The stone was huge. Of course, I wouldn’t tell Reiner this or he would flip out and rant on about getting it exchanged. Based on the size of the diamond alone, the ring became too eye catching and I didn’t even want to start thinking about how much this stone costed Reiner. I wouldn’t have picked a diamond this big if I was the one choosing. I glanced over at Reiner as I wondered how much of his savings, he gorged out to spend on this. The way the light from the lamp refracted and reflected off the stone made the ring give off a very attractive yet mysterious vibe.
“I did…with some help from a friend…” Reiner admitted truthfully.
“Was it a woman?” I asked as I turned and narrowed my eyes at him.
I could imagine the saleslady telling him something along the lines of ‘the bigger the better’. The scene that played out in my head was extremely funny and I had a hard time keeping myself from giggling.
“It was. She’s an old friend…” Reiner replied softly.
I continued narrowing my eyes at him. Rachael was supposed to be just an old friend too and although I could believe that there was nothing romantic between them, I had a hard time believing that Reiner didn’t have more than a few past lovers here on this island while he was here.
“She really is just an old friend…” Reiner reiterated firmly.
I let out a giggled as I smiled at him. The look of worry that crossed his face at my question truly added to the list of things that made my day.
“Thank you so much for this. I’ll treasure it forever…” I promised, meaning it.
“You don’t have to. I’m happy enough that you like it,” Reiner replied as if the task of treasuring the ring he gave me would be an unnecessary burden to me.
“Hmm…then, I’ll love you forever,” I declared brightly as I pulled him into a tight hug.
Reiner laughed a little without saying anything; however, the way his large hand stroked my hair told me that he probably liked what he had just heard.
…
After our sudden wedding, I had expected that many things would change and so I was confused and surprised when nothing really changed at all. Of course, it went without saying that I had to move out of my small apartment to live with Reiner and his family at the mansion. Just as I had insisted, his bedroom was more than good enough for us to share. I didn’t want to move to a new room even though there were many and even larger bedrooms available.
The morning that followed our very passionate and romantic first night together in his bedroom, I had a good look around at Reiner’s real bedroom. Unlike the room that he had at Lucien’s mansion, the room was surprisingly very lived in, just like how normal bedrooms are supposed to be. I could remember clearly the reaction that I had when I first entered Reiner’s bedroom back at Lucien’s mansion. I had never seen a room so empty and void of any signs of its owner before.
Seeing his bedroom filled with everyday things that he uses made me feel very connected to the real person that he was. Slowly, I was starting to learn more about Reiner and the different sides of him and his character. I smiled a little to myself as I looked around his bedroom, my eyes taking in the various objects that he had placed on the shelves. His books, the photos in the many photo frames that he had on display, awards, and trophies from his achievements in sports and martial arts.
“You can move or pack away anything that you think is in the way. It’s all fine by me,” Reiner said as he came to stand close by my side.
“Oh, no. That wasn’t what I had in mind at all,” I quickly replied.
“I thought you must think that it’s a little messy in here. You’ll be living here too so its ok if you want to change things around. We can even get this entire wing renovated if you want…” Reiner suggested with a small smile.
What good deeds did I do in my previous lives to deserve a husband like him?
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Breakfast?” I suggested happily.
“You want me to cook?” he asked.
That wasn’t what I had in mind because I didn’t want to bother him but if he was offering then…
“Umm…you don’t have to…” I replied.
“I want to. I’ll cook for you…” Reiner said determinedly.
“Sure…” I gladly replied.
I’m so happy to just let him do whatever he wanted to do.
…
“You two just got married so why not take some time off?” Queen demanded to know with a confused look on her face.
“It’s Monday…” Reiner replied matter-of-factly.
He was right. It was indeed Monday and as far as he was concerned the weekend of our wedding was over and our life had to move on.
“Natalia! Say something!” Queen cried out loudly as she turned to appeal to me.
I shrugged helplessly at her because I couldn’t think of anything to say to change Reiner’s mind. Plus, he was right, it was Monday and since we were both still employed by King’s company, we had to go to work.
“It’s fine. Making sure we don’t get behind in our work is important too…” I replied with a smile.
“Seriously? What about your honeymoon trip?” Queen asked like it was the end of the world that we were going to work.
“We…haven’t thought about that yet,” I replied, honestly.
“Wait! You can take time off, you know?” Queen cried out desperately.
“If there’s nothing else, we’ll be going to work now…” Reiner said as he jerked open the car door for me to get in.
“I guess, we’ll go on a honeymoon when we’ve settled down again. Thank you for worrying about us, but for now, I think it’s best if we go to work like we usually do,” I replied calmly.
“If you say so…” Queen muttered, and I could tell that she wasn’t convinced at all.
We left a very grumpy-looking Queen behind as Reiner drove off. I hadn’t expected that Reiner would casually remind me that we had work to do at the office while we were eating the breakfast that he cooked.
–To be continued…