IMBSM 22

Chapter: 22

At Ivnia’s audacious suggestion, Ram crossed his arms, wrapping himself as if to shield his body.

For her startled husband, who could only blink in surprise, Ivnia didn’t forget to add words meant to reassure him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll just hold your hand while sleeping.”

“…If we were really a terrible couple, wouldn’t we not even hold hands?”

“Then I’ll sleep without touching a single finger.”

“I’m grinding my teeth.”

“I’m not.”

“Snore too.”

“I don’t snore.”

“…Actually, I sleep really peacefully too.”

Ram, who had been trying to scare Ivnia with his terrible sleeping habits, seemed to feel like he was losing somehow, and he changed his words mid-sentence.

Ivnia, however, didn’t feel anxious despite Ram’s long deliberation and silently waited for his decision.

After all, nothing would be more foolish than dying just because he refused to share a bed with the wife he forcibly gained.

He was the protagonist of a cool story, entirely unbefitting a foolish death or a foolish book.

After staring at Ivnia with a troubled gaze for a while, he finally gave his firm consent.

“All right. Let’s sleep together tonight.”

“Actually, I thought you might have been angry at me, Ram-nim.”

At the unexpected remark from Ivnia, Ram only turned his head to look at her.

Though the situation had come about because of her suggestion, Ivnia secretly found the dynamic somewhat amusing.

Even though they were lying at opposite ends of the bed, they were chatting softly together.

When she had first arrived here, she could never have imagined this scenario.

She had certainly never expected to share the very blanket he had been so carefully guarding.

“I’m not angry at you. I’m angry at Guillermo.”

Ram, who had been staring blankly at Ivnia, turned his gaze to the ceiling as he replied.

Even though the remark came out of nowhere, he seemed to understand easily why she had brought it up.

The last time they met, he had gotten scarily angry in front of her and then disappeared.

If he realized she hadn’t changed her mind, he would probably be even angrier than last time.

Instead of saying anything that might make things awkward for both of them, Ivnia quietly changed the subject.

“When will Guillermo return things to how they were?”

“Return them? What more trouble do you want him to cause? Just leaving a precious young lady in someone else’s house is already infuriating enough.”

No sooner had the topic arisen than Ram, as if he’d been waiting for it, began badmouthing Guillermo.

Ivnia, though, could only smile, as if it were someone else’s problem.

Beyond all that, she simply liked that Ram treated her like a precious young lady.

Ivnia teasingly clung to the tail end of his words.

“‘Left me like that’?”

“You came to marry an older man at the age when you should be meeting peers. Isn’t that leaving you in that state?”

“Ram-nim doesn’t really look like an old man.”

“A man isn’t just his face. This time it couldn’t be helped, but when you marry next time, take care.”

Hearing him casually assume a “next time” made her feel strangely.

Would he really try to break a promise if an acquaintance who was hibernating woke up?

Seeing that he hadn’t changed his mind even despite Seven’s objections, she felt that he had no right to criticize her over the same issue.

“I’m not really thinking about remarriage.”

“Didn’t you have someone you liked back home?”

“Yes.”

“Someone who liked you?”

“Well…”

Though her answer was vague, a face did come to mind.

Ram, perceptive as ever, immediately hit the nail on the head.

“So you do have someone in mind.”

“Yes… but it’s really nothing. I’ve never even spoken to him.”

Even though he was a husband she had obtained by accident, was it really okay to talk about another man in front of him?

Unlike Ivnia, who had a hesitant expression, Ram looked genuinely interested in this rare love story.

Turning fully toward her, he urged her to speak.

“How did you know he liked you if you never spoke?”

“…We danced together once.”

“How did you ask for a dance? With your eyes?”

“Not the kind where you choose a partner and dance. The kind where everyone dances together, you know? Men and women lined up side by side, taking turns dancing.”

“Ah.”

Her story, cute to the point of blandness, was met with equally plain acknowledgment from Ram.

She had never told anyone about it, knowing that this would likely be his reaction.

After all, she had clarified that they had never spoken, so how grand could the story really be?

Seeing him noticeably lose enthusiasm, she felt the need to prove that her memory wasn’t mistaken.

Ivnia said resolutely,

“At that time, his hands kept getting sweaty.”

“Isn’t that just hyperhidrosis?”

“But they were perfectly dry until he danced with me.”

Despite Ivnia’s insistence, Ram remained skeptical.

Words have their limits, apparently.

Ivnia recalled past moments with a sense of injustice:

His lips stubbornly closed in front of her, Yet whenever their gazes met, he looked back, When it was time to dance, his movements stiffened noticeably, And even knowing they had to part, he couldn’t let go of her hand.

Surely, none of this was a mere illusion…

“We also kept making eye contact.”

Ivnia added this clear clue to the ambiguous atmosphere.

Ram’s response, however, was only mischievous teasing.

“You saw him too, huh?”

Ivnia didn’t answer, because what he said was true.

It didn’t mean she had fallen foolishly in love at the time.

She just had a fleeting thought:

Like a romantic passage from a story, like people unaware of the embarrassing rumors, or like the phantom of the man dragged by her childish daydreams—

Wouldn’t he whisk me away from here?

Of course, her imagination never came true, and the man left the ballroom as soon as the song ended.

Perhaps it was an even more beautiful dream because he had awakened.

After all, imagination is not a crime.

“Whether what I thought then was a mistake or not, he can’t be considered a candidate for remarriage anyway.”

“Why? Ask him later. Maybe he’s naturally sweaty.”

“I can’t even ask. He was a young master from a prestigious family I couldn’t even speak to. The eldest son, no less.”

“Who says you couldn’t speak? If we divorced, I’d give you a huge alimony.”

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to get involved with you?”

“Because you weren’t confident you could pay as much alimony as I would?”

“Everyone near me knew who I would marry.”

When Ivnia corrected his ridiculous question, he snapped his mouth shut, looking taken aback.

Ivnia turned her face forward again, closing her eyes briefly as if ignoring him.

She didn’t want to see him treat their marriage as a mistake or a misstep.

“So, it probably wasn’t anything serious to begin with. I told you from the start—it was really nothing.”

Ivnia’s casual tone still didn’t seem to reassure him.

Ram tended to take on more responsibility than he should.

“I’ve committed a grave sin.”

“I’m not blaming you, Ram-nim. I’m just saying. I really wasn’t interested in him anyway.”

“If things had been different, your feelings might’ve changed.”

“Ram-nim tends to worry unnecessarily.”

At Ivnia’s remark, Ram let out a dry laugh of disbelief.

He seemed to have let it pass, perhaps because something weighed on his mind.

Ivnia seized the chance to continue.

“Don’t worry too much, Ram-nim.”

“About what?”

“No matter what happens, I’ll never put poison in your soup.”

“I wasn’t worried about that, so don’t worry either.”

“And don’t go to that hibernating friend. As Seven said, I’ll die before you anyway. I’ll just try to live as short a life as possible.”

Ivnia conveyed her words to him calmly and indirectly.

Fortunately, he didn’t seem to take it as a declaration of imminent death, so he wasn’t as angry as before.

Perhaps he was exercising patience, remembering what she had said earlier.

Still, he couldn’t hide his disbelief.

He let out a dry laugh and asked,

“What kind of effort are you planning?”

“Many ways. I could eat just enough to survive and become weak, or spread rumors that I’m a very bad woman and get stoned to death. I’ll choose whichever suits your taste, Ram-nim.”

Ivnia replied carelessly.

No need for plausible examples—her absurd options would render his suspicions meaningless.

Luckily, her hidden intention seemed to work; he sighed loudly as if for all to hear.

This time, she expected him to scold her for nonsense, but he remained unusually silent for a while.

After some thought, he answered shortly,

“Just… don’t die young.”