I’ve Probably Made a Mistake in Getting Married

Altair took a step closer to her, sweeping up his hair roughly, seemingly frustrated at her words. 

“Since when did a married couple’s bedroom belong solely to the wife?” 

“A married couple’s bedroom?” 

It was the first time she had ever heard of it.

Married couple.
Bedroom.
Could those two words be used in one sentence? 

Her head went blank as she found it hard to comprehend his words. 

“Then, ‘couple’s bedroom’ means…” 

“This is your room, but it’s also my room.
It’s natural for a married couple to share a bedroom and a bed together.” 

“I’ve never heard of such a thing before…” 

A married couple slept in the same bed only on certain days.
On other days, it was a custom for capital aristocrats to spend the night in their own bedroom. 

If a married couple shared a bedroom and the same bed every night, they would be criticised for being vulgar and undignified. 

Sharing a bed every day, every night… That only happened between lovers. 

“My parents always had separate bedrooms and all the other nobles…” 

“Are you telling me that I have to be wary and avoid a woman at this age? And that woman is my wife?!” 

When she saw Altair pinch his forehead as if he was in trouble, her shoulders shrank. 

In the east, do married couples always share bedrooms like this? 

She was aware that different religions had different customs.
However, it had never occurred to her that their cultures would be this distinct since they were from the same country.
Therefore, she didn’t think much about the marriage or moving to an unfamiliar place. 

But to share a bedroom with her husband? More so, her husband, ‘the villain’ Altair? Her body was still wet since she couldn’t dry off properly, and her clothes were also a bit damp owing to that.
Upon remembering her embarrassing state, her body started to shiver.
Altair’s forehead crumpled, as if showing distaste. 

The sight caused her shoulders to flinch. 

Not knowing what to say, she lowered her head weakly and put all her strength onto her small, timid hand on the dress’ hem.
Just then, something heavy fell on her shoulders. 

When she raised her head in surprise, she found her shoulders covered with a coat.
It was on Altair a while ago. 

And Altair was…

‘Bang!’ – a sound of the door closing violently.
And with that, Altair’s figure disappeared.

❈❈❈

Altair slammed the door harshly and bailed. 

He had been walking across the hallway for a long time, as if he had to attend to something serious.
He suddenly stopped and buried his face in both of his hands. 

“…This is insane.” 

Altair’s ears were burning.
He let out a series of deep sighs. 

Even if he tried not to think about it, the scene he saw as soon as he opened the door stayed stuck in his head. 

Her gentle scent was so pleasant.
How would he be able to wipe it out of his mind now? 

When he thought of Nadia with her head bowed and her small shoulders trembling in front of him, he couldn’t help but feel the heat rising within him. 

In front of Nadia, he desperately tried to be patient and act all gallant by covering her with his coat, but he almost inadvertently touched her. 

Recalling that moment again, Altair involuntarily gripped his forearm.
However, unlike Nadia’s body, which looked white and soft, his arms were muscular and as hard as rocks. 

Snap out of it, Altair Aylesford! 

Altair bit his lip and shut his eyes tiredly.
He began singing the Imperial Army anthem in his head.
Only after singing three times from the beginning to the end, was he able to regain his composure. 

He took one last deep breath and opened his tightly closed eyes.
He made eye contact with Pavel, who was looking at him, dumbfounded. 

“…” 

“…My eyes are not seeing things, right, my lord?” 

Pavel’s skeptical eyes swept Altair from head to toes, as if he had just seen something bizarre. 

“There’s a lot of weird stuff going on today.
Blan’s nose was broken and he was bleeding.
And my lord is standing in the hallway like a madman.” 

“I was just standing here.
What’s weird about that?” 

Altair coughed awkwardly a couple of times trying to ignore Pavel’s piercing gaze, who seemed to have a lot to say.
Pavel was holding a pile of documents in both hands, so he quickly changed the topic. 

“What’s all that?” 

“These are the estate records from the past three years.
I was about to give them to the Madame, since she will now be in charge of managing the castle.” 

“She will manage it?” 

Originally, it was a given that it was the Madame’s job to manage the castle. 

Regardless, Altair doubted that the little, frail woman, who fainted from fatigue, would be able to do that job. 

“If you can’t do it, don’t pass it on to her.
I’ll try instead and do it myself with little help at times.” 

“She’s from the Vine Marquis household, one of the most prestigious families in the Empire, so she should be a lot more capable of doing this than I am.” 

“What? Someone like her?” 

Altair frowned and lightly tapped Pavel’s shoulder at the words that contained a hint of discrimination regarding her origins. 

In most cases, the butler that managed the internal affairs of the castle usually came from a family that passed down the position from generation to generation.
However, Pavel was a commoner with no lineage or experience. 

“Don’t use strange things as your reasons.
Do you think that I don’t know you’re making excuses because you don’t want to add on to your work?” 

“Oh, I got caught.
That’s too bad.” 

Pavel sighed exasperatedly as he shrugged. 

“Then I will be on my way to see the Madame now.
As my Lord said, I shouldn’t use strange excuses to laze around.
We need to fix the string on the bellpull, it’s been procrastinated way too long.” 

“No, wait!” 

Altair hastily stopped Pavel, who was about to move. 

“Not now.” 

“What? Why?” 

“Right now…” 

While trying to find the right words to explain, Altair’s face grew hot as he remembered that image again.
He balled his fists and clenched his teeth, to erase his thoughts. 

“In any case, no.
Go see her in an hour-… no, two hours.” 

“My Lord.
You know that you’ve been acting suspiciously for a while now, right?” 

“Nonsense.” 

Pavel narrowed his eyes at Altair.
Sure enough, the Lord was very different from usual. 

Did something happen between him and the Madame? 

Altair’s sigh reached Pavel’s ear, who was being pensive. 

“And make up a room.
So I can get some sleep.” 

“A room? Are there any guests coming?” 

Altair’s personal relationships were very scarce, so it was very rare for guests to visit. 

“Just clean it up as I told you to.” 

“What kind of coercion is that…” 

“I don’t have the energy to argue with you.
Get the hell out of here.
Don’t forget to be back in three hours.” 

“Yes? You just said to come in two hours…” 

Did I say that? 

Altair, who pondered for a moment, frowned and opened his mouth again.

“…then make it six hours.” 

“WHAT? Six hours?! Why did the delay time extend again, My Lord?” 

“Two multiplied by three is six.” 

“No, what nonsense is that…My Lord? My Lord!” 

Pavel, who was not convinced by his order, called after Altair at the top of his lungs.
But Altair continued to walk down the hallway without looking back.