It's been a week. Seven days since he married Ariellia Silvy Garrod and entered the duke's household as a son-in-law. A week since his entire life had been flipped upside down. There was a lot Rei had anticipated, and some he had not expected. He never expected the current solitude he's experiencing. In the dead of night, he finds himself standing by the balcony of their marital chamber. He watches the entryway below with a thick robe wrapped around himself to keep out the night chills. Anyone trying to access the castle would need to pass through this area.
'She's late again today.'
For a week he watched closely as his newlywed wife became a stranger. She'd taken to this strange habit of eating her breakfast in her room when the duke was not around. When he was around, she would appear for a brief moment to accompany him for a meal before rushing off to the library again. If he didn't know her better, he might have mistaken her for a scholar. The expected ambushes and interactions with her had dropped to almost zero.
Out of curiosity he asked the maids of the castle if this was a norm, but they are perplexed by her behavior as well. Ninety percent suspicious, ten percent curious, he observed her behavior for the rest of the week in secret. He quickly noticed she no longer calls the maids for every little thing. Her tongue remains sharp while speaking to them, but there is truly no bite. He's spotted a few maids fumble around her and making mistakes, but she surprisingly pretends not to see it. Unless it's blatantly obvious, she doesn't scold them as much anymore.
The most shocking part of her change has to be the sudden absence of her presence. It appears that now that she has him, she's lost all interest. She no longer pesters him every two minutes. There are no more seduction attempts, and no more ambushes on his way to the orphanage. She simply treats him like air, avoiding him and spending more time with her bodyguard.
If this were a real marriage, he'd be obligated to tell her to watch her actions and leave no room for gossip. But that's the thing, it's not a normal marriage. He feels no need to warn her of the wagging tongues and scornful eyes watching her. Since it's such a long journey to come out to a border region like Rahnoff, some of the wedding guests are yet to return to their lands. They too have likely taken notice of her leaving the estate early and returning late with her bodyguard Clad.
Honestly, it's in his best interest if she breaks their vows first. At least then he can use this as a pretense to end this sham marriage. However, David is still a father, and a duke. There's no way he's not aware of these rumors. The old duke purposely approached him and told him to be more mindful of Ariellia's image.
'Since when has she ever cared about her image?'
If she cared about her image, she wouldn't have made a fool of herself chasing after him all over town for years. She had spoken loudly, laughed often, and bragged about her intentions towards him. He had never returned her affections—not truly, being kind to others shouldn't result in marriage. He feels it's much too late to care for her image now, but to show his respect to the duke he promised to caution her.
So here he is, waiting for his wayward wife to return while drinking the duke's fine wine as she stumbles into their quarters. She looks shocked to see him in their room by the fireplace. He tries to ignore her matted hair, dirty riding breeches, and disheveled shirt. Truly, how indecent. If she wanted to fool around why drag him into this mess?
Rei frowns, "Where have you been?"
"…out."
He rolls his eyes, that much he can clearly see for himself. "That's not what I mean, and you know it. I don't think I need to say it but you're a married woman now. A woman of your class has many eyes watching at all times. I know you don't care about me, but the least you can do is not drag the duke's house into the mud pit with you."
!
She seemed shocked, a look of realization finally shining in those clueless amethyst eyes. She clearly hadn't thought it through, how it would look to others. A newly married woman already trapezing out of her home just a day after marriage with another man. She seems to want to explain, her mouth moving but no sound escapes, and then she suddenly collapses.
"M'Lady!"
Immediately screams erupt and everything turns into a circus with maids running about like the castle is under siege. Everyone seems to be attempting to do something yet doing nothing at the same time. Rei can't bear to watch it anymore. He approaches his wife, lifting her frail form into his arms. She's a lot lighter than he initially thought she would be. He frowns and carries her over to their unused bed.
She looks so small on the large bed, curled up and shivering. He's seen these signs before. They're the jitters one gets from mana exhaustion. But what could Ariellia be doing that would bring her to such a state? Suddenly, everything doesn't seem as simple as a lover's tryst. Only now does he notice the small cuts and bruises on her delicate hands.
'Just what have you been up to?' he frowns.
[Heal]
It's a simple spell taught to him by the nuns at the Church. As a seasoned fighter he's used to being in all sorts of states of disarray. His light magic has improved immensely over the years. Once the gold light retreats into his hand the minor injuries are recovered. Her shaking eases some but there's nothing else he can do. Mana potions aren't common, the exuberant price for a quality potion could cost an entire family's monthly wage. She'll just have to recover the rest of her magic overnight through sleep.
"What did you do?" he asks.
…
As expected, there's no answer. He can't tell whether she's simply being stubborn or stretched beyond her limit and passed out. When he rubs her flush cheeks and gets only a slight whimper, he guesses it's the latter. He doesn't bother her anymore, just orders one of the maids to change her clothes. He leaves the room and seeks out the only other person who can explain.
He finds Clad in the barracks; the burly knight gives him a quick salute. As the young Miss's husband, it makes sense for him to be acknowledged as the next head of the dutchy. Rei doesn't stand on airs, getting straight to the point. "What have you been up to with my wife?"
Gulp, the broad man visibly flinches at the cold look in his scarlet eyes. Quickly, he stammers to explain. "N-nothing M'Lord. Miss Ariellia came to me the other day and said she'd like to train her magic. She has us hunting the local monsters by the town entrance. I only guard her, I swear!"
…
Rei frowns further, unsure of what's going on in the lady's head. Who suddenly wakes up and decides to train their magic after thirteen years of neglect? There must be something more to it, there's something she's not saying. It's clear she hadn't bothered to explain it to Clad. The burly guard honestly looks clueless and a tidbit nervous. Any minute now Rei wouldn't put it past him to begin to profess his innocence.
"Thank you Clad, sorry to disturb you. Get some rest, we'll talk tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
Rei doesn't scare the man any further. He can't make sense of Ariellia's new behavior, he can only wait till tomorrow. Sighing, he realizes he can't even distance himself even if he wants to. How tiring.