By Zephyria 
A Married Couple’s Quarrel
Was there anyone else in the world who had a wedding like mine?
I thought it would have been much better if we had just exchanged flower rings on a sand dune in the desert.
“Shall I remove your clothes?”
“……”
I still don’t quite understand what I’ve done.
“Kyle?”
When I didn’t say anything, the maid who came to undress me called me with a puzzled voice. I stared blankly into space, then turned my gaze to meet the maid’s eyes.
For a brief moment, we made eye contact without saying a word. The maid’s face began to turn pale. She quickly lowered her gaze, bent over as if she would prostrate herself on the floor, and said, trembling like an aspen leaf.
“I-I’m sorry.”
I swear, I didn’t mean anything by staring at the maid. I was just spacing out and happened to look at her, but the maid seemed to have mistaken it as if she had offended me.
Even without that, fear of the royal family was at its peak due to Khalifa’s numerous atrocities, and recently, people had been dying in the Harem of Talim almost every day. I didn’t need to see to know what my reputation would be like.
Except for a few of my closest aides who had known me for a long time, everyone else probably thought I treated human lives like mayflies, just like Khalifa.
I wanted to ask her what she was sorry for when she hadn’t done anything wrong, but I was afraid it would sound like I was scolding her, so I just shook my head silently and raised my arms. Then the maid bowed and straightened up several times, and began to carefully remove my clothes.
Now that the princess had married me, she would have to live with me in my castle.
“……”
The wedding was over, but I still couldn’t believe it. Maybe it was because it all ended so quickly in just a week. What was her name again? Aegis? Agis?
“Ha.”
I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t even remember her name that I laughed. Then the maid’s shoulders jumped up and down. I felt sorry for her sweating profusely, so I watched her for a while and then asked.
“I won’t scold you even if you accidentally tear my clothes, so don’t be so nervous.”
“Yes?”
At my words, the maid’s face, which was already pale, turned even whiter. Seeing that, I explained in more detail.
“I won’t get angry or kill you.”
“……Thank you.”
The maid, who had been staring at me blankly, belatedly came to her senses and bowed again. Her voice still had a hint of nervousness, but she wasn’t trembling like a person about to die as she had been a moment ago.
Watching that, I sighed inwardly. She looked like she was new, seeing how unfamiliar she was with everything, and I suddenly started to worry if I would have to say these things every time from now on.
After finishing changing, I left the room and walked down the hallway. I sighed deeply and dragged my feet as slowly as possible. And finally, I arrived in front of the door, but I couldn’t bring myself to grab the doorknob.
The princess would be in the room, but what should I say? More than that, we have to sleep together tonight, but would that even be possible? When I remembered the eyes that had glared at me in the temple a little while ago, my heart fluttered.
It was very familiar to me for someone to hate me, but it was the first time I had to sleep with someone who hated me.
“Kyle?”
When I just stood blankly in front of the door, several maids who were waiting called me with puzzled faces.
“Go.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t let anyone in until I call you.”
“Understood.”
I stared for a long time at the backs of the maids as they bowed and walked down the hallway until they disappeared.
Suddenly, I thought about going to see Mahir for a moment, but I shook my head. I wanted to ask my brother for advice on what he did on his first night after getting married, but Mahir got married at the age of six, so the situation was completely different from mine.
“……”
What should I say first when I go in? Should I at least say hello? No, we just finished the wedding a little while ago, so what’s the point of saying hello? After hesitating for a moment, I made a decision and slowly took a breath and grabbed the doorknob.
First of all, I don’t remember her name very well, so I should ask her name first. And I should also ask her how old she is…
Thinking that, I put strength into the hand that was holding the doorknob. Then, with a click, the door opened smoothly. As soon as I entered through the open door, the person who was standing a little away turned her head and looked at me.
“……”
“……”
No…
“Ha……”
Even though I had definitely seen her face once before, only a gasp escaped my lips. Of course, I could only see half of her face because she was wearing a veil back then, but still, this was too much. At this point, I was beyond surprised and just dumbfounded.
The princess, who had been wearing thick, flowing clothes like a carpet, was now wearing only a light, ankle-length tunic. The veil that had been covering half of her face was also gone, and her white arms and feet were visible.
Forgetting that I had decided to ask her name first, I muttered to myself.
“This is absurd…”
Was she really a human being? I couldn’t believe that she was the same species as me. It wasn’t just that she was pretty, but all the transparent, white, and jewel-like things in front of me were numbing my sense of reality.
She was truly an amazing person. She didn’t wear any makeup, or adorn herself with fancy jewels, beautiful flowers, or expensive clothes, but she was able to completely captivate people just with her appearance.
After admiring her for a moment, I quickly came to my senses. And I walked past the princess, who was standing there as if rooted to the spot, and sat down in a chair. The princess, who had been watching me quietly, began to move her legs.
Each time she walked, neither slowly nor quickly, the thin fabric brushed against her white instep.
It felt like I was watching someone levitate, even though she was only moving a few steps.
Then, the princess walked towards me and stood right in front of me instead of sitting across from me. I looked up at her with a puzzled expression.
“……”
“……”
Even though we were making eye contact quietly, she didn’t say anything. Her eyes, which seemed to change color subtly whenever they caught the light, were captivating even after looking at them for a long time.
“Don’t let any other maids into my room.”
I heard a neutral voice that was hard to distinguish as either male or female in my ear. When I didn’t say anything at the sudden words, she explained in more detail this time.
“I have children I brought from my homeland, so don’t let any other maids in.”
“Okay.”
“And Jade is enough to guard me, so I don’t need any other guys unless they’re here to spy on me.”
“……”
Her eyes, which were as red as blood, were glaring at me like sharply honed blades. But why was she talking to me so casually? I was momentarily taken aback by the demand, which wasn’t even a request, and asked.
“Who is Jade?”
“My guard knight.”
“Ah, did they come with you?”
She nodded at my question, then frowned for a moment.
“Answer the questions I ask.”
It wasn’t a difficult request, so I was about to say okay, but I hesitated. I thought the princess was so hostile that she wouldn’t tell me anything, so I decided to take advantage of this opportunity.
“Okay, then if you tell me your name and how old you are, I’ll let you do whatever you want.”
“What?”
“Your name and age.”
Her expression twisted greatly at my words. Even her distorted face was so unrealistically beautiful that I was dumbfounded. More than that, I wondered if it was because she didn’t want to tell me, but the words that came out of the princess’s mouth a moment later were completely different.
“You got married without even knowing that?”
She looked at me as if I were a complete lunatic, and I frowned in response and asked.
“Do you know my name and age?”
“Why would I need to know that?”
“But why are you…”
I stopped talking and realized my mistake. Of course, she wouldn’t have wanted to come here in the first place, and she would have wanted to get married even less. But Khalifa must have said something like he would kill them if they didn’t come, or he would turn the land they lived on into a sea of fire. So she had no choice but to come.
“Anyway, tell me. I need to know at least your name and age, if nothing else.”
“……”
The princess looked reluctant, but soon opened her mouth as if she couldn’t help it.
“Aegis.”
“Aegis? How old are you?”
“Nineteen.”
“……?”
At those words, I tilted my head. She looked too young to be nineteen. Were all foreigners like this? No, even so, she looked much younger than me.
This couldn’t be explained by just saying she was youthful. I rested my chin on one hand and stared at Aegis with suspicious eyes. But as I stared at her dark eyes that didn’t avoid my gaze, I realized that this was meaningless.
Her appearance was so unrealistically dazzling that it was difficult to even predict her exact age. It was the same with her age and gender.