“Your Majesty, do you remember the first lake we discovered?”
Felix, who had been focused on his documents, looked up at Hubert’s question.
“Of course, I remember. I even named a village after that place and granted it funding, if I recall correctly….”
“Yes, it has now become Ansy Village.”
“But why that place?”
His tone was brusque for a moment, but Hubert knew well how much Felix cared about that place simply because he showed interest.
“A letter has arrived from there, Your Majesty.”
With a visibly happy expression, Hubert handed over the letter envelope.
Felix, slightly surprised, put down the documents he was holding and received the letter.
It started with the story of Benjamin, who had become the village chief again, and contained the trivial stories of the people there.
Holding the 10-page long letter, Felix looked up at the sound of a knock.
“Enter.”
“Yes.”
One of the aides in the office quickly opened the door.
“Pardon my intrusion, Your Majesty.”
Barbara entered as she spoke. She was temporarily teaching Sylvia manners before becoming a courtier again.
What set her apart from other courtiers was that she worked commuting and provided labor without pay.
Barbara found Sylvia to possess a warm yet strong and beautiful appearance, reminiscent of the former queen, and wished to serve her by any means.
Taking advantage of the shortage of people in the palace, she became Sylvia’s personal maid under the pretext of atoning for her sins.
“I’m sorry to interrupt your work, but the Empress is nowhere to be seen again….”
“Is Siri missing?”
“Yes, we’ve searched the entire palace, but she’s nowhere to be found.”
Unlike the worried Barbara, Felix uttered a short sound before getting up from his seat.
He carefully folded the letter he was holding and did not forget to put it in the drawer.
Then he confidently headed towards the balcony.
“Take care, Your Majesty.”
Receiving farewells from Hubert, the aide, and Barbara, Felix took off.
“Yes.”
He flew off as if he knew exactly where Sylvia was.
Watching his departure, one of the aides asked Hubert,
“But how does His Majesty always know where the Empress is?”
It was a perfectly reasonable question, considering it was not the first time this had happened.
Hubert chuckled and responded briefly,
“Well, perhaps it’s the power of love?”
◆
Felix immediately flew to the place Sylvia had been frequently visiting lately. Recently, she had been fascinated with seafood.
Her passion for cooking was still as strong as ever.
After all, Sylvia and cooking were inseparable.
Just thinking about her brought a smile to Felix’s face.
The sea, which he hadn’t seen for a long time due to being busy with work, was still beautiful. The sea created by Sylvia shone with an emerald hue.
Sure enough.
There was Sylvia, floating in the middle of the sea. Her black hair, which revealed a slight teal under the sunlight, was softly swaying in the wind.
Focusing from above, she gestured with her hand.
At that moment, a large whirlpool formed in the sea, and fish were being scooped up by the flow of the wind.
Small fry, almost transparent from the reflection of the light, were entering her spatial wooden barrel.
The sight appeared quite majestic at a glance.
After watching for a moment, Felix quickly approached her. He silently embraced her from behind and greeted,
“Darling, have you caught them all?”
“…Feri?”
In the voice tinged with surprise, Felix let out a small laugh. The joy of seeing each other was evident, yet there was a subtle tension between them.
It was due to the recent squabble over pet names.
“What brings you here? Aren’t you busy with work?”
“Barbara said my darling had disappeared. How could I not come looking for you?”
Sylvia felt her face heating up at Felix’s words. He had become a very affectionate man, unlike before.
He was affectionate then too, but his brusque and prickly demeanor had almost vanished.
Not that she disliked this side of him. The reason Sylvia hesitated to look at Felix was simple.
Look at that expectant face.
He had recently been calling her ‘darling’ continuously. It was more surprising than when he first called her ‘Siri.’
Of course, they had smoothly gone through their wedding, and embarrassingly, spent a very pleasant first night together. But, separate from that, the term ‘darling’ just couldn’t leave her lips.
Oh, how embarrassing. Really embarrassing!
Preferring ‘Siri’ over ‘darling,’ she forced a bright smile and said,
“So Barbara found me. I should have told her before leaving. Seems I still haven’t fixed my habit of wandering off alone.”
At her words, Felix took her hand and replied,
“That’s their job. Do as you please, darling.”
“…Thank you.”
Sylvia replied, pretending not to notice, and turned her head away. Then, Felix began to intertwine their fingers.
He didn’t forget to gently rub the back of her hand. Each time he did this, Sylvia realized anew.
In fact, he wasn’t a prickly cat but a sly fox.
Indeed, everyone in the palace acted somewhat fox-like. She had seen it in the nobles who would grovel before her, driven by their fear of power.
Thinking Felix, who had fended for himself during his childhood without any help, would be as dull as a bear was her mistake.
Of course, she didn’t dislike her younger, fox-like husband.
Just, just a bit…
“Darling. What are you thinking about?”
Oh, the embarrassment, please…
“Darling?”
Sylvia, with her face growing red as she blankly stared at Felix tilting his head right in front of her, pouted her lips.
“…I can’t stand it anymore.”
“What?”
Looking at him, who genuinely seemed not to understand, Sylvia slightly lifted the corners of her mouth and raised her heels.
“Darling?”
Though they were in the air, they moved as if they were on the ground.
She wrapped one arm around his neck and gave him a light peck.
Starting with his sharp jawline, which was the easiest for her lips to reach, then his cheek, and finally his lips, she pecked like a bird before whispering,
“Why did you call, Feri?”
Having not lived in the palace for long but slowly getting accustomed to it, Sylvia was no longer easily fooled by Felix’s fox-like skills.
Putting her embarrassment aside, she playfully watched his face, slightly disappointed every time he pretended not to understand.
Of course, he wasn’t unaware of this.
“…Now I understand clearly. Darling, you’re a different woman by day and night. It’s because you only call me ‘darling’ at night, that’s why.”
Pretending not to understand, Sylvia was met with Felix’s smoldering gaze.
Knowing everything about her now, he gleamed with anticipation for the night.
“Whenever, what does it matter? The fact that you call me matters, right?”
“…Maybe having separate bedrooms isn’t such a bad idea. Even for a couple, having some personal space might be nice?”
Felix took her hand and started to move. They walked through the air as if on a leisurely stroll.
Hearing her words, Felix replied with a dismissive tone,
“We’re not a typical couple.”
“…Then?”
“We are a very, very special couple.”
“In what way?”
“For starters, darling and I use the same magic. That’s a very special and precious thing.”
“…Of course, I agree with that.”
Felix responded as if he was pleased by her answer.
“If that alone makes us special, do we really need to have separate rooms like ordinary couples?”
Silently listening to him, Sylvia replied,
“So, we don’t necessarily have to call each other ‘darling’ like other ordinary couples, right? Since we’re a special couple.”
Finishing her sentence, Sylvia smirked. At her words, Felix looked as if he had been hit.
With a flustered expression and slowly blinking eyelids, Sylvia exclaimed,
“Tonight’s dinner will be chosen by whoever arrives first! Ground!”
She let go of his hand and started to run quickly, leaping high with the wind magic wrapped around her calves.
Following closely behind, Felix whispered to Sylvia,
“How about, instead of dinner, we bet on calling each other ‘darling’ for a day?”
“I’d rather not.”
“Hmm, afraid of losing, aren’t you?”
Just as Sylvia knew Felix well, he also knew her very well.
She secretly hated losing, especially in a bet like this.
Provoked by his challenge, Sylvia’s eyes narrowed.
“Fine, if I win, no forcing the ‘darling’ nickname.”
“I’m only asking for one day, but you should set a duration.”
“Fine. Let’s make it one day for both.”
“Agreed.”
After concluding their discussion, the two of them began to race quickly using wind magic.
Felix hated losing in such competitions, separate from the enjoyment.
Today, he particularly wanted to hear Sylvia call him ‘darling’.
Not just a casual mention, but to hear it tenderly and teasingly all day long.
With a strong determination to win against his wife, he started to run at an incredible speed. Sylvia shouted after him,
“How serious are you about this?”
All this for the nickname ‘darling’.
Wrapping themselves in magic just to run?
Even as she said this, Sylvia also chased after him at a tremendous speed.
From afar, it might look like a bizarre and incredible scene, but up close, it was just a sweetly competitive moment between a newlywed couple.
They were still deeply enjoying their passionate honeymoon life.
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