Free Web NovelChapter 538: The Overthinking Queen
Edmund and Primrose quietly walked back toward their chamber together.
The atmosphere between them still felt awkward, and somehow... everyone around them seemed to notice it immediately.
[Are they fighting?]
[I thought this couple would never get tired of showing affection in public. Who would’ve guessed they could actually argue?!]
[Honestly, I prefer seeing them all lovey-dovey instead of... whatever this is.]
[Wait... do they want a divorce?]
Who said that?!
They only had a small argument—it wasn’t even a real fight—so why would they need a divorce?!
That word was completely forbidden in their relationship!
"Your Majesty, would you like to take a bath first?" Marielle asked Primrose before she entered the room.
Without thinking for long, Primrose immediately answered, "Yes, please prepare warm water for me, and ask another maid to prepare warm water for my husband as well."
"Would you like to use the bath house instead, Your Majesty?" Marielle asked while tilting her head curiously.
Primrose sighed softly. No matter how fun it usually sounded, they still felt far too awkward right now to bathe together.
"No. Please prepare two separate bathrooms."
[So they really are fighting!] Marielle screamed internally. [Is the sky going to fall tonight?!]
Oh, come on!
Why was everyone acting as if their little argument was some kind of terrible omen?!
The world would survive just fine!
"Alright then, Your Majesty," Marielle replied obediently. "I’ll prepare everything immediately."
===
An hour later, Primrose had already finished bathing and changed into a comfortable nightgown, but when she stepped into their chamber, she realized Edmund still wasn’t there.
A soft sigh escaped her lips. Usually, Edmund never spent longer bathing than she did. Most of the time, he would already be waiting for her inside the room before she returned.
"Does he want to sleep in a separate room too?" Primrose quietly murmured to herself as she slowly laid down on the bed.
She stared silently at the ceiling above her. "I shouldn’t have told him that..."
Maybe that secret should have stayed buried together with her after she died someday. But at the same time, she also didn’t want to keep hiding things from her husband anymore because she didn’t want to leave him in the dark like before.
Besides, misunderstandings were the biggest reason why their relationship had fallen apart in the past.
That was why she wanted to do everything she could to stop history from repeating itself.
But maybe... maybe her efforts still weren’t enough.
She slowly closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find Edmund through their wedding ring, but the first thing she saw was darkness and... something that looked like a wooden texture.
Wait... did he put the ring inside a box?
Why? Why would he do that? Edmund almost never took his ring off!
Primrose immediately sat upright. The painful feeling inside her chest suddenly became even heavier.
For several long seconds, she simply sat there blankly, unable to think properly. Then before she even realized it herself, tears slowly started falling down her cheeks.
Soon, she began crying out loud because she thought Edmund had become so disappointed in her that he no longer wanted to wear their wedding ring anymore.
Primrose pulled her knees tightly against her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs before burying her face against them. Her shoulders trembled slightly while soft sobs continued escaping from her lips.
She had spent the entire journey trying so hard not to cry, but in the end, she was still a crybaby.
"What?! What happened?!"
The chamber door suddenly flew open, startling Primrose badly.
She quickly lifted her head and saw Edmund standing at the doorway.
He had already changed clothes and probably finished bathing too, but his hair looked slightly messy, as if he had rushed back the moment he heard her crying.
"Did something happen?" Edmund asked anxiously as he hurried toward her. "Are you sick? Does your stomach hurt?"
Primrose blinked several times. Her eyelashes were still wet with tears, forcing her to rub her eyes before answering weakly. "I’m... fine."
"Then... why are you crying?" Edmund asked hesitantly, but gently.
"It’s because..." Primrose’s voice slowly became smaller as she stopped in the middle of her sentence.
Her eyes slowly lowered toward his hand, and just like before... the ring still wasn’t there.
The painful feeling inside her chest immediately returned. "Your ring..." she whispered softly. "You took it off, so I thought... I thought..."
Her lips trembled slightly, and new tears quickly filled her eyes again before she could even stop them.
"I thought..." she whispered weakly while clutching the blanket tightly in her hands, "maybe you mad at me that badly."
The moment those words left her mouth, Edmund immediately froze. His eyes widened in complete shock as if he couldn’t believe what he had just heard.
"What?"
For several seconds, he simply stared at her blankly before quickly looking down at his own hand, only then did he finally realize the reason behind her misunderstanding.
"Wife, no," Edmund said almost immediately.
He knelt beside the bed and gently took both of her hands into his own.
"That’s not the reason at all."
Primrose tilted her head slightly, still looking emotional and confused. "It’s... not?"
Edmund immediately shook his head.
"No. It’s really not like that." He tightened his hold around her hands, almost as if he was afraid she would continue misunderstanding him.
"I only took the ring off because I was preparing something for you," he explained softly.
"My hands got dirty from the soil, so I needed to wash both my hands and the ring afterward." He patiently continued, "That’s all. I didn’t take it off because I was angry at you... and I definitely don’t regret being with you."
Primrose looked at him quietly for a few seconds. "Really?" she asked weakly, her voice still trembling a little from crying.
"Really," Edmund answered without hesitation.
He looked straight into her tearful eyes without blinking even once, wanting her to understand that he truly meant every word. Edmund didn’t even blink as he looked straight into her eyes.
"You said your waist was hurting," he continued softly. "So I went to the garden and took some stones to make a heated pouch for you."
