A/N: As before, this is yet another way Haru could choose to handle being stuck with an absent husband that will force him to stop giving attention to another man's wife.
Pure Hands Part Three
Lune sighed with relief as he entered the royal apartments of the palace. "Good evening, dear!" he called while throwing his heavy cape over the usual chair that served him as a cape rack. "How was your day and the baby's?"
"Get in here now, your majesty," his queen whispered in a way that made every hair stand on end.
"Yuki?" he asked worriedly while running into the private lounge.
His wife, pale and beautiful as ever, was glaring at him worse than last month when he truly couldn't get her any pheasant when her craving was unbearable. In one hand, she was trying not to rip a piece of parchment. "Read this," she ordered coldly while extending it to him.
Although Lune couldn't help feeling a bit afraid of his wife when she was that serious, he gingerly took the parchment and began reading.
To my dearest cousin,
As much as it pains me to break my promise to you, I fear it's the only way you're going to see me again before I die.
I need you to reinstate me as one of your ladies in waiting as soon as possible whether the king likes it or not. We both know the idea was for me and the Baron to become comfortable with each other and perhaps start a family, but I have not been in the same room as the man since the night we married, and he informed me that he already had a lady in his aunt by marriage. I was not so much as given a chance to ask if we could be friends instead before he ran from me like I had the plague. I've only seen him at a distance since that day, which he isn't even aware of.
Yuki, I have tried my hardest to be patient with him and let him work through his feelings before trying to talk to him again, but it's nearly been a year since the king tricked me into agreeing to this farce.
"Hey!" Lune protested hotly.
"Keep reading," his wife snarled, needing no confirmation that he was near the middle of the letter.
I am not permitted to so much as take care of the household. My days are filled with nothing but sewing, reading, and horseback riding. Yuki, you know I'm done when I'm sick of my favorite pastimes! I don't have any friends here, even my maid is loyal only to the Baron. I can't express myself to her without getting judged for daring to find fault in a husband that will charge headfirst into suicide missions before he'd say 'hello' to me, and she loves gossip too much to truly confide in. I can't even adopt a pet because my maid has allergies. It will reflect badly on me with the common people if I dismiss her just to gain a bit of true companionship since she was born and raised in this baronetcy, and it was stressed to me that she was the finest local girl they could offer me the first night I spent in this horrible castle.
I have literally no one and nothing here. I'm so tired from people trying to tell me to be more assertive with the Baron when I already know that will drive him away even further, that I become disappointed every morning that I woke up again. It would be redundant to point out my insulting title as I'm sure you've heard it by now. Yuki, please take me back into your service. I've thought long and hard about how to ask your husband for an annulment, but he is clearly so besotted with the Baron that he will continue to see me as a necessary casualty.
Please, Yuki. You're the only reason I haven't arranged a little 'accident' yet. This is not what I kept myself from having an 'accident' for growing up, you know that better than anyone.
All my love,
Haru.
Lune gripped the letter reading through it again before collapsing on a couch next to Yuki's high back chair. He swallowed hard before turning to face his furious wife. "This isn't what I thought would happen," he explained weakly.
"You did know how Humbert felt," the snow-haired queen reminded him without a shred of mercy, her ice-blue eyes sharper than he could remember ever seeing them. "What made you think marrying him off to someone else was going to end well?"
Lune looked down, slamming the letter onto the small table between them. "It's just that they are perfect for each other!" he protested. "Baron told me how frustrated he was with his high position, and you made sure I knew Haru would prefer someone gentle and intelligent."
"He's not acting gentle or intelligent right now, is he?" Yuki asked between gritted teeth. "I already sent out the order for her to return to me, since Baron obviously can't appreciate her. I was thinking of sending for her soon, anyway," she added while rubbing her pregnant belly. "She's the only family I have left that I actually can count on when I… need support. I just wish she wasn't the type to say 'I'm fine' when she's anything but. We might have solved her problem before it grew this bad."
Lune sighed before sneaking another look at the top of the letter. "I don't see anything that looks like she's breaking an oath to you."
His wife sniffed in irritation as she tried to cover up her tears with a handkerchief. "That's because you weren't with me the night before our wedding. Haru swore to me that my crown would not change a thing between us, and that she would never take advantage of my position. I don't consider this breaking the oath since I know how Haru gets when she's depressed. She'll likely be a lot skinnier than when she left the palace since her appetite is linked with her happiness. Your precious Prince Humbert is literally killing her with his indifference, so she's mine again."
Lune flinched. "You didn't mention that part."
"Oh, and if I did, it would have made you think twice about using her to keep your childhood hero under your command?!" Yuki snapped as more tears escaped her control. "What's the point of giving a man everything he needs to be happy when he's already made up his mind to never be happy again?!"
ooOoo
Lune was still thinking over the terrible question the next day after watches had confirmed that the Baroness's carriage was approaching. Although he couldn't imagine that his cousin-in-law would be happy to see him waiting for her as well as his wife, some part of him needed this first impression of married life on her.
It felt like years for the carriage to inch its way to the front steps of the palace, and although the entire court wasn't in attendance, there were enough servants and high faculty to spread how the Baroness would first appear.
It couldn't be good, if the driver and footman of the carriage were giving the king nervous glances as they pulled around to a stop.
Not waiting for the footman to get down from next to the driver, a butler stepped forward to both open the door and lower the steps of the carriage so that the lady would be able to leave it more gracefully.
But it was a surprise to everyone when the Baron was the one who stepped out of the carriage instead.
"Baron?! What's the meaning of this?" Lune couldn't resist demanding in surprise as his wife made a low uncontrolled hiss of anger.
"My apologies for coming without being summoned, your majesty," the man apologized, holding one hand out in a way that indicated his wife would need help down from the carriage. "I received some news that required me to be here, if here is where my wife will be."
Yuki gave an indignant scoff as whispers began to be heard, which soon cut off when her cousin reluctantly placed her hand in her husband's in order to walk down from the carriage.
As the queen had predicted, Baroness Haru von Gikkingen looked very thin and tired, though surprisingly not too pale. Perhaps the mentioned horse rides had something to do with her complexion still being decent.
But it was hard not to notice that the Baroness tried to let go of the Baron's hand as soon as she was on steady ground, but he held firmer still to her fingers, silently insisting that she stay close.
Haru did her best not to scowl in front of so many witnesses as they stepped forward and bowed to the king and queen. "Your majesties," she recited, though it was hard to tell if there was any emotion for the one that called for her or the one that condemned her.
"My dear cousin," Yuki was able to say, stepping forward to hug Haru and kiss her on the cheek.
'Interesting,' Lune couldn't resist thinking while staring at the Baron, who frowned as he forced himself to let go of his wife's hand so that she could return the embrace, almost clinging to the queen in a way no one would dare correct her for.
Something had obviously happened between the Baroness sending that letter and her arrival. "Baron, come with me. It appears we have much to discuss," he ordered, since the young king both wanted answers and to put a bit of distance between his childhood hero and his wife, since it wouldn't look good if a fight started in front of so many witnesses.
Baron frowned further but reluctantly nodded as servants began unloading the luggage from the carriage. "As you wish, my king. Be sure to put all of that in the same room," he bade the servants, which almost made one of them drop his end of a large trunk with surprise.
"Now, Baron," Lune insisted to cover his own shock, since it wasn't exactly a secret that the couple had never spent a night together, intimately or otherwise.
The young king had never exactly timed himself on how long it took to walk between the front steps of his palace and his personal study, but he was pretty certain that he'd never made better time before sitting at his desk and pointing at the closest seat. "Sit and start talking."
The Baron deflated now that he was away from all the extra eyes and almost slunk to his chair if his good breeding would have allowed it. "You were right, and I was wrong. Every single person that's tried to tell me to just talk to her was right, and I was wrong."
"Oh? Was talking to her not as terrible as you told yourself?" Lune couldn't resist twisting the knife, making the golden-haired man flinch with physical discomfort.
"… In a way, it was, but not how I expected it. Her maid warned me the first chance she got that Haru was not just leaving but had no plans of coming back. I thought for sure we would have had at least one bad experience before she gave up on me and… I can't tell you how painful it was to find that she…" Baron sighed sadly after struggling to find the right words. "I don't know why I was so surprised that she didn't appreciate being ignored for nearly a year."
"Who would?" Lune asked point blank. "Especially by a new spouse you should have a blank slate with?"
Baron flinched again and swallowed hard before answering. "I'd rather keep the details of my tongue-lashing to myself, but suffice it to say, I now fully understand why you decided to marry us and that I have no chance whatsoever for a better woman if I don't fix what I've broken. She refused to send me so much as a letter this entire year to avoid pressuring me when she knew how easy it would be to drive me away. That's how I knew this was serious."
"Thank heaven," the king groaned with relief, actually sliding back in his own chair at the good news. "If she had arrived alone and I had been convinced things were as bad as she said in the letter, annulment would have been an option. I don't need to go into the consequences that would have made for you."
"I'd have deserved everything down to banishment from this kingdom as well," the Baron agreed without a fuss. "Haru doesn't believe I have much chance for success, but my plan is to win her favor back enough to convince her to return to the baronetcy of her own free will by the time your wife and child are stable enough not to need her."
Lune smiled a bit at that. "I assume you'll also take care of the reasons why she hated it there that didn't directly involve you?"
"Already in motion, even if Hiromi feels like she's being punished for looking out for my interests over her lady's." Baron smiled a bit ironically. "The people I preside over are very afraid of losing me, but I think they forgot even more than I did how much Haru really is tied up in whether or not I keep my position."
"That took far too long, Humbert," Lune scolded him. "Your marriage problem was turning into my marriage problem! You heard directly from me how much my wife loves yours and wants her to be happy, and I don't like that she thinks I see her as a 'necessary casualty' to keeping you in my service."
Baron flinched again. "I have no intention of… disappointing her or your majesty again. I never liked… disappointing."
Lune recognized the way he said that word. It wasn't hard to imagine that the exiled prince found whipping more bearable than having 'disappointing' applied to him.
It wasn't hard to imagine that the word came up during Haru's tongue-lashing. Perhaps more than once.
Lune leaned over his desk to pierce his newest noble with a glare that was half-ice and half-fire thanks to his mismatched eyes. "Make good use of this second chance she's allowing you, Baron. Because I won't allow a third one."
Baron bowed from his seat without missing a beat, though his hand for some reason strayed to his neck. "I've already shown my wife that a third one won't be required."
X Why am I on such an angst roll? This second part has a stronger 'T' but nothing explicit. X
"My lord?" the guard at the Baron's study asked, cracking the door open enough to poke his head through with a worried expression.
"Yes, Seiji?" the former prince asked as he looked over the castle's monthly balances.
"Your lady is here. She begs a moment of your time."
Baron flinched, since he was half-expecting it after what her bodyguard had reported about her horseback ride the day before. His stomach clenched in dread at what she was likely to ask or even demand of him. But since this was the first time in almost a year that she had tried to contact him, he couldn't help feeling an obligation to such a small request. "Send her in," he sighed while trying not to sound reluctant as he set the monthly budget aside. 'Please don't let her go into hysterics when I say no!'
Seiji opened the door wide enough for the young woman to march in, her face tight and…
The baron blinked at her as she marched up to his desk and tossed a paper in front of him. It wasn't that she looked ill, but there was definitely something missing from her demeanor from his memory of her. It wasn't just that she was skinnier, and she had been plenty skinny before. Perhaps it was because she was dressed for travel? She also looked like she hadn't slept since before yesterday's incident that drove her to her room and to refuse both supper and any assistance from her maid.
"Sign this and I'll be out of your hair," Haru informed him without emotion.
Baron forced himself to look down at the paper she'd given him. His eyes widened at the handwritten document, since this was not what he was expecting her to demand. "I think you missed a few key steps, dear," he informed her while taking the paper and ripping it in half without consideration.
Though startled at the swift refusal, Haru glared at him. "If there are missing steps, they were your responsibility. I strongly suggest you sign the next document when I'm done rewriting it." Without so much as a curtsy, his baroness turned on her heel and began the same march to the door.
Baron didn't waste another second, leaping out of his chair and slamming the door shut from behind her when she tried to open it. "But as long as you're here, it appears we're overdue for a talk."
"Were you really waiting for me to draw up divorce papers before you'd talk to me?!" Haru snapped, turning around to glare at him. "I gave you almost a whole year to come to grips with the marriage, and I'm done waiting!"
He flinched. "Then let's talk right now-"
"Did the king lie about that, too?!" his wife demanded, using both of her hands to try shoving him away. "He told me that you don't like mind games, so stop treating this like a ploy for your attention!"
The tawny man sniffed, trying not to laugh that she couldn't make him budge an inch. "King Lune was telling the truth, and you would have started using ploys within a month if they were your style. I'm aware."
"But unappreciative," the brunette growled, now using both hands to push at his arm still holding the door shut so that she could leave. "You've made it clear in word and deed that I'm not to your liking, you are absolutely not to my liking, so stop pretending you want to stay married and write your name once. I'll literally never bother you again, isn't that what you want?!"
The Baron blinked. "You never bothered me." 'Even when I expect it of you.'
"Lies!" his wife snapped, suddenly punching him in the stomach.
It was probably meant as a distraction so she could open the door, but he couldn't resist the urge to laugh when she yelped in pain while he only winced.
"Are you wearing armor under- never mind," she swiftly cut herself off with a furious blush, turning back to the door to try yanking on the handle. "Fine! If this is what you're going to force me into, fine!" Giving up on the handle, she started marching toward the window in the exact manner she had approached the door.
"Oh no you don't," Baron disagreed, grabbing her from behind before she could try exiting through the window. To keep her from kicking him or stomping on his feet, he lifted her off her own with relative ease and gently sandwiched her against a wall to immobilize her until she calmed down.
"Baron, you stop this right now!" his wife yelled as she struggled against him, clearly not caring if she was overheard. "You've had a year to act like this marriage means something to you, I did everything I could to respect the fact that you don't want me, but I'm done! I can't live like this anymore!"
"Like what?" he asked calmly, feeling a bit like he'd caught a wildcat.
"Like what?! Like an unwanted ward, you clod!" Haru screamed at him. "If that's all I wanted out of my life, I'd have stayed with my sorry excuse of a father!"
Even though it was an insult to her own family, the Baron felt it like a physical blow.
"I'm not wanted, needed, appreciated, or anything else here! Even my maid is loyal only to you because you treat literally everyone better than you treat me!"
Baron winced. "… I deserved that."
"Good, we finally agree on something," she snapped while still struggling. "Now let me go and sign the divorce agreement."
"You know full well why I can't do that," he tried to remind her while mentally kicking himself.
She was literally the only reason he got his new title, lands, and castle. After explaining why his heart was spoken for, she'd been understanding to the point where he'd forget he was married at all if it weren't for the servants and other noblemen reminding him every chance they got.
"If you wanted to keep all the benefits of being my husband, then you could have at least talked to me once a month or something! I shouldn't have to be this lonely in my marriage, and I want to be useful! You won't let me do anything, you could use one of my dresses for a scarecrow and nothing would change! Should I leave behind one of my dresses so your people can take care of it?!"
The former prince frowned. Other than the constant guilt-tripping about how he was handling his marriage, missing his home and his lover, he'd managed to be content with his new life.
His one anchor to it clearly didn't feel the same. What had she been through to even hint that below the bare minimum would have sufficed to keep her pacified?
… What kind of husband was he, to not give her below the bare minimum he knew she deserved? He looked over at the paperwork littering his desk, realizing that at least part of the solution to their problem was what he had been working on before she stormed in like a thundercloud.
"If I teach you how to manage the castle's finances, would you be willing to learn?" he tried, since it was clear that not having responsibilities was one of her many complaints.
"I already know how, thanks," she snapped, making him freeze up in horror.
Without thinking twice, he set her on the ground, released her, and turned her around by the shoulders while locking eyes with her.
"Repeat yourself, please," he whispered in a deadly serious tone that had never failed to get an immediate response.
It was enough to snap his wife out of her rage, but she still straightened under his hands to glare back at him. "I am fully trained on how to run a household. Mostly because Father didn't want to pay me enough attention to stop Mother when she was alive."
His left eye started twitching as he remembered how many nights he had gotten minimal sleep, because he was wary of trusting such details to servants ever since his father's accountant proved to be a thief. He'd been disappointed when her father advised him that Haru would not be of use in this regard at their wedding.
Frankly, he'd been using doing 'her' job as well as an excuse as to why he didn't have the time to go see her.
He picked her up again, paying no attention to her protests this time as he marched over to his desk and set her in his chair as carefully as his temper would allow him. "Show me," he ordered, not entirely sure if he would be angrier if she was lying instead of her father.
Haru gave him a baffled look but brushed aside the destroyed divorce paper to look at the same paper he'd been pouring over. "How many people are employed in the castle?" she asked, since the numbers didn't mean much without a head count.
"Two hundred and thirty-six, two hundred and fifty-seven if you consider mouths to feed," he was able to recite.
"All that for just two people to live here," Haru muttered under her breath, looking over the numbers carefully. Once she looked through the right documents, she sifted around for the quill and ink pot to finish the configurations that her husband had started.
He watched her carefully, noting that although she was slower than he was, she was meticulous enough to even forget that he was looming over her.
She hummed under her breath while scratching down her own notes. "Rotating the fields ensures that the amount of grain and produce stays consistent while allowing the ground to rest and recover… Good to see we're stocking up on wool and candles for the winter… Let's divert a quarter of my monthly budget to Zeniba, Hiromi said she was complaining about needing more ingredients for her healing potions. I never use it all, anyway, and we don't want to leave a healer with limited supplies in case of emergency."
"… No. You barely scratch it," Baron admitted, feeling ashamed since he'd seen for himself that she rarely asked for more than what it would take to keep her hands busy.
Thanks to Hiromi's report, he knew just how many of the castle's bedsheets and tablecloths were hemmed or decorated by his wife. She never so much as asked for a single fine weave to make herself a new dress; her needle had been dedicated to being practical and useful.
Not for the first time, he wondered if the sheets on his own bed were hemmed by his lonely wife. He wouldn't put it past the maids to go out of their way to arrange it.
Haru stopped herself and set the quill back in its holder. "Why am I getting invested?" she scolded herself while making to get up from the chair.
"Because you take things seriously," her husband answered, pushing in the chair to keep her from trying to escape him before they were done. "I think I may have to break your father's nose next time I see him."
"Oh, now you bother with sweet talk!" she snapped, only shoving once against his casual strength before reluctantly accepting that she wasn't going anywhere until he relented. She gave a heavy sigh before placing her elbows on the table so that she could bury her face in her hands. "Just let me go, Baron. I want to be happy. If you want to be miserable and alone the rest of your life, that's your decision, but please don't force the same on me."
She may as well have stabbed him.
Baron actually flinched, feeling too guilty to look at her. "… No. I… I don't want to be miserable and… and alone."
She laughed angrily. "That's not what your actions have been saying. Was there any method to refusing to let me ask if we could be friends instead, or have you been pouting this whole time that I'm not the princess of Olpan, and I never will be?"
Her husband blinked. "That would have sufficed?" he asked incredulously.
"Back then, yes," Haru confirmed, still not looking at him. "I was so eager to escape the marquis and make a better family than the one I escaped from, I was more than willing to do whatever it took to have a happy marriage regardless of whether there was love. I was so certain that if I demonstrated that I respect your feelings by not forcing my presence on you, you'd eventually respect me back and try speaking to me as an ally if nothing else."
That hit worse than any lance, including the one that sent him flying when he was still learning how to joust.
He leaned against the table as the realization crashed down of just why the king had been so certain that the royal cousin-in-law was the girl for him. He'd been so certain it was because the young king wanted to be his relative, if only by marriage.
"… I have made a mistake," the Baron managed to choke.
"Daily mistakes," his wife corrected, looking at him with a strangely morbid satisfaction that he was finally understanding her frustrations. "You could have dropped in to see me any time you wanted, even if it was just a quick greeting or to see if my accommodations were sufficient. I won't bother lying; I resent you for using the servants as spies instead."
"They weren't spying," Baron defended himself hotly.
"Oh, so you weren't informed of what happened yesterday to make me finally snap?" Haru stated more than questioned.
He flinched. "That was a very big decision you tried to make, of course I was informed."
"So did locking myself in my room and refusing dinner or Hiromi's assistance merit 'a big decision that you needed to be informed of'?" she demanded, scooting the heavy chair back and escaping it since he was too distracted to hold her in. "Did you care even a little that I was willing to go that far to have a child in a way that wouldn't disgrace either of us? Didn't you care about how lonely I've been to try snapping up the opportunity without at least informing you first? Was it of no consequence to you that when she backed out right before setting the baby in my arms, I could have died from disappointment?! Do you know how hard I had to fight with myself to handle the rejection with dignity?! That even when I'm in the worst pain of my life, I still have to maintain my composure because I'm a lady, and that's what ladies do?!"
Baron flinched at each sentence like it was the lash of a whip. "You would be depressed if I told you how few ladies hold the title to the same standard you hold."
"I was in the royal court for six months before Lune decided to claim you, I'm well aware not everyone thinks beyond their advantages," she stated flatly. "But did you care about my pain, even a little?"
Baron flinched. "… I was aware that you were terribly disappointed that Shiro's widow changed her mind. But… since we…"
"Since we aren't close, it wasn't your problem?" Haru snarled at him. "When the fact that we aren't close is because you didn't want to be?"
He flinched again. "… I thought it would be better to leave you alone, since you made perfectly clear to Hiromi that you wanted to be left alone."
Haru glared at him, inhaling and exhaling sharply through her nose to keep from blowing her temper again. "Since leaving me alone is your solution to everything, just sign the agreement for the divorce. Especially since you made sure that there would be no personal attachment between us, to the point where complete strangers call me 'the virgin baroness'."
Baron choked. "That's an exaggeration, and a rather grotesque one."
Haru raised an eyebrow at him in surprise but responded by pointing at the door while maintaining eye contact. "Why don't you ask the guard at your door if it's an exaggeration? I don't know how you didn't hear, especially since you get out a lot more than I do."
Baron did not like how she worded that. He did not appreciate the implication that complete strangers were laughing at their predicament. "Stay away from the window," he ordered while marching to the door and throwing it open.
Seiji was standing at full attention respectfully, though he looked terrified.
"You could hear us?" Baron asked, not beating around the bush.
"Yes, my lord," he recited after a nervous gulp.
"Do people actually use such a vulgar term for my wife?" the lord prodded, not liking the body signals that were screaming the affirmative before the soldier could force himself to speak.
"Y-yes, my lord."
"That is insulting and ridiculous!" the tawny man fumed. "Am I called the virgin baron as well?!"
"Of course not, my lord. You had a life before coming to Alon."
"That doesn't mean I-" Baron cut himself off since he was about to insult his family of origin.
They weren't exactly angels, but even if his bad-tempered uncle would never admit it, they were still his kin.
"How widespread is that insulting title?" Baron asked instead between clenched teeth.
Seiji looked at him with open fear.
"Answer, man! How far has that insulting title traveled?!" Baron bellowed, even as he felt guilty about yelling at one of his servants.
The soldier tried to speak, but his voice failed him even as his lips tried to form words.
"All of Alon and the surrounding kingdoms call me that," Haru informed him coldly. "It's probably traveled even farther, but this much has been confirmed by my father every time he sends me a letter ordering me to get you drunk and be done with it."
This was too much. His marriage was nobody's business but his and Haru's. Things had been embarrassing enough every time the king summoned him to court and all anyone wanted to talk to him about was if he was ever going to 'do anything' about having a young pretty wife.
He'd had no idea that things had gone this far.
"Now do you understand why I want a divorce?" Haru asked him, her glare evident through her tone since he was still facing away from her. "I don't like having entire countries laughing at me over something they know I can't control."
But he could. He'd been the only one in control of that.
Making up his mind in an instant, he didn't bother closing the door before turning on his heel, marching up to her, and throwing her over a shoulder with even more ease than a sack of wheat. "Then let's fix it," he informed her, turning again to march out of the room.
"Baron, no! Not like this! Just divorce me!" Haru yelled in mortification as she tried to beat on his back with her fists and her legs flailed as he kept a firm grip at her knees to hold her in place.
Honestly, her fists felt more like a massage than abuse. He did his best to keep a blank face as he marched to his own chambers, secretly taking count of how many people were watching him carry off his wife like a cave man as she shrieked her disapproval and tried to escape his unyielding grip.
If people were so insistent on talking about his marriage when it was none of their business, he was going to give them something to talk about.
"Do me a favor and stand guard three doors down," he informed the guard in the same hallway as his personal chambers. "Let no one close to my room and send word in five hours that the baroness's belongings are to be transferred to where they should have been in the first place. No one needs to hear what's about to happen."
"Baron, no!" Haru screamed as she fought even harder to escape, but his grip was too firm.
Mitskumi beamed at him and marched to the lookout point he had been ordered to. "About time, my lord."
Deciding not to answer that, Baron had a bit of difficulty getting through the door since his wife had gotten a hold on the door frame and wouldn't let go until he specifically walked at an angle where her fingers would slip so that he could turn and lock the door just in case.
"Baron, I'm serious, not like this!" Haru was now begging, but he paid her no mind as he continued the same march to his favorite couch near the bed.
He carefully sat her on it, making sure to whisper his intent before she scrambled away from him. "Terribly sorry for the fright, dear. There wasn't really an opening to ask if you are any good at faking a show."
There were tears still streaming from her eyes, but his words did have the impact of making her pause long enough to hear more.
"Keep your voice down, just in case," he begged her as gently, standing to his full height and turning to his personal weapons cabinet. He selected a plain dagger for his purpose, but suddenly felt the chain of his beloved roll against his neck as he turned to the bed, reminding him of the one he wanted.
It was strange that in his rage, he had forgotten about Louise. He shook his head, sighing sadly. 'It's for the best. Loyalty to my uncle's wife is doing more harm than good.'
To make sure that his wife didn't misunderstand his intentions, he set the dagger on the closest table before approaching his wife and unclasping the chain he had once sworn would never leave his neck. "Would you do me the favor of making sure I never lay eyes on this again?" Baron asked as softly as before, allowing the chain to slip out of his fingers and into her own. "I can't do this with Louise's favor around my neck."
Haru stared at it, confused that a princess's favor was such a simple gold chain. Her eyes trailed to the dagger again, and she seemed to understand his plan. "I… can do that. But is a baronetcy worth mutilation?" she asked unsteadily while using her handkerchief to dry her remaining tears.
"A simple cut is not mutilation," he corrected her, turning away from her to reclaim the dagger and do the same march as before to the bed. "Tell me, Haru; have you ever heard any unsavory rumors about how royal and noble marriages are handled in Yrael?"
Haru didn't answer, but a glance behind him after he pulled the covers off the bed revealed an embarrassed flush, even though she looked like vomiting was a possibility.
"I see you have. It is my misfortune to inform you that such rumors have more than a little basis in fact."
"… That's disgusting!" Haru exclaimed right before slamming her hands over her mouth, blushing harder as she snuck a peek at the door.
Since such an outcry was expected, Baron wasn't worried if anyone overheard her say that. He pulled off his red overcoat and his linen shirt, since he knew it would give things away if the maids found blood anywhere but on the bed. "I am sorry for never telling you how much I appreciated the wedding gift you offered. Although belated, I hope you will accept my own wedding gift. Father never stopped wishing he could have given it to Mother."
He approximated where the stain would be if it was genuine, sat on the bed, and gave the back of one shoulder a good cut before laying down on the sheets.
His father had always been specific about where to make the cut, since he'd had plenty of time to think over possibilities like a servant noticing if he had a bandage on his arm or hand if he had managed to come up with a convincing argument to skip over married male relatives having access to the honeymoon chambers, just once. His father always mourned how his mother never recovered from the humiliation.
He saw Haru approach him on the bed, though he was amused that she was holding a hand to her eyes in a way that made him think she was trying to only look at his face.
It was… nice, actually. He'd made it a point until today not to let women see him shirtless since they were unreasonable enough at seeing his face alone. It was sometimes hard to maintain that thanks to injuries on the battlefield or the tourneys, but it was still pleasant that Haru didn't throw herself at him.
He wasn't likely to need worrying about that for a while.
"Well. No one's going to believe anything other than what you want, now," Haru sighed in resignation, almost too soft for him to hear. "… and no. The only lies I'm good at is when I need to pretend I'm not bothered."
Baron frowned, not liking the tone that implied that she had plenty of experience in that before marrying him. "Things will be better from here, Haru. I promise."
Haru sighed again, but seemed to understand that fighting for divorce was now little more than a distant daydream after word got around of her husband's actions. "Well, at least I'm now in a position to smother you with a pillow if you disappoint me again. Do you have healing balm?
"Check the top drawer of my weapons cabinet, in the green jar," he recited, now happier than ever that he had insisted on keeping some on hand.
As he watched his wife quietly fill his tea kettle with water and set it in the fireplace before readying the healing balm and a second handkerchief to treat him, a strange feeling slowly took root.
There was something very… right about having her around.