Rather Than The Son, I’ll Take The Father
chapter-144

I rubbed my eyes with a blank face.

Thinking about it, it was probably a good thing that the beast couldn’t see me in real life.

Thanks to that, he had no idea how much Aedis loved me.

…… love?

“Eve, are you awake?”

“…… .”

I heard a voice that made me feel better. I lifted my eyelids, possessed. Aedis was standing by the door and laughed.

“You should eat something.”

As I raised my upper body, a soft blanket slipped down. IT seemed Aedis had carried me into bed.

I stretched out my arms to Aedis. I didn’t say anything, but Aedis reflexively came over and hugged me.

“I don’t want to walk at this rate.”

“I’ll always be by your side, so this won’t be a problem.”

Aedis took me to the table.

Mmm, it smelled delicious.

A rare delicacy, hard to find in the North, was set on the walnut wood table. It was amazing to see even a soft dessert that looked like it had just been baked.

“Did you go out?”

“The wife is alone. It was made using only the ingredients available here.”

“…… You made it?”

All of this? At first glance, there weren’t many cooking utensils.

“Aedis, do you have five of your hands hidden and only use them to cook?”

“There is something like that? I will consider it next time.”

“No, don’t consider it.”

Aedis chuckled as he sat me down, then he sat across from me, stretching his legs. I glanced at Aedis as I ate my soup.

Delicious. And I felt remorse…….

The beast that appeared in Regen’s form in my dream kept coming back to me. The beast couldn’t even return to nature, and tried to pass on his power to me, regretting even his own death. And he said that the reason he was doing this was because of Aedis.

“Eve? Is there anything you want to say to me?”

“It’s, it’s delicious.”

“I don’t think so.”

The backlight cast shadows around Aedis’ eyes. He was as beautiful as a god ascended from the cold blue underworld.

However, there was no sense of intimidation beyond his usual standards.

Could it be because of the eyes dripping with honey? He was so full of affection that even asking if he loved me felt pointless.

…… Once he knows why, Aedis will never be able to laugh it off. Still, it was something I couldn’t hide.

That night, I closed my eyes with the thought of reuniting with the beast and somehow making a decision.

I promised myself that I wouldn’t be surprised if he appeared in Gilbert’s form, but when I opened my eyes it was morning. I didn’t even dream.

“…….”

What the heck?

It was good to get a solid night’s sleep, but..… how could he be so selfish? Yesterday, he showed up even though I only slept for a short time.

I tossed and turned to look at Aedis. There was a fatal face in front of my nose that I would not get tired of even if I kept my eyes on it all day.

Long, downcast eyelashes glistened in the clear sunlight. The decadent beauty that was usually scattered around was nowhere to be found, and there was only a peaceful atmosphere.

For a moment, forgetting my worries about the beast, I held my breath and observed my husband as he slept. Even though I had just woken up and had a hazy mind, my heart tightened.

Cu, cute…….

Aedis had recently begun to show a little bit of his defenseless sleep. It was fatal to my heart that I could understand why he hadn’t shown it in the meantime.

“Wherever I look, how can he say that my husband is a bad boy…….”

Now that I didn’t have to look at anyone, I puffed up my cheeks to my heart’s content.

The beast said Aedis was blinded by possessiveness toward me.

But is Aedis the only one possessive? I also considered Aedis to be ‘my’ husband.

I resisted the urge to touch Aedis’ face and closed my eyes. After spending a little more time in the bed, Aedis woke up, too.

“Aedis, can I kiss you in the morning?”

Instead of saying no, Aedis gently took me in his arms and set me down on top of him.

I was mounted on Aedis.

“Huh, are you trying to seduce me?”

“I am seducing you.”

…… what?

Aedis smiled with a languid face.

“It feels so good to see the wife’s face first thing.”

“…….”

“Don’t cover your face.”

“…….”

How can I not cover it!

I could imagine how red my cheeks must have turned. Suddenly, this bizarre position became very uncomfortable.

Obviously I was the one attacking, but I was vulnerable to Aedis’ sweet words.

Aedis whispered to me in a hoarse voice that could only be heard in the early morning.

“Today might be our last chance, is that okay?”

No. It’s not okay

Now was the time to be an opportunist.

I brushed off my shame.

“I’ll just take three deep breaths.”

Aedis couldn’t hold back his laughter, as if my expression was strange.

“Eve, you’re going to break a hole in my face.”

“It won’t break through! No running away!”

Then Aedis furrowed his eyebrows. Something poked out from Aedis’ shadow, and I quickly realized it wasn’t me.

“Caw! Caw!”

The little crow stuck out its head and crowed. I tilted my head to one side.

“Raven?”

“Caaaww…….”

Then the crow covered his eyes with his wings as if he had seen something he shouldn’t see. Did he return after having fun in the garden? As the subtly dirty Raven walked out, a bird’s dirty footsteps were stamped on the floor.

“Caw? Caw?”

The appearance of the little crow walking on the floor with wings covering its eyes was certainly rare.

“You can look. And you can change into a human and talk.”

Both Aedis and I were dressed just fine with only a slightly odd posture.

While Raven changed into a boy, I brushed off my regret and slid off Aedis’ body.

“Ex, excu, excuse me …….”

“What happened all of a sudden? Is there a problem with the castle?”

“Mis– Mister, Ele– Eleonora.”

“What’s wrong with the disciple?”

“Stomach, not, good.”

“…….”

Raven tried hard to explain with his tongue that wouldn’t move as he wanted, but I was flustered and didn’t know how to react.

No matter how much Eleonora claimed to be my disciple, in the end he was an outsider and a beast. Should Raven come all the way here and report directly that he was feeling unwell? It was such a critical situation…… ?

I turned to Aedis at a loss for words. He, too, looked surprised.

“Umm, are there any herbs that calm the stomach?”

“That is, not, it.”

Raven shook his head.

“Not, well! More than that! Serious!”

“…….”

“Spider…… thread…… keeps– coming out!”

I could see that Eleonora had a problem with the webs coming out all the time. But beyond that, I couldn’t even guess. Aedis’ face said he wasn’t even going to die, so why the fuss? as he asked,

“How long will he be like that?”

Raven grumbled, wanting me to return to the castle quickly.

“Don’t you– worry?”

“I wouldn’t be worried about a spider making a web.”

Aedis murmured sullenly. I heartily agreed. Eleonora used the web that Raven saw to heal me. It didn’t feel like a serious matter requiring a rush to the castle.

After all, there were Shaula and Paimon in the castle, right?

Neither was very trustworthy, but enough to entrust the castle to.

“Chi…….”

Raven glared at Aedis. It was far away from the gaze of a loyal familiar toward its master. Sure enough, Raven rebelled

“WhenEvecutherfingeronpaperyouweresadasiftheworldwasgone!” [TL: Yes, the raw merged the whole sentence without any space! hahaha]

Raven gurgled words from his mouth, then crouched down and groaned.

Oops, I guess he bit his tongue.

Aedis sighed and laughed.

“You have to compare people, Raven.”

“Then! With! With who! To compare!”

Raven whimpered and lifted his head. It seemed that he was trying various methods because he wanted to speak as accurately and quickly as possible. However, Aedis, who was kind to his wife but was good at overworking his familiar, had no intention of acknowledging Raven’s hard work.

“You shouldn’t be comparing yourself. It is impossible with anyone.”

Thanks to this, the boy went beyond sniffing and was on the verge of wailing loudly.

“Aedis, don’t tease the kid.”

Only then did Raven realize that Aedis was making fun of him, and his face burned.

“Tea– teasing me?!”

“I’ve lived longer than the wife. She used to be quite a celebrity.”

Oh……. I was intrigued. Raven probably felt a sense of crisis.

“I hate…… Master! I like Eve!”

Raven clung to me with tears hanging from his eyelashes.

I reassured Raven.

“Don’t worry, Raven. I was listening seriously.”

“Re, really…… ?”

Then.

“Aedis, can beasts take the digestive medicine that humans use?”

“Wife, stop teasing him, too.”

Hearing Aedis’ laughter, Raven cried louder than before and was frustrated.

“Uwaaahh, hate Eve too…….”

I asked Aedis to check it while comforting Raven, who was grieving with his whole body.

“Hasn’t Toliman contacted you?”

Aedis gave me a brief nod.

I guessed it was not a big deal as well.