I rolled over and stared blankly at the ceiling.
This huge bed… bigger than even a king-size… had only me on it.
A room in one of the detached wings of the royal palace.
This was the place Noie-san had lived alone in ever since they took her from the facility.
For a while, this would be our temporary home as a married couple.
The real mansion was currently being built in a huge rush. Apparently, it was going up right on the edge of what’s considered the capital.
When I asked the king 『Another political reason?』 he puffed up his cheeks and said 『Exactly』.
As someone who’d soon become the head of a branch noble house, I apparently had to build mansions both in the capital and in my territory.
The one in the capital was for the reason I already heard: to keep Noie-san here.
So, the capital mansion would come first, then later I’d build one in the territory at my own expense.
According to this country’s rules, royals basically turn border areas touching other countries into their territories.
It’s supposed to show the citizens that they’re ready to protect the nation by putting themselves in the spot that would get attacked first if anything happened.
But the land we were getting apparently brought in zero tax revenue, a total dud, so the mansion there would be 「provided」 by the country and end up being basically a fortress.
So, it’s not even a proper mansion.
And the reason the capital one was going up on the very outskirts… yep, Noie-san again.
The usual royals and nobles threw a fit about not wanting 「her」 in their district.
They still tried to build it anyway since she was royal now, but the nobles pressured the builders into boycotting.
After negotiations… the nobles agreed to cover the costs, and it got moved to the edge of the capital.
Even then, it was close enough that you could just about see it from the castle with a telescope.
The king slapped my shoulder and laughed, saying 『It’ll be small but sturdy and luxurious』, and it honestly irritated me.
Noie-san just has the most dangerous job, that’s all, yet everyone fears her.
From what I’ve heard, it’s understandable… but for some reason it hurts my chest.
It feels like watching really cruel bullying.
Even so, Noie-san is apparently one of the highest earners in the kingdom.
They told me her income is insane, so don’t worry about money.
But that would make me a useless husband living off his wife, right? I need to find some way to earn money and stand on my own.
I’m trying hard to think about other things and ignore it… but sooner or later I have to face the issue.
Starting tomorrow, I’m supposed to get lessons on politics and all that stuff from the original Argusta’s older brother.
The guy who apparently suggested adding the condition 『fine with any female』 when they summoned me.
If I get the chance, I’m definitely punching him once.
But since I’ve always been an only child, having someone I can call 「aniki」 might actually be nice.
Still… what if we don’t get along and he bullies me?
Or teaches me wrong stuff on purpose so I embarrass myself? That would suck.
Speaking of knowledge, even though I’m heading a branch family, I’m still royalty, so I might have to show up at fancy social events.
They told me to learn enough not to disgrace myself there.
But they also said not to bring Noie-san along. The nobles are too scared of her.
Then I’ll just use that against them and keep refusing to go.
『I won’t attend unless Noie-san can come too』.
From the reactions of everyone except the nobles, it’s clear Noie-san is really feared.
But from what I’ve seen, she’s just a completely normal girl… and today I learned she’s actually one year younger than me.
The original Argusta was 17, same as me. Noie-san is 16.
She started slaying dragons at 12, so that’s already four years.
Before that, she spent about six years in that facility, so her common sense is seriously lacking.
If possible, I’d like to teach her those things little by little.
…Crap. I’m running out of other things to think about.
But yeah, we really got married.
Meeting for three days and then marrying, if this were Japan, people would call it a whirlwind romance.
Hmm. What’s this guilty feeling?
I know. It’s probably my real motives for agreeing to the marriage weighing heavily on my heart.
But…
Marrying a beauty like her is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!
Is that so wrong? Too impure?
I just honestly bit at the huge bait in front of me!
Sure, if she ever got mad and snapped, my life would be in danger, but the violent image she shows against dragons isn’t there in her everyday self… From everything I’ve heard, since coming here the only times she’s hurt people were a few accidents when she didn’t know common sense yet, plus some stray hits during dragon hunts.
I feel like everyone’s just over-fearing her…
With all these mixed feelings swirling around, I rolled back and forth across the bed at high speed.
It’s okay. She won’t be back tonight.
The place she headed to is so far that even riding a horse there and back would take until tomorrow morning.
……God. Could you please get rid of this whole wedding night system?
No, actually, you don’t have to abolish it. Just teach me what to do with a woman.
I thrashed around on the bed in agony.
A virgin guy with zero prep knowledge facing his first time? Impossible! I’ll definitely mess up! Then it’ll turn into trauma and we’ll end up sexless! Being sexless at my age would make the rest of my life pure torture!
I hugged a fluffy pillow tight and kept rolling around for a while until someone knocked on the door.
I sat up on the bed to check. It wasn’t my imagination.
「Yes?」
「Argusta-sama. Are you awake? Noie-sama has returned」
「Huh?」
「…Noie-sama is back」
「Why? She wasn’t supposed to return tonight」
「Yes. According to the people who greeted her, she used summoning magic to get here」
I didn’t know there was such a convenient spell!
「She will take a bath first, then we will guide her here」
「……」
I can’t say no. She’s my wife, after all.
Sharing a bedroom as a married couple is normal in this world.
「Got it. But no need to rush」
「Yes. But Noie-sama is in a hurry」
Why is she in such a rush? Is she mad about the kiss?
「Ah, she’s here」
Noooo! Stop her if you can!
Though apparently she can take a direct charge from a dragon head-on.
The door opened slowly, and she walked in wearing thin underclothes, her face as expressionless as always.
Her long hair looked a little heavy, probably still wet. But unlike usual, her post-bath skin had a faint pink flush that made her look incredibly beautiful.
「I’m back, Argusta-sama」
「Ah, um… welcome home」
「I returned without injuries」
「Eh, ah, yeah. That’s amazing」
I jumped off the bed and greeted her, a bit late.
-0-
Later I heard… she summoned creatures to fly there, blasted both allies and enemies with attack spells, then systematically crushed every single dragon before coming home.
Miraculously there were no deaths, but lots of injuries from the dragons that got blown away.
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