NOVEL NEXT “Hmm….”
“Isn’t it okay? Is there anything else you need?”
“First, we should get something to make tea or coffee.”
It was a home with more furniture added by me and Kyle.
But so far, it had just been furniture, and we were still lacking in the details.
In fact, we didn’t even have chopsticks or clothes in the house.
It was indeed a situation seriously lacking.
Well, those things could easily be fetched from the castle.
“Well, still, I’m starting to feel it more and more.”
“Right?”
“Yeah, when we first came in, it felt like… a house left for sale.”
It really had that impression of being tidily organized for someone to buy.
It felt more staged than lived in.
Of course, it had to be different now.
“The bedroom… well, I’m okay with it.”
I had no issues. I’d been on worse beds before, and had tried various kinds.
I could be satisfied with a bed that was slightly better than an inn’s.
But…
“Will you be okay? You don’t want to change to a better one?”
“….”
“It’s definitely going to be less comfortable than your usual bed.”
“Umm….”
Kyle fell into thought.
He was probably torn between wanting a normal bed and the comfort he was used to.
It was a pointless worry, though.
“Then let’s just change the mattress.”
“Is that okay?”
“Well, if we just decorate it like an ordinary bed on top of the mattress, it’ll be fine, right?”
Sometimes, it’s okay to use a trick or two while living.
This wasn’t an exam, just decorating a room.
It was all about maintaining the concept while decorating the room.
“As long as the blanket is warm, it’s fine. We can just change the pillow covers.”
“Ooh….”
I guess being a noble young master means not thinking of this stuff….
Well, that cuteness made it more fun.
“Anyway… I’m tired! I want to lie down for a bit!”
With that, I threw myself onto the bed in the bedroom.
“….”
It definitely felt a bit uncomfortable compared to the bed in Kyle’s room.
Even I, who usually didn’t care much about these things, could feel it. Kyle would surely feel it even more.
“Let’s change the bed. Yeah.”
“Got it.”
“You should come up too.”
I called Kyle, who was standing beside me, watching.
The bed may not be as good as the one in Kyle’s room, but there was enough space for both of us… Well, maybe just barely enough due to Kyle’s size.
“Kyle, can you shrink a bit?”
“I’ll try my best.”
“Now there’s another reason to change the bed.”
“Well, this size shouldn’t be a problem for sleeping, right?”
Kyle said while lying down, and I replied while looking at him.
“Yeah, but no. You might fall off while sleeping.”
“… That’s true.”
Of course, if we lay down close like this, it would probably be fine.
I mean, it’s not like we were moving much while lying still.
But… if I started tossing and turning while sleeping… Hmm… I could see us falling off.
That seemed highly likely.
“Well, for now, if we stick close together like this, it should be okay.”
“….”
“Well, if a cute wife does this for you… isn’t it a reward?”
It was a bit embarrassing to say, but I said it anyway.
Kyle looked at me with a slightly foolish, no, a cute gaze.
Saying ‘cute’ and ‘pretty’ were definitely two different stories, and accepting it was still difficult for me.
After all, how big is the age gap between Kyle and me?
“Don’t look at me like that!”
“Why? It’s cute.”
“Ugh…!”
It was cringy.
Feeling pretty, nice, or loved is on another level of embarrassment.
Even if Kyle was the one saying it, I felt flustered enough.
Immediately after hearing it, I curled up and buried myself into Kyle’s side.
It was that awkward of a statement.
“Don’t you dare say that!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s super embarrassing to hear!”
I was being completely sincere.
It was ridiculously embarrassing to hear something like that at my mid-twenties.
It’s not that it’s statistically unlikely, but rather that it’s hard to accept!
“Look! Goosebumps!”
“Cute….”
“Don’t say that!”
I covered Kyle’s mouth with my hands, trying to stop him from speaking.
This was too much to handle.
It was a kind of difficulty that was overwhelmingly hard.
I felt like I could burst with goosebumps just from how hard it was to accept.
“Don’t say it.”
I replied while still holding Kyle’s mouth shut.
I was genuinely super embarrassed.
It was so embarrassing that my ears felt hot just from hearing him.
It was even less embarrassing to hear his embarrassing confession than to have to say it myself.
“Mmph.”
“Alright, I’ll let you go for now.”
Of course, holding Kyle’s mouth shut for long was wrong, so I decided to release my hands.
But if he said something weird again… I would cover it again.
“…But really, you are a cute d….”
“Stop!!!”
Seriously, this was driving me insane.
*
“Hah….”
“Why are you just sighing like that?”
“Right? Do you have something on your mind?”
“Ah….”
I hadn’t realized I had let out a sigh.
I hadn’t meant to sigh, but it just came out.
“It just came out…”
Of course, I didn’t tell them the real reason straight away.
It felt a bit awkward to share what happened yesterday with my friends.
I thought it wasn’t good to just casually share moments between lovers with others.
“Seriously, you were sighing a moment ago.”
“Was I…? ”
“Yes, a lot.”
“Umm….”
It seems my thoughts had been caught.
Well… could I share an event from yesterday? I thought it was fine to just mention a little.
But still, sharing everything didn’t feel right.
After all, that was something very personal between Kyle and me.
“How would you feel if someone called you cute at our age?”
… What?
“…Huh?”
Louise and Elin looked at me with astonishment.
Right, it was a natural reaction since they had probably never been called cute.
One was a knight, and the other… just a loony.
“Sophia, did you hit your head or something?”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Sophia, do we need to take you to a doctor?”
“No, that’s not it!”
What on earth do they think of me?
I clearly saw their wedding, so why are they treating me like I’m crazy?
“Kyle suddenly said I was cute…”
“…Seriously?”
“Wait a second… imagining that is a bit…”
“Ugh, no! We’re married, so it could happen, right?!”
I felt slightly wronged but spoke my reasons well.
But really, did hearing such words not suit me?
I mean, I thought that I was not necessarily cute at all.
“Ha… so why are you suddenly bringing that up? Did you want everyone to praise how cute you are?”
“No, it’s just… when Kyle said that out of nowhere, I didn’t know how to respond, that’s why.”
I found it hard to say anything after that.
The overwhelming embarrassment was the main reason, and on top of that, I didn’t know how to answer.
“So I just brought it up…”
I didn’t expect such a reaction from them.
“Um… Sophia?”
“Yes?”
“There is only you here that’s in a relationship, how would we know that?”
“….”
Well, that’s true.
*
“….”
“Sophia, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Um… I’m a bit shocked by what you said the other day.”
I was thinking while looking at Kyle.
Him calling me cute when he’s just a silly kid… was indeed not easy to take.
After all, I had seen him grow from a little boy into the 19-year-old adult he was now!
Upon hearing that from Kyle, how could I respond normally?
“…?”
Kyle didn’t seem to understand what I meant at all.
It was just one of those flirtatious things he said like always.
He never seemed to put much thought into it and just said it as naturally as breathing.
“….”
Thinking about it that way, I found Kyle quite scary.
If it weren’t for me, he probably would have been saying that to every girl he was interested in around him.
It was just because I had been working hard to maintain myself, and he liked only me that this wasn’t happening…
But, really, if it weren’t for me, wouldn’t a scary person who toys with girls’ feelings have emerged!?
“What did I even say?”
“That…”
But now that he asked, it was a bit tricky to answer.
Because it felt like I was just repeating what Kyle had said to me.
“Kyle said I was cute….”
As I said this, I bit down on my lip.
It was genuinely maddening.
At this age, being told I’m cute… is just… so ridiculous.
No, even as a kid, I would never say I was cute.
I might have thought I was pretty, but never cute.
“Phew…”
“Is that why you were like that?”
“Yeah.”
Kyle was… finding it amusing and looking at me while smiling.
It would indeed be fun.
Seeing your wife act like this just because you told her she was cute.
If I were in Kyle’s shoes and saw my wife acting like this, I would’ve probably had the same reaction.
That was just normal.
“…So what now?!”
“Um… because you’re cute?”
I got up and walked to the side where Kyle was working.
Kyle looked at me with confusion, but it was too late.
I had only one thought in my head: to act.
I swung my fist toward Kyle’s arm, pulled it back, then…
“Stop it!”
* -Thwack!*
“Say that again!”
* -Thwack!!!*
“Stop it!!”
* -Thwack!!!*
“I’m serious!!!!”
* -Thwack!!!*