She used to share all of her feelings with her close friends.
But here in the palace, she didn’t have anyone she trusted enough.
Not even Solene or Marielle, she was too afraid that her problems would become gossip if she confided in the wrong person.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to trust anyone.
It was just that ... she hadn’t found anyone she could fully rely on yet.
But now, standing here, seeing Edmund so earnest and worried over her, she suddenly realized, wasn’t he the perfect person to turn to when she needed someone to listen to her true feelings?
He had learned about all her worries through the doll, and yet, he had never told a single soul about them.
Instead of turning her struggles into gossip, Edmund had quietly tried to make everything better for her.
She often felt hungry at night, so he asked the maids to make sure there was always food in her room.
She missed her father, so he had gone all the way to Illvaris and brought the Duke back to her.
She felt lonely, so he made sure to eat meals with her whenever he was home at the palace.
"Primrose ..." Edmund finally spoke, lifting his gaze to her when she stayed silent for too long.
"Can ... can I earn your forgiveness for what I’ve done?"
Primrose let out a soft sigh.
The way he sounded, you would think he had committed some horrible crime, like he had wiped out her whole family, but he hadn’t done anything cruel.
He had simply crossed a line without meaning to.
"I got mad because you did it without telling me," Primrose said, letting out another deep breath as she sat down on the couch, her eyes drifting toward the bookshelf she had once accidentally knocked over.
"It feels ... creepy when someone watches and listens to me secretly. How would you feel if someone else did that to me?"
[I would kill them immediately.]
Primrose didn’t even blink at his fierce thought.
She knew Edmund could be terrifying when it came to protecting her.
Of course, he softened his words when he spoke out loud. "I would be mad," he said after a short pause. "And ... I’d punish them."
"Exactly," Primrose said calmly.
"It feels wrong when anyone does that to me, even you. Just because you’re my husband, it doesn’t mean you can do anything without consequences. You should’ve asked for my permission first."
Even if Edmund hadn’t used the doll for anything bad, the way he had gone behind her back still left a sour feeling.
[My wife is right. I crossed the line. I deserve to be punished for making her uncomfortable.]
"I was wrong," Edmund said again, bowing his head even lower. "You can punish me however you want."
Punish the King?
How exactly was she supposed to do that?
Whip him? Lock him in the dungeon for a week?
No, that would be way too extreme and the court would probably burst into chaos if they heard the King was sleeping in the dungeon.
She needed something lighter.
Something that would still teach him a lesson, but not humiliate him or draw attention.
After all, even though he had done something wrong, he had done it because he cared about her.
"Alright then," Primrose said, her lips curling into a small smile.
[Is my wife going to whip me a hundred times with a thorn whip?]
What in the world was he thinking?!
She didn’t even know there was such a thing as a thorn whip!
Sometimes Primrose seriously wondered how her husband’s imagination could be so dark and dramatic.
Primrose cleared her throat and said, "You can’t touch me and you have to stay at least three meters away from me for an entire week."
Edmund’s eyes widened so much that Primrose almost worried they might pop out of their sockets.
He stood frozen for a long moment, not even breathing, until Primrose started to wonder if he might actually faint standing up.
[THAT’S WORSE THAN DEATH!]
"I ... I can’t even touch your hair?" he asked, his voice trembling as if he was on the verge of breaking apart.
Primrose shook her head.
"No, you can’t, Your Majesty."
Once Edmund sat down stiffly at the desk, Primrose leaned back slightly and said, "Now tell me. How exactly did you use the doll to spy on me?"
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