...

...

After a quiet dinner that evening, Arturia spoke with Sakura as usual, briefly giving her instructions for breakfast the following day. When she later entered the bedroom, she found the beds already separated and Gilgamesh coming out of the bathroom in that same moment.

Taking her bathrobe, she went to take a shower as well but before she could close the door behind herself he told her, "That mongrel of a doctor will soon be under investigation. Some of his past activities are not clear, and he will be suspended from work starting tomorrow."

He then stared at her pointedly. "In three days, when the new head medics will be appointed – there will be two, not just one anymore – we are going to be at the hospital together."

His tone did not leave any room for argument, and since Arturia did not find anything to object in such a plan and did not intend to quarrel with him just for the sake of it, she simply nodded. It was obvious that he had to have somehow used his influence to intervene in the matter.

When she came out of the shower and went to fold her clothes, she was surprised to see Gilgamesh come to her 'side of the room', as he had denominated it a long time before. Without a word, his hand reached for her and his fingers carefully grasped the necklace she was wearing, the one holding the ring – the wedding ring.

She remained perfectly still as he opened the clasp and let the ring out of it, knowing unconsciously that he didn't mean her harm by being so close to her, choosing to wait to find out what he had in mind.

He took her left hand and stared at her intently.

"I would ask you to wear it on your finger from now on. You are a married woman – everyone should know it, and this will clarify your position."

His eyes, his voice and his entire expression were unreadable, but the seriousness in his request was unmistakable, and something made her nervous about it. Since she couldn't decipher him, she couldn't pinpoint what it was, but she was suddenly unable to fully hold his gaze with firmness, as she had instead always been capable of doing until this day.

Maybe it was the fact that it was a request and not an order that was making it so strange.

Whatever it was, she had no time to examine it.

She was about to take the ring and put it on, wordlessly giving her acceptance, but he anticipated her.

Reading her consent in her eyes, he slid the ring onto her finger, quite easily and slightly more gently than he had done with the engagement ring back when they had first been discussing the contract. As he did that, she could see that on his hand his own ring was already in place.

She did nothing but stay immobile as he went back to his side of the room.

It was odd to suddenly realize that she could have solved the problem at the hospital in another way; instead of asking Gilgamesh to come with her to the hospital, to make it clear that she was married, she could have simply worn her wedding ring on her finger, which would have sent the same message.

But she had not even thought about it; she had preferred speaking plainly with Gilgamesh and settle the matter together with him.

Arturia looked down. She had her wedding ring on her finger now, in a visible place. She had actually had it around her neck for months, but now, she was truly wearing it. It was there, staring at her from her left ring finger.

It was a true reminder of the fact that she was married. She did not actually need one, as she had slowly become used to the idea of being married, but… it was still… strange.

Gilgamesh, reaching the other side of the room, could not bring himself to acknowledge the real reason why he suddenly felt so particularly possessive towards her, in spite of the fact that he had by now a fairly clear idea of what it was already.

He knew that there were indeed practical reasons prompting him to act in such a way – to want to see her wear the ring – but they were not the only reasons.

He and Arturia spent the rest of the evening without exchanging another word.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

The new head medics were a bit of a surprise, because as they discovered, they were not at all what they could have expected.

In fact, when she entered the hospital on Gilgamesh's arm and spotted them, Arturia called their names in wonder.

"Gawain? Bedivere?"

Two men with very pale blond hair turned from the reception desk next to which they were standing, and smiled broadly as they saw her.

"Ria! This is certainly a surprise!"

Both men approached them with ease, but keeping somewhat more distance than Diarmuid had, and they shook hands with Arturia, who proceeded to make the necessary introductions.

"Gilgamesh, these are Gawain Whiteknight and Bedivere Silverarm, and they were in my same kendo class when I still lived in Japan. Gawain, Bedivere, let me introduce my husband, Gilgamesh Uruk."

Both Gawain and Bedivere, who were a few years her seniors, gave respectful bows to the man known as the Golden Businessman and briefly shook hands with him. Bedivere was the first to speak.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We have heard about you on the news of course, but it's an honour to meet you in person."

Gawain agreed with his words with a nod.

"Belated congratulations on your wedding. We are glad to meet the man who captured the heart of our fiery former club member."

Their words were sincere and polite; it did therefore not cost Gilgamesh much to acknowledge them with a tolerably gracious nod.

Arturia, however, feeling that such a topic might lead the conversation into a dangerous territory, decided to change the subject, and gave them a mildly playful glare, surprising her husband, even if he hid it well.

"And you two, my friends? When are you going to make it official?"

Both laughed good-naturedly.

"We've just arrived to begin working here, Ria, don't immediately start to mother us before we even get settled in!" Gawain exclaimed, feigning an upset expression.

Bedivere grinned in approval.

"Besides, Ria, marriage is for old people!" Glancing between her and her husband, whom he still didn't know, and realizing that what was meant as a joke could not be very welcome for two young people who had gotten married less than a year before, he sobered up. "No offense intended, of course."

"None taken," Arturia replied nonchalantly, while Gilgamesh lifted an eyebrow but didn't reply.

Gawain shook his head in exasperation, giving his companion a half-hearted glare.

"And this is the brilliant man I should get married to? Give him first a few more years to mature and then I'll consider it!"

Bedivere pretended to be hurt at those words, and the exchange of light-hearted banter continued until Arturia excused herself, continuing towards her sister's room together with her husband.

As they were nearing Iri's room, the blonde woman softly murmured, "I'm glad that Bedivere and Gawain are the new head medics. They are exceptionally skilled of course, but they're very reliable people as well." She almost smiled then. "Even though they are also very unaware when it comes to feelings. It took them ages to confess to each other during the time I was in the kendo club with them."

Gilgamesh shot her an amused glance.

"I have few doubts that you helped them out in that."

She seemed half-sheepish, half-shrugging.

"Someone had to intervene and give them a little push. They were both too oblivious, and I didn't want them to suffer because they mistakenly thought their feelings were unrequited."

He almost rolled his eyes as he opened the room's door, standing aside to let her enter first.

"When there will ever be a moment, Arturia, in which you do something for yourself instead of only for somebody else, let me know. It will most likely be an event to remember."

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

"…Travelling?"

She repeated the last word of his monologue in a questioning manner, wondering if she had actually heard him right.

With uncharacteristic calmness, he resumed his explanation. They were both in one of the living rooms in their house, him lying down with a glass of wine in hand and her sitting with a cup of tea and biscuits, even if in all fairness, she had almost finished them already. It was late afternoon, and Sakura was downstairs in the kitchen, in the early stages of preparing dinner.

Arturia didn't even know how they had ended up sitting in this room, with Gilgamesh talking seriously with her about the growth of Uruk Enterprises and the necessary changes that were going to take place.

In order to supervise the rapidly expanding company, he needed to make a trip abroad for a period of approximately three weeks, to personally inspect the offices and determine whether the working methods were efficient, productive and effective. If necessary, he was going to promote new ones that were more modern as well.

He did not intend however to make such trip alone: he meant for her to come with him.

Arturia pursed her lips in thought. She did not have any excuses to actually refuse to go. Her family was more than well now; Illya was a healthy baby, and Iri was regaining her strength day after day, supported by Kariya and even by little Shirou. Her presence there in Japan with them was not strictly necessary, therefore she couldn't bring up the contract to try to avoid doing what he was asking of her.

To be fair, she didn't really know why she felt reluctant about making such a trip. She liked living in Japan, she liked what she did at work and – after becoming better acquainted with the company – had come to care about the growth of Uruk Enterprises as well; furthermore, she had recently come to acknowledge that she truly didn't mind spending time with her husband.

Yet she still didn't feel inclined to go.

Not because she didn't trust him enough to travel alone with him; she simply wasn't particularly interested in going with Gilgamesh around the world solely because she was his wife. It felt… decidedly demeaning.

Speaking of which, he still hadn't given her a real reason for which she had to go on the trip as well. She stared at him, contemplatively.

"You said that this is a business trip, Gilgamesh. For what reason do you need to have your wife with you, if it's purely related to work?"

He twirled his glass in his hand.

"There are going to be a couple of evening galas where your presence is required."

She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed and slightly annoyed.

"Two events in the span of three weeks don't mean that I have to be there as a decorative element for the entirety of the journey."

Before she could voice any more of her perplexity, however, he specified, "I'm not having you come with me just as my wife, but as my employee as well."

She stared at him once again, and her eyes now held some wariness.

He sighed. "You will be present at the various meetings, and are expected to actively participate in them."

There was a brief silence, before Arturia cautiously replied, "I don't intend to be disrespectful, but wouldn't Enkidu, or maybe Iskandar, be better suited for this? You made it clear that this trip is very important for your company, and you obviously want someone very familiar with the various offices; Enkidu's insight would prove to be invaluable."

Gilgamesh sat up from the couch, putting the glass on the small table in front of him.

"Your insight isn't any less valuable," he stated firmly, and she couldn't help blinking, in complete bewilderment at the unexpected compliment.

But he wasn't finished. A lazy smirk appeared on his lips. "Arturia, you know perfectly well that you are remarkably capable at your job. Why, did you believe I hired you because you're beautiful?"

Her eyes widened in shock. What–…?

He chuckled, very much enjoying both her expression and her discomfort. Truth to be told, he could go alone on the business trip; there was no true need for the presence of a wife aside from those two events, which he even had the luxury to skip. Nevertheless, as far as work was concerned, he did consider it better if someone else, someone he could trust, was present as well. And Arturia was perfect.

Regarding Enkidu, even if he had not been busy in Hong Kong, Gilgamesh preferred not to have his already overworked best friend travel with him abroad for over a fortnight. He deserved a break sometimes; besides, from his sources, he was also aware of the fact that Enkidu had taken a serious fancy to one of the employees in Hong Kong.

But aside from all that, another reason for which he wanted her to come with him was that he did not intend to stay away from Arturia for such a long period of time.

Knowing that she was still shocked, he smirked more widely.

"We will make a short stop in New York before going to Europe. Among several other countries, England will probably ring a bell to you."

Arturia snapped out of her surprise and her face betrayed her interest. England was the country where she had been born and where she had spent the first eight years of her life. She was even more surprised by the fact that Gilgamesh knew about that part of her past and, added to his weird compliments, she found that he had said enough to make sure she didn't have anything else she could take issue with.

His smirk was still in place as they heard Sakura's soft footsteps approaching, likely to inform them that dinner was almost ready.

"Excellent. Since there are no other objections, I suggest we move on to discuss the details of the trip. We are leaving in ten days."

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

During dinner – Sakura had already left because, even though she had not quit her job after the adoption, she now lived with Rin at their uncle Kariya's – Arturia found that she had several matters to address and discuss with Gilgamesh about their upcoming trip.

For one, she was adamant about preparing her luggage herself. Only after some annoyed insistence on his part did she reluctantly agree to have the Starks – the housekeepers – lend her a hand in the folding of the clothes. Gilgamesh had already selected the necessary wardrobe for the formal evenings, and he emphasized the fact that, even if it was officially spring in the northern hemisphere, it did not mean that it wasn't going to be rather cold.

Aside from the smaller and comparatively inconsequential details, there was a major issue that bothered the blonde woman, an issue she couldn't easily talk about with anyone.

When abroad, same as at the inauguration of the hotel, she was going to have to share more than a room with her husband: she was going to have to share a bed, and she remembered all too well what had happened the last time they had been forced into such close quarters.

She knew that she was being quite unreasonable and that her concerns were somewhat immature; it was nothing of great importance, as they were both supposed to be responsible adults and she firmly believed that Gilgamesh would keep his word about not doing anything to her… but she still felt a certain agitation about it.

She could no longer consider him a stranger, not after almost a year since signing a contract with him, spending so much time with him and actually opening up more to him than she had ever thought possible.

She had told him about her past, which she usually held under tight barriers. She had relied on him when she had needed help. She had even broken down in his arms…

Then why was the thought of sharing a bed with him – knowing the she did not need to fear him – making her feel so edgy? Why was that her main concern before readying herself to leave for a three-week long journey abroad, with hard work and troublesome social events awaiting them?

Arturia faced an inner battle with herself for the rest of the week, until she decided to firmly stop being so nonsensical and finally be mature about it – as she should be.

It was with that resolution in mind that she went to visit her sister and nephew and told them about her imminent departure.

"The trip will last about three weeks," she explained.

Shirou reacted very oddly. He first ran to her, clinging to her obstinately, asking her to hug him. Bewildered, she complied with his request, only for the boy, who was now sniffling a bit, to look at her straight in the eye.

"You and Uncle Gilgamesh will come back? Soon?"

Arturia nodded, and the boy surprised her by climbing onto her lap, leaning forward and kissing her cheek a bit sloppily.

Giving her a resolute smile, he told her, "I will help mommy and Illya in your place, Auntie Ria. I will be-behave while you are away, and I will then tell you all that I learn!"

Arturia, Kariya and Iri were all quite astounded by the boy's words; the white-haired woman was then the first to recover, and she smiled at her son.

"Auntie Ria will call often though, won't she?" There was a mixture of a plea and a request in her voice as she looked at her sister.

Arturia's smile was barely pronounced.

"Perhaps not every day, but I most certainly will. I will do my best not to call when it's the middle of the night here though."

Since Shirou didn't know what she meant exactly – he had slept through the former intercontinental trip – Kariya took up the task of explaining time zones to him more in detail, and as soon as he finished with his explanation, Arturia stood up to take her leave. She refused to say goodbye in any exaggerated manner; she wanted to keep things simple.

She softly caressed Illya's head – the little girl had finally started to sleep more regularly – briefly kissed Shirou's forehead, had a firm handshake with Kariya and then kissed her sister's cheek, before squeezing her hand briefly. She had already taken her leave from Sakura and Rin in the morning, while that evening she intended to cook on her own. Well, in truth, she was actually going to cook with her husband, but that was beside the point.

"I'll see you all in three weeks."

Iri, however, grabbed her hand again before she left.

"Stay safe, Ria," was all she murmured, and Arturia nodded.

"I will."

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

The flight to leave Japan was surprisingly spent in silence.

Contrary to the other time in which they had been on a long plane trip together – after their wedding – Gilgamesh seemed to respect her unspoken desire for quietness.

It could have something to do with the fact that the air between them was thick with inexplicable tension and was making it less easy to casually address one another, but she was wary about considering the implications of that line of thought.

She refused, and she was firm in her decision, to ponder over her husband more than was necessary. She needed to focus to make sure that those three weeks abroad went well. They were going to be under the watchful eyes of the media – as it was their first long trip together since getting married – but they were also going to have to do a lot of work that needed to be perfect. She wasn't going to see her family for the same period of time as well, and that meant that she was going to have to – almost always – interact solely with her husband.

This all meant that it truly wasn't the time to allow herself to have any distractions.

It was actually the first trip abroad Gilgamesh was making after their marriage as well. He had indeed travelled around Japan, but had never left the country after moving there. To better keep up the appearance of having a stable private life, he had delegated many trips to Enkidu, Iskandar and a few other associates he knew were sufficiently reliable, while at the same time he held Skype conferences with the directors of his smaller offices around the world.

For the current trip, Arturia was going to accompany him not just as his wife, but as his employee as well. When going into detail about the trip, she had briefly asked him if he intended her to be a secretary of sorts (and she couldn't say she was thrilled by the idea), but he had bluntly replied that she was not expected to be a secretary, because it was not her job. She was expected to do her work as coordinator at Uruk Enterprises, which meant putting her on the same level as the office directors and representatives.

She knew she lacked the experience in that department, and he acknowledged that, saying that that was precisely the reason why he didn't give her an actual office to run; but at the meetings, she was going to be supposed to listen and offer her input as often as possible.

Once they agreed on that, the Uruk couple didn't have anything else to discuss.

The first few stops in the US were very brief, and included nothing more than meeting after meeting at the main venue of Uruk Enterprises, where they had both been working before their marriage. In fact, Arturia hardly found the time to contact her former colleagues from college while she was there because of how hectic their schedule was.

It was also a slightly disconcerting impact at the beginning, having to go back to speaking English after so many months in Japan; she promised herself that she would make an effort to no longer neglect her language skills for such a long time. She knew that it was much easier for Gilgamesh, since he had at least one Skype meeting per week with people from all over the world, and therefore he never had the chance to neglect his English.

Right afterwards, they travelled to Europe, and there, sooner than she anticipated, Arturia found herself in a hotel room in London, getting ready for an evening gala.

She had just taken a shower and was now unpacking the formal clothes she had. She was much calmer than she had expected to be; a few days of travelling with her husband had already passed, and sleeping next to him had proven not to be an inconvenience at all. She had never woken up close to him as it had happened in Japan, and about that, she was relieved – or at least, she forced herself to believe that that was the case.

Gilgamesh was in the room as well, and he was looking at her with a smirk on his lips. A bit annoyed by that, she gave him a pointed stare.

"What is the matter?"

His smirk only widened.

"What will you be wearing tonight, Arturia?"

She studied him, and then raised an eyebrow as she informed him, deadpan, "Clothes, Gilgamesh."

Not very happy with her juvenile sarcasm, he narrowed his eyes, and she studied him once again before continuing, "Do you have something specific you intend to convey with the way we are going to appear in public tonight?"

He shook his head once and then went to his own suitcase, taking out a black evening suit with a vibrant red tie – the exact same shade as his eyes, Arturia noted – and a beautiful set of golden jewels.

Understanding his unspoken request, she examined her selection of gowns, and picked out a dazzling, very elegant dark red dress, which was going to complement his tie. Knowing that it was the perfect choice without the need to look at her husband for any kind of 'approval', she went to the bathroom to change.

After slipping on the dress, she brushed her hair briefly and then, as Sakura had showed her, she braided most of it up in a formal updo, leaving however a few locks down to reach her shoulders, since the dress had a low cut on the back.

As she came out, he wordlessly handed her the golden jewels to wear. It was undeniable, however, that his eyes swept over her, and from his expression, Arturia deduced that he was truly fond of the colour red.

Deciding once again not to ponder over that, she effortlessly fastened a small golden jewel on top of her updo, slid on a golden ring (it was in fact the former engagement ring) and some thin bracelets with ease and then eyed the necklace a bit warily. That was going to be a little tricky to put on, since her hair was already styled and was in the way–

Without a warning, Gilgamesh was suddenly behind her, his arms going around her to take the necklace from her fingers and unclasping it swiftly.

"Let me help my wife," was all he said, but the low note in his tone was very uncharacteristic, and she had to suppress an unexpected shiver at such a sudden proximity.

After a second of hesitation, she slowly raised her arms to lift her tresses in order to aid him in his task. As he very deliberately took his time in it, she found herself torn between glaring at him through the mirror in front of her and rolling her eyes, and ultimately managed to do both.

When she heard the distinct sound of the necklace being fastened, she let her locks fall back to cover her neck and turned to face him.

Taking him by surprise – and she could not deny she took pride in her small victory – she seized the last golden jewel, a pin, and expertly strapped it to his tie in the point where she knew he preferred having his pins most of the time.

His raised eyebrow almost made her smirk at him.

"Let me help my husband as well," she said nonchalantly, before linking her arm with his and guiding him towards the door.

They had an event to attend after all, and the underlying tension between them could wait to be clarified some other time.

*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*"*

The entire evening, Gilgamesh's arm hardly ever left its place around Arturia's waist, not even when he held a glass of wine in his left hand and they met other people – he did not let go of her to shake their hands. Following his example, she did not shake hands with anyone either, and simply gave nods and polite smiles to every person, satisfied that she could recall most names easily.

On this occasion, she was glad to meet several people who worked for the charities she supported. Their trip abroad was an excellent opportunity to widen the range of suitable donations she intended the Uruk name to be associated with.

Her husband's unusual display of possessiveness towards her was not lost on anyone, and she was very aware of the fact that the newspapers were going to conjure up an explanation for it sooner rather than later. The only explanation she herself could find for it was that Gilgamesh, as per usual, intended to give some vague hints to the press, to leave them to speculate and give publicity to his name.

However, every thought about that matter left her mind the following day, as one meeting after the other took place, and since every second required her complete focus, she couldn't dedicate her attention to anything else.

After four exhausting days of this kind, they left London to travel to Zurich and, as soon as they arrived at their hotel suite, Arturia was so tired that she just fell asleep on the couch after taking off her shoes and sitting down for a moment to rest, without even removing the rest of her clothes. Right after the last long meeting in England, she had spent the entire flight on some reports that had needed to be completed as soon as possible and hadn't even realized how much she needed to sleep.

When she woke up, she found herself in bed, comfortably tucked under the covers, while Gilgamesh was in the other room, sitting at a rather small table already set with an abundant breakfast.

She got changed, noticing that while he had obviously carried her to the bed, he had thankfully not attempted to do anything as outrageous as taking off her clothes – there would have been hell to pay otherwise – and then went to open the door to the hotel waiters, who brought in more breakfast and a copy of the international newspaper.

Absent-mindedly, she sat down as well, right in front of him, scanning through the front pages before raising an eyebrow at her husband, who was busy writing down a few things on his personal organizer.

"I think you will like this piece of news, Gilgamesh. Apparently, we are to expect our first child – or children, according to what they confirm here – in a little more than half a year. Another 'reliable source' claims that I'm still in my first trimester and that that's the reason why nothing has been formally announced yet." She gave him a sardonic smile. "Should I give my congratulations for the arrival of the twins?"

He did not look fazed by her sarcasm, seeming rather amused instead.

"I see that your attitude towards your possible pregnancy seems to have undergone a change, Arturia."

She gave him a flat stare, choosing to ignore his comment.

"Did you intend for these rumours to be spread?"

He gave a minimal shake of his head.

"The amount of absurdities the press can come up with for the sake of gossip is unpredictable – even for me."

She accepted his words, and concentrated on her food for a moment, before making a quick comment on the meetings they had attended. He did not give a reply of much consequence – he simply confirmed that he had been able to send her reports to Japan while she was sleeping – therefore she judged it safe enough to insist a while longer on the subject of the workplaces they had visited there in Europe.

"There are a lot of offices in this continent, but I've noticed that all of them are small. Don't you think–" she interrupted herself with a short hesitation, wondering whether it was her place to ask something like this, but then deciding to inquire anyway. "Don't you think there should be another new large venue, similar to the ones in the US and in Japan, and that there could be room for the growth of your company here as well?"

He looked interested enough in what she was saying – after all, he had always asked her to speak her mind during work meetings – therefore she continued, "If you intend to focus on more trips abroad, since you are expanding your business in Australia, I don't see why other continents should be neglected. You said yourself that you want your influence to extend everywhere."

He looked at her contemplatively for a second, and then slowly replied, "Other trips in the future are not impossible, even though right now the situation in Japan is still quite delicate and requires most of my attention; at the moment, Europe can't have priority. However, your suggestions are entirely reasonable and fitting for the good of my company – I will not forget them." He inclined his head to the side. "While I am aware that you enjoy your work, I didn't think you to be so interested in Uruk Enterprises' welfare."

Arturia raised an eyebrow, and steadily admitted, looking at him again, "I am very fond of what I am able to do at your company, and I will do everything in my power to support it and its growth."

He seemed extremely pleased to hear her words, and she felt slightly self-conscious at acknowledging her thoughts so candidly.

Now that she had addressed her concerns over Uruk Enterprises, she had a much more personal matter to address.

She had to thank him for not leaving her to sleep on the couch, but since she did not feel comfortable in doing such a thing, it was best if she did it as quickly as possible.

"Thank you for carrying me to the bed last night – and for being respectful enough not to take off my clothes."

Every word gave away his barely held back smirk.

"While your reaction would have been the most amusing in a long while, I will once again remind you that I–"

"I know," and there was the hint of a smile on her lips as she interrupted him with unexpected composure, "You made a promise to be respectful, and I know that you keep your promises." There was a short pause. "That doesn't mean, however, that I can't thank you for it anyway."

He put down his detailed program to lean forward a little and stare at her, a very odd light appearing in his eyes.

A bit unnerved by the peculiar intensity she could read in them and feeling her face heating up a bit at the proximity, she looked away and her gaze landed on his agenda. Involuntarily, she read the names of several places they were going to be in during the upcoming days, followed by the dates and information about the meetings they were going to attend there, until she read something strange.

Written in pencil at the bottom, there was the name of a Middle Eastern country with a question mark next to it, and then a line crossing it away.

Arturia furrowed her brow. As far as he knew, Uruk Enterprises did not have offices in the particular region there specified; why had then Gilgamesh thought of including that place in their trip?

She could not stop herself from asking that question, taking him a little aback with the abrupt change of topics. But his reaction was not what she expected.

His blood red eyes narrowed and the expression in them immediately closed off, becoming suddenly unreadable.

"Since we are not going there, Arturia, there is no need to talk about it."

She was honestly surprised by his curt reticence, which made it clear that he wasn't going to tell her anything; she therefore scrutinized him thoughtfully, before narrowing her eyes as well.

"Gilgamesh," her voice was sharp, "if you don't wish to tell me anything about it, I will respect that. But if there is any possible way in which my ignorance on the matter is going to constitute a danger to my family, know that I will make you regret it."

He didn't even attempt to hide a smirk that held a hint of pride.

"I didn't expect any less from you, even though your worry is completely unnecessary."

The silent staring contest that followed was over only once the waiters knocked on the door again to take away the empty dishes, and a brief nod on Arturia's part signalled that she accepted his words, albeit with some reluctance.

He barely suppressed a sigh. It was always so complicated when he had to deal with his wife…

…then why wasn't he feeling annoyed at all and instead merely wished he could have leaned a little forward to press his lips against hers…?

...

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