From that day on, she began to exchange letters with Prince Augusto.
He wrote back much stuff that’s difficult to talk about and it made her feel uneasy. After all, it was mainly about the economy.
She was so angry that she couldn’t understand what he was talking about that she ended up reading a book about economics at her husband’s study, deciphering the letter.
Of course, she heard things from her nanny about raising children. Iria von Lulin even prepared some articles about babies.
As for her husband, he became the teacher for the cavalry.
These days, he seemed to always come back on time and had dinner with them.
As always, she was a little irritated about the fact that she had been with honey-like people for a long time.
She was going to tell her husband about the little exchange between her and his highness but couldn’t get the right timing to do so.
As the day went by, it became even harder to tell. Now, it looks like a little secret between the two of them.
Strangely, the situation became similar to that of the previous case of the crown prince. She met her husband frequently but she couldn’t say anything.
The prince asked her to explain but she was told it was absolutely impossible.
She thought it was impossible to even imagine the scene that her husband would come and find her.
She felt that the unity between her and the prince increased, they had an even closer relationship.
The contents of the letter had changed from economy to a story remembering her husband.
“Looks fun.”
“Hai??”
Her loose muscle on the cheeks seemed to stiffen in a second.
Her husband was sitting on the couch in front of her. How long has he been there?
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’ve just returned.”
“… oh, okay.”
Apparently, she was too focused on the letter that she didn’t notice her husband’s return.
Frustrated, she folded the letter in an awkward manner and put it in an envelope.
Soon, as she thought it would be alright now, her husband’s gaze was on the letter. She hid the letter behind her palms.
“T-today at work…”
“Ah.”
Her husband spoke to her with his usual sweet honey smile on his face. She was listening and thinking it was rare for him to talk about work.
“His highness Augusto had something to do. He was always in his study, reading a letter just like Hermina with her cheeks loosen up.”
“!?”
It was probably her letter that she arranged to arrive at about noon today.
The prince seemed to have written a reply at once and it was delivered an hour before.
She didn’t think that they would be seen as they were reading the letters.
She had written a letter about her husband asking for a kiss on the cheek as a reward for his hard work. She wondered if it was such an interesting story.
“And—”
“!”
As she was pondering about it, her husband’s voice sounded a little harsh in her ears and made her shiver.
Her husband’s eyes were smiling but not a smile.
“I’m very glad that his highness has been writing to a woman lately, thinking that his spring finally came.”
“Oh.”
She only had a bad feeling.
She opened her fan that was placed on the couch to hide half of her face as she didn’t wish her agitated face to be seen.
“I caught a glimpse of the handwriting of his highness’s secret letter. I felt that I knew that handwriting very well.”
Do you know? Then, it’s not me?
She only sent two letters to her husband. So, she thought that she wouldn’t recognize her handwriting that well.
If his highness thought that he was alright, he was naïve. Her husband’s eyes and hers met.
“What?”
“I wondered why Hermina-sama replied to his highness.”
Her fan fell on her hands.
He stood up, picked it up and gave it to her.
“Husband, you don’t need to do that.”
“I do it because I want to.”
“I don’t understand.”
She received the fan carelessly and put it in its original place.
“… I think being a dog was a good one.”
“What?”
“Have you forgotten my first promise?”
“You didn’t make any promises.”
“Yes, I did, to show my sincerity.”
“Oh!”
Come to think of it, her husband nodded when they first met.
“To show my sincerity, I’m going to be a dog or even a servant, right?”
“Yes.”
Her husband had his usual sweet honey smile on his face.
How could it be?
“Why a dog?”
“I hope you’ll love me.”
“Why—no, I don’t like big dogs.”
“Then, I’ll do my best to make you like me.”
She couldn’t understand why the situation has gone this far.
Where had the response of the prince gone?
She was going back to talk about sincerity.
“I’ve shown you my sincerity.”
“I haven’t shown you things yet.”
“You don’t need to show it.”
“Don’t say that.”
“Why did you suddenly call yourself a dog?”
“Your husband was jealous.”
“What?”
“Dearest Hermina, it seemed that your letter was in return for my failure to reply.”
“…”
After all, she thought about the reply. She didn’t miss to say.
“Did the famous handwriting happen to be mine?”
“Yes.”
“You could tell so well with just two letters.”
“It was such a lovely letter that I could read it over and over if I had time.”
“…I’m sure that letter wasn’t to be read that way.”
“No, it is. After reading the letter you gave to me, I was very nervous about what kind of marriage we could have.”
…Ah, what a strange fellow.
That’s what she thought about her husband.
In the first letter, it was just unreasonable demands. The second was like a letter of execution.
“Hermina-sama was terrible. I want to take care of you but ended up being taken care of me.”
“Because you’re angry about the other day.”
“I’m not angry.”
“You’re lying! You’re driving me like a snake!”
“A snake?”
“Yes!”
On the surface, he seemed to be smiling and talking peacefully, but looking carefully, it wasn’t reaching his eyes.
“If that’s the case, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry.”
“No, even if you apologize…”
It was just a word, of course.
She didn’t know what her husband was thinking at all.
“I thought it was wrong for me to keep silent about the letter. I couldn’t say something until now.”
“I see. Even if we’re a married couple, you don’t have to share everything. I’ll leave that up to you.”
“Is that fine?”
“Yes, but please cover it up well.”
“Hai.”
At this moment, she noticed. You shouldn’t hide anything from your husband.
He was a person with good intuition. Soon after he realized it, it would be troublesome afterward, like today.
“… I’m really sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
Even if he didn’t mind, she couldn’t imagine what her husband was feeling. It was a great concern.
Originally, it was unforgivable to write to a man other than your husband secretly.
She ought to say that early, so she had nothing to be ashamed of.
She regretted that she became a bad wife.
At the same time, she asked him to have something from her husband.
“If there’s anything wrong in the future, could you point it out?”
Her husband replied with a smile, “Of course.”
This solved the problem! Or so she thought but her husband said, “Then—right away. There seemed to be a right way to correct your faults.”
“What is it?”
She couldn’t imagine what was popping out of his head.
She couldn’t help but hold up.
Her husband smiled sweetly and said something surprising.