Alma POV 15/17

What a corny little boy! S-seriously Why does he need to act like this? I can't believe it!

But he did say his life has been filled with darkness, gloominess, and he even told me later that he sometimes didn't even find a reason to live. Perhaps his training is quite harsh back then. I don't know why but it seems that he might have experienced something similar to my brother

I don't exactly know how many things he had gone through, but it's truly intriguing to me to know more. I don't know why I am growing so interested in this stupid arranged husband

"S-Sorry for what I did before, I shouldn't have acted so rashly D-Did I scare you?" he sighed.

We were now moving back home in a carriage, while Rose led the carriage.

I was mostly looking at the window because I feel embarrassed each time I look at his face now. Since he confessed his love that it feels weird to look at him Ugh.

"A bit! Honestly, you're really a pervert, aren't you? A big pervert!" I said angrily, I wanted to throw a tantrum and reprimand him for making me so embarrassed.

"S-Sorry! I apologize I shouldn't have been so rash!" he said, as he vowed down continuously.

"Geez What am I going to do with you? You're really hopeless without me, huh?" I asked.

"Eh?"

"You just said I am your sun! So it means I bring colors to your life So you can't live without me, eh?" I asked with a cheeky smile.

Elred looked at me while blushing, as he felt both scared and excited at the same time.

"Y-Yes" he confessed.

"Oh well! Not like I can do anything over it! Y-You may stay at my side if you really like me, I guess. I can't help to be so pretty and charming sometimes, it just comes out naturally." I said.

"Ahh Hehe Yeah" he said while giggling adorably, as he sat down and moved a bit closer to me. He was around two centimeters taller than me, as he looked down at me with a gentle smile.

"Thank you" he said.

"Oh?" I wondered.

"It was a nice date I really enjoyed myself." He said.

"I-I am glad you enjoyed it I enjoyed it too." I said.

"R-Really?" he asked.

"Of course!" I sighed.

I suddenly and without even being able to control myself, moved my hand to his, and held it.

W-Why am I doing this?!

"Uwah! A-Alma Y-You're giving me your hand willingly" he said while blushing.

"What's wrong? You do it all the time! Can't I do it too?" I asked angrily.

"Y-You can! You can do it all you want" he said, he looked hopelessly in love with me.

"I don't know how to properly word it out, but you've also become a bit important to me now. You can help me get out of this cage of a castle I am living in, which really helps a lot! So make sure to always come here as much as you possibly can, okay?" I asked while furrowing my eyebrows.

"Y-Yes! I will come back as much as I can! Even if my big brother doesn't agree with it Even if my stepmother doesn't want our arranged marriage to be fulfilled I will continue coming here!" he said.

Does he have a big family drama? Now I feel a bit worried Don't they get killed in these scenarios? Ugh Now I am worried about this dork's safety.

But he's strong. This "weak" and clumsy personality he shows to me is his true self but seeing the life he had and the ways he had shown to be with others seems to indicate he had created a very cold outer layer of stone around his soft interior. He probably knows how to survive the royalty life way more than me

"Elred, is your family that awful?" I sighed.

"Eh? W-Well A bit T-There's my little brother He's the only one that keeps me up in there" he said.

"Your little brother? Funny, my mom is about to give birth too, she's often in bed though" I said.

"So you're going to be a big sister then!" he said.

"Yeah, we'll be similar then, hehe." I giggled.

"A-And my brother's name is Aran He's only two years old Our mother W-Well Our mother passed away after giving birth to him Father blames him because he thinks he killed our mother But I think that's not the case! My brother was only brought to the world by the sacrifice of his mother she would never blame him for that She She would never" he muttered. Elred suddenly got more and more sorrowful, as he looked into the floor and fell in silence.

A cold atmosphere slowly began to rise, as if his magic went out of control when these dark emotions took over his mind. I looked into his eyes, and he seemed to have suddenly lost all the brightness and light he usually shows to me. I felt bad

Poor kid, what has he gone through? Compared to me, perhaps I haven't gone through half of what he has gone through

But it was getting very cold, I might end up catching a cold

"E-Elred?" I asked.

"AH! S-Sorry! I-I didn't mean to get so gloomy out of the sudden!" he said, as I woke him up from his daze.

"It's fine We all got things we don't want to remember because it makes us feel bad, right?" I sighed. As I took away my hand from him.

"Ah Yeah" he sighed.

And then, I extended my arms around him and hugged him, my face only reached his chest.

"Uwah?!"

He got immediately red like a tomato.

I hugged him and he had the scent of floral cologne.

"A nice hug always makes you feel better, right?" I asked as I let him go.

"A-Alma!" he muttered, growing redder and redder until a lot of steam came out of his mouth and he passed out

Oops?