Chapter 10

About two months after the wedding.

Rafina, who had been preparing for life after divorce while in disguise, found that her future plans had changed somewhat.

She wanted to part ways as amicably as possible.

After that, she planned to leave the castle and live quietly in a corner of the Argald territory.

However, now she was considering staying in the castle or the town after the divorce.

This was because, at some point, Berion had started to seek her opinions on various matters.

Policies to reduce the burden on the maids and address the shortage of staff, matters concerning the children's education, and ways to utilize the lemons that grew abundantly in the territory.

All of these were simply based on her knowledge from her previous life, but Berion valued her input.

She was now planning to establish her position in the castle and, after the divorce, try to be hired as an employee.

(Ah, right, this must be what they call a reincarnation cheat. I'm sorry for my amateur knowledge.)

At this moment, Rafina was washing lemons outside the kitchen to develop new lemon dishes.

Berion seemed to be considering how to add new value to lemons, which were used mainly for flavoring in dishes and drinks, and promote them as a specialty of Argald.

"Hmm, hmm, hmm..."

After finishing washing a large number of lemons while humming a tune, Rafina's gaze fell on a hedge a little distance away.

"Oh?"

A piece of cloth was visible through the greenery of the hedge.

It looked like laundry that had flown from somewhere, but Rafina recognized the cloth.

"Your Excellency?"

As she approached, it turned out to be the cloth Berion was using to hide his horns.

The cloth slowly rose, quickly becoming as tall as she could see.

"Were you taking a nap? I think a bed would be more comfortable."

"I was just closing my eyes for a moment. I heard your singing."

"You heard it... I'm embarrassed."

"I'm used to resting anywhere. I was on many expeditions until recently, and anyway, my horns make it impossible to lie down."

"Horns?"

Rafina felt a bit like the topic had been diverted, but she looked up at Berion's head.

"Now that you mention it, that's true..."

The horns, hidden by the cloth, were four in total, two on each side.

They curved upwards from the front and twisted backwards from the sides.

With horns protruding in all directions, it indeed seemed impossible to lie down on a bed.

Not only on her back or side, but even on her stomach.

"How do you sleep at night?"

Rafina and Berion were married, but it was a white marriage, so they had never shared a night together.

Thus, she had never known or even considered where and how Berion slept every night.

"I sit in a chair."

"A chair!?"

"To be precise, a sofa. A single-seater."

Rafina was speechless.

That couldn't be called sleeping.

"Can you crouch a bit? Just a little... like that."

Berion followed Rafina's instructions and crouched, ending up on his knees.

It looked as if the wife was making the husband bow his head, but fortunately, no one could see them hidden by the hedge.

"Please bear with it for a moment."

She removed the cloth that had covered his face and head and gently touched his horns.

"Hmm"

She spread her thumb and pinky to roughly measure the size.

She checked not only the size of the horns themselves but also the differences in length, width, and depth between the head and the horns.

She also felt the texture.

The surface was cool and smooth, with no roughness.

It was smooth, but the feel was different from polished minerals or glass.

Rafina enjoyed the new sensation, feeling the horns of a living being for the first time.

"..."

After stroking them a few times, Berion's body, which had been still while allowing her to touch his horns, began to tremble slightly.

"S-Sorry. Did it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt, but..."

"The nerves are connected, aren't they?"

She had thought that he didn't cut them off despite the inconvenience because of their appearance, but it seemed there was more to it.

(If you can heal them with recovery magic, you wouldn't want to go through the pain of cutting them off, right?)

After quickly measuring all the sizes, Rafina let go.

"You can stand up now. Thank you."

"What are you going to do with the measurements of my horns?"

Berion firmly believed that Rafina had some plan in mind.

In fact, she had already been thinking about it, but the thought of failing and being embarrassed made her hesitant to speak.

"It's a secret until it's done."

"Understood. I'm looking forward to it."

"Thank you."

As Berion put the cloth back on and walked back to his office, Rafina folded her arms.

(Come to think of it, what was I doing here?)

She had some business with Berion, but they had only talked about his horns.

(I'll ask him at dinner.)

Immediately after their marriage, they hardly saw each other, but now they conversed almost every day.

They ate together whenever their schedules allowed.

Things probably changed from the day she asked to keep a pet chicken.

It seemed her reincarnation cheat, such as creating a manual washing machine and lemon peels, had been appreciated.

Incidentally, she had been told that her disguise was "obvious" and that even her activities in the church's backyard were known.

(Since it's a white marriage, this way, even after the divorce, we can continue as boss and subordinate without any problems.)

She began to formulate various plans in her mind.

First, she would process the freshly washed lemons.

She planned to make baked goods with grated lemon zest.

She would ask the head chef to bake them while she worked on Berion's horns.

She would likely need to ask Almar for materials and instructions.

She would have to make plenty of sweets as a thank-you gift.

"Life is short, love is sweet!"

Although her future plans had changed somewhat, her goal of falling in love in this life remained unchanged.

Since she didn't know when she would meet her partner, time was never enough.

After seeing Berion off, Rafina hurried back to the kitchen.