Things to Do During the Day - Chapter 8

She forgot.

Ariel’s eyelids moved slowly. ‘Where is this? Who am I?’ Ariel could answer those questions herself after a second. This was the bedroom in the mansion. And she was Ariel. But why was she lying here? Did she just wake up?

“Oh ….”

Slowly, memories popped up in her mind. The sky that looked like it was going to snow. She went to the lake with Arsion, and they sat there talking. After a while, they started arguing about something really trivial. Arsion, who always gives in, said he was disappointed even until the end of the day, so she turned sulky even though she knew he had done nothing wrong. And then…

“Sion!”

Ariel jumped to her feet.

“Sion, Sion! Where are you?”

A sword had obviously penetrated Arsion’s body. She saw Arsion bleeding and reeling. Ariel floundered out of her seat. It wasn’t the time for her to lie down. She had to find Arsion. The memory of the blood that sprayed onto the floor grew in front of Ariel’s eyes. 

Her body, which was trying to step on the floor in a hurry, was caught in the bed sheet and collapsed, falling off the bed.

“Sion…….”

The fact that Arsion was injured rather than the pain of her body hitting the floor made Ariel afraid. Then she heard someone running outside, and the door burst open.

“Riel!”

It was Arsion who came in. When he saw Ariel on the floor, he looked as if the world had collapsed. He quickly picked her up and put her on the bed.

“Oh my God, I didn’t expect you to wake up when I went downstairs for just a moment. Are you okay? Are you okay? You hurt your stomach didn’t you? I need to call a doctor.”

It was a carpeted floor. Rolling over didn’t cause much harm. Arsion, however, did not come to his senses. It was as if Ariel had been seriously injured. 

“I have to call the doctor! You, you’re injured…….”

Ariel burst into tears at the memories.

“Are your injuries okay… you’re really Sion, aren’t you? You’re alive, right?”

Arsion then came to his senses and hugged Ariel, who suddenly burst into hysterical tears. Arsion beckoned the servants of the mansion, who were surprised at the disturbance, to shut the door and go out. 

Ariel, who had been crying for a long time, wiped her tears and runny nose with the back of her hands. Then she immediately pulled open Arsion’s shirt.

“Show me! You were definitely stabbed!”

However, the belly under the rolled-up shirt showed only the usual firm muscles without even a scratch, as if it had all been a horrible dream.

“No way… I’m sure I saw……?”

Arsion sighed briefly at her words.

“Based on what you remember, that must’ve meant that I haven’t been crazy either.”

“What do you mean?”

“Riel, do you remember when I was stabbed?”

“Of course!”

“Do you happen to remember who stabbed me?”

“That’s…!”

Ariel, who was about to answer, suddenly became speechless. She couldn’t remember. She remembered Arsion being stabbed, but she couldn’t remember who did it at all.

“As expected…… You are the same as me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Riel, I remember clearly. I was talking with you by the lake, and someone stabbed me in the back. The tip of the sword broke through my stomach, and blood flowed through the wound, along with the terrible pain.”

Ariel began crying again after hearing Arsion’s words. It was because his words brought back terrible memories. Arsion continued while wiping Ariel’s tears with his sleeve.

“By the way…… The person who did it. I don’t remember them or anything that happened after that.”

Arsion told the story of what happened when they were both unconscious.

He said something strange happened to the entire marquis’ territory while they were unconscious. People said, all of a sudden, the sky became dark, the ground shook, and there was a roar. When all men and women were in fear, the sky suddenly brightened again, and golden rays touched the ground. 

When people came to their senses, they went to the place where the light had fallen and found Ariel and Arsion lying unconscious there.

“Fortunately, I woke up quickly. It’s been three days since you were out of it.”

“Three days?”

She couldn’t believe it. She had been lying down for three days? 

“I don’t understand the situation either. I’m sure I remember being attacked, but I don’t remember anything after that…… but I don’t remember what went wrong. What I could believe was that there was a lot of blood on the clothes I was wearing, along with stab wounds.”

That was why Arsion was able to be sure that her memory wasn’t wrong. He wanted to ask Ariel when she woke up, but she didn’t wake up. In addition, the doctor who examined her also informed Arsion of an even more unbelievable fact.

“Riel, are you sure you’re feeling well? Do you have any pain in your stomach?”

“It’s all right. You’re the one who got stabbed in the stomach, right?”

“Not tha…….”

Arsion swept his face with his hands and grabbed Ariel’s hand.

“Don’t be surprised and listen.”

“Huh?”

Arsion hesitated several times and struggled to open his mouth.

“You’re pregnant.”

Ariel doubted her ears at that moment.

“……What?”

“You’re pregnant.”

Ariel slowly lowered her head as Arsion’s voice clearly repeated it again.

“Ah…….”

She couldn’t believe it. She had been lying down for three days, and she did feel like her stomach was going to growl right then from hunger, but there’s now a child in there?

Ariel blankly looked at him for a moment. It hadn’t dawned on her yet. Then she suddenly choked up. Tears that had barely stopped rose again. 

She was thinking she would like to have a child one day, so she thought she was ready, but now that she received the news, she was not ready at all.

“Heuk…….”

She burst into tears. It was a good thing. It was a good thing, but she didn’t know why she was crying so much. Arsion hugged Ariel’s shoulder as she cried and kissed her forehead.

“You don’t know how really worried I was while you were down…….”

Arsion’s voice, which was always firm and secure, sounded a little hoarse. Ariel cried even more. 

After a while, Ariel put the cold wet towel that Arsion had brought for her to her eyes. She came to her senses a little when something cold came into contact with her swollen eyes. Ariel decided to check the most urgent things first.

“Sion, take your clothes off again.”

Recognizing what Ariel was trying to identify, Arsion quickly undressed. Ariel approached and muttered while touching his stomach.

“There’s really no mark…….”

So what she saw was an illusion? But Arsion saw the same thing? Ariel was silenced because she couldn’t comprehend it. Then she said, “You can get dressed again.”

“Also, there was something strange. It’s this ….”

Arsion rose and brought over a wooden box that was placed in a nearby cabinet. When he opened it, there was a very large black feather inside. The moment Ariel saw it, she realized it wasn’t a bird’s feather. It was too big of a feather to be that.

“These are the feathers that have fallen around us. But…… there were no black-colored birds with feathers this big.”

“…….”

Ariel, who was listening to him, said. 

“I think I should burn it somehow.”

“…….”

“It’s strange, but…… I feel a little …….”

“Actuallly, I’ve already burned almost all of the ones that were around us. I only left one to show you.”

Arsion approached the fireplace as he said so. Then he threw the feather in his hand into the fire.

“You’ve seen it now, and if you feel the same way, there’s no reason to hesitate.”

Arsion murmured, looking at the black feather that burned and disappeared quickly. A short scream was heard in the fireplace as the feather was completely burned to ashes.

Arsion, who had been silent for a long time, returned and sat in front of Ariel.

“Now that we’ve taken care of that, let’s talk.”

“…….”

“You remember the conversation we had on the bench, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Arsion bowed his head as Ariel’s answer.

“I’m sorry. I was worked up that  morning, as you said. Her Highness the Crown Princess sent me a letter…… I was not happy to see the letter. That’s why I’ve been so blunt with you. I’m terribly sorry.”

She thought he would question her about the other incident, but Ariel shook her head when Arsion lowered his head contrary to her expectations.

“No! I’m sorry. I….. what happened at the banquet and…… the whip I bought…… because I didn’t tell you why.”

Arsion looked up at Ariel’s words. There was no longer sorrow in his eyes. He was just genuinely curious.

“Then… Can you give me an answer for when I asked you why?”

Ariel hesitated at his words.

“If it’s hard to say, you don’t have to. I don’t want to make it difficult for you.”

“It’s not like that! I’m just shy…….”

 “You were shy?”

“Well, that’s… Do you remember how I was dressed when I went to the banquet?”

Of course he remembered. Whatever Ariel wore that day, he would even remember the number of jewels on the accessories.

“I remember. What’s wrong with that?”

“So at that time…… didn’t you think I was a little too much?”

“Too much? What?”

“I mean… There was a lot of exposure of my back…… and it was a dress that showed off a lot of my chest…”

It was as Ariel said. Compared to Ariel’s usual clothes, it was a very bold dress. 

“That’s true.”

 “……And it didn’t matter?”

“What do you mean it didn’t matter?”

Arsion was increasingly unable to understand Ariel’s question. Ariel hesitated, closed her eyes tightly, and said, 

“It didn’t matter if other people looked at me…….?”

“…….”

“Honestly, on that day…… I thought you’d be a little restless. I thought you’d be jealous if other people saw it, and I was looking forward to that…… but you seemed so fine until the banquet was over. I thought that outfit would make you feel so jealous that you would feel restless if I were to go out wearing it.”

“…….”

“When it didn’t happen, I went to my sister’s house. I told her it was ‘my friend’s business’, and she said that it was definitely a period called a couple’s boredom, and ‘my friend’ was in trouble. When I got home, I was reading the second volume of {Things to do at Night}, and there was a part about boredom…… and it advised me to try a different stimulus compared to the usual……”

Ariel, who said that much, buried her face into the pillow. She was really embarrassed to death. 

The things she did with Arsion at night were always good, so she wanted to enjoy it a bit longer. But what if Arsion was bored ……?

When she thought so, her execution ability, which she had done before, came out first.  All those tools.  She obviously didn’t know how to use them, but she thought it would work out somehow if she just brought them.

Arsion lifted up Ariel’s face, which was about to dig deeper into the pillow.

“Riel, I think I know what happened…… As for your appearance at the banquet…….”

“……What about it?”

“Honestly, I was fine with the others seeing you that day, because I wanted everyone to know how pretty my wife is. Of course, that doesn’t mean I liked  the way anyone looked at you, but I could stand it. Because……”

Arsion whispered in Ariel’s ear.

“You’re the prettiest when you don’t wear anything and that’s only for me to see.”

“……!”

“But I didn’t expect you to misunderstand it as a boredom.”

Arsion’s hand stroked Ariel’s face and went down to trace her flat stomach.

“I’m going to put up with it for now. Your body is the most important thing. But, when you’re stable…….”

 Arsion hugged Ariel and whispered.

“You’d better be prepared. I won’t let you think that for the rest of your life.”

Arsion kissed Ariel on the cheek. He had already contacted the duchy and the palace. They will stay here until Ariel gives birth to the baby. When Ariel gives birth to a child she made with him and everything settles down.

‘I’ll never let you off the hook.’

He felt like he had to embrace her so much that she couldn’t say such a thing for the rest of her life. Of course, Ariel would look the prettiest.