Meg, who had been worried about that possibility, finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew, that’s a relief. Since the Young Master and the Lady are using separate rooms, I was worried if the young master, who still might not understand the world, believed that story.”
“Ah……the bedrooms.”
Come to think of it, Meg had also been cleaning the rooms on this floor that Aiden and Anje were using.
Judging by the state of the rooms, it was clear to anyone that they were using separate rooms.
“If you haven’t had the ceremony yet, I’ll talk to the village pastor. Before May is over, a beautiful wedding―.”
“No, Aunty. The ceremony has already been held. Not in this area, but elsewhere……”
He trailed off vaguely. He was wondering whether he should tell Meg about Anje’s background or how they had come to be married.
Anje had previously sternly told him not to call her “princess” when Meg was around.
‘My background will only make things difficult for Mrs. Meg. I’d prefer it if she comfortably treats me as she has been.’
‘Then what should I call you… when you’re with Mrs Meg?’
‘………You don’t have to call me anything.’
TL/N: Call her=say her title before calling her, so she’s suggested that he call her just by name.
He, too, did not want to openly announce the fact that he had been entrusted with Anje, who was in a similar situation to him, a castaway of the imperial family.
“Oh, I didn’t notice that the young lady doesn’t have a ring on her finger.”
“The ring…… I didn’t have time to prepare it.”
Meg, whose eyes were always gently warm, suddenly flashed sharply and smacked Aiden’s arm. He let out a yelp from the sudden shock and rubbed the spot he had been hit.
“No matter how busy you are, how can you not give your wife a wedding ring? You’re really like Mr. Jack.”
“Is the ring that important?”
“Of course it is! It’s a precious ring for once in a lifetime, oh dear. The young lady is so kind-hearted, yet she accepts you.”
“Sigh…….”
Was it because of the ring that the princess had been so upset at the wedding? Aiden, who was dull in this regard, belatedly realized.
“Get one now. There is a jewelry store in town, even if it’s a pawn shop.”
However, since it doubles as a pawn shop, the variety is not very wide. After all, it’s a rural town, so of course.
As Meg grumbled in dissatisfaction, Aiden asked her something he suddenly remembered.
“Can they adjust the ring size there?”
“Of course! Why, do you have a ring in mind?”
“……I have a ring that my mother left me as an heirloom, but I think it would be too loose for her……”
The ring, which his mother had received as a gift when she was young, had a peridot the same color as Anje’s eyes set in it.
He showed Meg the ring he had brought from the parlor drawer and asked for her opinion. She took out her glasses from her pocket and examined the ring for a while before nodding.
“The size of the stone is just right, and the quality of the jewel is good. Diamonds are popular among young people these days, but I like these antique jewels better.”
Meg said that she would find out Anje’s finger size herself and put the ring in her pocket, winking with one eye.
It seemed that she was going to go to town herself to order it so that Anje wouldn’t know.
Aiden, who had not expected things to go this way, was a little flustered.
“There’s no need to keep it a secret…”
“Shh, I’ll also be careful, so please act well too, Young Master. It’s better to give it to her late as a surprise gift.”
“Surprise…”
Would she accept it? Having grown up in the Duke’s mansion, she would have been exposed to much more expensive and exquisite jewelry.
He thought she might hate such an old and plain ring.
He couldn’t get his negative thoughts out of his mouth before Meg brought up another topic.
“I might be meddling, but it’s not good for a newlywed couple to use separate rooms from the beginning. Even if it’s awkward, you should use the same room. Look at the Elm couple who set up a fruit stand. They used separate rooms because the husband’s snoring was severe, and this time, the wife filed for divorce.”
“……”
Aiden was so speechless as if he had eaten honey.
TL/N: This is a common Korean idiom that is used to describe someone who is so surprised or amazed that they are unable to speak. The honey is a metaphor for sweetness, and the idea is that the person is so overwhelmed with positive emotions that they are temporarily speechless.
Sleeping in the same room, me and the princess? That was absolutely impossible.
He thought of her skinny back trembling as he approached her to untie her clothes on the first day she came home…
‘I won’t take the initiative to merge the rooms unless she wants to.’
Wait, what if she wants to?
He slammed his head on the table.
“Oh my goodness, what’s the matter?”
“I dozed off.”
The part of his forehead where he hit it hurt, but he was able to get rid of the strange thoughts that had just come up. He ignored the buzzing sound in his head because he had hit it too hard.
“And since you’re getting old, Young Master, you should have a child…”
“It’s too early for that kind of talk, Aunty.”
Meg’s eyes followed Aiden’s gaze to Anje outside the window.
Anje was humming a folk song with a funny lyric that Meg had taught her, loudly enough for everyone in the house to hear, while pulling out the weeds that had grown in the wheat.
“Why is the wheat swaying when there is no wind?”
Wait, isn’t the lyric a bit suggestive? Aiden, who had been listening to the song, flinched, but then turned his attention back to what Meg was saying.
“After all, the young lady is too frail. Like someone who was locked in a closet and only drank dew. It would be better to think about pregnancy after she becomes a little stronger.”
Until then, Aiden had ignored Meg’s words to make sure he didn’t get pregnant. There was a much more important topic.
“…Even in your eyes, she looks frail?”
“The young lady? Yes, she’s nothing but bones.”
That ‘nothing but bones’ figure was Meg’s very personal standard, but Aiden’s face suddenly darkened at her words.
The princess herself was talking about being worried about gaining weight, but she still looked too thin to him.
She’s working hard now because the weather is nice, but she might have a hard time in the summer heat. It takes a trip to town to call the doctor, so what if she gets sick?
“I’ve been feeding her a lot of meat and making her drink milk every morning….”
“What about cod liver oil? It’s rich in nutrients, so a lot of anemic girls eat it.”
“Let’s try feeding her some.”
Cod liver oil is a kind of fish oil extracted from the liver of seafood, and Aiden used to eat it often as a child.
He’s not sure if the princess, who is picky about her food, will eat it because of its strong, fishy smell, but he decided to try it by giving her some candy or caramel that he had been saving.
Meg, who said she would buy cod liver oil while she was going to drop off the ring, patted Aiden on the shoulder.
“Oh well, I guess I must have been making a fuss for nothing. You two are so close.”
“Huh? Our relationship is not very… good.”
“You’re taking such good care of her, and you’re putting up with her grumbling. Oh, heavens, don’t tell me you’re the one with the bigger heart? That’s why you’re still in separate rooms…”
“That’s not it, Aunty.”
Aiden desperately tried to explain that he was just taking care of his cousin’s younger sister who had come to visit, but his words fell on deaf ears.
“Come inside and have some tea, Young Lady.”
“Tea? Alright.”
Meg pushed him onto a chair, holding his shoulder down as he was about to go out to the field to change shifts with Anje.
“Don’t be shy. Come on, we need to talk for a while so that you can open your heart too.”
“That’s not it…”
Meg’s enthusiasm flared up as she declared that she would help strengthen their bond as a couple.
“Miss, Sir Aiden is quite a romantic, even he’s like this…”
“Shhh! Aunty, I don’t need that kind of help.”
It seemed like this misunderstanding would continue for a while.
* * *
“Look, what’s that yellow thing clinging to the tip of the wheat like a bug?”
“That’s a flower. Wheat blossom.”
Once the flower is pollinated, grains will develop and gradually harden. Now, Anje touched the wheat flowers that were attached like powder several times, wondering if they were strange.
‘I wondered when the wheat field full of only blue shoots would ripen.’
She was deeply moved that it was already time for the flowers to bloom and bear fruit.
It wasn’t just wheat flowers that had newly appeared in the field. The tomatoes, which had bloomed shyly with yellow flowers, were now full of bright green baby tomatoes.
Aiden stroked the tomatoes and predicted that they would be ready to harvest in a few weeks.
“After harvesting the tomatoes, there will be spinach, green onions, cucumbers, cabbage…”
“There will be more dishes we can make! Good!”
The asparagus, which Meg had transplanted from her own field a while ago, was also standing tall and upward, ready for harvest.
It was a vegetable that Aiden had hesitated to grow because it takes three years from planting the seeds to being able to eat it.
He felt that he had done well to start interacting with his neighbors again, thanks to Meg’s warm heart.
On the other hand, Anje was not as excited about the asparagus at first.
‘Asparagus was all the rage in high society too.’
She wondered why everyone liked that tough grass so much, but she forced herself to eat the asparagus dish Aiden had made, thinking of Meg’s kindness.
And on that day, she completely changed her mind about asparagus.
The dish of asparagus wrapped in thinly sliced bacon, skewered, seasoned, and grilled was really…
“Can’t we have asparagus bacon skewers again for dinner tonight?”
“It’s been three days in a row. Don’t you get tired of it?”
He said that, but he was already cutting the asparagus stalks. After all, it’s a good thing if it can make her stronger.
* * * *
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