...

...

"That isn't a suitable colour."

Arturia could not help briefly glancing at Gilgamesh when he said that, mainly because he had appeared out of nowhere, but she then decided to focus back on the objects she was examining.

"For table napkins, it's indeed too bright," she agreed after a few more seconds of perusal. "However, I was actually deciding on the centrepieces."

"Why should there be any?" he countered, taking a few steps closer to her.

She frowned slightly, looking at him again, while the caterers stood in front of them, transfixed by their strange conversation.

"It's a formal dinner, Gilgamesh. It would be appropriate for the tables to have centrepieces."

He ignored the people around them, letting his arm casually go to envelop her waist, with purpose but slowly enough to give her the time to pull back if she wanted to, which she decided – once again – was something she did not need to do.

"They are useless," he pointed out. "The tables are small, having food and tasteful drinks on them is far more important. Furthermore, Arturia," something flickered through his eyes, "you aren't fond of such pointless decorations in the first place. Why should there be something you dislike at our wedding anniversary?"

Her eyes widened slightly at his words, but he brought a hand up to caress her cheek in that same moment, making sure no one else would notice her surprised expression. He leaned forward to peck her free cheek lightly, before turning towards the caterers.

"There will be no need for centrepieces," he said, his voice holding a tone of finality.

He was about to turn around and disappear to wherever he had come from, when Arturia grasped his wrist, preventing him from leaving. There was something strange in her carefully neutral expression, and his eyes sharpened on her.

"As you are already here, Gilgamesh, I presume you won't mind being involved in the selection of the wines." Her tone lowered slightly. "I know you won't after all tolerate anything but the very best."

At those words, he smirked at her and, with a sudden movement, freed his wrist, but only so that he could envelop her waist once again.

His eyes gleamed at her, but Arturia was swift in stepping even closer to him, so that no one else could hear her hiss, "And no, I'm not having a drinking contest with you."

Her tone was surprisingly neither irritated nor exasperated though; it was instead quite controlled, only barely holding a note of mirth in it. His smirk, which had receded slightly, returned in full force once his blood red eyes locked with her emerald green ones.

A moment later however, she was called to another part of the room to make the final decision about the curtains and the lights, therefore they broke apart. Gilgamesh gave her a short and neutral nod before finding other staff members and guiding them to the cellars.

It was probably the first time that he felt some actual reluctance when going to select his favourite wines.

Watching him leave from the corner of her eye, Arturia wondered how she was going to be able to continue to deal with such a situation, which was going to last at least until their wedding anniversary. As it approached, the preparations for the occasion were becoming more and more hectic, yet that meant that the interactions with her husband were becoming more and more peculiar as well.

To be fair, all Arturia found herself actually having to do was supervise. Gilgamesh had not exaggerated when he had said that a team of experts – from his own company, his department Grail Offices – was going to organize all the details, since he made it completely clear that he did not intend to allow either of them to waste too much of their time on such trivial stuff.

Arturia did not find much to complain about that, because it meant that all she had to do was choose some colour combinations among the ones presented to her and a few other minor matters, aside from simply giving her consent or dissent to what the planners suggested.

One of the things that made the task amusing was the fact that her husband seemed to enjoy being near her as she made those decisions, occasionally intervening himself and actually ending up debating with her.

Arturia knew that their relaxed way of addressing each other – yet it was only apparent, because there was always a hint of tension in their interactions – astonished the people who were working on organizing their one-year anniversary party, but she found that she did not care much about it. It was positive to have others see that both husband and wife were involved in the preparations – as it was rather likely that sooner or later the details would leak to the press – and to her, it was strangely pleasant to see how Gilgamesh did not seem inclined to be dismissive as he usually would have been.

No one had asked him to oversee the preparations together with her, she herself least of all, and neither did the contract; yet he did so anyway, and she could not deny that she too enjoyed the occasional oddly heated banter she ended up having with him.

Gilgamesh was being much closer to her, especially after his mother had left; but now that she thought about it, he had been close while she was present, too, and during their trip to Europe as well.

The shock of hearing about his best friend's almost deathly accident had certainly had an impact on the Golden Businessman, even if it was hard to see directly.

She had only noticed when she had been woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of him turning in his sleep, only to find him wide awake, sitting on his bed and staring out of the window, gaze lost into the distance.

She had never commented on it, but the third time it had happened, even though it was very late and she could barely see his form in the darkness, she had left her bed and walked over to his, cautiously reaching forward to try to touch his arm.

He had been quicker than her however, and had grasped her hand, holding it steadfastly but not roughly for a few seconds before letting it go with something she might have thought to be reluctance if she hadn't known any better. Neither of them had broken the silence, but she had then gone back to touching his shoulder – her original aim – and she had overcome her hesitation, squeezing it firmly, before letting it go and going back under her covers.

She had heard him do the same – even though he followed her example and did not say a word – and from then on, she never woke up at night to find him awake as well again.

The nightly scene had brought some turmoil into Arturia's heart, but she had resolutely pushed every demanding thought about it out of her mind.

It was normal and natural for Gilgamesh to have restless nights after what had happened. She remembered all too well how horrific her own nightmares had been about Iri and Shirou, not allowing her peaceful sleep for quite a while.

Well, that had been the case only until her husband had calmed her and had unexpectedly showed her his support, but that was beside the point.

No – she had to grow up and stop avoiding it: it was not beside the point.

Gilgamesh had been supportive when she had been subconsciously influenced by her fear for her sister's wellbeing, and the least she could do to pay him back was be supportive for him as well, especially now that he was going through a similar experience because of the scare about his best friend's life.

Speaking of Enkidu, he was actually doing quite well. He was going to be discharged from the hospital in time to attend the party, and that made Arturia glad. It also reminded her that Iskandar was going to be there as well, and a couple of days after the event he was going to move back to the US.

In fact, most of the people who had been at their wedding had sent confirmation that they were going to attend the one-year anniversary; the representatives of the charities they had chosen to support were going to be present, and many work colleagues were invited and were going to be part of the celebration too.

Arturia had taken up the task of organizing the wedding gifts – which were donations for charity purposes – and dividing them with scrupulous fairness among the specific charities the Uruk name was associated with. Such an assignment – she had chosen it herself – was proving to be rather challenging, more than she had expected, but she was determined to complete it to the best of her abilities.

Among the few people who had said they were unable to be present there was Medea Kuzuki of the Caster family, who was soon to become Mrs. Matou. The same Shinji Matou who had tried to deceive and trick Gilgamesh and Enkidu into a partnership with the Matous had been granted house arrest instead of regular jail – he had probably bribed someone for that – after having been convicted, and the Caster family had decided to unite the two companies. They probably did not know about Matou Industries not doing so well because it wasn't public knowledge yet.

Gilgamesh's only comment on the matter, when he mentioned it to Arturia, was that if the Casters did not want to lose everything they had, they had better be smart enough not to completely merge their already fragile empire with their heir's third husband's. But given that they weren't renowned for their sharp business sense, it was to be expected that in a few years both companies would go entirely bankrupt.

Aside from the guests, a matter that troubled Arturia slightly about the anniversary was the fact that both she and Gilgamesh were expected to say a few words in public. While he dismissed the issue by saying that it was only going to be something quick, formal and generic, she knew that she was not going to be able to shamelessly lie in a public speech of sorts, and that thought worried her.

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

A few days before the anniversary, Gilgamesh demanded for her to come shopping with him in order to choose their outfits, and she consented after very little resistance. They both needed after all to look their best, and while her wardrobe was hardly lacking, she could not refuse to go look for something more impressive to better celebrate their anniversary.

When she examined the dress that he presented her after a brief research, she immediately shot him a shrewd glance, narrowing her eyes.

"Your mother designed this, didn't she?"

He smirked at her.

"I will assume that that makes you like it even more."

She had half-a-mind to glare at him, but couldn't bring herself to do it, for he had made a very good choice.

While not something she would have selected herself, the dress was indeed dazzling. It was in a very elegant dark indigo, and it had the design of a majestic crimson dragon on it, which made it look like she was enveloped by its coils when she wore it – and not in a bad way.

For Gilgamesh, instead, there was a dark suit, again designed by Ninsun, whose cut was of course a perfect fit. Arturia, however, shook her head when she saw the golden tie he had selected, and surprised him by going through the possible choice of material on her own until she found what she was looking for: a tie in red with purple-blue shades that would match her own dress.

And when he looked displeased by the lack of gold, she simply suggested he strap a golden pin to the new tie – as he had done other times – and wear golden cufflinks.

When the day of the party finally arrived – even though not always directly involved in them, all the preparations had ended up irritating Arturia to the point that she just wanted to get the thing over with – they were getting ready in their room before taking the limousine to go to the exclusive venue that had been booked.

After loosely braiding and expertly tying her hair in a crown atop her head, in a way that, at Sakura's shy suggestion, would leave a few locks falling from it in some sort of natural veil, Arturia noticed through the mirror in their bedroom that Gilgamesh was taking out golden jewels from the safe.

Even though she lived with him and was his wife, she had never gone herself to take anything from the safe, as she did not believe she had the right to do so. Although Gilgamesh had not told her the combination to open it, he had made no attempt at hiding it from her, therefore she would have found it out, had she wanted to. But she didn't feel the need to; after all, she only wore jewels to attend particular events, and the rest of the time, she didn't need anything of whatever was in the safe.

She turned to go to him, allowing him to tie her necklace as he had done in Europe and, now that she thought about it, on the day in which she had talked about her mother and father, too. Then she clasped her bracelets and delicately fixed a large, finely decorated golden tiara on top of the crown of her hair, before leaning forward and tying his cufflinks, not even noticing how intimate a gesture it was, nor how close to him she was standing.

She did not see the way he was staring at her, the unadulterated intensity in his eyes as he took in the woman he cared the most about in the world, who was completely unaware of how near she was to him, as mere centimetres now separated her skin from his lips.

She did not see that, because she had felt it completely natural to go to her husband and help him with something as normal and simple and mundane as tying his cufflinks and strapping the golden pin to his tie.

But then again, she had her mind on other things, among which there were the short speech she was going to have to deliver, the uncountable number of guests they were going to have to greet, and the unpleasant task of having to smile for almost the entire duration of the party.

And that was all without mentioning the fact that she had completed the framed picture of their wedding ceremony, which she wanted to give Gilgamesh later in the day.

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

The venue was already full of people when they arrived, because Gilgamesh had decided to make it a point to 'let them wait' before making an appearance. Arturia did not relinquish the chance to tease him lightly for his drama queen tendencies, but she did not attempt to change his mind on the subject either; the less time they had to be at the event, the better.

Still, the amount of people who came to them – since they seemed to be glued together at their linked arms – to congratulate them was so large that she began to feel her head spinning and, after a while, wasn't able to distinguish between those who were being sincere and those who were barely hiding sneers.

Her replies became automatic, mechanical, and she could not wait for the day to be over. She was aware of the fact that she was leaning on her husband a little more than necessary for support, mainly because her headache was increasing, but he didn't mention it, therefore she assumed that he had noticed her mood and was being oddly gracious enough not to complain about it.

The moment of speaking in public was approaching, and Arturia dreaded it, even though she forced herself to stifle such an unreasonable feeling.

All considered, it wasn't going to be that bad: there were only selected photographers and reporters for the occasion, and they had had to pay to be there, giving all their money to the charities the Uruk couple had indicated.

Luckily, it was much quicker and far more harmless than she had feared.

Gilgamesh spoke very briefly, his arm not leaving his wife's waist as he curtly reminded the guests that the reason they were there was to celebrate their wedding anniversary. He then moved to the side to let Arturia come forward, and she didn't even realize that her prepared speech was flowing out without hesitation.

All she did was pronounce a few words in the microphone to thank the people for attending, and warmly invited them not to forget about the charities that were present that day.

She did not know, but when she talked about a subject that she considered important, her tone of voice and the feeling in it were unmistakably authentic, and no one would have been able to miss how much Mrs. Uruk genuinely cared about what she was saying.

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

The rest of the event continued flawlessly; late in the evening, once the guests were all gone, the Uruk couple could finally go back to their house.

Arturia was actually touched when she found her favourite nightgown freshly washed and ironed waiting for her on the beds – obviously not separated – as well as Gilgamesh's nightwear; the housekeepers Starks had been more thoughtful than they already were, since they usually simply folded and put the clean laundry in baskets outside their room.

She was too exhausted, however, to give it more than a passing thought, and after taking a shower – Gilgamesh let her use the bathroom first – she tried to lie down after pushing the beds apart. But it was no use: while tired, she was too restless, therefore she walked around the various rooms in the house for a while, before settling on the upper floor living room, the one she preferred.

Sinking down in one of the armchairs without turning the lights on, she closed her eyes briefly, trying to relax.

She was having mixed feelings about the evening. Very few people she cared about had been present, and the rest had been an exercise in extravagance to merely keep up appearances about their marriage. The only thought that could give her comfort was that at least they had raised an impressive amount of money for the charities they supported.

In this moment, however, she was beginning to question her earlier decision of wanting to give Gilgamesh a gift.

Their marriage was nothing but a contract; it wasn't… right… to give someone a present because of a contract.

Especially not on the anniversary of the fake marriage.

When she considered this premise, she couldn't help feeling rather foolish. Why again had she thought that it could actually be a good idea?

A sound startled her, and she looked up to see her husband entering the room, his chest bare, clearly having just showered, smirking slightly when he spotted her sitting there.

"You seem to hold a particular fondness for this room," he remarked, completely unconcerned about his half-undressed state.

In the darkness, he then went to the table, to take one of his favourite wine bottles and pour himself a glass full of the red liquid.

Noticing her wary eyes on him, he chuckled lightly. "Worry not, for I have no intention of testing your ability to hold your liquor right now, Arturia."

From those words and the slight leisureliness in his movements, she was able to guess that he was tired as well. It didn't really come as a surprise, since it had indeed been a long evening for both of them.

Swirling his glass in his hand, occasionally taking a sip, he was then the first to break the comfortable silence that settled between them.

"Do you have any concerns about the event? Your expression kept becoming sterner with every passing hour."

Surprised that he had indeed noticed, she stared at him in mild disbelief – at least as much as the darkness allowed it – before deciding not to hold back in expressing her thoughts.

"I know this marriage is only a contract. I've always known it. Yet… it was startling today. Everyone… every single person present… they were all deceived so effortlessly."

As soon as she pronounced those words, she hated herself for them.

She saw him stop in his movements with his glass for a split second, and from the little she could see, he seemed to get a very strange expression, as if all his features were suddenly sculpted into stone.

She opened her mouth to say something – anything – to adjust her statement, but he anticipated her.

His tone was void of emotions, metallic and detached.

"You are correct. The deceit worked well."

Maybe it was because of the matter they had just addressed, maybe it was because of the long evening, but it suddenly felt as if an invisible wall had been built between them. It had never felt so strange and awkward to be alone with her husband.

Arturia could not help feeling incredibly selfish, inconsiderate and thoughtless. What she had said could have been so easily misunderstood, and she was not sure about what meaning Gilgamesh had gotten. Yet at the same time, her nervousness around such a subject surprised her.

Her thoughts went again to the gift she had prepared for him. She had planned to give it to him this evening, but… would that be wise? Would it serve its purpose? Would it mean anything? Or would it be ambiguous in its meaning as her words always seemed to be lately?

Once again, Arturia felt foolish, and oddly discouraged. She could not give him that gift. It would not be right; it would not feel right.

Lowering her eyes briefly to hide her thoughts from him – she knew he was extremely apt at reading her when they made eye contact, and even in this darkness he was probably going to be able to discern more than she was willing to express – she then looked up again.

She had said something that had created a – hopefully minor – rift between them; there was no way she wouldn't try to fix things as quickly as possible.

Perhaps it was for the best if they changed the subject, since it was obvious that neither of them was comfortable talking about their wedding from a year before.

She thought about bringing up Shirou; her nephew always asked about Gilgamesh, fervently looking forward to showing his uncle his creations, especially since the blond man had rarely gone to visit the private clinic he resided in after Enkidu's accident.

However, bringing up Shirou would mean talking about her family, and Arturia did not think it was fair. She could not hide behind talks about her relatives to avoid facing her marriage.

She might dislike having to make an effort to show it, but she was braver than that, and she would clarify her thoughts.

Therefore, she slowly admitted, "Even though we came to Japan because of financial reasons… Gilgamesh… I am glad to be here. I like it here." Not wanting to stop herself now that she had started, she willed herself to repeat and impress upon him, "I like living here."

She saw him take a sip of wine, and heard him say, "I am glad you are pleased, Arturia."

Bland words, maybe, even though surprising coming from him, but there was an odd timbre to his voice that suggested that perhaps, just perhaps, he had been smiling as he pronounced them.

The invisible wall between then had not disappeared, but it had suddenly become much thinner, and Arturia found herself smiling a little bit as well. It felt good to have admitted something as simple as that, and to have him acknowledge it so directly.

He continued, however, "It is my hope though that you will be equally pleased when, in less than a year, we will be able to move back to the US."

She was somewhat taken aback, and not just by the slight hesitation in his tone.

It was true that he had told her – back when they had signed the contract – that they were going to live in Japan for roughly two years. However, there were a multitude of matters to consider, like Iri's recovery and rehabilitation, Shirou's education, the relationship between her sister and Kariya, and–

Arturia stopped her line of thought before she got ahead of herself. All this had more or less a year of time to be properly dealt with. Gilgamesh was talking and asking about her, not her family nor the people she cared about. Everything else was secondary in his implicit question; he had asked something different.

She was quiet for a few long seconds, before finally uttering, "I would like it there as well."

His strangely warm chuckle prompted her to finally crack a real smile, and she suddenly had to stifle a yawn. She had forgotten how late it was – and how tired she was too.

She was no longer as restless as she had been when she had come to the room; her head felt heavy with the remnants of the earlier headache still present, and she was now ready to go to sleep.

Before she could stand up, however, Gilgamesh had already done so and was suddenly in front of her. She saw him put his now empty glass on the table and then lean down, towards her.

Her brow furrowed in confusion and sleepiness.

"Gilgamesh, wha–"

A small sound of surprise escaped her lips as he picked her up in his arms. Startled by the sudden loss of balance, her arms flew towards the closest thing that could stabilize her, which was his naked chest.

Arturia was glad for the darkness of the room, because she was fighting – and losing – against an upcoming blush on her cheeks, while he tightened his hold on her as he carried her out of the living room. By now, she had been close to him enough times to have become rather familiar with the shape of his body, especially the well-defined muscles of his chest, and the thought only made her blush deepen.

After a brief journey, he put her down on their already separated beds. He had not spoken a word during that short route, without her knowing that he was silenced by the feel of both her hands on his chest and the contours of her body that the light summer nightgown did very little to conceal.

As soon as she felt her blankets underneath her, she protested weakly, her voice full of sleep, "Gilgamesh, there was no need for this…"

Once again, he chuckled lightly, seeing how she was rapidly losing coherence once her head was sinking in her pillows.

"You're not heavy, Arturia, so there is no need for you to be so shy."

Already half-asleep, she did not give him a reply and settled herself more comfortably in her bed, closing her eyes and quickly falling into slumber.

Before sleep could overcome her completely, she felt something meet her forehead swiftly, fleetingly, in a feather-light touch.

Had that… had that been a kiss? Had she felt his lips…?

The blissful oblivion granted by sleep made her forget about that last consideration.

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

The next day, Arturia did not allow herself to get lost in her thoughts when her mind went back to the previous evening.

In fact, she firmly avoided thinking about it as much as possible, especially as after a while, she started wondering which parts of it had been real and which had been products of her imagination. Having her imagination already beginning to fill in the blanks was an unneeded proof of the fact that she truly needed to control herself more firmly.

She needed to concentrate on other things, for example going to the hospital to see her family.

As Shirou and Rin played with Legos on the floor and Kariya took off Iri's last IV, Arturia occupied herself by changing Illya's diaper. The task had become automatic to her and did not require concentration, and therefore, against her wishes, her mind could not help starting to wander once more.

The talk with her husband the evening before was making her feel… strange.

On one hand, she disliked the fact that she had been forced to be confronted with their deceit more strongly than ever; on the other, the fact that she and Gilgamesh could have a talk in the darkness, half-undressed, and make it meaningful, well… it was quite surprising. One could even call it ironic.

And oddly precious as well.

Again, she thought back on the present she had meant to give her husband. It had been foolishly juvenile on her part to think of something like that, to try to give him something small to express her gratitude; she had obviously not thought things through completely.

How could she have thought that a photograph of a moment that symbolized their deception could be a good gift?

Their wedding had been – and was – just fake, after all.

Done with changing the baby's diaper, Arturia took up Illya in her arms, rocking her slightly and watching her slowly drift into slumber, before closing her own eyes as well and sighing.

That same morning, while Gilgamesh had been in the shower, she had taken out the framed picture she had prepared, but she had not been able to bring herself to throw it away. She had simply wrapped it up and put it among her things, hidden between clothes, in the closet in her 'side of the room' where her husband was never going to find it and that the cleaners and housekeepers didn't have permission to open.

Holding her sleeping niece to her chest, Arturia willed her mind to come back to the present. It was no use thinking about such pointless matters any longer.

She turned to bring a dozing Illya to her mother, and saw that Kariya had finished with the IV and was leaving because he had other patients to tend to. Iri gladly took her daughter in her arms, looking at her sleeping face with tenderness.

The white-haired woman then stared at her sister.

"Ria, may I ask you for a favour?"

Mildly surprised, Arturia nodded.

"Certainly."

Carefully, and still holding her daughter, Iri stood up from the bed. Shirou and Rin stopped playing to come near her and, as if he had expected it, Shirou went to one of the closets on one side of the room and took out a warm shawl, dutifully bringing it to his mother.

Iri thanked him before turning to Arturia again.

"Will you please help me go outside? I have never been in the gardens and the doctors said I can make it."

Hearing that made Arturia more pleased than she could express in words, and her smile was answer enough.

"Of course, Iri. If you wish, I'll also ask Kariya to–"

"No, please," Iri interjected, and Arturia felt both amazed and amused at seeing her light blush. "I would like… to surprise him."

Now understanding better, Arturia took the shawl from her nephew's hands and draped it over her sister's shoulders, making sure she was well covered. Even though it was summer, it was rather cool in the mornings.

Iri's walk towards the garden of the hospital was slow, but steady and firm. She was strong enough to be able to get there, and the smile on Shirou's face as he took her hand and showed her his favourite spots warmed her heart.

She held sleeping Illya in her arms, and Rin carried a book of stories for Iri to read to them once they were outside. Arturia kept close to her, ready to help her if needed, but making sure her presence was not overbearing.

The weather was particularly splendid on that day, and the beauty of the gardens seemed to give Iri strength. When she found a bench that she considered far enough, she sat down, and Rin and Shirou were eager to sit on both sides of her and hold the book as she read aloud for them, because Iri had her arms now occupied in holding Illya.

Seeing that small, pretty scene, Arturia felt her heart ready to burst. It was wonderful to see her beloved sister feeling so much better, being so relaxed and happy, quietly enjoying her time with a baby and two six-year-olds. But there was certainly a person missing in this picture, and the blonde woman, after being reassured about the fact that Iri was feeling well, discreetly walked away to go find Kariya.

She was in luck, as he had just finished tending to another patient, and it didn't take her much to convince him to take a brief walk with her in the gardens, after hinting at the fact that he was in for a surprise.

Arturia observed him keenly, and the pure and unadulterated astonished happiness that bloomed on his face at seeing Iri outside reassured her, and confirmed to her, that Kariya Matou was indeed a kind-hearted person who cared about her sister a great deal.

As they approached the bench, Iri smiled broadly at the man, who put his hand gently over hers – the same one that was holding Illya.

The blonde woman carefully seized the book from Iri and took Shirou and Rin's hands as well, quietly guiding them away to give the two adults some privacy with the sleeping baby. Arturia hoped they would finally talk more openly to one another, but she could not spend much time concentrated on her hopes, because the two children were insistently asking her to continue reading. Finding another bench, she sat down with them, and resumed reading where Iri had left off.

They remained there until Iri and Kariya reached them, walking slowly but without hesitations. There was a slight, tell-tale blush on the white-haired woman's face, and the grey-haired man's expression looked more distended than it had been in a very long while.

Without commenting on it and fighting to hold back a wide smile, Arturia stood up, giving Rin the book back and squeezing her sister's hand briefly.

She had to go – she was having lunch at home with her husband and she had work in the afternoon.

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

It did not take long for Gilgamesh to see that Arturia was in quite high spirits, and he stared at her rather intently for a while before uttering, "I assume that your sister is much better today."

No longer surprised about the fact that he could guess the reason for her mood so accurately, she nodded, and immediately started to relay what had happened.

There was so much serenity in her eyes as she told him that her sister had walked to the gardens that day, so much honest happiness, that Gilgamesh found himself plagued by questions once again.

What on earth had made him fall for her?

Why had he fallen for a woman like her? Why had he fallen for a woman who was at her happiest when she could see others happy? Why had he fallen for a woman whose primary wish in life was making other people's lives better?

That thought was unsettling mostly because it also reminded him of the unpleasant fact that, in their marriage, she was never going to be happy, as she instead deserved to be. Their marriage would not give her reasons to be happy herself.

He was forced to set those thoughts aside when she suddenly presented him with a specific issue.

"Considering my sister's progress, it's very likely that she will soon be discharged from the hospital. She intends to find a small place for herself and the children, even though I suspect that it's very likely for Kariya to eventually have a part in those arrangements as well. My wish is to invite Iri to stay here at our house for a short while before any other permanent change, also to help her look for job opportunities."

She gave him a pointed look, and he understood the implicit question in her words: was he against having Irisviel von Einzbern as a guest in their home?

He leaned towards her across the table that separated them – as it sometimes happened when she had only the afternoon at work, they were having lunch at home together – and smirked slightly.

"In the contract it is specified that you can invite whomever you want to our place, especially your family, and they have unrestricted access to this house. I don't recall those terms undergoing a change."

There was a brief moment of silence before he suddenly added, "Nonetheless, it's considerate of you to tell me about it beforehand."

He could not deny that he was pleased about the fact that she had actually chosen to inform him of her intentions before extending the invitation to her family.

She stared at him with a raised eyebrow in her mildly confused expression, and then she shrugged lightly.

"It's only fair to do so, Gilgamesh."

It took him all his willpower not to genuinely smile at her for such words and to hold himself back from bringing his hand up to caress her cheek. But he could not control himself completely.

A brief chuckle escaped him, and his eyes twinkled with the emotions he was valiantly suppressing.

"You are so fascinating, Arturia."

He could tell that she was puzzled by the way she stared at him questioningly, but he didn't add another word, preferring to spend the rest of the lunch in silence and merely stare at his, in his own words, incredibly fascinating wife.

...

...