Free Web NovelChapter 512: Finding the Truth
Irene’s composure broke for a moment, and she felt her heart thud as she turned to stare at her husband. She quietly considered what he meant by his words. If he meant anything by his words.
"I’m tired from traveling, but if you’d like to stay with the others, you should," Henry persisted.
It seemed he was overthinking what her gaze meant. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
"I don’t want to be here without you," Irene admitted quickly, not wanting him to jump to conclusions on his own.
Henry stood up from where he sat at the head of the table. The room quieted down at the sight of their leader.
"Please continue clearing out the barrels downstairs. We need room for more wine," he announced. "My wife and I will be turning in early."
Irene’s admiration quickly turned into embarrassment, and she had to lower her eyes from her husband, knowing she was receiving far too many knowing looks from the others. It was as if they had only just realized she was a woman at that moment.
Henry offered his hand to his wife. Irene took it eagerly.
But before she could leave the room, she also turned to the knights.
"Thank you for all the well wishes," she said. "It has meant so much to me."
Unaccustomed to seeing their third in command acting shy, Irene was aware of the few surprised but knowing looks she caught from a few of the knights closer to her. However, Felix wouldn’t get away with not getting a glare from Irene because he was caught up in his own circumstances with a maid and had no room to judge anyone else. At least she was married before this part of herself was exposed to the world, she smugly thought.
Once in the hallway, Henry slipped his fingers between Irene’s, and she smiled up at him as she leaned into his arm.
"It was a good banquet," Irene said. "I’m sure the others will enjoy it for a long time."
"You didn’t have to follow me if you didn’t want to," Henry offered, even if that wasn’t what he wanted.
"I would rather go to bed at the same time as you," Irene admitted. "It feels wrong otherwise."
He squeezed her hand at that, and they began to walk.
"It feels good to be back," Henry muttered. "We can get adjusted before we settle down for the winter, although the winterization will fall upon us quickly."
It wasn’t exactly what Irene wanted to talk about, but she relented for now.
"I’m looking forward to getting active after a lazy few weeks," she added.
"No one would judge you for being lazy a bit longer," Henry admitted.
"We have winter for that."
"That we do," Henry agreed quickly.
They climbed the stairs until they were at the highest point in the tower and walked down the hallway towards their room.
Before they could make it all the way there, Irene’s heart picked up speed when Henry pulled her closer by her hand until she was close enough to gently hold onto her waist.
"I asked a maid to save us some sweets," he explained. "They’ll bring something up for us soon."
There wasn’t a better opportunity as Irene leaned into Henry and pressed her hands against his chest. She gently kissed him, her body against his. If she wasn’t mistaken, he held her a bit tighter.
However, more surprising than anything was his quietly slipping away and bringing her the rest of the way into their bedroom by her hand.
When the door was shut, Henry moved forward quickly to put his sword on the stand by his bed. He was then determined to go to his armoire and get undressed for the evening as if his silent rejection was normal, Irene couldn’t help the words that came from her lips.
"Are we the type of couple who only holds hands?" Irene wondered, unable to help that her tone had gotten a bit fiery out of frustration.
Henry seemed to avoid her gaze for a while as he pulled on comfortable sleeping pants.
He finally met it as he responded, "Clearly not. We just kissed in the hallway."
To test that, Irene walked towards her husband, who backed away just as quickly
"See?! You’re doing it right now," Irene accused.
The guilty smile he wore faltered. freewёbnoνel.com
At that, she closed the space and reached for his cheek, which she gently stroked with her thumb.
"What’s the matter, Henry?" she asked, this time more gently. "Are you avoiding me?"
He sighed, and his eyes closed as he relished in her touch.
"I’m not doing it to hurt you, I promise."
"It’s going to start hurting me if you don’t explain yourself," she persisted, refusing for any more misunderstandings to arise.
Irene had never seen him so hesitant before as he suddenly pulled her hand from his face and brought her to the bed that had been made up with the finest blankets in the Duke’s Tower, with a plethora of pillows now that a woman was sleeping there. It was clear the maids wanted to impress their master’s new wife.
He crouched in front of his wife and grasped her hands.
"Please don’t feel pressured by my words," Henry requested. "I’m trying to hold myself back—"
A maid chose that time to knock on the door and deliver their dessert.
The two of them felt awful at how tense the room likely felt as the maid entered upon Henry’s request and glanced at the two of them.
"Where shall I put this?" she asked.
"The bed is fine," Henry responded.
She did as asked and bowed. Unlike usual, she didn’t ask if they needed anything else before she quickly departed because it was clear that they were in the middle of something, considering the room felt heavy with something unsaid.
When they were alone again, Irene turned towards her husband with a curious gaze. He pulled her hands to his lips as he recentered himself before he could speak again.
