Chapter 63 Having A Husband Who Is Technically My Wife
“Were you that avoidant of the question that you rushed to see a man whom you clearly dislike?”
Maeve paused her sightseeing— which was her noticing for some reason that the women around Aeltherra were now wearing her prototype, the sunglasses, that is,— and turned her attention to Amir.
Lucien had not been allowed in the carriage, an act she realized only upset him more. He was already such a quiet bear when they were around people, but it seemed he had willingly decided to fall into the position of shadow more.
She took note of that.
She didn’t want him to become too reclusive. Lucien needed to know his worth. That was very important to her.
Workers were more efficient when they realized they were impirtant… and valued. “Avoidant is such a pretty big word. Didn’t think I would be hearing it from you but here we are. And I wasn’t being… avoidant. I just don’t think she should know everything,”
Amir, on the other hand, seemed to also be reverting as well.
Did it have to do with the air here or something?
He stared at her with the same straightforward expression he always gave, which was astronomically different from how he had been on their wedding day.
It made Maeve feel like she was being interrogated by a police officer. A hot one which for some reason made her feel more on edge.
Still, she was eternally grateful that things were not as awkward as she thought it might be after the whole wedding thing.
Small mercies, dear readers, small mercies.
“Plus, I don’t think Lucien has to know every little detail about us as well. He’s not had to exactly share my… attention with someone else and I’m not sure there’s a reason to worsen the relationship you both have at the moment.”
“We did not have a relationship,”
“Well, he wasn’t always glaring at you like he wished to bury you in a shallow grave and you weren’t constantly ignoring him like he was nothing but furniture. Still, you know what? Progress,”
Maeve wasn’t sure if she could mention that she needed the both of them on the same page. Especially them.
After everything she had discovered, the last thing she needed was both of them going after each other.
“How is everyone else?”
Amir, who had changed to match what she wore, had his legs crossed, tilted his head slightly as he gave a small nod, “The Orcs feel uncomfortable with the serenity of your estate. They do not admit it but they feel slightly trapped and there’s nothing… fun for them here in a sense. Our people… they wish to see you. To show their gratitude, I believe, and to see if you’re doing okay. They miss you,”
Our people, Maeve noticed that.
She had found out that after the entire marriage ordeal, they had all become unconscious immediately after her, except Amir, but after a while, they all woke up.
It turned out that they had all shared the same vision— watching Maeve walk their loved one.
In other words, with every soul that crossed over to the other side, someone woke up.
Everyone… Except Maeve.
They had all seen her ‘kindness’ as they put it, believing that the reason she had still not woken was because she had spent too long in the in-between.
Which made them all feel terrible… especially Mithrandir and felt worse for not being able to show their gratitude— which was another reason why they had all hurried to Aeltherra.
They were uncertain prayers would work, and after listening to Adrian’s words of how she already planned on taking this risk just so they would all leave Satyr to return it to its former glory, decided they would leave and find a way to make sure she was alright.
It was also why Maeve didn’t want to see them.
Whatever she had done, she didn’t know if she had done it out of kindness.
It just seemed like the reasonable thing to do.
They were people who needed help. So she helped. Plus, there were other things she needed to focus on at the moment.
“So they’re alright?”
Amir nodded.
“And you? Are you okay?”
Amir’s eyes fell on hers with a hazy look in them. Maeve did not appreciate it. “Do you really care if I am?”
Maeve sighed. “If this is because of what happened at the wedding—”
“I said I would not question the things that you do.” Amir interrupted, ever so curt and proper, “I meant it.”
“Amir,” Maeve let out a sigh and sat upwards, spreading her legs as she made a sweeping motion between the two of them. “Don’t do this. I’m begging you. Everyone else can nag me and that’s cool, but our relationship is built on you not going on tiptoes around me. Please
“If you died, I would have died. My people could have died.”
She paused, her eyes widening slightly before she let out a nervous laugh. The first one was short, waiting for Amir to change the topic but he didn’t.
Instead, he stared back at her with the same intensity.
She cleared her throat. “I wouldn’t have let anything happen to them—”
“Would you swear to me that you knew with complete certainty that they would be safe?” He cut in, his head tilted slightly.
“Well, no, but I wouldn’t have—”
“You cannot endanger my family and expect me to be at peace with it,”
Maeve stared at him, unsure of what to say, then she settled with nodding and moving back a bit, "You are… right. I need to apologize to… everyone else. To them.”
“And me?” She looked at him as he continued. “What about me? Do you not consider me your family? Or you, my wife ?”
Not seriously! Maeve thought but could not say… and from the expression on Amir’s face, he knew she wouldn’t either. It was as clear as day now. This entire situation.
He knew trying to show his anger at her putting her life at risk would be pointless.
Maeve didn’t care about herself. He knew that.
She cared about others.
And he knew she would feel terrible for hurting them— and him in that sense.
“I know you would not believe me,” Maeve started, her voice soft. “But I have no plans to die anymore. All those choices I made that put my life at risk were the easiest path to what I really truly want… but after what I’ve found out, I’m not sure I’d like to go down easy anymore,”
What she found out— a literal grim reaper had stopped her from falling off a bridge, taking her to some weird place and been extremely sarcastic all throughout for no reason whatsoever...
But he had mentioned a bet. And something about her soul.
God, Maeve was fully aware that this was an isekai romance novel but knowing it had all these little side quests and hidden plot line was beginning to piss her off.
And she liked to punch things when she was angry, she realized.
“You are right. I do not believe you,” Amir said, pulling back her attention to him. “But that’s fine. I cannot change who you are at your core, Isabella, but I also know this. Your life and mine are now interconnected. I will do whatever it takes to stop you from putting yourself in pain. Even at the detriment of my life.”
“Enough of you threatening me with seppuku. Why don’t you pretend to be me and meet Cassian?”
“No”
“Yeah.” She nodded, realizing he was done being cordial with her madness. “That tracks,”