to me and I didn’t hear because I was lost in thought?

In my confusion, hiccups kept escaping.

As I kept hiccuping, Cedar sighed heavily as if I was pathetic.

“Even a newborn deer would be sturdier than this.”

What nonsense! Even a deer would collapse in surprise if it made eye contact with you!