Couple Bickering

Raphkiel drove a cheaper car this time to avoid suspicions from his wife. He secretly borrowed it from Charles and the guy was kind enough to give him the keys. But of course, Charles had no other choice but to appease his boss' irritation earlier by giving him what he wanted for the time being. 

Charles was also amused to learn that a woman had him wrapped on her fingers. He had to curry favor with his so-called 'wife' so that he wouldn't have to deal with Raphkiel's bad mood all the time. 

Raphkiel started the car and drove away. The two of them didn't talk with each other at all so Alisa could only stare at the outside scenery. She then noticed that it wasn't the way towards her residence. She turned towards him and gave him a questioning look.

He saw this from the corner of his eye even without directly looking at her since he was busy driving and said, "We're going first to my residence." 

"Eh?! Wh-What are we going to do there?"

He didn't say anymore and just continued driving. Alisa was perplexed at this rigid man while her frustration only grew bigger. She initially thought that the two of them definitely had good chemistry back in their military days. What happened now? It was like she was just talking to a wall. He wasn't this cold back then— though she couldn't deny that he was as a man of few words paired with an indifferent attitude the day she first interacted with him.

 She could only see how it would go. Their destination seemed a little farther. With nothing to do, her eyes became droopy as she felt a sudden drowsiness. This was one of the symptoms experienced by pregnant women. Later on as her belly would grow bigger, she would experience worse symptoms than this. Thankfully, she only had a morning sickness once. If Raphkiel saw it again, he probably would start suspecting that she was hiding something from him. Their relationship would end in six months anyway, so she should just keep the baby all to herself. 

"Stupid Raphkiel..." She mumbled softly as she was lulled to sleep by the comfy ride.

The man heard her clearly but his expression didn't change that much. He took one last glance at her sleeping face before focusing on driving on a slower motion. 

Alisa woke up later and saw that they had arrived at their destination. It was a compound where ordinary people who belonged to the middle class lived. The designs of the interior were not that bad and the living conditions were also decent. If She were to live in a place like this, she might actually think that this was a five-star hotel. At least, it's much better than having to deal with a hard bunker bed, or those haystacks back when she was still a poor and homeless girl in this current life. 

"I guess princes like you have it different. I'm surprised you can sleep comfortably in this kind of place which reeks of normal people." Alisa commented with a smirk with the intention of trying to annoy him.

His facial expression twitched faintly which was hard to notice. Alisa applauded the man secretly. He was such a good actor. Even if he had been in the military for years, it didn't mean that he could settle down for anything worse than a five-star hotel now that he was free from all the hardships of war. There was no way he would be comfortable living in such a small place. 

'Good job, Raphy! I should have you signed up in my company soon.' 

She had decided to call him Raphy. It was a cute nickname and it suited him. At the thought of it, she slightly giggled which didn't escape Raphkiel's observation.

Frowning, he looked towards her and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"N-Nothing. Anyway, what are we really doing here?"

"To pack my things."

"Alright."

Little did she knew that his cousin, Jude Arnor, was the one preparing all of these setups to hide his identity from her. The apartment he claimed to own in this compound actually belonged to Charles. He secretly called Jude to arrange things for him before they took the ride towards here. There was no way he could bring her openly to the family manor of the Arnors right now. Aside from the fact that he still didn't fully trust her, the relatives at home were also like ferocious beasts secretly fighting against each other for the inheritance.

While Raphkiel was the current head of the family, he was still an outsider. It was obvious that those people in Arnor residence weren't happy with him having the final say in the family, hence, the repeated sabotaging of plans in the company as well as sending shady people to break his legs. It was merely child's play for him, and the same thing could be said for Alisa. However, her temper was way too unpredictable. He didn't want her to go on a rampage and massacre the entire Arnor family just because she was fed up with their silly tricks if ever she got introduced to them.

The two of them entered the place and Alisa's eyes wandered around. There were only a few things like furniture and decorations inside. Of course, these things were prepared thoroughly by Jude. Charles' things were moved not too long ago into a new apartment.

If she had to calculate the costs of everything around, it would just be fitting in his salary as a chauffeur, considering that the company was paying him well. It wasn't that bad.

"Just wait here while I pack my things. Don't ever go inside my room." He sternly said before going inside 'his room'. 

Alisa nodded and sat on the comfortable sofa. She wondered what he would be hiding from her. It's not like he had some shocking secrets that could shaken her to the core. There was barely anything that could shock her— excluding the normal things like food, dresses, and other things not in her specialization. Raphkiel was too similar to her so she just assumed whatever he had with him, she wouldn't even bother to care.

He came back not too long after, carrying only one suitcase that was probably filled with clothes only. She raised an eyebrow while staring at him.

"Is that the only thing you're going to bring?" 

"Why? Are you disappointed that I'm that poor and I barely have things to carry with me?"

"I didn't mean that. I mean, aren't you going to move the furniture too? It would be such a waste of money to leave them here."

"Are you going to be the one to carry the furniture?"

It was his turn to be sarcastic at her. Alisa gritted her teeth in anger and scoffed, "You don't have to be so annoying in answering. I was just asking anyway." 

"I'll be paying a monthly rent to your house as well as take care of all the daily expenses."

"No way!" She abruptly stood up and slammed her hands on the table. "Like I said, I don't need your money. All I'm asking is that you perform your role as a husband and nothing else." 

"It's either you let me pay half of it or we'll live separately. No more adjustments. Your choice whether you take it or not." 

"Argh! You are so annoying!" She wished she could beat him into a pulp, but then, it was not worth quarrelling over. "Fine. I'll accept that condition. However, you'll have to let me do as I please. No stalking me or anything! Don't think that I forgot you've been sending someone to spy on me before." 

Her eyes narrowed into a glare that clashed with his own cold and indifferent gaze. He then nodded and said plainly, "I have no interest in your activities. As long as you're not cheating on me, it's fine. However..."

He paused for a moment and his eyes radiated a glint of murderous and dark aura for a moment that made all her senses tingle, alerting her of the danger he possessed that could threaten her. "The moment I find out you've betrayed me, I'll take you back by force and you would never have your freedom again." 

She gulped slightly and took several steps back. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and she couldn't understand this new emotion she was sensing. 

'Did I just... feel fear?' She wondered. 'How dare this guy threaten me! Who does he think he is?'

Their personalities were extremely alike. She hated being threatened just like him. Enraged by his outrageous statement, she glared back menacingly and let out a grin as she approached him and slammed her hand to the wall while pinning him. "Well, if you don't want me to betray you, how about you try and be a good husband to me? I might come to like it and change into a sweet melon you can taste for the rest of your life."