SWTI 08

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Chapter 8 3. Sharing a Bed

‘To think I caught a spring cold that even dragons supposedly don’t get.’

I was confined to bed under what could only be called imperial imprisonment, groaning miserably.

Whenever I tried to do anything, all sorts of people would pop out of nowhere to stop me, until I eventually found myself wrapped tightly in a fluffy blanket.

‘And I have so much work to do, too. Of all times.’

It had been a month since I remembered the original story, which meant I had two years and eleven months left until my execution by guillotine.

When I thought of that as my remaining lifespan, I felt increasingly anxious.

‘I need to quickly revive the failing North, make my in-laws the strongest family around, and then teach those villains a lesson.’

In the original story, Shubel was the strongest person in the entire world after going through his awakening event.

Since he had no one to protect and nothing to worry about behind him, he could freely swing his sword at the villains.

But I wasn’t like that.

‘Not when the people I have to deal with are so formidable.’

I swallowed a sigh as I thought of the villains from the original story.

The rulers of the Empire, the Erzelga Imperial Family.

The mastermind behind the West, the Duke Beatrice Family.

The leader of the underworld, Nine-Tails.

‘Can I really take down all those people?’

I briefly sank into doubt, but then abandoned the thought because it didn’t suit me.

How would I know if I didn’t try? If I never even challenged them, I wouldn’t have the right to regret it later.

“Of course, I’ll only be able to do that after I recover…”

“What will you be able to do, Wife?”

“I think I’ll be able to hit you with a pillow for constantly popping up beside me.”

I glanced at the person sitting beside me, and Shubel quietly laughed as he replaced the wet towel on my forehead with a fresh one.

“Please bear with it for now. Once you’ve completely recovered, you may do whatever you like to me in bed.”

“Ah! Don’t casually slip weird words into the conversation!”

“I don’t know what you mean, Wife. Would you like to explain it to me yourself?”

“Explain what?!”

I glared at the culprit who had imprisoned me in bed and huffed angrily.

Ever since the day Shubel had shed tears, our relationship had become a little strange.

More precisely, I suppose I had started treating him rather casually.

The fact that Shubel accepted it without a care was also a problem.

Originally, I had kept my distance because I was uncomfortable with the unfamiliar existence of a husband and because of the huge gap between this Shubel and the original Shubel, whose personality had practically gone AWOL.

But that distance seemed to have suddenly disappeared.

‘I feel like I’ve somehow gotten caught up in this.’

Even while I felt uneasy about it, whenever Shubel gave me that beautiful smile with his eyes, all my thoughts flew out of my head.

Just like now.

“Even if you’re frustrated, please endure it for just one more day. The doctor said that although he couldn’t determine the exact cause, there was a high probability that you coughed up blood because of excessive work and stress. So it’s important that you get plenty of rest.”

Th-that guy knows exactly what he’s doing, doesn’t he? He knows he’s pretty and acts like this on purpose!

I grumbled inwardly, but in the end, I nodded.

The next day, I finally got out of bed.

After resting for several days, I was greeted by a desk piled high with work once again.

I dealt with the urgent trading-company matters first, then opened the territorial report examining the overall state of the North.

And I was speechless for quite some time.

“…What kind of Grand Duchy is this?”

Food, transportation, finances, the arts, public security.

Every important aspect of the territory was plummeting.

I had never seen such a beautiful downward curve before.

“It would be difficult to do this intentionally.”

I let out a hollow laugh.

I was especially dumbfounded by the fact that most of the territory’s residents made their living through cottage industries.

Even so, this was a Grand Duchy, yet they were practically self-sufficient even for necessities such as food and textiles.

‘Still, fortunately, despite this underdeveloped state, their weapons manufacturing and metalworking techniques are highly advanced.’

If I made use of that, perhaps there was some way to bring the North back to life.

I glared at the report.

“This is driving me crazy.”

How was I supposed to normalize all of this?

I sighed as I ran my fingers through my bright blond hair.

The Grand Duke’s Castle, which could be called the root of Runein, had finally begun to function properly little by little.

Now it was time to turn my attention to the territory itself—the soil from which everything else would grow.

After all, if a great tree that had been crouching for a hundred years was going to grow, it naturally needed fertile soil.

“What else can I do? I have to deal with things one by one.”

Grumbling, I began writing order forms to be sent to the Seton Trading Company branches throughout the Empire.

Fortunately, since it was spring, there was no urgent need for textiles.

Then let’s start by fattening up the people of the territory. Once the storehouses are full, people become more generous.

When consumers close their wallets, the market falls into a vicious cycle. Generosity was very important.

‘We’ve only just started getting things moving. I can’t let that happen.’

So I processed the trading-company documents that had arrived from across the Empire, while also ordering the supplies the North needed.

After working for quite some time, my neck became stiff, so I raised my head.

As if he had been waiting for that exact moment, the person sitting in the chair opposite me smiled with his eyes.

“…What are you doing?”

“Perhaps I was waiting for my wife to finally pay attention to me.”

I asked somewhat dumbfoundedly,

“Do you really have nothing else to do? What about the task I gave you this morning?”

“If you mean the territorial security report, it’s right here.”

I raised my eyebrows when I saw a new report neatly placed beside me.

When had that gotten there?

I suspiciously glanced at Shubel once before picking it up.

I carefully examined the report with the mindset that I would chew him out if I found even a single flaw.

But then—

“……”

It was perfect.

I couldn’t find a single thing to criticize.

If he weren’t the heir to the Grand Duke’s family, I would have wanted to recruit him into the trading company.

When I made a dissatisfied expression, a ticklish laugh floated beside my ear.

“You look a little disappointed, Wife.”

“Be quiet.”

His voice had a strangely unsettling effect on people.

Seductive, perhaps.

I slammed the report shut.

“Thank you for this, but that doesn’t mean you can just enter a lady’s room whenever you want.”

“But… this is my room?”

That’s right.

It had been a month since I came to Runein.

I was sharing a room with Shubel.

‘No! My freedom to choose where I live!’

Aside from when I was a child, I had never shared a room with anyone.

That was why, even after getting married, I had firmly stipulated in the marriage contract that I would continue living at the Seton estate.

Unfortunately, the residential freedom I had demanded in the contract was something I had personally destroyed.

Even Vikal, the butler, had committed the atrocity of stuffing all my belongings into Shubel’s room while insisting, “Husband and wife naturally share a room.”

In the end, Shubel’s old room had been renamed with the horrifying title of “the marital bedroom.”

I deliberately spoke in a rather spiteful tone.

“Then if you don’t want to hear things like that, we can just have separate rooms.”

Shubel pretended not to hear me and changed the subject.

“The flowers blooming in the garden today are very beautiful. They reminded me of you.”

“What are you talking about? It’s been ages since construction started on the garden. What flowers?”

“As expected, there’s nothing you don’t know, Wife. You really are amazing.”

That irritated me.

“…I’m going to decorate the whole thing in hot pink with tons of frills.”

Shubel smiled brightly.

“What belongs to you belongs to you, and what belongs to me also belongs to you. Feel free to do whatever you want.”

What the hell was wrong with this man?

I stared at him with a bewildered expression.

‘Is he really the same person as the cold-blooded protagonist from the original story?’

After sharing a room with Shubel for a month, I had realized that he was an incredibly colorless person.

He had no particular likes or dislikes, no distinct preferences, and was the very picture of an elegant nobleman who seemed to have stepped straight out of a collection of classical poetry.

But if you asked whether he resembled the inhuman protagonist from the original story—

‘Absolutely not.’

Just look at him now.

As soon as I left the room, Shubel followed right behind me.

I abruptly turned around.

Shubel blinked as though momentarily surprised, then gave me a gentle smile.

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m worried you might collapse again.”

He looked at me with an innocent expression, as though he was genuinely worried.

That cold-hearted man is supposed to be the same kind of person as this man who smiles whenever our eyes meet?

‘Even a dog would laugh.’

The original story was about Shubel, who lost everything after being falsely accused of treason, carrying out his revenge against the villains.