86.

“Ha ha.”

Norma didn’t bother hiding his laughter anymore after successfully teasing me. His smug expression made me glare at him once again.

Despite the situation, Norma Diazi’s face remained calm, without a hint of irritation. He looked quite pleased, and my thoughts of scolding him vanished completely.

It was impossible to shake the feeling that I was always somehow losing to this man, who toyed with me as easily as breathing.

‘Wasting my entire morning again. At this rate, won’t I be recorded in history as a lazy and incompetent tyrant? What if Romdak falls, and the McFoy name crumbles too?’

As I swallowed the soup Norma was feeding me, visions of a bleak future crossed my mind. Stories of kings who ruined their nations because they were infatuated with their beloved beauties were all too common.

‘To think I used to doubt such fools could even exist. But could it be…’

Feeling a sense of dread, I looked seriously at the man sitting by my bedside, now reduced to feeding me.

‘Could I become one of them?’

Norma, who found joy in spoon-feeding a grown adult, beamed brightly, looking oddly satisfied with himself. His expression left me speechless yet again. He blinked as if to ask why I was staring at him like that.

There we were—Norma, feeding me, and I, cautiously watching him. It reminded me of that time at Lady Thule’s estate when he voluntarily took care of me, peeling potatoes and feeding them to me during my illness.

That was already late last summer. Remembering that now, it felt even more unbelievable that we had married in such a whirlwind and were living like this every day.

Had I somehow been bewitched without even realizing it?

“Sigh…”

“Aisa, what’s wrong?”

I knew I must have looked quite ghostly, lost in my thoughts. But Norma, laughing like a child who had seen something entertaining for the first time, asked with a sly smile.

Whether he was just innocent, bold, or both, I couldn’t quite read his expression to know for sure.

Unlike me, who still felt weak no matter how much divine power I absorbed, Norma always seemed full of life. It was strange. No matter how much of a difference there was between our bodies, it shouldn’t be this extreme.

“I pour divine energy into myself every day, so why am I like this, while you’re always so full of vitality?”

I didn’t know what his secret was, but lately, Norma had become so energetic that his face practically glowed.

He must have felt awkward answering, so he responded with an even brighter smile, his eyes crinkling as he gently motioned for me to open my mouth.

It was clear he was trying to dodge the question, but since I had resolved to be kind to my husband whenever I could, I obediently opened my mouth without complaint.

Giving in to Norma’s requests had become almost instinctual at this point, though I didn’t fully realize it.

This time, he expertly tore off a piece of bread and placed it in my mouth. For a while, like a baby bird, I continued to accept the food without saying a word. But eventually, I couldn’t hide the discomfort that was slowly building up inside me.

It’s not like I don’t have hands, so being spoon-fed every time was already questionable. But more than that, what bothered me was how he never took a single bite himself.

‘It’s strange that you insist on feeding me like this… but why don’t you ever eat with me?’

“Shouldn’t I at least have lunch with Archie? He must have felt lonely when no one joined him for breakfast again today.”

I was ready to mock him with a sarcastic remark like ‘just watching you eat makes me full,’ but the words that came out of his mouth were completely unexpected.

“…You’re better than me.”

I mumbled, caught off guard, feeling as if I’d just been struck. In hindsight, it seemed that I was the one who had been getting too absorbed in the mood.

Embarrassingly, I had momentarily forgotten about my dear nephew. My mind had been so preoccupied with the reduced hours of ‘McFoy family head duties’ that I had completely neglected Archie.

Wasting my entire morning also meant I was missing the regular breakfasts and tea times I’d started sharing with Archie since my marriage.

“It might be best if we moved our tea time to the afternoon.”

Seeing my flustered reaction, Norma slipped another piece of bread into my open mouth, whispering sweetly. I chewed the bread with a serious face and found myself nodding to his seemingly flawless reasoning.

‘Wait a moment.’

And then, I realized my brain wasn’t so far gone after all—there was a more fundamental solution to this problem.

‘I could just reduce the time we spend together in the first place, right?’

Delighted that I hadn’t fallen for Norma’s tricks this time, I let out a triumphant smile.

“Come to think of it, it’d be better if we cut back on our nights together.”

I spoke with a surprisingly firm tone, and the hand that had been preparing the next piece of bread paused mid-air.

“…I see.”

Norma, who had been staring straight into my eyes, finally spoke in a slow and deliberate tone. I braced myself, determined not to be swayed by whatever expression or words he used.

“I understand that you’re busy. But I’d like to see you during the day too. And someday, I want to hold your hand and stroll beyond the outer walls together.”

“…Ahem.”

However, Norma’s approach was far bolder than I had anticipated. His honest and unfiltered wish was simple, yet it hit me straight on.

Caught off guard by this unexpected and powerful declaration, I couldn’t stop coughing. As I did, Norma—his cheeks reddening—naturally handed me a glass of water. His caretaking movements were as smooth as breathing.

The flushed man didn’t stop there.

“But I understand how busy you are with the preparations for the festival and our wedding ceremony. So, it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I…”

“…”

“I’m just looking forward to those quiet nights alone with you.”

Norma made sure to catch my eye as he said the last part, his gaze almost pleading, as if asking, ‘Will you even take that time away from me too?’ His eyes were both cheeky and filled with a trace of sadness that made my heart clench.

‘This brazen man.’

Feeling a different kind of danger, I swallowed hard.

Suggesting we reduce our time together at night shouldn’t have been such a heartbreaking request. After all, it was more unusual to be together every night. Normally, noble couples had designated nights for such things, and each of them had their own lavish bedrooms.

Yet since our first night, Norma Diazi had never once used his own bedroom.

And now he was acting like it pained him? Anyone watching would think I had been cruelly ignoring him every night.

But this time, I managed not to be swayed by the sight of Norma Diazi’s flushed face.

Yet, as I faced his sigh-filled voice and his blushing expression, a thought naturally crossed my mind.

“Aisa.”

Last night, the sound of those breathy, excited sighs played on repeat in my ears.

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

“I love you.”

Norma Diazi had a habit. When the mood reached its peak at night, he couldn’t help but pour his heart out, leaning close to my ear and whispering his confessions.

‘How does he plan to face me later when he realizes all those feelings were just a misunderstanding? He should learn to keep his emotions in check like a proper noble.’

Feeling my face flush hot, I clenched my fists tightly.

‘He’s not a child. Doesn’t he know that revealing his emotions like this only ends up hurting him?’

That damn “I love you.”

In truth, this had become my biggest concern lately.

Even while eating, receiving reports from my vassals, or signing off on documents, his voice would tickle my ears out of nowhere, making it impossible to focus on my work.

Yes, that’s right. The head of the McFoy family was not only losing entire mornings to distraction but couldn’t concentrate even when she tried!

And just as Norma Diazi mentioned earlier, I realized—

‘Am I… Am I also just waiting for the night to come?’

“Ack!”

With a final, desperate cry, I slammed my hand down on the bed sheets. In the midst of my outburst, Norma, who had been about to place another piece of bread in my mouth, froze with wide eyes.

‘Get a grip, McFoy! You can’t become a tyrant who’s lost to pleasure.’

Ignoring him, I sprang up from the bed.

“Enough, it’s far too late! I should be going now. We’ll talk about this later.”

Standing rigidly on the bed, I babbled nonsense, wishing I could yank out my tongue for speaking such gibberish. But the urgency to escape the situation was stronger.

“Tonight. Yes, uh… see you tonight.”

I flailed clumsily, trying to scramble out of the massive bed. Why did the bed have to be so wide?

After a few awkward struggles, I finally managed to break free from the bed and bolted out of the bedroom.

Bang! The door slammed shut behind me.

“…”

Norma stared blankly at the door through which Aisa had just made her frantic escape. Then, the corners of his lips twitched before he couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“…Ah.”

Norma wondered what on earth she had eaten to become so endearing, then leaned back against the chair, trying to cool his flushed cheeks with the back of his hand. He stretched his long body out slowly.

Recalling the sight of her bright red face as she let out that strangled cry made his own blush spread from his cheeks down his neck.

‘This happiness is almost terrifying.’

Norma covered his mouth with both hands, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Ha. Haha, haha…”

Once again, laughter spilled out uncontrollably.

It had been a month since he had married into the McFoy family, and every day, Norma Diazi felt his heart race with overwhelming joy.

‘I’m so happy. She’s too adorable. But—’

Watching her give him glimpses of affection only to snap back to her senses and flee each time left his heart in turmoil for many reasons.

‘She tries so hard not to give in to her feelings for me… what am I supposed to do?’

Norma let out a small sigh.

* * *

Meanwhile, a new trend was taking the western regions by storm.

If the timeless favorite plot in the Empire’s literature had always been the silent, steadfast knight rescuing a beautiful princess, the western narrative had undergone a dramatic shift.

On market days, the traveling theater troupes no longer performed stories about the cold yet secretly warm knight and the wise, beautiful princess.

The current hottest topic in the West was a love story between a handsome holy knight and a prickly witch.

The story centered on the kind-hearted knight who slowly melted the icy heart of the witch. It was a trend that the western ruler would surely despise.

But the origin of this craze was none other than the McFoy estate itself.

Rumors of the newlywed life of the McFoy family head and her husband, which began within the inner castle, had spread beyond its walls to all of the West. It was no surprise that the performances by the wandering troupes were strangely detailed.

Of course, those rumors became further embellished and exaggerated as they turned into stories, which then became the material for these plays.

But as far as the McFoy servants were concerned, the tales about their masters weren’t all that far from the truth.