I’ll Be The Warrior’s Mother

This had the greatest effect on Kaywhin up until now. The couple stared into space for a long time.

Kaywhin eventually mumbled something, his voice barely audible.

“…It’s nothing. I just realized that I’m more pathetic than I thought…”

“…Pathetic?”

“So it’s difficult for me to face you at the moment. That’s all.”

“What do you mean? What makes you pathetic?”

Yelena knew lots of pathetic people, and she could list them all, but of course, her husband wasn’t one of them.

On the contrary, Yelena’s judgment was that her husband would be the last person to ever be on that list.

“…”

Kaywhin was silent for a moment and then he spoke again. He struggled to speak, as if he was confessing his sins to a priest.

“You won’t even be able to imagine what kind of thoughts I had today.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I felt possessive… over you.”

Kaywhin thought back to the time Aendydn had stayed at the castle. He had been bothered by Aendydn’s presence and felt an inexplicable displeasure in his heart.

But he was able to hold it back. He reined in his emotions without letting anything slip out. It was only now that Kaywhin realized why he had been able to do that.

There had been no sense of urgency back then. He had been bothered by the childhood friend, but Yelena had put Kaywhin first. Thus, Kaywhin was able to ignore and suppress his irritation at Aendydn’s very existence.

But this time was different. His wife had been avoiding him for several days. On top of that, after she had rejected his touch, Kaywhin was, unbeknownst to himself, in a very uneasy and anxious state.

And then… he had seen.

He had seen his wife talking to some other man that he didn’t know.

“It’s nothing. I have a guest, but you need not to be bothered by them.”

It bothered Kaywhin that Yelena was drawing a line and telling him not to worry about her guest. He knew it wasn’t right, but Kaywhin had secretly followed his wife and witnessed her conversation with Marquess Marco.

It wasn’t that Kaywhin had the vulgar suspicion that Yelena was secretly meeting another man. That was clear just from the mood of their conversation.

Nonetheless, even though he knew that it hadn’t been such an immoral situation, Kaywhin couldn’t control the possessiveness he had felt in that moment.

Possessiveness.

There was no word that could more accurately describe what Kaywhin had felt.

“…You felt possessive? How so? Tell me in a bit more detail,” Yelena urged, stepping closer to Kaywhin, who had created some distance between them.

Kaywhin looked off to the side, unable to even meet Yelena’s eyes. As a result, he couldn’t see what face Yelena was making.

“I wished that… I was the only one you looked at, talked to, and smiled at,” he said.

“And? Is there anything else?”

“…I wanted to get rid of anyone who got in the way,” Kaywhin confessed compliantly.

When Yelena had smiled at Marquess Marco at the castle gate, in that moment, Kaywhin had felt murderous intent towards someone whose face he couldn’t even see properly. He had been shocked by this fact and had immediately left the premises.

Kaywhin hadn’t realized that he was someone who felt greedy enough to have such a destructive inclination.

There was a time when he had simply wished that his wife was always safe and secure. He had been perfectly content as long as his wife was by his side.

So how dare he now wish that his wife would only be affectionate towards him and only be interested in him. How dare he imagine having her all to himself. He didn’t want her to find out that he was such an avaricious human being.

And so, he avoided Yelena, perhaps in vain, since in the end, he had come clean to her like this.

“…Aha.”

“…”

“But why did you suddenly have those thoughts… Ah, you must have seen me talking to the marquess. I wasn’t imagining things when I thought I had seen you.”

Kaywhin flinched.

He had followed her. It was a dishonorable act.

Kaywhin kept silent, like a criminal who was waiting for the almighty Yelena to decree his punishment.

Then, Yelena opened her mouth.