# 34
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Hearing Chloe's words, Eric's mood soured. But if he told her that what she said made him feel bad, it would be an admission that he was not fulfilling his duties as a husband, and that he never cared for Chloe.
So, he showed no signs of being affected. All expressions quickly disappeared from his face.
“Let's have dinner now.”
Instead of getting angry, he reached out to Chloe.
“Dinner here in the balloon will be wonderful.”
Chloe took his hand gently.
* * *
Just as he said, dinner here on the airship was very nice. The view of the clouds behind the large windows was gorgeous, and the glow of the sunset was stunning to look at
Chloe stared at the sight absently, forgetting that she needed to eat. The view was so beautiful that she was mesmerized by it.
“The food is getting cold.”
Eric gestured toward the plate as he said this. Then, Chloe regained consciousness and quickly grabbed the cutlery.
“I'll cut it for you.”
Eric took Chloe's plate and cut her steak.
She was confused. She had never seen Eric so nice. Was this the beginning of Eric's attempt? If her husband continues to treat her this way in the coming days, Khloe hopes that their marriage will continue like this until its end.
correct. It was again, the hope I had tried to shake off before. He's back again.
What a foolish woman! Chloe knew how ridiculous it was, but she couldn't give up this remaining hope, which continued to grow in a corner of her heart.
“How do you like your meal?”
“Oh, it's delicious.”
Chloe nodded, wiping the corner of her mouth. Eric's eyes narrowed
“Andrea said you rarely eat.”
“Is this why you eat breakfast with me regularly?”
"Yes."
When Eric answered, his voice was gentle.
“Eat whatever you want. So you don’t get sick again.”
Suddenly, Chloe's hand that was holding the fork trembled.
You won't get sick?
who knows.
If a day like this comes, that will be the day you die. Since Eric didn't know about her illness, he could at least say something like that
Chloe then thought about what to do with something like Hope.
Even if she hoped that love would blossom between her and her husband, she would die anyway. You won't be able to survive...
Although she felt sad, Chloe didn't show it, but smiled and nodded with a gentle expression.
“Yes, I will eat a lot.”
Her answer made Eric smile slightly, as if he was completely satisfied with this – without realizing how much she was burning inside.
He thought Chloe would change her mind soon if he showed her he cared like this. Asking for a divorce is just a passing whim... He'll be able to keep Chloe by his side as long as he's nicer to her.
Besides, he didn't hate doing it for her, which was surprising. He felt something tickling inside him, accompanied by a strange feeling of pride.
Whatever it was, it wasn't bad. So, Eric decided to try a little harder from now on.
“You are here!”
But at that moment, someone cheerfully shouted. A middle-aged man with a warm expression approached their table.
“I have been looking for you for a while, Your Excellency. I am Alfredo, the captain of this airship.”
He extended his hand towards Eric as he said this, and Eric in turn shook the captain's hand gently.
“Nice to meet you. This is my wife. I’m sure you know her.”
"Yes!"
Alfredo's eyes widened as he looked at Chloe.
“So it's the lady who came up on deck earlier. I didn't know it was you.”
His way of saying it was harsh. Chloe bowed her head in shame.
"I've come across others doing it too. Even if it's unsafe, they don't listen. Ma'am, what you did before was very dangerous, and you could have gotten into big trouble. If you fall, you'll die! Death, I'm telling you!"
Alfredo said this as if he was scolding Chloe. Chloe was already very shy, but she had to say what was on her mind. So, she answered cautiously.
“But I tied the rope to my waist. I was safe.”
"That's still a problem, ma'am. Do you know what happens to someone who falls?"
“What will happen?”
“They'll be dragged straight to the engine – we won't even be able to find your body. You'll be broken into pieces!”
“Captain, that's enough.”
At that moment, Alfredo was stopped by Eric, who had a dark look on his face. At this, Alfredo coughed once, perhaps realizing that the words he had spoken were too harsh
"Anyway, that's what I'm trying to say. So I'm asking you not to go up there again, ma'am. Do you understand that?"
“Didn't I tell you to stop?”
Eric scolded the captain again in an angry tone. The captain was severely scolding Chloe, a girl who had probably never been scolded in her life. Chloe probably felt insulted too, so Eric stopped him, but...
“I see. I apologize.”
But Chloe didn't mind. She even apologized, contrary to what Eric thought.
Eric looked at Chloe, his eyes shining with surprise.
Of course, Chloe was surprised too. This was the first time she had been reprimanded by someone who was not a member of her family. But because the reprimand was for a good reason, Chloe accepted it.
“It won't happen again. No matter how nice the view is, I'll just watch from inside. That's good, right?”
“Oh, of course, of course, ma’am. I’m just saying this for your safety, so please don’t get too angry.”
"What do you mean by angry? It's okay. I was only concerned about my safety."
Alfredo seemed to be relieved by these words. He put his hand on his chest and leaned towards her.
“Okay, I'll leave now. I'll ask the chef to bring me a good bottle of wine.”
“I would appreciate it. Come in.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
After Alfredo left, Eric turned to Chloe, still confused.
"Are you well?"
“Huh?”
Eric added.
“I mean, are you okay after the captain talked to you so rudely?”
"What do you mean? I'm fine."
Chloe waved her hand as she answered.
"He just pointed out my mistake. There's no reason why I can't be okay."
Eric couldn't answer. Chloe seemed lost in thought now, but she couldn't guess what he meant when he asked that, so she remained silent as well.
Click, click. The only sound that could be heard between them was the clinking of silver cutlery against their plates.
Then suddenly, Eric spoke.
“It's shocking.”
"Sorry?"
Chloe asked in response, not knowing what he was talking about. Eric continued talking
“I thought you would be bolder.”
“Arrogant?”
Chloe frowned for a moment before bursting out laughing at the unexpected word. How could he keep saying such kind words while maintaining the same cold expression? She couldn't help but laugh
"I don't know what you think of me, but I think I have a good personality. Darling, I wouldn't get angry or upset about something like that."
“It seems so. This must also be why you chose to ignore the nonsense the servants in the north were saying.”
“You still hold on to that?”
He was talking about servants who said, “Doesn’t your husband have a mistress?” They were expelled as a result.
As Chloe was thinking about that time, a wave of emotions swept across her face again, and it was the same look that Eric saw as “smug.”
“You are at fault then. I am the mistress of the house, and yet you dismissed them without my permission.”
Eric cupped one hand under the table.
As soon as he mentioned these servants, he felt his anger rising. The back of his neck gradually stiffened.
But he couldn't show his anger to Chloe. Obviously, whatever friendly atmosphere they had together would vanish once he did that, no matter how hard he tried. Accept those words with surrender.
“That's one way to think about it.”
While Eric was holding back his desire to unleash his anger, he continued speaking calmly.
“But it was a good thing I kicked them out. You know that too, right?”
He looked directly into Chloe's eyes.
“They ostracized you on purpose.”
Chloe's eyes twitched. She lowered her hands from the table and clasped them together on her lap.
“Did you know?”
“I knew about it. That's why I fired all the servants in the Northern Palace and appointed new ones. Even the butler. He knew what was going on, plus he was embezzling a large amount of assets. All the new employees know about it. So, the same thing won't happen when you return to the North.”
Eric let out a long sigh.
“Why didn’t you tell me? If you had, I would have solved the whole thing right away.”
Chloe bit her lower lip. She wiped the cold sweat from her hands on her lap as she raised her head to meet his gaze, as if she had made up her mind.
“I wanted to tell you.”
She spoke honestly, from the bottom of her heart.
“But you didn't have time to talk to me.”
“That—”
“You always said you were busy, and you ignored me...”