The Squire on a White Horse

Chapter 4. Teddy Bear

It was four days after I was informed of my engagement to Stanley.

I dropped him off at his parents’ house, and immediately began a day full of study.

My tutor, Dana, who has been teaching me general education, manners, dancing, and sewing since I was a child, never forces me to do anything, but she is strict about it.

The short whip she carried around with her was a symbol of fear, even though she had never been one to hit.

The books piled up on the desk in the study room are a reminder of the etiquette that comes with being a wife.

Of course, I had studied this before, but this time I was marrying a commoner, not a nobleman, so there were many differences.

The day after I muttered in front of Dana that it would be better to learn the minimum knowledge as a merchant’s wife, she promptly found a specialist and gave me more introductory business administration lessons.

And then some other stuff.

Yes, married life and all that.

It was then that I finally understood why I had a moment when I asked Stanley if we were going to sleep in the same bed. I made up an excuse in my mind that I really didn’t know.

I didn’t really know. I explained to myself, because the only friend I had was my bed, where I would have been able to huddle together and talk about such interesting and disgusting things in private.

I didn’t want to see Stanley for a while, but it was two days before he was due back.

The day after the unseasonably heavy snowfall, Stanley informed me that his return would be delayed for a week longer than planned, and I suddenly felt very lonely.

It wasn’t that I hadn’t been there for him. His main job was to be a squire for my father.

Just ten years ago, when he came to this mansion at the age of sixteen, Stanley’s main job was to serve as a squire for my siblings and I, an apprenticeship in the ways of the upper class. However, being intelligent and sincere, he was quickly favored by my father and was soon entrusted with various tasks.

Despite his busy schedule, he still found time to visit me and play with me when I was too sick to leave my room for months at a time.

This has not changed since I grew up and had a successful surgery.

When my feelings of not wanting to see him were outweighed by my feelings of missing him, Stanley was finally going to come home.

I had been looking forward to waiting for him since I heard about it in the morning, but he never came home.

At dinner time, Father said, “The snow is so deep. He must be going a long way. Maybe he’ll stay somewhere else and come back tomorrow.”

At the same time, I felt a twinge of anxiety. Although it was no longer snowing heavily, it was still snowing.

It was past the time I would normally be in bed, and I was sitting on the side of the bed wondering if I should go to sleep or not, when I heard a small knock.

“Come in.”

It was Aishe who peeked out from the door.

“My Lady, it seems that Master Arliss has returned.”

It might be because every time I saw her, I asked her if Stanley had come home yet, so she came to inform me.

I stood up briskly. I looked at her as if to ask.

“Can I go check on him for a minute?”

“Just a little bit.”

I was finally allowed to leave the room after being put in a woolen scarf over my dress.

I hurried with Aishe to the door.

Stanley was still at the door, putting his large trunk and Boston bag at his feet and brushing the snow from his shoulders.

His eyes narrowed happily as he noticed me.