Chapter 15

"Mr. Percival?"

"......Ah, sorry. What is it?"

Lately, Mr. Percival has been acting strange. He often seems to freeze up, and our conversations don't last very long.

According to Lady, this is proof that I'm becoming more refined, but I've only just started being able to speak without stuttering in front of the people of the earl's household.

Right now, I'm in the middle of tea training for the tea party. Every morning, I carefully choose a dress, take advice from the maid on my hairstyle, and put on the jewelry that has arrived, then apply makeup.

Could it be because of that? I think, but if that were the case, he should freeze up every time we meet (in fact, it did happen for the first three days).

Lately, it seems he often freezes up when we talk about the tea party or books. Perhaps he feels a bit embarrassed about the books my mother writes.

Still, I don't want to talk about my family. Since this is practice for me to speak, I have to initiate the conversation, but I realize I don't have many topics to choose from.

I thought, maybe I should try being the listener for a change, and I smiled as I looked into Mr. Percival's blue eyes.

"Today, could you tell me about your work, Mr. Percival?"

He covered his eyes with one hand, turned his face away, and finally covered his face with both hands, bowing his head down to his knees. He's frozen up. It's a severe case.

Incidentally, when it's a mild case, it takes about a minute to recover, but in severe cases, it doesn't seem to be a matter of time. All I can do is drink tea and nibble on snacks while waiting for him to recover.

If I hadn't known about this freezing up habit from the beginning, I would have been discouraged.

I would have thought it was because my conversation was boring. However, I'm good at waiting, and I'm patient. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to handle that sister... no, Casablanca.

"......When you smile..."

"Huh?"

Oh, this time he recovered very quickly. It hasn't even been five minutes.

I put down the teacup and turned around to see Mr. Percival looking at me seriously, his face flushed.

"When you smile, when you look happy, I remember the first time I saw you. I finally got used to the charm of the refined you in front of me, but when you make the same face as when you're in front of something you've always loved, my heart... it hurts."

My eyes widened in surprise.

Despite being such a wonderful man, he has no immunity to women, and he feels his heart ache when he remembers the time I bought a book I liked?

Wait a moment. At that time, I was a full-on bookworm. Yet, he still finds that cute.

When I understood this, I felt embarrassed. This conversation practice is a failure today. I lowered my head, blushing. I can't seem to speak anymore.

A large, rough hand gently overlapped with mine. I looked up hesitantly to see him looking at me as if he were clinging to me.

"Mimosa, one promise... no matter who proposes to you, you won't choose anyone but me."

I wish he wouldn't jump to such a topic suddenly. It's impossible for me to be proposed to, and I've already come here to marry. I just need more time to get used to the social scene.

It seems he has forgotten this. He suddenly became strange.

"I came here to be your wife, Mr. Percival. It's an impossible situation, so please don't worry any further."

"......Even if a duke or a prince proposes to you?"

"Of course. ...I am your wife. Have you forgotten what you said when we first met?"

I smiled, blushing, and leaned in to look at him.

"I am your husband. I'll say it too, I am your wife."