SFO CH 20

Extra Episode: The Young Man is Jealous (Part 3)

“Finn…!!!”

My husband was standing in wait in the middle of the hallway.

It seems the witch doctor didn’t even give him a chair.

Passersby glanced at him curiously.

“Finn, you’ve lost so much weight…! And you look so pale… I’m sorry, I just found out about the rumors. I really don’t know how to start apologizing to you…! Anyway, let’s go home.”

My husband apologized to me, his exhausted face contorted as if he were about to cry. He hesitated a little, about to hold out his hand, and then he finally asked,

“Finn, will you allow me to carry you…?”

It seemed that the fact that I had clung to Oliver in the morning had taken its toll on him.

I hesitated a little, but then nodded, thinking that I would have to ask him to slow down his pace considerably if I were to walk to the carriage in my current state.

Still, the moment he touched me, I jerked, and my shoulders shook.

What is wrong with me? It’s my body, but I can’t control it.

My husband looked saddened by my reaction, but he lifted me up as if to shake something off and touch something fragile.

Once I touched him, I felt more at ease with my husband’s body warmth for the first time in a week, and I think I fell asleep while he was carrying me.

When I woke up again, I found myself in a familiar bed. I looked around and saw my husband sitting on a chair by the bed, looking at me.

“Al…? I must have fallen asleep. I’m sorry. I must have been quite a heavy burden…?”

“Actually, I was quite worried because you were lighter than before. Besides, I’m the one who should apologize… I hurt you, the most precious of all. Not only that, I didn’t even realize what I had done until you ended up in this state…. I truly am an unfit husband.”

“Al…”

“I didn’t know about the rumors until today. I am truly sorry. But you have to believe me! Nothing happened with Noah! Even when we stayed overnight, Noah was home by the time the kids were put to bed, and Sebas, Tommy, and the other civil servants were always in the room! I swear I was never left alone with him!”

“I know… I know.”

“Finn… Even if I explain myself, I can’t erase the fact that you still had a hard time with these rumors and this entire situation. I’m really sorry.”

He says with a truly pained expression. I can feel his remorse.

I wonder if I should pretend to be understanding here and say… that I don’t mind.

I had thought about discussing it, but Oliver had said most of what I wanted to say, and if he was this remorseful, maybe I shouldn’t show him the jealousy of a pathetic older wife.

“I’m sorry for showing you how pathetic I am, too…”

Something started dripping from my eyes. My voice felt choked up and I couldn’t continue. If things continued this way, I would only embarrass my husband. I had to do something, somehow…

“Ugh…hmmm…”

“Finn! Finn, you don’t have to do anything. I want you to say everything that’s on your mind. No matter how much you berate me, I’ve done that much. I’m not going to hate you for what you have to say.”

“Oh, Al, Al…! I hated it, I was so worried…! I know that’s not true, but I even wondered if you’d thought that Noah was better, or if you just didn’t want to hold this old man in your arms anymore…!”

“Of course not! I didn’t sleep with you in my arms for the past week because I was afraid of being unable to resist the urge to touch you if I did!”

“???”

My husband carefully reached out his hand and touched my shoulder fearfully. When he saw that I did not reject him, he slowly locked me in his arms.

“I hear so many wonderful rumors about you when I visit the royal palace. And that you have a heavy workload. I couldn’t force you to keep up with me on top of it all, so I slept as far away from you as possible so I wouldn’t lust after you when you came home tired and wanting nothing more than to sleep.”

…His face was red hot.

I had no idea that Al felt that way.

“I’ve been wanting to hold you, especially when I hear other men gossiping about you. Even your sleeping face is beautiful and sexy, so much that even looking at it makes me go rock hard, so I try not to look at it. …But that ended up backfiring. I’m a useless husband who can’t even see his wife’s physical condition…!”

“Well, I was the one who kept everyone quiet, so it couldn’t be helped.”

“Still, if I had looked carefully, I would have noticed it. I’m really sorry.”

I looked at my husband, who bowed again, with that perfect face of his.

But to think he’s been trying to restrain himself from lusting after me… well, I can’t say I’m not happy to hear that.

“Is there anything else you want to say…?”

“…What do you think of Noah? Why are you staring at him with such a loving expression? I think you are touching him too much. I hated that the most…”

My voice got quieter and quieter. But I still couldn’t stop talking.

“What did you talk with him about while I was gone? What were you doing? Did you let him touch you? Did you think about wanting to get back together with him?”

Tears started flowing again. If he were to tell me right now that he wanted to get back together with Noah, my heart might break.

“Finn, Finn, you’re so thoughtful… What was I doing, not even realizing it…? Don’t cry, Finn. I don’t have the slightest intention of getting back together with Noah, and I’m confident that I won’t be aroused by anyone but you. Even if it was my former lover. I’m not attracted to anyone else but you, Finn, because you are the most beautiful. You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to get back together with Noah…?”

Heaving with sobs, I asked the same question again. He might think I was being persistent, but I was very worried.

“I’m sure. Let’s see, what did Noah and I talk about? At first, I apologized for our breakup. After that, we caught up with our current lives… Then I asked him about having children, giving birth, and raising a baby.”

“What…?”

“You told me you wanted to have a child, didn’t you? So I’ve been trying to gather information about that. I thought it would be easiest to understand by listening to someone with actual experience. I was often late getting home from work because I had to ask during the workday.”

“I see… that’s what happened.”

“Perhaps the loving expression you’re talking about is because I was picturing you as a mother whenever I looked at Noah. I feel nothing but friendship for Noah anymore. Also, let me swear this to you: I don’t have any other people besides you. I never let him touch my body. I may have stroked Noah’s head just out of habit, but that was it. Nothing more.”

“I…”

Somehow I felt relieved. I knew my husband wasn’t like that, but since I couldn’t see him and didn’t know what was going on, I ended up getting swept up in rumors.

When I felt relieved, I started to cry again, and Al seemed to feel quite flustered.

“Finn, oh, I’m so sorry I made you cry like this. I’m so sorry for making you feel uneasy. I would not be able to live or do my job if there were rumors about Finn like that. Just seeing that man holding you like that made me want to kill him. But if he hadn’t spoken up like that, I would’ve remained in the dark about what was happening to you.”

Al patted me gently on the back, and my tears began to subside.

“Is there anything else on your mind…? Don’t hide anything, tell me all of it. I’ll answer everything.”

I shook my head.

“I see… I love only you, Finn. This is one fact that will never change even if the heavens and the earth were to be turned upside down. I don’t care about anyone else. You are the only one for me.”

“Yes… You are the only one for me too, Al. Don’t make me nervous again.

“Oh, Finn. I’m so sorry. I swear this will never happen again. I will never have to speak to Noah again if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“W-wouldn’t that interfere with your work…? If you say you only have eyes for me, I’ll believe you, Al.”

“Finn…! Thank you for saying you believe me…!”

That day, we slept together, squeezing each other. We didn’t try making a baby because I wasn’t in perfect shape and my husband had a lot of work to do the next day.

After two days of rest, I went to work and started working hard.

By the way, the scene with Al and Oliver in the hallway in front of the infirmary was clearly seen by several members of the staff, so there seems to be a new rumor that Al was feeling sorry for letting his wife collapse and that he had changed his mind. Well, generally speaking, it’s not entirely wrong.

Noah, who found out about the previous rumors, apologized profusely. It seems that he is conscious of keeping his distance from Al now. It seems like they are making good use of their fellow civil servants and Sebas so that the two of them don’t move through the hallways alone, and since then, no one has talked about the romance between the Marquess and his ex-lover.

However, it seems that the previous rumors had reached the villa of the former marquess’ estate, which is adjacent to the royal capital, and on the day of the equinox, when the nobles’ council was not being held, my father-in-law and mother-in-law came running into our mansion with faces that looked like those of angry demons.

My mother-in-law’s anger was especially fierce, as he forced my husband to stand in the garden for more than half a day under the cold weather, shirtless, with a barrel full of water in each hand, and to answer endlessly about how foolish he had been and what he would do to prevent such a thing from happening again. Beautiful women sure are scary when they get angry. It was so powerful that I almost cried myself.

This was the last day of such a chaotic nobles’ council period. The next day would be a day off for all civil servants.

After taking a bath, it was nighttime.

“A-Al…?”

“Hmm? What’s wrong, Finn?”

“So, um… we were talking about making a baby before… How about today?”

Mustering up all my courage, I took off my bathrobe.

From inside, my body was revealed, dressed in a custom-made, see-through nightgown as recommended by Mia.

I don’t know if it will be too much of a presumptuous reward for my husband who survived the nobles’ council, but I wonder if he’ll be happy with it.

Al brought his hand to his nose as if to keep something from leaking out, and leaned back.

Needless to say, that night was particularly exciting.