Betrothed to My Sister's Ex

After that, we finished the meal we had paused midway and entered the guest room. Just as we did, ms. kaede and the others sat down at the dining table, waiting for Tender Mama’s cooking. Meanwhile, Lord Cyrus and I gathered our belongings and stepped out into the garden.

It wasn’t that late at night yet, but I couldn’t resist and dove into the hammock bed.

It was my first time ever in a hammock. If I put my weight down wrong, it would sway wildly and flip me over along with the fabric. Lord Cyrus held the ropes for me as I tried several times, and finally I managed to lie down fully—

“Wow. It’s like floating in midair!”

I exclaimed.

The bed gently swayed with every little movement, but it didn’t make me feel dizzy at all; instead, it was quite comfortable. Once I fully relaxed, the night sky was filled with stars. Combined with the sensation of floating in the hammock, it truly felt like I was suspended in the air.

“This is wonderful. The best experience ever.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

As I gushed, Lord Cyrus smiled warmly, eyes narrowing with happiness. Unlike me, he could easily lie down alone and was also smiling as he gazed up at the starry sky.

“…Indeed, unlike on the ship, this one is properly spacious and I can stretch out my legs.”

“By the way, aren’t hammocks normally used in ship cabins?”

Lord Cyrus nodded.

“Yes, that swaying motion is actually very good at absorbing shocks and offers stability. Our room was close to the waterline and didn’t sway much, so it was special. But if I’d known you longed for a hammock, we could have requested a regular cabin.”

“But with that hammock, your long arms and legs wouldn’t fit, right?”

I said, and he shrugged.

“Exactly.”

Then he looked up at the sky and smiled softly.

“That’s true. Like you said, it really feels like we’re among the stars.”

“…Yes. It’s the very same view I always admired from ‘The Ragged Red Cat Tale’…”

I murmured.

Hammocks were essential for travelers without a fixed home—stories about cats and travelers roaming the world often showed them sleeping in hammocks. When I was little, I couldn’t understand how they worked just from the illustrations. Flying carpet? No, a bed floating in the air? Foreign lands were so fascinating; there were so many things Dilz didn’t have. My sister and I used to excitedly flip through the pages together.

When I told Lord Cyrus this, he narrowed his eyes. Having a foreign mother himself, he looked very happy when I talked about foreign cultures like this.

“Marie, you really love cultural exchange with other countries. It was a bit spontaneous, but I’m glad I brought you out to sea.”

He nodded while lying down.

That was really true. Of course, we weren’t just wandering aimlessly—there was the wedding in Ipsandros, Lord Cyrus’s work, and the noble duty of diplomatic engagements. But I was also looking forward to meeting locals. I wanted to meet people from distant lands who we could never encounter in Dilz and hear real stories from them—

…Suddenly, I recalled what had just happened.

I lowered my eyes.

“...Did I do something rude to that person?”

“The woman from the East just now?”

“Yes. She seemed to dislike me. Even though I apologized—I might have mispronounced Shaina language…”

Lord Cyrus seemed to sense the cloud over my expression and looked a bit embarrassed.

“No, I’m sorry. It was my bad attitude. Looking back, I was excessively rude.”

“No, it can’t be helped. Actually, having four people in one room like that was impossible.”

“That’s not it… No, never mind.”

He shook his head and said no more. Even when I asked, he didn’t answer, and he seemed somewhat displeased as he kept his eyes closed.