A Husband's Basic Qualities

I opened my eyes.

It was the same room as always. Yet it was a little disheveled, still bearing every trace of yesterday intact.

I survived….

I had finally made it through the day. I had lived, and now I was greeting the next morning.

"Phew…."

A sigh of pure relief slipped out of me at the simple fact that I was still alive. No cold sweat covered my body, and aside from the wounds from yesterday's fight, I was unhurt. Was this the first next day I had faced in these past few days?

"This feels so good…."

I sprawled out on the bed again and savored the feeling. No one would be after me now. At least from Anne, I had escaped the threat to my life.

…Wait a second.

Surely this time it wouldn't be Father, or Mother, or other people taking turns going after my neck… right?

Knock knock—

"…!"

At the knock with the exact same tempo, my body flinched on its own, already conditioned by habit. The crisis had already passed, yet my body still reacted.

"No~ah!"

"Ugh?!"

Instead of her usual elegant demeanor, Anne suddenly came rushing straight at me. Her dress was heavy, so I couldn't resist and toppled over.

"Sister…! What are you doing, suddenly coming at me like that…!"

"What does it matter~ We're going to be married soon."

"Kh…."

Right. We were that kind of pair now. The reason yesterday's commotion had settled was precisely because of this—all because of this absurd engagement.

"When should we set the date?"

"…Excuse me?"

"You said you like me. That you'd give me love. That you'd accept it. That love."

"No… that's…."

Last night. I had clearly said those words to put Anne in the position of family head, and to mean that not everyone was turning their backs on her. But suddenly the atmosphere had shifted toward marriage.

"Don't tell me… you were lying?"

"No, it's not a lie… isn't this progressing way too fast…?!"

"Ah~ so that's what you meant? Well, we haven't even officially started dating, so I guess you could feel that way. We don't even have a child yet."

"Ugh…."

Anne suddenly approached and took my hand. It wasn't the light grip meant to help me up after a spar—it was clearly intended to hold on stickily. Honestly, this felt a bit….

"Then starting tomorrow, let's pile them up. Got it?"

"……."

And so, back to today. The moment Anne clung to me returned.

"Noah. You can't get embarrassed about every little thing like this. It makes you look unmanly as a husband."

"But still, right in front of everyone…."

"It's fine~ You'll get used to it."

"……."

Anne's face was twice as close as usual. Of course I had always thought she was pretty as a member of the Irisstar family… but looking at her now, her skin really was clear and clean.

"Oh my, I got too excited. We should get up and get ready soon."

"I was just about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to say that."

After washing my face, I changed into my training clothes as well. Since I had gotten past the crisis for now, later I could either make her get sick of me or find her another man and escape that way. Of course, if I said that now, I'd probably die on the spot.

But why did she take it that way even though she understood…?

If it had been a normal person, they would have just been moved and moved on, so why did it turn into talk of engagement? Had her desire for Father's recognition twisted in this direction? Or maybe Anne had had feelings for me from before…. Either way, I wasn't welcoming it.

"Whoa, you're still here?!"

"Yep! Isn't waiting for your husband to come out the basics?"

"…You can make yourself comfortable."

"But I want to see Noah so~ much!"

"……Me too."

My steps toward the dining hall for breakfast felt heavy. With this atmosphere, she was going to make it blatantly obvious the moment we arrived.

"Hehe."

"You seem to be in a good mood, young lady."

"Of course~ Obviously~"

"…?!"

Anne took my hand, pulled me toward her, and hugged me like a doll. Pressing my arm against her chest—what kind of disgraceful behavior was this?

"How could I not be in a good mood when I'm with our Noah~?"

"……"

Everyone's gazes felt burdensome. I could hear them openly whispering as they watched us. Yeah. In your eyes, this just looks like a brother and sister who made up and got closer.

"Noah?"

"Yes?!"

"We're talking about it today, right?"

"Ah… yes."

As expected, Anne hadn't forgotten. Of course she wouldn't have, after acting like that since morning.

"About what~?"

"Well… about the family head——"

"What?"

"Kh…."

Pressure tightened on my arm. And the gaze looking at me turned cold. The moments I had died at Anne's hands in the past came flooding back, and I turned my eyes straight ahead to avoid that look.

"About the succession to the family headship… and the engagement… yes."

"Right~?"

"……."

I swallowed the sigh that rose on its own all the way down. The news that Anne and I had reconciled had probably spread in an instant. When they heard what was coming later, they would truly faint from shock.

"Oh my, where are Mother and Father?"

After walking for a while while being hugged, we arrived at the dining hall. Whether unfortunate or fortunate, our parents were not there.

"The family head has gone out with the madam at dawn. Regarding the Morris matter."

Our family had originally been weapons merchants selling special weapons like magic swords, but after the war ended and there was nowhere to sell them, we had nearly fallen into ruin. However, it was our father who restored our current prestige by starting to mainly sell equipment used for hunting monsters.

"Morris? What happened?"

Morris was a remote island off the southwestern continent, one of the trading partners our household managed. Because it was somewhat distant from the continent, we operated it by rotating a few resident personnel every month.

"Yes. The village chief there raised an issue with the quality of our weapons, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so the family head said he would go inspect them personally."

"Couldn't he just send a proxy?"

"We tried to send one, but they kept insisting they wanted to see the family head…."

"That old geezer, really…."

Of course, Morris was a fairly large trading partner. In the past, the village chief there had even saved Father when he was about to be attacked by monsters. I had heard he had gone senile now, so it was probably because of that.

"I see. That's a shame."

At this rate, they wouldn't return for at least a week. Since Mother had gone with him, they might be even later if they explored other places on the way back. Rather, this was a good chance. I had to use this opportunity to gently pull back the relationship.

"We have to tell Father soon so we can get married. Right?"

"…Ugh."

Anne whispered into my ear so only I could hear. Her voice was so quiet and deadly that I couldn't help but freeze.

"Then I'll see you later."

"Hm? What are you talking about."

"…?"

After finishing the meal, on the way back to my room, Anne conspicuously linked arms with me and even held my hand.

"We're a married couple, so we should be together."

"…Don't you have any schedule today?"

"I changed everything so I can spend it with Noah."

"What…?"

"Why. Don't you like it?"

"Ugh…."

Anne's eyes turned cold again. It was scary enough to feel a threat to my life just looking at them.

"No… Sister. Even so, you should do what you need to do…."

I made a sincere statement that it was too much no matter what. Surely she wouldn't kill me over this….

"……I'm sorry. I think I acted too selfishly. A wife should be skilled in both literary and martial arts, but I abandoned everything just to look at Noah. Right."

"It wasn't that bad… as long as you understand."

"But I already canceled everything for today."

"…Just for today."

"Okay!"

Even if I tried to force her to reinstate the canceled plans, it would only cost me my neck. I had no choice but to accept it for today. Besides, with our parents gone, it would be as if nothing happened.

"But you know, Noah."

"Do you have any dating experience, Noah?"

"…?"

Dating experience. No matter how hard I thought, there was none to the point I couldn't even recall any. In the first place, I had found it bothersome to look, so I had planned to marry whoever our parents arranged for me. Our parents had better eyes than I did, after all.

"How could I…?"

"I figured~ Noah never had much interest in that sort of thing~"

"Yes… well…."

"Or maybe you were just pretending not to be interested because you liked me~?"

"……."

Damn it. Was this a leading question? If I denied it here, she would kill me with her eyes again.

"Yes… well. Haha…."

"I knew it~ Just as I thought~"

Playing along was really hard. I needed to find a good method soon. At this rate, I might actually end up marrying Anne. And that would be the end of me as an Irisstar as well.

"But Sister. Mother and Father… will be okay, right?"

"They probably will. As long as they don't get attacked by someone on the way. Who would dare attack after seeing our family crest? We're a family under the Empire's protection."

"That's a relief, but…."

I was worried because that village chief had gone senile. Even the last time I saw him, he hadn't seemed normal. No matter how much protection the Empire provided, if someone attacked without thinking, there was no answer.

"Why, are you worried?"

"Yes. Honestly, I am. Because of the village chief."

"Even if something happens, it's fine. If necessary… we can just take care of it."

"…!"

Take care of it if necessary. As expected, if I showed a different reaction, she was thinking of killing me. To live… did I have to love Anne?

"Ah, Ferry~"

"Yes, young lady."

"Could you bring some refreshments from my room~?"

"Yes. Understood."

"From your room, Sister?"

"Yep. I have some desserts I made~ You can look forward to them."

"That does sound appetizing."

When it came to desserts, I had eaten plenty of ones Anne made herself since childhood. Just yesterday she had even brought tea. At least when it came to the taste of desserts, I trusted Anne.

After waiting a little in my room, Anne's maid Ferry brought the refreshments.

"Oh. As expected."

"How is it? Looks delicious, right."

Madeleines topped with fresh cream and strawberries, lattice-patterned cookies, and glossy heart-shaped chocolates. Plus black tea to ease the excessive sweetness. Desserts anyone would like.

"Try the madeleine first."

"Mmph! This is delicious."

"Hehe, you're not just exaggerating on purpose~?"

"No. All the desserts Sister makes are delicious. The first time was when I was about five, right? Eating the dessert you made for me."

"…You even remember that?"

"Ah… yes. Somehow…."

I didn't know why, but I remembered it because I had eaten it so deliciously back then. Anne had talent in this area to the point she could have been a pâtissier instead of a swordswoman.

"……."

"…Did that make you uncomfortable…?"

Anne stared at me intently. Had it made her feel bad? Well, even I thought that just now was a bit off-putting——

"I'm moved."

"…What?"

"I'm moved, Noah! You remembered even such a small detail because you like me!"

"……Yes. Haha."

"…Then do you want to try this too?"

"I was going to eat it anyway."

After taking a sip of the black tea, I swallowed a heart-shaped chocolate in one bite. The chocolate shell broke, and I felt something like a slightly cold jelly coming out from inside.

"This is delicious too? There's something cold inside?"

"Yep. I made wine into a syrup form and put it in. A lot of it."

"What? Wine——ugh?!"

Suddenly a surge of exhilaration welled up from deep in my chest. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A sensation like downing an entire bottle of wine without stopping washed over me. I was dizzy and hot. I couldn't look at Anne properly.

"As expected… Noah is weak to alcohol~"

"Why alcohol all of a sudden…!"

Anne lifted me up and pushed me down onto the bed. I couldn't resist because of the alcohol making me dizzy. She smirked looking down at me fallen, then climbed on top of me.

"Because then… Noah will jump me, right?"

"What are you talking about…!"

And then, right in front of me, she slipped ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠off her dress.