USSUF 55

Chapter 55

The portrait session continued from early morning the next day.

Jekron and I sat side by side on the sofa once again. His arm was draped around my shoulders, our hands resting together, and we faced each other.

Before coming here, I had to apply a cold compress to reduce the swelling in my face.

More than for the painting itself, I simply didn’t want Jekron to see me with a puffy face.

After all, today’s work would mainly focus on him.

I studied his face.

Unlike me, he clearly hadn’t used a cold compress, yet there wasn’t the slightest swelling on his face.

Even though he had been busy preparing for the campaign until late at night, there wasn’t a trace of dark circles under his eyes.

It felt a little unfair.

Pouting, I spoke.

“How is it possible that your face isn’t swollen at all and you don’t even have dark circles? It’s morning, but your face doesn’t look like it just woke up.”

“So is that a compliment or a complaint?”

“Well… it’s unfair.”

“What is?”

“I got up early this morning and had to use a cold compress.”

“I like your swollen face too.”

The words hit me so suddenly that I froze.

A confession?

Of course, he probably didn’t mean anything by it, but hearing my handsome husband say “I like you” for the first time completely caught me off guard.

Seeing my stiff expression, Jekron seemed to misunderstand my reaction.

He hurriedly added,

“Of course, I like your face when it isn’t swollen too.”

“……”

“I like anything as long as it’s you.”

Jekron smiled brightly as he said it.

My mouth fell open.

Heat rushed to my face.

Not wanting him to notice my blush, I quickly turned my head away.

A puzzled voice followed.

“Why…? Ah. Have I never said it before? That I like you?”

What had I just heard?

Thump, thump.

My heart pounded wildly.

I stared at him with wide eyes.

Meanwhile, he simply looked back at me calmly.

A confession this out of nowhere?

There was no way this man hadn’t eaten something strange this morning.

“Um…”

I wanted to say something.

I wanted to ask why he was saying something like that here and now.

But although I managed to open my mouth, no words came out.

It felt as though my throat had completely closed up.

Or perhaps my heart, trying to leap out of my chest, was blocking the way.

My face grew hotter and hotter until I couldn’t bear looking at Jekron any longer.

I turned my head again.

And immediately met Brent’s gaze.

His mouth hung open as he stared at us in a daze.

Why is his face turning red?

I’m the one who got confessed to.

Fortunately—or unfortunately—the sight of the young painter squirming with a flushed face cooled me down instantly.

With a shy expression, Brent spoke demurely.

“You two… look wonderful together. However, we are currently working, so… I would appreciate it if you could restrain yourselves. Perhaps save the romantic conversation until after the session…”

Twisting his body awkwardly, Brent couldn’t even finish his sentence.

He ended up covering his reddened cheeks with both hands.

What?

Restrain ourselves?

Romantic conversation?

How exactly had he interpreted this situation to react like that?

As I stared at him in disbelief, Jekron’s voice sounded.

“My, my. My apologies. We’ll… ahem… restrain our romantic conversation.”

Clearing his throat, Jekron resumed his proper pose.

Judging by his response, he seemed to completely understand Brent’s reaction.

He was even apologizing.

I felt even more bewildered.

It was like I was the only one being left out.

Still, I didn’t particularly feel like arguing about it.

Looking forward to seeing the completed portrait as soon as possible, I settled back into position as well.

Our hands overlapped.

We looked into each other’s eyes.

Back in my previous life in Korea, a single photograph would have finished the job.

But here, people had to spend days holding the same pose in front of a canvas.

It was exhausting.

Yet at the same time, it was a precious experience.

I was happy to spend time with Jekron like this.

Even though sitting so close to him and maintaining eye contact still felt awkward, I decided to enjoy it.

After all, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

* * *

Aside from a short tea break, we spent the entire day sitting on the reception room sofa, maintaining our poses.

Simply sitting wasn’t difficult.

But keeping the same posture for hours while heavily pregnant was exhausting.

Jekron looked at me gently.

“Don’t you need a compress?”

I did.

I wanted one.

But…

“I was planning to ask Kate and Judy.”

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s okay. It’s more comfortable when Kate and Judy do it.”

He looked at me with unmistakable disappointment.

This man knew his strengths far too well.

And he knew exactly how to get what he wanted.

He’s like a fox.

I swallowed the thought.

At the same time, I swallowed the words “Okay.”

I had absolutely no intention of giving in.

We had already spent the entire day together.

Spending the compress treatment together too was beyond what I could handle.

Looking directly into his eyes, I slowly shook my head.

It was a gesture that clearly said I would not back down.

But Jekron didn’t know how to give up.

He immediately closed the distance between us.

Lowering himself to my eye level, he whispered softly,

“Even though tonight is the last night?”

Are you really doing this?

His bright blue eyes shone with a mixture of pleading and something suspiciously close to acting cute.

Ugh.

There was no way I could resist any longer.

At this point, it seemed wiser to simply surrender my back for the massage.

My head nodded before I could stop it.

“…Okay.”

Letting out a small sigh, I quickly started walking.

At the same time, I tried to justify it to myself.

Well, it is the last night.

Maybe… the very last one forever.

So indulging in the luxury of monopolizing the male lead for a single day should be fine.

I deserved at least that much.

Biting my lower lip, I walked ahead.

Jekron immediately strode up beside me.

Without a word, he smiled and extended his hand.

An escort.

Suppressing a smile, I took his hand.

Tonight, I had no intention of hesitating.

I wouldn’t push him away when he tried to get close.

* * *

My adorable wish to monopolize him for the entire night seemed destined to remain only a wish.

After dinner, Jekron headed to the training grounds with his aide for a final inspection before departure.

He said he needed to check the soldiers, horses, weapons, and food supplies.

“I’ll be back before it gets too late.”

I was idly lounging in my room, replaying his words in my head.

Then—

Knock, knock, knock.

With a neat knock, Kate entered the bedroom.

On the silver tray in her hands lay a neatly folded handkerchief.

“What’s that?”

“Since Master is leaving for the campaign tomorrow, I thought we should prepare a handkerchief as a gift.”

A handkerchief?

I didn’t immediately understand what she meant.

Seeing my confused expression, Kate looked equally confused.

Tilting my head, I asked,

“…Is that some kind of custom?”

“Oh, right. I keep forgetting that you lost your memories, My Lady. Haha… Yes, it’s a tradition.”

“……”

“On the night before a husband leaves for battle, his wife gives him a handkerchief as a gift. Normally, she would embroider it herself, but you never liked embroidery, My Lady. So I bought one instead.”

I unfolded the handkerchief.

On the sky-blue silk, the family crest had been embroidered with golden thread.

The profile of a wolf filled one corner of the fabric.

“It’s beautiful! But…”

“Yes?”

“My skills are terrible, but I still want to try doing something myself. Could I at least add his initials?”

Kate’s eyes widened in surprise.

Apparently, Elfwin had hated embroidery that much.

But I wanted to add a little of my own sincerity to what might become my final gift.

“O-Of course! Would you like to try?”

“Yes. But I think I need some practice first. Can you teach me?”

“Certainly, My Lady. Though Judy is actually much better at embroidery than I am. I’ll go bring her.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Kate hurried out, clearly excited.

I looked down at the elegant handkerchief and gently rubbed one corner.

“I think the initials would fit right around here.”

Just muttering to myself made me happy.

I was happy that I had something to give Jekron.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner?

If I had known earlier, I could have practiced enough to embroider his full name instead of just initials.

A trace of regret surfaced.

“Well, it can’t be helped. I’ll settle for initials this time.”

This time?

Was I really assuming there would be a next time?

A small laugh escaped me.

How foolish.

I often forgot my own situation like this.

“Ha…”

A sigh slipped out.

At that moment, the door burst open and Judy and Kate rushed in.

The faces of my loyal maids were overflowing with emotion.

My Lady wants to embroider!

Who would have thought this day would come!

They were undoubtedly thinking exactly that.

Unable to hide their expressions at all, they made me smile.

“I’m a complete beginner, so you’ll have to teach me everything from the very beginning.”

“Leave it to me, My Lady!”

Judy shouted proudly.

Her voice was so loud that both Kate and I jumped in surprise.

“Hahaha!”

Soon, laughter filled the bedroom.