Chapter 24: Spring Has Come

It was a sunny afternoon when Marx, who had been hibernating in the shed, woke up.

The snow had just recently melted and the days had just gotten warmer, but it didn’t mean that spring had come yet. Marx’ awakening was the true sign.

Spring had arrived.

“Good morning, Marx. Today’s warmer than yesterday, isn’t it?”

Urien held out his hands with a smile and Marx swiftly jumped onto his palm. Following the momentum, he came up to Urien’s elbow and wrapped his tail around his arm.

The box that Marx was staying in was placed inside this shed—the new shed that Rodrick built for Urien after the old shed was washed away by the flood.

That old shed originally belonged to the gardener, but this one was Urien’s alone. No one would be allowed into the shed without his permission, including the servants and even Rodrick himself.

Of course, Urien didn’t recall asking for such a thing, Rodrick was the one who did it on his own. He even made sure that he himself wouldn’t enter the shed without permission. In Urien’s eyes though, the shed might be his, but Rodrick was the one who built it, so he should be free to come and go whenever he liked.

The reason why he did such a thing eluded Urien, but thanks to this, the shed had turned into a safe fortress for Marx.

He was able to spend the winter here safely.

“You ate everything already, huh, Marx? Are you full? Or do you want more?”

All the food Urien had left in the box was gone. This ravenous appetite even though he had just woken up from his hibernation made a chuckle escape Urien’s lips.

The hearty feast left Marx with a bulging belly. “So cute…” Urien said as he saw him. After a while, Marx scurried back to his box as it was his nap time.

Not wanting to disturb him, Urien placed the box on the sunny part of the table and left the shed.

That was when he noticed a figure near the river.

He approached that figure without thinking much.

“Lord Rodrick.”

At that, Rodrick turned his head to look at him.

His face didn’t seem to carry any emotion as he stared at Urien, but there really was no reason for him to be here. This happened a lot lately.

For some reason, he hung around often near Urien’s shed, but always refused to just come inside. Regardless, Urien decided to go and talk to him first.

“Is something the matter?”

“…Nothing. Just looking at the river.”

“Is that fun?”

“It is,” Rodrick replied with his usual frown. It was clear that he didn’t enjoy the whole looking at the river shtick at all.

By now, Urien knew that even though he was frowning, it didn’t mean that he was upset. This was something that he found out after spending his time with him ever since he came back from his expedition to Barca.

Instead of angry, he was actually exhausted, and his exhaustion was even more apparent than back when they first met. Urien could tell that much now.

When he took a closer look, Urien noticed the dark circles under Rodrick’s eyes. Lately, whenever he visited his room after he was done with his work, he often seemed dazed.

‘Did he not get enough sleep?’ Urien made a guess, but he couldn’t be too sure about it.

“The river might be fun, but the forest is even more so, Lord Rodrick.”

“Do you want to go to the forest?”

“What about you, Lord Rodrick? Do you?”

“…”

He didn’t know why Rodrick started to visit the shed often, but he guessed that it was because there were no more bees around.

The reason why he didn’t visit the western forest much was due to the bees. Now that he knew they were gone, he was free to do whatever he liked, which was great. In any case, since he was here, Urien decided to show his husband around the woods again today.

“Don’t worry. There are no more bees around.”

“Mm.”

“Not that it’s the right season for them to be around though… Ah, there’s still some snow there.”

Near a large tree, where there were shades covering the ground, there was a pile of snow that hadn’t melted yet. Standing besides Urien, for some reason, Rodrick picked up a branch, probably to serve as a makeshift weapon, even though his sword was hanging on his waist.

It seemed like a childish thing to do, but he’d only ever show this side of him in front of Urien. Rodrick walked next to him, holding the branch tightly in his hand with a serious expression. If the servants were to see him like this, they’d no doubt be surprised.

Having spent a lot of time with him over the winter, Urien often saw such unexpected sides of him. Like how he applied some cream on his lips, thinking that they’d get chapped, or how he got him a bunch of sweets just to see his reaction.

He almost felt like a doting elder brother trying to take care of his younger brother.

…During the winter, his memories always seemed to blur.

Urien always spent his winter without Marx—as he was hibernating—in a daze. Hence his memories of the time were always unreliable whenever he tried to look back on it.

But this time, this person seemed to be in the center of his memories.

“I’m sorry.”

Out of nowhere, Rodrick said that.

Urien was reaching out to pick a red berry from the tip of a branch. Rodrick, who was taller than him, stepped forward to pick it for him when he suddenly said that.

“Huh?”

“About what happened last fall. During winter, you seemed dazed, so I thought that it’d be best not to bring up that painful memory.”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

‘I see.’

‘This is about what happened a while after we got married.’

“My attitude ended up hurting you.”

“…”

He was referring to his cold demeanor at the start, which resulted in the maids’ reckless behavior.

His face twisted with anguish. Meanwhile, Urien just stared at him while thinking to himself, ‘Spring is here.’

‘Spring has come.’

‘Just a year and more, I’ll be saying my goodbye to him.’

Rodrick married Urien so that he could use the Martitz as his puppet.

He had a clear goal, so until the contract was up, he wouldn’t discard Urien no matter what. After living together for a few months, he realized that no matter what he told him, he wouldn’t get angry, so it’d be fine if he were to tell him what was on his mind.

“Sorry for making you regret—”

“No.”

Urien shook his head slightly. Even until now, Rodrick still believed that the reason why Urien was in such a daze was due to that incident.

But Urien never felt that way at all.

“I’m not regretting anything. Nor am I sad or hurt.”

“Huh?

“Awkward, isn’t it?”

“…”

He was talking about the atmosphere between them.

Seeing him saying such a thing in such a calm tone, Rodrick’s eyes widened slightly. He didn’t seem to have expected it, but at the same time, he didn’t seem too surprised either. In a quiet tone, he agreed.

“Yeah.”