How to Resolve Marital Discord (1)
"Fortunately, the burns across his body are only mild first-degree. There doesn't appear to be any threat to his life."
"Hah... I see."
When Freya heard that Darian had not only snuck out of the mansion but charged headlong into a fire with nothing but a single axe, rescued a child, and then collapsed on the spot, she had a doctor brought to him the moment he was carried back to the estate. Only after receiving the diagnosis that he would be fine could she finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"When do you expect him to regain consciousness?"
"After escaping the fire, the relief seems to have drained the strength from him, and he simply collapsed. He should wake soon."
"Understood. Thank you for your hard work."
"Not at all. Please call for me anytime should anything arise."
"For my part, I'd rather not have to call you at all."
"Haha. Well then, I'll take my leave."
Having applied burn ointment and changed the bandages on Darian's body—which, for someone who had thrown himself into a fire wearing nothing but a cloak, had gotten off with only scattered mild first-degree burns—the doctor bowed to Freya and left the room.
"........"
"....Hff—hff—"
Left alone with the unconscious Darian, Freya dragged a chair right up beside the bed where he lay and silently studied his face.
And then.
"Honey."
"Hff—hff—"
"I know you're awake."
"H-hff....hff...."
The moment she hardened her expression and spoke to him, his previously steady breathing suddenly turned irregular.
"You always pretend to sleep whenever things look bad for you. We've been married for over twenty-five years already—did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"...I, for real. I swear I just woke up."
Having lived with Darian for a full twenty-five years spanning from their modern lives to the present, Freya found seeing through his awkward act utterly trivial. When she drove the point home even further, Darian—who had kept his eyes closed until then—fluttered them open, scratched his head, sat up, and immediately launched into excuses.
"No, I was trying to get some sleep, but then there was all this talking next to me, so—yeah. Come on, how is anyone supposed to sleep soundly with someone yapping right beside them?"
"Once you fall asleep, you don't wake up even if dozens of alarms go off right next to you."
"......"
That excuse was a pathetic, flimsy performance packed with transparent acting, and Freya kept her expression blank as she fired right back.
"This isn't the first time you've snuck out of the mansion, is it?"
"No! It really was the first time! I was just so cooped up! Huh? I only wanted to get some air—"
"Gordon told me everything."
"...Damn that old coot."
"So. You left the mansion without saying a word to me?"
"Well... honestly, being stuck in here every day was getting stifling, and you're always so busy, so I didn't want to bother you—call it an act of consideration on my part...?"
"If you were truly that considerate, you would have shown at least enough consideration to call me before heading out to gatherings or drinking parties back in the modern world, wouldn't you?"
"Hey, bringing up old history like that now is a little unfair, don't y—"
"......"
"...I have nothing to say."
Darian tried every which way to talk himself out of the situation after his secret escapades had been completely exposed, but under Freya's silent, piercing stare, he finally tucked his tail between his legs.
With her eyes always half-closed, she was so charmingly narrow-eyed that one might wonder how she even got around—yet whenever she opened those eyes and glared, whether in the modern world or now, Darian turned into a restless puppy before her.
"And on top of that, bare-bodied! You charged into that fire!"
"...Ugh!"
"It's not like there's a fire truck the way there was in the modern world, and you didn't even have your colleagues with you—and you didn't even... you didn't even...! You didn't even have protective gear!!"
"........"
And at last, Freya's anger began to erupt in earnest.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous that was? What if you hadn't made it out? There was no one to help you! If you'd inhaled too much smoke...! No protective suit, no mask...!"
"...I'm sorry."
"When we first fell into this incomprehensible other world. Do you know how anxious I was?"
"More than becoming a woman. Our son, our daughter, you... our family... wondering what had become of them... how terrified I was."
"And do you know how relieved I was when our family came together again... I have nothing but my family...!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
Clutching the fabric of her skirt tightly, Freya poured out the true feelings she had kept buried, her voice thick with emotion.
Freya cherished and loved her family so much that even the position of heir to Hansung Group—Korea's most successful conglomerate—meant nothing by comparison.
To the point that nothing else mattered as long as she had her family.
When they had first fallen into this world, in the eyes of family members who still didn't know each other's true identities, she had simply behaved like any noble lady living in this world.
Only at night, when the performance was over and everyone had retired to their own rooms, would she fail to sleep and pour out the anxiety she had so carefully hidden, her eyes turning red—that past flickered hazily through her mind.
"If you died... I, I... what would I do...!"
Drip—drip—
Her face crumpled, and tears she could no longer hold back began to fall onto her dress.
"...I'm sorry."
And Darian carefully drew her into his arms and whispered.
"I'm sorry for making you anxious—for being so thickheaded that even after dropping into this world without a clue, I still put you through this."
"......."
"But you know. I'm a firefighter."
"......."
"If someone is calling for me, even without any protective gear, even without an axe, I have to run toward them."
"......Honey."
"And it's because I'm that kind of person that you—Hyeonseok, now Freya—fell in love with me."
"Even if pillars of fire are raging, if I hear someone calling for me, I run into the flames. That's who I am, right?"
"...If I'd spent my whole life carefully protecting myself, would I ever have been able to connect with you?"
"...No, you wouldn't have. It was because you were the person you were that day that I gave up everything and married you."
"Haha, remember? When I stormed into your company and yelled, 'I'm taking your company's heir!' and carried you out on my back?"
"Don't bring that up. I was so immature back then."
"I had a blast."
"...That's unfair."
"What is?"
"I'm supposed to be angry right now. And you're trying to smooth it over again."
"So, do you hate it?"
"...You're really unfair."
"I'm truly sorry. I wasn't thinking. There might have been a safer way, but I'm so thickheaded that my body moved first."
"...Still, a guy like me just can't help it, I guess."
"...Even if I tell you not to, if something like this happens again, you'll run out there, won't you?"
"Of course. That's the only kind of person the Hansung Group heir would throw everything away for and fall in love with."
"...Unfair. You're really, truly unfair. I feel like an idiot for planning to scold you thoroughly."
"Huh? It's been forever since I heard you drop the formal speech."
"No, it's nothing... Anyway, I'm just glad you're safe. That's all I wanted to say."
"...Thank you. I'm home."
"Welcome back."
Before she knew it, Freya—who had settled into Darian's arms—lifted her face and looked at him.
Her eyes slightly reddened from crying, Freya smiled as she gazed at him.
"...Ugh!"
W-wait...! I can't get up right now...?!
That sight was a critical hit.
Rustle—rustle—
"What's wrong? Is there somewhere else that hurts?"
"N-no!! I'm really fine!! So could you maybe back off a little?"
Freya suddenly felt him shudder, and when Darian tried to push her away with a deathly pale face, she hardened her expression once more and began to press him with questions.
Darian insisted he was fine and tried to brush her off, but this was the face he made when lying—something she had learned from watching him all these years.
"Stay still! Where does it hurt?"
"I said I'm fine?! Just, for a second, get off—whoa?!"
"Kyaa?!"
As Freya pressed even closer, trying to examine his body, her large, soft breasts pressed against him—and a certain part of Darian grew even more insistent. He flailed his hands in a panic and toppled over, and when the support suddenly vanished, Freya tumbled down on top of him as well.
"Ugh... why did you suddenly... do... that... ah."
"...Don't get the wrong idea. No, seriously... it's not like I'm, you know, a lesbian or anything..."
Sprawled across Darian's chest, Freya turned her gaze as she tried to push herself up—and trailed off as she noticed his lower abdomen jutting upward in a distinctly abnormal way.
And Darian, flustered at having been caught getting aroused by a woman's body despite having been a woman himself in the modern world, began babbling in a panic.
"Well, I was a man too, so... I understand."
"Right?! Wait, are all men like this? Like, what the hell, at any time of day! Just springing up!?"
"...Yes."
"...Is that so?"
"...That's right. Men are. Especially at this age, the energy still runs strong."
"I see. Well, yeah. Before Hyeonsu came along, we used to get hot and heavy every night, didn't we? Honestly, right up until we came here, too."
"......."
"...Ahem, ahem... Anyway. Get off me now. I, I need to... calm this thing down."
As the warm atmosphere suddenly descended into chaos, Darian scratched his head awkwardly.
Having so far only used his male anatomy for urination, Darian planned to just take some deep breaths and settle things down once Freya left.
Then.
"...Honey."
"Huh?"
"Um... this is a little awkward to say right now, but."
Freya, who had been hanging her head after discovering Darian's enlarged lower half, lifted her gaze to look at him.
Her face was flushed as red as a ripe tomato, and she kept turning her head this way and that, unsure where to put her eyes—steam practically rising from her head.
"I-if it's all right with you... maybe I could... help you... calm it down... so... yeah..."
"...Huh?"
But at Freya's next words, Darian's face hardened just as stiffly as his lower half.