“Didn’t he send me a letter or a message?”

“Only that the flower you gave him is growing well.”

“I see.”

Rubica was quite disappointed.

But then, Edgar put his arms around her waist to hold her tightly. She could feel his warmth behind her back, but the sudden embrace made her blush.

“What, what are you doing?”

“Aren’t you paying too much attention to that Minos? And, why were you expecting a letter from him?”

He spoke bluntly, but his lips were so kind as he lightly kissed her neck. Rubica didn’t know if he was really jealous or pretending to be jealous just to make her happy.

“Edgar, please. The butler is watching.”

However, the clever Carl had already left the room by then.

“Now he’s not,” he whispered as he kissed her forehead. His voice was chillingly low.

“But he was here when you hugged me.”

“He was ready to leave by then. He looked at my eyes and took the sign.”

“Oh, please. How can you and Carl communicate only through an exchange of glances?”

Rubica complained, knowing that talking about it more would only lead to an exhausting quarrel. But then, Edgar happily rubbed his forehead on her neck.

“Are you jealous?”

Of course, Rubica was not jealous of the butler. However, she wanted to see him being delighted, so she hid what she was really thinking and pouted.

“Yes.”

Then, she immediately regretted it since he hugged her so hard that it almost killed her. Moreover, she didn’t even get to see his delighted look as he was behind her.

After confessing his love, he had become even more unstoppable.

“Stop it, the tea is getting cold.”

Rubica complained and Edgar dropped his arms, but he still didn’t leave. Rubica just gave up and drank her tea with sugar and milk. Its sweet and soft aroma made her smile. Edgar, in the meantime, looked at her curiously.

“Is it that delicious?”

“Yes, it’s sweet and soft. What you drink is rather strange to me. Isn’t it bitter?”

“It’s… sweet and aromatic.”

He said so as he drank the tea which she criticized as ‘smelly leaves’. Rubica silently exclaimed, thinking it was amazing that people could have such different tastes.

“I can drink neither coffee nor tea without any dessert.”

On the other hand, Edgar had no problem with drinking tea without anything else. He barely ate sweet food, even during meals. Was that why he was so thin? Their tastes were so different that it was quite strange for them to love each other.

“Even when drinking tea with sugar and milk, I sometimes want something sweet. Oh, and have you tried our new rose candy?”

“Not yet.”

“You should. It’s delicious.”

There happened to be a bowl of rose candies on the table. Rubica picked one and offered it to Edgar. It was small, no bigger than a coin, but he shook his head. It looked like even that small candy was too much for him. Rubica had no choice but to put it in her own mouth instead.

“But I do wonder about its taste.”

“Really? Then we should find a way to smash it to make it smaller.”

Rubica wondered if she should look for the hammer to break walnut shells, but then Edgar put his hands on her waist. There was a light looming in his deep, blue eyes. The air, that had been so peaceful, started to sway with tension.

“There is a way for me to taste it without smashing it.”

Rubica wanted to ask what he was talking about, but his lips blocked her sound. His tongue went in between her opened lips. It found the candy hiding under her tongue and rolled it. With their warmth, it melted faster than usual. It felt even sweeter. By the time his lips went away, it had already melted.

“It’s a little too sweet, but it’s good.”

Rubica leaned on him, there was no strength left in her body. He lightly kissed her forehead. Now she no longer yelled to demand him to stop. She just looked at him and laughed, embarrassed but happy.

“Oh, please.”

She was so talented at making his heart burn. Edgar couldn’t resist the urge and kissed her forehead, nose, eyes, cheeks, and chin again and again.

“Stop, stop.”

He stopped only when the word of refusal came from her mouth. Even those numerous kisses were not enough for him. He complained that he couldn’t stop so soon, but Rubica just pretended to ignore that and showed him a box of rose candies.

“Look at this, isn’t it pretty? I was able to decorate boxes with this small and pretty ribbon thanks to the machine you made for me. I was told adding decorations to gifts like this is now popular.”

“I know that.”

“You know about it? But how?”

Edgar pointed at ‘The Little Bird’s News’ at a corner of the room with his chin, and it made Rubica blush really hard.

She now knew why he could make tea with milk and sugar that was just perfect for her taste. The magazine introduced what kind of spoon she used to make tea, how she made it, and even how many times she stirred it with a teaspoon.

“You read that? But that cannot be farther from your taste.”

“I read it because I heard your story was in it. I was going to find out its publishers and drive them out of business if there were any criticism in it.”

Thankfully, the magazine was full of compliments for her. Rubica let out a sigh of relief instead of Gabriel.

“Anyway, the queen has been wanting to meet you.”

“Really?”

Edgar frowned hard. The king wanted to see Rubica ever since Edgar married her. However, he didn’t want to introduce Rubica to that sly old man, so he had been making all kinds of excuses. The king also decided he really didn’t have to meet Rubica as he couldn’t use her for political purposes, so he didn’t ask more.

However, the queen was different. Thanks to the roses and candies Claymore had sent her, she had been able to impress and overwhelm ambassadors from foreign kingdoms, and nowadays she was always complimenting Rubica each time she opened her mouth.

She was waiting only because it was quite shameful for a superior to ask to meet one of her inferiors first.

“Then I must go to meet her right away!”

Rubica was so curious about the capital, so she excitedly yelled. However, her eyes shining with excitement made Edgar somewhat sulky.

“But the queen is extremely proud and difficult, so spending time with her won’t be easy. You will be tormented quite a bit if you go.”

Plus, the queen did care a lot about ranks and titles. If any other noble lady ever spoke ill of Rubica, Edgar could take care of it, but even he could do nothing about the queen. Therefore, he feared Rubica might get hurt.

“Okay, but I will be able to see the palace.”

Of course, she was after something else. Edgar was a little irritated to hear that.

“This mansion is even more splendid than the palace.”

“I know, but it’s not the palace. I want to see the hall where the new year’s ball takes place every year, and the crown used for the coronation.”

The coronation crown wasn’t a thing that anyone could see. However, Edgar was the second most powerful man in the kingdom, so maybe he could let her see it. Rubica sat nearer to him and pressingly looked at him.

“But we do have a few crowns.”

Edgar just wanted to keep her under his protection, so why does she keep trying to fly away? He complained even though he knew it was childish.

“But they can’t be greater than the king’s crown.”

Rubica whispered to his ear, laughing. For some reason, the more he got angry like a little boy, the happier it made her.

“Rubica.”

He called her name coldly.

‘Oh my, have I gone too far?’

However, Rubica hid that thought and replied brightly, “If you are so worried, I don’t have to meet the queen now. We will have to go to the capital for the new year’s ball, so I can see the palace then.”

“No, that’s not it…”

He stammered, looking away. His ears were now fiery red and Rubica widened her eyes at seeing that. His ears turned red only when he was extremely embarrassed or excited.

“Oh!”

Too late, she realized she had been pressing his chest with her elbow. She quickly tried to move away in surprise, but he held her arm.

“Don’t go away.”

They could be together only for a few hours after the sunset, so Edgar didn’t want to waste that precious time. He wanted to be close to Rubica as much as possible.

Her face turned red and looked as if she wanted to run away, but she came back as he wanted. Did she know how lovely that looked?