Chapter 118 - Honey, are you mad or are you sulking?

“You were sick just some time back, why would you… just be careful.”

“I’m fine now. Why should I be careful?”

“That’s….”

Deep red eyes met my sparkling eyes, hesitating.

What?

“I meant that lizard… Ah, damn it, I can’t help but be bitter even if it’s a beast. I can’t stand it. What should I do?”

“…….”

“I’m a bit petty, but never this bad.”

It was very strange to see him lowering his eyes while mumbling.

I closed my open jaw gently.

My lips began to tremble.

I tried to hold back, but it was useless.

“…hahahahaha!”

“W-Why are you laughing?”

“Hahahahaha!

For a moment, he stared blankly at me holding my stomach and laughing, and his consistent husband immediately yelled at him.

“Are you laughing at me because of what I told you? Don’t laugh!”

“Pffft…. I can’t stop it when I see- Hahahaha!”

“That…… Don’t laugh! This is all because of you!”

“Wh-pfft-what did I do?”

“Whenever I say something embarrassing you get that strange expression… Don’t laugh dammit!”

“What expression?”

Trying to stop laughing, I wiped away the tears around my eyes. Izek seemed to have judged that he was the only one who would lose if he said anything at this point.

He suddenly turned his back to me, looking very lonely.

“Iz, what kind of expression do I make?”

“…….”

“Huh? I’m used to the direct northern way of speaking, so you have to tell me what it is for me to understand.”

There was no answer.

As my father-in-law said, he thinks he’s the only cool one.

“Honey, are you mad?”

“…I’m not.”

“Then are you sulking?”

“Am I a 10-year-old kid?”

“If not then why aren’t you looking at me?”

Silence.

In a series of awkward silences, Izek kept showing his big back.

You don’t fit in with a big guy anyway.

With a bam, a snowball hit his wall-like shoulder and fell into powder.

The blood-colored eyes that looked back were truly eerie.

“What are you doing now…….”

Thwack.

Oh my god. It hit his head!!!

White snow covered his silvery hair and fluttered down.

While I was making another snowball, Izek seemed to take some time to properly come back to reality.

Then, shaking off whatever he was possessed by, he immediately regained his appearance.

Oh, what a spine-chilling look he had on his face.

“What the hell.….”

Thwack.

“You…”

Thwack.

“Ruby, don’t…….”

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

“Stop it!”

“If you’re angry, you can throw one too.”

“That doesn’t make sense…… Wait, wait! A Paladin’s face is his life!”

What are you talking about? The more I get to know you, the funnier you get.

Despite being properly beaten by me, my resentful husband showed no signs of fighting back for some reason.

He was just busy blocking it with his arms.

No, this was not fun.….

“This looks interesting.”

Izek, who was just picking up a snowball, turned his head side by side, shaking off the covered snow.

At the end of our gaze stood the beautiful princess, who was out in a thick shawl, a very curious and amused expression on her face.

“I didn’t know my brother could play like this.”

For a moment, our eyes met.

My husband opened his mouth first.

“I sure can.”

“Ellen, will you join me?”

It was natural that Ellenia’s proud expression disappeared in an instant.

“……what? No, I refuse-“

Thwack.

Before she could speak, the snowball I hurled fell on her shoulder.

Izek let out a low grunt.

“This is going to be fun.”

“What is this… What are you doing? You.…!”

Thwack, thwack, thwack.

Where was the defensive attitude from a while ago? Izek was pelting snowballs at a pace that was no longer comparable to mine.

I’m a little worried.

It was at that time that Ellenia, who was quickly covered in snow and collapsed on the floor, suddenly lowered the arms covering her head.

Thwack!

I dropped down.

“……can I hit your face too?”

“Don’t even dream about it.”

Thwack, thwack, thwack, thwack!

Ellenia’s snowballs quickly turned my hair white as well.

Before long, all three of us began to burn with an unknown cause of victory and threw snowballs everywhere. When we came to our senses, Ellenia and I were on one side, attacking Izek.

“Hey, wait! How dare a wife abandon her husband? When did you two get so close?”

“You left her alone first!”

“If you’re jealous, you should also be healthy to back it up!”

“What does jealousy have to do with my health, you pumpkin!”

“What’s going on?”

Laughter spread.

I didn’t know exactly who it was.

And finally, with the last strong blow from Ellenia, Izek flopped on the ground and raised both arms.

“I lost. I lost. I’m an idiot to even try to win in the first place.”

“Did you realise that now?”

“I was pretending to be good, but if you hadn’t convinced my wife…”

“What do you mean? We were only going to eat Shepherd’s pie together. One for each too.”

Izek, who was shaking his head roughly as if it were covered with snow, paused and looked toward me.

Furthermore, wasn’t Ellenia also looking back at me with some cautious eyes?

Oh, these guys.

I knew they were obvious, but I realise more everyday.

I stopped smiling.

“That’s why I wish you had come by early too.”

“……I’m sorry.”

“This innocent attitude is so not like you.”

“What are you talking about? I’m more innocent than that dragon.”

What kind of a Paladin is he?

The man who said this really confidently smiled and hugged my waist.

Ellenia, who looked as baffled as I did, shook her head.

“Now he’s jealous of a dragon…”

“Jealousy is what all living beings face.”

“Do you know that you’re really childish?”

“No. Now take this.”

“Wha…! What a cowardly thing to do!”

“Ahem.”

The snowball fight, which almost went into round two, was stopped there thanks to a well-timed intervention .

It was only then that the scenery of the mansion dwelled before our eyes. All of us had expressions of doom on our faces, a certain man standing in our field of vision, as we gasped for breath.

There was a strange silence for a moment.

While the Omerta’s became quiet yet again, my father-in-law, who had a very calm face, said only two words.

“Come eat.”

* * *

It has been almost half a year since I lived here, and this was my first time seeing such a scene.

So it would be perfectly natural for me to feel shaken.

However, why did the servants who have been here for a while have such scared eyes?

“Wasn’t he on probation?”

“He’s already out.”

“Why?”

“The benevolent leader couldn’t be without me.”

“Damn that man, misleading someone else’s son…”

“What?”

“I told you not to come out this fast.”

“Oh wow. Can you be any more obvious?”

“Ahem, Ahem!”

The more I saw this duo, the more mysterious they became.

Still, it was a much different atmosphere compared to the past, when the dark energy was visible…

Ellenia stared at the two men with an extremely pathetic look in her eyes, but she didn’t seem to care much.

In the past, even if she pretended not to, she seemed to be worried about something, but this was strange.

“Father, please stop eating. You always said you were only hungry in the morning.”

“No matter how hungry I am, was I the one who played in the snow?”

“…….”

“I didn’t seem to see any children there. Was it fun?”

Ellenia’s expressionless face flinched and the sound of Izek mercilessly chopping a pig’s leg rang .

I carefully opened my mouth on behalf of the siblings, while stirring the soup.

“Why don’t you join us next time, Father-in-law?”

“……I have a bad shoulder. Especially when it snows, it shudders.”

“I can massage it a little afterwards.”

“Cough!”

I was just saying it for a laugh, but why did they all cough at the same time? Now I was embarrassed.

Elkenia, who hurriedly put down the glass of water, turned her head, covering her mouth with her hand.

In the meantime, Izek barely finished coughing and stared at his father with blazing eyes.

“You’ve been making her do that?”

“A-Ahem! Do I look crazy?”

“Then what does this mean?”

“Ahem! Isn’t it really filial of her to do something for me? Just take a leaf out of her actions and be loyal.”

Well, it just got more awkward here.

Had they never eaten together before?

Maybe I was the most normal one here.

I said nothing more and silently emptied the savory soup.

When I ripped a piece of fresh bread topping it with olives, spread butter on it, and took a big bite, my long-lost appetite tingled.

Wow, this is so delicious.

The Shepherd’s pie I had with Ellenia was also delicious, but I didn’t know the butter here was so delicious.

The North was quite great.

“…do you like it?”