I Didn’t Know I Had Two Husbands - Chapter 32

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Next to the jewelry store was a shop that sold pocket watches. It was not an ordinary watch shop, but one that catered to noblewomen, with watches decorated in jewels.

“Do you want to look around?”

At his question, Elaria simply nodded, and Lucian led her into the shop. After silently finishing another order by memo, he continued placing orders without her knowing, at the shoe shop, at the hat shop, and elsewhere.

“Ah, this must be it.”

Elaria found the source of the sweet scent that had filled the entire street. The newly opened pie shop had a very ornate exterior. Lucian quietly took her hand and led her inside.

Once inside, the display case immediately drew her attention. Pies topped with all kinds of fruit, pies covered in various creams, even pies filled with nuts. With so many kinds on display, she couldn’t keep her eyes still.

Anyone doing business in the capital would recognize Lucian. Moreover, silver hair was rare, so he stood out even more. At his arrival, the shop manager hurried over and guided them to the best seats.

“I’m going to have the pie topped with cherries and figs. Which one do you like, Lucian?”

“Choose what you want to try.”

“…Then should I order one with chocolate cream too?”

At her suggestion, Lucian simply nodded. After ordering black tea to go with the pies, Elaria asked about the opera they would see that evening.

“What kind of opera is it?”

“I heard it was a big hit last year…”

Lucian glanced at her as he continued.

“Do you know <The Husband with Two Faces>?”

“Ah, I know it. Back then, tea parties were full of talk about that opera.”

“Have you seen it?”

“No, I haven’t.”

The price of a general opera ticket was about the same as a commoner’s yearly living expenses. Good seats would be even more expensive. Although Elaria was a noble, she didn’t come from a particularly wealthy family, so opera was not something she could attend freely.

Of course, Elisa seemed to have seen it one way or another.

“Hmm.”

At her answer, Lucian let out a faint sigh, sounding dissatisfied. Noticing his mood at once, she smiled and added,

“Actually, I wasn’t interested in opera.”

She could have begged her parents like Elisa, or gone along with another noblewoman, but she simply hadn’t been that interested. The only thing she had cared about, then and now, was him alone.

Pleased, Lucian leaned back comfortably against the sofa and smiled. The expression she had shown just now was unfamiliar. The usually ungreedy Elaria showed desire only when it concerned him.

That was something Lucian had always liked. Hiding his smile, he covered his mouth with his hand and turned his head toward the window.

“Pardon me.”

A server brought the ordered pies and tea. The beautifully plated pies looked extremely appetizing. Picking up her fork at once, Elaria took a bite of the fig pie first.

“Mmm, it’s so good.”

He quietly sipped his tea as he watched her savor the pie. Her mouth was so small that even a single bite made her cheeks puff out. Whenever that happened, he felt the urge to bite down on her soft cheek.

Elaria always stirred complicated feelings in him.

At the same time that he wanted to cherish her even at the cost of everything, he also wanted to torment her until she cried. He knew that this contradiction came not from her, but from himself.

He admitted that his nature was twisted.

Rubbing his lips with his fingertips, Lucian watched as Elaria put a bite of cherry pie into her mouth. The scent of the cherries, so dark red they almost looked black, drifted faintly toward him.

“…Do you want a bite too, Lucian?”

“Yes.”

Glancing at him as he watched her quietly, she cut a piece of the cherry pie with her fork and lifted it. Then she rose slightly from her seat and, holding her breath, brought the pie to his lips.

Between his slightly parted lips, his red tongue was visible. Elaria knew very well now how that soft flesh tormented her. They said only a married couple knew what happened between them, and it truly was like that.

Only she, his wife, knew how the ascetic-looking Lucian changed when they were together.

“Mm.”

It didn’t seem to suit the taste of someone who didn’t particularly like sweets. The moment the cherry pie went into his mouth, one of his brows furrowed slightly, and Elaria suddenly burst into laughter.

The reason they had come to the pie shop was entirely because of her.

Elaria gathered up these small signs of affection and held them close to her heart. He didn’t have to say he loved her. If he showed even these little gestures, she felt she could remain by his side forever.