An hour after Arthur woke up, Esme stirred awake herself. Slowly opened her eyes and readily removed the crust from her eyes before letting out a yawn and stretching out her arms.
Unfortunately, the yawn forced her to suck in some hair strands into her mouth, interrupting the yawn
The hair in her mouth caused a bout of coughing, and forced her to sputter and spit it out, it was here that she realized she needed something to tie her hair to prevent such accidents in the future.
She rolled onto her back and let out a sigh ignoring the fact that she nearly choked on her own hair and instead let the feeling of wanting to sleep for a few more minutes cling to her mind for a few moments before she did her best to fight it off.
Sleeping in was no today, she and Arthur had to meet with Marquis Bearheart today, and the carriage they ordered should be arriving just before noon.
She turned her head and noticed that Arthur was out of bed and she assumed he was doing the usual exercise and should be back in an hour or two.
With that in mind, she rolled onto his side of the bed and plopped her face on his pillow and took a small whiff.
Ever since she had refused to let him bathe when they first consummated their marriage, his musk had been something she regularly enjoyed. It wasn't a proclivity she had before now, at least she doesn't think she did.
She loved the smell of a new book but that definitely wasn't the same thing.
Of course, she had no plans to tell him this and was content with it just being a hidden quirk of hers.
With a final whiff of his masculine musk, she then got off the bed and began to make the bed.
While doing so, she couldn't help but think back to her time in the palace, which forced a relieved smile out of her.
She was away from Judith's harassment, away from Marianne's snide and hurtful comments, and best of all away from Howard's so-called "training" which was just a way for him to physically abuse her without reproach.
Although she doubts there would be any reproach even if he did openly abuse her.
Esme wondered what part of repeatedly beating a curled-up young girl with a wooden sword till she was bruised would fit the description of "training". She suspected he was a sadistic sort but she would never say that out loud
Although she was lucky that in recent years he was saddled with more diplomatic responsibilities as such he was out of the kingdom more often and for long stretches of time.
"In any case, I don't need to think about them anymore"
She had a husband now, she didn't need to fear them, he would protect her as a husband should and she would fulfill her duties as a wife the best way she could.
"Well most of them…"
It was certainly odd, the fact that she was on a timer yet for some reason she didn't feel the fear of dying so young. Perhaps it was because she's come to accept it or perhaps she hoped she'd live.
Although the guilt of having to lie to Arthur felt vivid in her chest. She struggled to think of a reason why he'd want her around if she was just going to die before their children were fully grown.
Pausing her movements, she reached for her neck hoping to feel the cold surface of her necklace but instead she felt the warmth of her neckline. Once again a reminder that she didn't have her precious jewelry.
The young woman pursed her lips at that realization. With a regretful sigh, she continued her action.
The best thing she can do is be a good wife while it lasts. It was obvious that Arthur was going to be very good to her.
Of course, she didn't like that he seemed unwilling to follow the common etiquette of the kingdom but she figured he'd relent to them eventually and even if he doesn't she wouldn't like him any less.
"Like, huh?"
She whispered as she finished making the bed and moved to get a change of clothes from the wardrobe.
Arthur had been good to her so far, he spoke to her like he wanted to speak to her, and not because he had to. Unlike most people in the palace.
So yes she supposed she liked him as a man. She was already grateful to him for the marriage and was willing to be his wife, so it shouldn't be a surprise that she likes him.
Plus it helped that he was interesting, Esme was beyond curious about what an Explorer can and cannot do.
That demonstration of magic some days ago had sparked her curiosity even more and she had been badgering him about monsters for days now.
Although it has to be said that some of his stories were unsettling.
Having to hide inside the innards of a freshly killed monster to lure out another monster is absolutely insane and disgusting. She could understand why he had so many scars.
Ah, the scars.
They did something to her mind whenever she saw them, a small pink flush graced her cheeks.
She shook her head and removed such thoughts from her mind and began to get dressed. It was fortunate that she had some variety in her clothes now, in hindsight it was stupid of her to be against him buying her clothes.
The dress she chose was a simple, light green empire dress, it was short-sleeved and seemed designed to show very little of her cleavage exposed, it was cut just high enough to leave her ankles exposed.
She placed it on the bed, took out a dark green shawl as well as lime green evening gloves.
After setting everything on the bed she then wore the same clothes she wore yesterday and exited the room. She needed to wash up first, mostly because she and Arthur had somewhere to be today but also because it was a new dress.
Exiting the bedroom and descending the stairs and made her way to the bathroom however, she paused her steps, surprised to see Arthur at home, and he looked to be reading something while lazily sitting on the couch.
"Good morning Arthur, no exercise today?"
"No, thought I'd have a rest day, plus I'm a bit worried that Bulat might try something."
"Didn't you say there was no need to worry about that?"
"Yeah I still maintain that, but he probably knows we rented a carriage for today and I get the feeling today is when he'll make his move"
Reasoned Arthur, if Bulat has indeed been keeping watch over them, then that means he's been paying attention to their movements over the week.
A few days ago the two rented a carriage for today, it was likely that Bulat would try something today.
"Makes sense, also what are you reading?"
"One of those books you bought"
"You are?!"
Her voice leaked with a tone of slight excitement, he did say he would read them, however, she didn't think he'd do it so soon.
Arthur gave her a nod and lifted the book to show her the cover, as soon as she saw it, her eyes lit up with expectations and excitement.
"What do you think? How far have you read?"
She discarded going to the bathroom and instead made her way closer to the couch and placed her hand atop the backrest.
"I'm only about 20 pages in so far…."
He paused and let out a hum, if he was to be honest, the book wasn't for him. The first five pages are an exposition on how noble ranks function, it was obvious the author liked putting as much detail on things as he could.
"And I think it's alright, it hasn't done anything for me"
"Well, you're only 20 pages in, give it some time."
The excitement in her voice had waned and she shrugged, realizing that Arthur might not like the genre of book as she did. Of course she had no issue with that but she hoped they'd have something in common.
"I'll do that"
He assured although he couldn't really make himself like something when the first impression wasn't really good, plus he was never really a fan of books that were slow to get to the point.
Their conversation ended there with Esme excusing herself to the bathroom to take a bath.