Honey, I’m Going on Strike – Chapter 17

What was this? This deep inferiority complex written all over his face?

He thinks I’m looking down on him?

Cassia was taken aback. She was just asking why he was giving her a coat.

“I’m not looking down on you. This sudden gift just caught me off guard, that’s all. I didn’t think you were the type to give gifts like this, Baron.”

“Seriously, just what do you know about me to think that way? Honestly, you sound like someone who’s lived with me for a decade.”

Gasp. Cassia flinched. His insight was sharp.

“No, it’s just from what I’ve seen…”

“Haa…”

“…”

“Fine, in that case, I’m also at fault there.”

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

Cassia fiddled with the coat, still bewildered. After ten years of marriage, this was the first gift she had ever received from her husband.

Her heart felt restless. She began to think that maybe she wasn’t the only one who had changed after traveling back in time. Zester, for one, seemed to be very conscious of her feelings. He spoke far more than she remembered and was displaying sides of himself she never expected.

By unexpected sides, she meant…right, exactly what he was doing now.

“Ahem, ahem.”

Clearing his throat for no reason while his face was flushed red.

He was definitely embarrassed.

Not only that but the man who used to only speak when he had business, no, he rarely even had something to say to begin with, was now seeking her out for no reason at all.

This was something she could have never imagined in her previous life.

As Zester awkwardly shuffled to the bed, seemingly with no intention of leaving, and laid down, Cassia simply thought to herself that this was really, really strange, then she took off her coat and lay down next to him.

She turned quietly and found Zester lying down with his head pressed against the pillow and his eyes closed.

She doubted he was asleep, so he was likely pretending to be asleep because it was awkward to just lie down next to each other.

Maybe Paul was pushing him to visit her?

No, even if that were true, considering what she knew of Zester from her previous life, he would have brushed it off like it was some meaningless mumblings.

I don’t know. I just can’t figure it out.

Cassia shook off the complicated thoughts and decided to close her eyes, following Zester’s lead. Might as well just stop worrying about it and go to sleep.

She had slept quite comfortably yesterday, even with Zester next to her.

“…Cassia.”

But the next moment, Zester’s voice cut through the air and Cassia has no choice but to open her eyes again.

“Yes?”

“C-can…”

“Can?”

“Can I, um, I…”

“Can you?”

“Can I embrace you?!”

“God, that startled me!”

Zester, who had been stammering with his eyes closed like a child scared of being scolded, suddenly sat up and shouted the question while looking down at Cassia. Cassia was also startled and clutched her chest in surprise as Zester’s words echoed in her mind.

Can I embrace you, he says…

“Ahh…”

Cassia exclaimed softly and sat up, mirroring Zester’s motion. Sure enough, he came both yesterday and today with an ulterior motive. To sleep with her.

In that case, he didn’t need to say all those useless things and bounce around the subject. Cassia started taking off her nightgown, still thinking that she really couldn’t understand Zester’s personality.

Since she had to live as his wife for the time being, she had already decided to not bother herself about the bedside matters.

“W-Wife! Wait, wait!”

However, just like last night, Cassia stopped in the middle of pulling down the strap of her chemise from her shoulder. Zester, who had stopped Cassia, looked extremely flustered again.

“Why? What’s the problem this time?”

“I phrased that badly. I…”

Zester’s face was slightly flushed as he looked at her, then he averted his eyes and mumbled in a tiny voice.

“I’m asking if it’s okay to hug you while we sleep.”

What? Did I hear that right? Cassia blinked dazed, while his words replayed in her mind.

『I’m asking if it’s okay to hug you while we sleep』

『…Hug you while we sleep』

Cassia was starting to get a little more certain about what she had once vaguely suspected. Maybe God had tweaked Zester’s personality when they gave her back those ten years. Otherwise, there’s no way ‘that’ Zester would treat her like this.

A changed Zester, of all things. She was still not fully sure but…

An attentive Zester.

An expressive Zester.

A Zester who loved his wife and children?

‘I can’t even imagine it. And it’s really straining me because he’s doing these things that he’s never done before.’

If Zester’s personality changed even a little bit, it would certainly be a good thing for Rael and Lucy, who would be born later…

But for Cassia, who had never met a warm or caring Zester in her previous life, it only felt like a burden.

Zester must have interpreted her frown as a rejection because he quickly lay back down and rambled.

“I-It was just a thought. If you don’t like it, I won’t do it.”

So he really just wants to hold her and sleep? And judging by his embarrassed expression, no one told him to do this, it’s his pure, genuine intention.

Feeling bewildered for what felt like the hundredth time, Cassia carefully lay back down like Zester and dogered,

“Like you said, Baron, we are husband and wife. Do you really need my permission for something like that?”

It was as good as saying ‘yes’. Zester, who had been facing the other way in embarrassment, slowly turned back to her.

“It’s okay then? Even if I…if I embrace you…?”

“I would prefer that over a husband who doesn’t hug, look or speak to his wife and just neglects her.”

“There are men like that in the world?”

Cassia chuckled dryly and glance at Zester.

“Well then, if you’ll excuse me, Wife.”

“Ah.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Zester squeezed his eyes shut and pulled Cassia into his arms. His strong scent suddenly filled Cassia’s senses. It was an unfamiliar scent. Something she had never noticed before in all their years together as a couple.

Cassia, now awkwardly held in Zester’s arms, had an uncomfortable look on her face like she would pull away at any moment, and her head was starting to ache from the sound of a heart pounding in her ears.

“…Do you have a heart condition or something?”

“…No.”

Of course, she didn’t really think he did, she just said it to break the strange tension in the air. She felt like she knew why his heart was pounding so fast.

He was excited by this strange skin-to-skin situation and by the fact that he was holding her.

She couldn’t help but know. Honestly, in her previous life, the very first time she met Zester, her heart had also pounded wildly. She had even clutched her chest with both hands once, afraid that the sound might escape.

She hated to admit it, but from the beginning, Zester had been her type. He wasn’t the aristocratic type, but he had the wild, masculine charm of a well-built beast and his aloof, unreadable gaze had once seemed mysterious and alluring.

He was the strong, silent type, infuriatingly so, and back then, when she knew little to nothing, that too had seemed like part of his charm.

Cassia gazed quietly at Zester’s face, with his messy red hair falling in disarray as he held her. His eyes were tightly shut and he was trembling, as if embracing his wife was some sort of terrifying ordeal.

“Baron.”

“Y-Yes. I’m here.”

Cassia closed her heavy eyelids and rested her forehead gently against his chest. The thunderous heartbeat was still annoying, but oddly enough, her heart felt calm. Just like the night before, sleep began to creep in.

“Something tells me you’ll listen now.”

“Hm?”

“I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor? Just say the word. I’m all ears.”

To Zester, Cassia, who was practically sold off into this unfamiliar territory and yet carried herself gracefully as the lady of the house, was really, really beautiful. Not just in looks, but in character, speech, demeanor—there wasn’t a single aspect of her that wasn’t lovely.

Which is why, for the first time in his life, he was feeling a certain emotion. The desire to give her everything whether it be his heart, his liver, whatever she wanted.

He was feeling frustrated because she had barely asked anything of him. Other than saying she wouldn’t manage the internal affairs of the castle because it was bothersome, she hadn’t asked for much. This was his pretty and precious wife so he was more than ready to hear her whine or even ask him for unreasonable requests.

“Go ahead. Tell me.”

Zester tightened his arms around Cassia, urging her.

“Someday, we’re going to have children, right?”

“Hk.”

“…Baron?”

“Y-Yes. Of, of course.”

Children, she says! Did she realize what it meant to have children? Of course she did, they had already done everything that could be done on first night but…

“When the time comes, can you show them love? Can you tell them they’re cute, praise them, play with them, pat their heads and tell them not to be scared… and sleep next to them if they’re scared of thunder?”

“…That’s the favor you’re requesting?”

“Yes. I want my children to grow up showered in love from their father.”

“Even without you asking, I…”

Zester trailed off as he realized why Cassia was asking this of him.

He must have seemed cold. He wasn’t the type of person who was easy-going, nor was he a gentle looking man. Since they didn’t know each other well, it was easy to jump to conclusions about his personality.

“I promise. I will absolutely be good father to our children. Ahem, I might be awkward at first, but I’ll do my best. Ahem, yes.”

“…”

“…Cassia?”

Again?! He did think her breathing sounded off and what do you know? She had fallen asleep like a log just like yesterday. What was this? He started wondering if he should call a doctor to see if this was some illness that causes someone to sleep like they’ve fainted.

Zester, who was looked down at Cassia in his arm with disbelief, then let out a quiet chuckle.

To think her favor is asking me to love our children.

Perhaps this woman wasn’t only angelic on the outside but an angel within.

Zester’s chest tightened as Cassia squirmed in his arms, and he hugged her tighter.

He probably wouldn’t get much sleep again tonight, but he didn’t mind. Even if he woke up groggy tomorrow, falling asleep like this, with her warmth beside him, felt worth it.

For the next thirty minutes, Zester felt light and happy, like he was walking on clouds. At least, until Cassia started talking in her sleep.

Yeah, precisely speaking, until just before she started talking in her sleep.

Until the name of some unknown, no, perhaps, some former lover of hers, came out of her mouth.

Until he heard the name of some horrible bastard who made her cry while confessing her love in her sleep!

“…Rael. Rael…”

“I miss you, Rael… I love you… my…”

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