Chapter 143: In The Library
"Why?"
"Because I missed you," he said and hid his face in my chest.
"But in the l-library... Why here?" I asked as I looked around to see if someone was there. It would be very embarrassing if someone saw us in this position.
"The place doesn\'t matter."
"But our bedroom was c-closer... Yet, you brought... me here..."
"Hmm... I felt like coming here," he mumbled. "And you seemed like you wanted to ask me something."
"You can c-clearly... read my mind," I said. "Why are you asking?"
"On our wedding, you told me to pretend like I can\'t read your mind, even if I can," he said.
"You remember that?"
"Of course," he said. "And besides, it hasn\'t been long..."
Now that I thought about it, it had been just a bit more than two months that I got married to him and it was also how long I had known him for. It was a very short time. And it would not be a surprise if someone did not believe the other person who they knew for this much time. Yet, I felt very wrong every time I suspected him.
"Well, now that you\'ve seen the dresses, if you don\'t like any of them, we can get another one," he said.
"No, they\'re f-fine," I said quickly. I was sure that he was going to literally throw the dress out if I did not like any of them. It was a great waste since every one of them was very expensive. I did not want to waste that much money for no reason and more importantly, I did not dislike those dresses. "But I was wondering about s-something else...
Why are all the dresses black and sometimes with a bit of gold? Even your outfits are like that... Is it because the royal color of Q-Querencia is black and... golden?"
"It\'s merely because you look good in black," he replied nonchalantly. "I always liked wearing black since it suited me the most."
\'Wrong, you look good in anything...\'
"Thank you. Anyway, and when I saw you, I had a feeling that you would look good in black and I was right. Besides, it looks good when we two wear matching outfits."
Since the moment I had come here, we had been wearing matching outfits all the time. I did not remember a single day when we were not matched. Even if it was a little thing, there were always similarities between our dress-ups. It was as if to let anyone know that we were related.
"But if you don\'t like it..."
"It\'s alright. I like it," I said.
"That\'s good," he said as he rubbed his face on my chest. He liked to maintain skinship as much as possible all the time. Even without a reason, he would touch my hand or something. And after working for a long time or coming back from a meeting, he would hide his face in my chest or cling to me.
"By the way, why didn\'t you t-tell me about assigning Perita, my personal knight?" I asked.
"I was looking for a female knight for a while and then found out that she is best among them. Even the beta praised her. I heard she is very cheerful. So, I thought she would be able to keep you entertain," he said. "And it was a hasty decision to assign her after the beta told me this morning."
"I see..."
"Do you want me to change her? Or is she fine?"
"She is g-great... I like her," I said. I truly enjoyed my time with Perita. She was the exact opposite of me but was really entertaining to be with. And moreover, I liked the fact she was quite chatty. Since I could not do many things these days, it was good to have someone to at least talk to.
"You like her?"
"Hmm."
"More than me?"
"What are you s-saying? How can you even say that? R-Really?"
"Alright, alright, I understand," he said in a surrendering tone.
"I still don\'t understand why you brought me... in the library..."
"Actually," he said as he pulled his face up and looked at me, "I wanted to give you a book."
"A book?"
"I wasn\'t sure if you would really like it, so I wanted to show it to you first," he said.
"What\'s this... about?"
"It\'s actually a very controversial and forbidden book. Only a few people have this," he said. "But I thought that perhaps you should take a look at it."
"Are you sure it\'s not c-cursed or something... like that? I mean, what if I touch it and die? Or go paralyze or something?"
"There is nothing called a real curse. Don\'t worry. And if it would hurt you, I wouldn\'t give it to you in the first place. I have read it long ago. And now since you have a lot of questions about everything here, you can find out a lot of things if you read it. You\'re bored as well."
"That\'s t-true... Well then, I will give it a try," I said. But I still did not know why he brought me here. His answers did not explain the real thing at all.
"So, you still haven\'t let it go..."
"Why would... I?"
"Actually, I want to be with you as much as possible. But these days, you\'re almost always in the bedroom and it\'s not like I want you to go outside either. It\'s just... whenever I see the bed, I get aroused and want to do it with you. But now that your body is weak, we can\'t. So, I decided to avoid the sight of bed as much as possible."
"Where are you g-going to sleep... then? In the r-roof?"
"I can manage that time only," he said. "Mornings are the hardest. Nights are kind of manageable. It\'s more because of the medicine you take at night. You lose your senses and keep asking a lot of things. My time passes talking to you."
I never remembered many things of the nighttime after taking the medicine. What if I kept saying strange things?
"It doesn\'t matter even if you say strange things. If it\'s with me, it\'s alright."
I touched the side of his face and he leaned on my palm, closing his eyes. It seemed like I could feel his gentle look even when his eyes were closed. Sometimes I had no idea how to not trust him.
"That day... when I was going to the m-magic tower with Luc, I met... four knights," I said. "Perita, her brother Azriel, Kade and Christophen."
"You remember their names well," he muttered.
"Do you k-know all of them?" I asked.
"Yes, last time I went to inspect, they made an unnecessary fuss among them," he said. "Perita was fighting with her brother while that white-haired one watched and Kade encouraged them to fight more."
"Pfft... R-Really? When was it?" I laughed.
"Just a few days ago. I would have gotten their heads, but since they are good at what they do, I decided not to," he said casually.
\'Their heads? Just for this? Isn\'t it illegal?\'
"Illegal?" he laughed. "Whatever I do is legal."
\'So full of himself...\'
"You can do anything you want to. It will become a rule no matter what you do," he said.
"I don\'t need to do anything... Anyway, as I said, I met them that day. They were very... friendly..."
"Then?"
"I... I actually am thinking of g-going to... meet them..."
"Meet them?" he suddenly said loudly, jerking up. "Why?"
"Because... I want to..."
"No."
"Alright."
"Huh?" he looked at me in surprise.
"Give me that book... then. I will r-read it...," I said.
Now it was not in my hand to do whatever I wanted. So, I better accepted it as soon as possible, or it would make everything difficult for me.
"I will come with you then," he said.
"Yes?"
"To... meet those knights for who knows why," he grumbled, looking away.
"R-Really?"
"But, you have to eat well and drink your juice. And also, a glass of milk..."
"I hate milk..."
"Why?"
"It has a weird smell..."
"The doctor said you have to drink it."
"Don\'t wanna..."
"If you don\'t, then you can\'t go," he said. He talked as if he was talking to a child. But it was alright since he agreed. Perhaps I must drink milk today.
"A small cup..."
"Yes, yes, a small cup," he said and hugged me. I could hear his heart beating in a rhythm with mine. And I heard a mumble, "That time, I hated that look on your face."