We should go to the market and buy some, and maybe buy some other essentials as well"
She suggested, deciding not to dwell on his complete misunderstanding of what tea actually is.
"Sure, but before that, let's compile a list of what we need."
With that said, the couple prepared to leave and go do a little shopping. It was still quite early in the morning, so they had plenty of time.
Just as Arthur was locking the door, Esme realised something.
"Should we be leaving the house after the incident with those two men?"
She questioned and felt a slight pang of guilt in her heart. The decision she made has now created problems for them. Arthur hasn't brought it up, but she figured he must be disappointed, but it wasn't her fault. Women were not qualified to give opinions on such matters anyway.
"It should be fine, they're more likely to attack at night, even if Bulat has the guards on his pocket, I doubt they'll attack so early, it's easier to scare us with something we can't see"
Arthur reasoned as he turned from the door and moved to open the gate for his wife.
"Would it not be better the break windows and vandalise our house, forcing us to have to buy new furniture constantly and eventually causing us to cave in to his demands, after all no matter how wealthy you are it's unfeasible to buy furniture all the time"
Arthur couldn't help but give her a surprised look. Her suggestion was awfully specific and quite plausible. He had yet to think about it that way.
"I'm sure they're going to do that if the scare tactic doesn't work, but at that point, I should have resolved the issue"
He responded, he figured all it would take was scaring one of the assailants that should be coming to attack should be good enough to have them back off, although he wondered if Bulat had the backing of some noble or something, Arthur doubted he could have the knights in his pockets without also having a noble being his backer.
'Meh, even if he does, it changes nothing'
His only issue was simply getting Bulat to understand who not to mess with and keep Esme safe. Esme herself probably wanted him to use his power as an explorer to get rid of Bulat for good and Arthur honestly had no way of doing that without outright killing the man
The couple then moved through the street, making their way towards the marketplace. Arthur knew where it was since he had been there before.
The morning sun beamed from the clear blue sky, down onto the street. It was summertime. As such, the typical late morning heat was already beginning to show itself. The street itself was peaceful, various people walked to and from their homes and generally went about their day.
The newlyweds walked for a minute in awkward silence until Arthur had thought of something to say.
"Growing up in a castle, you probably were not allowed to walk amongst commoners. Now that you are, what's it like?"
He asked as he turned to look beside him before realising that Esme was not walking side by side with him and instead was walking behind him.
"Am I walking too fast?!"
He questioned himself in a whisper as he stopped and turned around to look at her. If he had to guess, she was three steps behind him. He didn't think his walking speed was that much different from hers.
"Hm?! Is there a problem, husband?"
She asked with a small smile on her face, her hands placed on top of each other and over her lower abdomen.
"Am I walking too fast? I can slow down and match your pace"
"No, it's alright. The wife is supposed to be at least three steps behind her husband"
Her tone of voice sounded as if she were speaking a known fact.
"Why is that?"
"I don't know the official reason, it's something I've been taught but if I had to make a guess, maybe it's because men are supposed to lead and women follow the men's lead"
She answered, however inwardly she wondered if that was the true reason behind it or if there was another one, she never really thought hard about the why, just that it's something that both her and her sisters were taught. She didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
"How am I supposed to have a conversation with you if you're behind me?"
He asked, although the question was more rhetorical since he did not expect an answer as he figured it was obvious. Instead, he simply grabbed her hand and walked with her beside him.
"Uhm husband, we're supposed to enjoy each other's company in silence as we walk"
She answered, trying to resist his pull; however, it was futile; she lacked the strength to resist him, even with the items she was given.
"Esme I can't enjoy your company if you are behind me. To enjoy your company, I need to be able to glance at you every now and then, I can't do that if you're behind me"
He countered, obviously different countries have different customs and social norms, and like the saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do.
So it would be prudent to follow the social norms and customs of the Lionheart kingdom. Unfortunately, however, Arthur was not going to do that and did not plan to.
Esme wanted to rebuke him, tell him that he was wrong, tell him that if he wants to look at her he can always glance back to get a glimpse of her face however she couldn't.
His words made sense to her, she also wanted to be able to see his handsome face and appreciate the silver gray of his eyes, and notice things she hadn't been able to notice.
It wasn't only that but also she was unable to disagree with him because the warmth of his hand on hers was comforting, it was a foreign yet comforting warmth that reminded her of her mother.
Ever since her mother died, Esme has never felt the gentle warmth of another person. The palace, despite always being filled with people, always felt cold and empty to her.
Feeling the warmth of his hand, she couldn't help but acquiesce to his words. Choosing not to disagree with him despite contradicting what she's been taught and grew up knowing.
"Since you grew up in the palace, did you ever get to walk amongst commoners, like you're doing now?"
He repeated the question.
"No, I was never allowed to leave the royal Palace, although my older sister always made it clear I was a commoner in her eyes"
"Did you hate it? Being called a commoner?"
She shook her head.
"It was true, even if I hated it, it was a fact that I could never change."
Although she did kind of hope that her sisters and brothers could have been nicer to her at least, just because she was a commoner that didn't mean they didn't share a father. Although she figured at least to them they probably didn't think of her as family because she was a commoner.
"I see, I guess that is a good way to think about it but even if you are a commoner you're still more beautiful than any noble lady I've seen."
Esme couldn't help but let out a cute giggle and feel a bout of bashfulness at his words.
"I'm sure that's not true"
She denied but couldn't hide the small blush of her cheeks, she felt it was nice to hear although Judith was far more beautiful than her and Arthur hadn't met her yet, so in her opinion, his statement was completely untrue.
"And I'm sure that it is true"
He countered and noted the flush of pink on her cheeks.
"How can you? You have not met all the noble ladies of this kingdom, let alone the world"
Her mouth showed a small amused smile, their conversation had begun to settle into a light-hearted atmosphere as they walked side by side, hands clasped together.
"I don't need to meet all of them, seeing you, was enough for me to know you're far more beautiful than any of them"
He said with a foolish grin on his face, his words filled with a confidence that Esme could not say where it came from, once again her cheeks flushed a pink hue and her gaze pointed downward.
"I suppose I should trust the words of my husband"
This time she did not refute his words but accepted them, she could feel the excitement bubbling up from the depths of her stomach and spreading to the rest of her body.
She did not recall a time where she received compliments regularly from anyone. Even though she knew it wasn't true, she still felt it was nice to hear.
They continued their conversation, maintaining its light-hearted atmosphere, as they walked towards the market, neither of them noticing that their clasped hands had begun to slowly sway back and forth as they walked.
A bit far from the young couple, an elderly couple looked at the two with reminiscent eyes. Remembering days that were now long lost.
....
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