MDLCM Chapter 6

　Ray was a little worried about living with another person so suddenly, but the temporary marriage went well.

　Bridget eats well, talks a lot, and goes to work in good spirits. By the time Ray gets home, Bridget is often already home, too, and they have dinner together.

　With Bridget’s arrival, both Connie and Miranda talk and laugh a lot. Ray also looked forward to coming home every day.

　John was happy with Bridget’s reaction and often tried new dishes that had never made it to the table before.

　Ray usually lazily slept through the holidays, but because Bridget’s mornings were early, he started to get up with her. Now that he has more time, he’s re-organized his home’s herb garden and is now working on growing some of the herbs he’s been wanting to try. He’s also taken the time to consider new magic.

　Bridget is often reading a book, but sometimes Connie asks her to look at the house’s financial accounts and balance, or to help her with the garden. When John is off, she sometimes cooks with Miranda and seems to enjoy it.

　That night at the evening party, I saw the soft and vulnerable side of Bridget, who seemed perfect, and I felt somewhat sheltered.

　Still, for now, Bridget was at a good friend-like distance, and Ray was happy with his life now.

　After a while, the audit of the royal family began and Bridget was getting busy. It seemed that she had a lack of time because the audit period is fixed and if something comes up that is unclear, it needs to be investigated in parallel with the audit.

　Bridget spent more and more days in the dormitory’s sleeping quarters, and when she did get home, it was late at night.

   “Bridget, I wonder if she’s going to be alright working until the holidays. I hope she’s eating well.”

　At breakfast, Miranda sighed as she prepared. It’s a holiday today, but Bridget has been at work since this morning to deal with the audit.

   “Mr. Ray, why don’t you bring her some food?”

   “Eh.”

　I was surprised by Connie’s unexpected suggestion.

   “It’s a good idea. She said that the cafeteria is closed on vacations, so I’m sure everyone eats their own food. She will be delighted if you bring it to her, little boy.”

　After a long wait, Ray left for the Audit Office with a sandwich brought by John.

　A knight in shining armor was at the door of the Audit Office.

   “Excuse me, I’m here to give something to my wife who’s in the first group,”

　The knight seemed to know about Ray and was visibly upset when he spoke to him.

   “I’m sorry, the Audit Office has a lot of sensitive information, so only authorized personnel are allowed to enter. I will call for your wife, please wait a moment.”

　As the knight hurried inside, I stopped him and pushed the basket of sandwiches so he could give them to Bridget, saying they were homemade.

　It was natural not to go inside, as it would certainly be handling important information for each department.

　For now, it’s good that I was able to bring the sandwich, and Ray left the entrance of the Audit Office to go home.

   “Ray! Ray!”

　I heard a voice calling out to me and turned to see Bridget leaning out of the first floor window of the building and waving to me.

　When Ray waved back, he was startled to stop by a dozen or so inspectors waving their hands out the window as Bridget had done.

   “Magic Division Commander!”

   “Thank you for bringing it to us!”

   “I’ll do my best!”

   “Thank you!”

　Hearing their voices, more auditors began to peek out of the windows of the other rooms.

　Sheesh. I’m so embarrassed. I should have worn my usual black robe.

　Ray bailed quickly and left the auditor’s office in a hurry, hearing the cheers coming from behind him.

　When Bridget returned that evening, she spoke happily,

   “We were all really tired and we were so happy that you sent us some food! No one has ever done that for me before.”

　The sandwiches that were delivered by him were eaten by the first group of auditors, and John was pleased to be thanked for them.

   “And Ray personally delivered it to me! Everyone told me he was a good husband. Everyone in the group is a man except for me, but they said it was a treat for their eyes to see Ray through the window. It made the rest of the work easier.”

　I never thought I would be so pleased. Ray was feeling glum, but he felt it all dissipate.

　♢

　The royal audit was over and Bridget was back to her daily routine. After waking up later than usual on her first unplanned holiday in a long time and having a leisurely breakfast, she was in her room discussing accounting with Connie.

　Ray was indifferent to accounting balances, so Connie had been managing them until now. Since Bridget’s arrival, he had tried to have a meeting with Bridget once every two weeks at Connie’s request.

　Looking out the window, I saw Ray working in the herb garden. The sun was already shining and he was wearing a large straw hat.

   “I wonder why Ray never married before…”

   “Huh?”

　Bridget continued to look at Ray in the herb garden.

   “Ray is a generous and kind person with a perfect family background, he also has good looks and a good work ethic. When I visited him before, he said he didn’t have many connections to anyone, but that surely must be a lie, right?”

　Connie, who was keeping the books, looked up at Bridget.

   “I think Master Ray has been avoiding women who have taken a liking to him.”

   “Why?”

   “He was a little afraid of women who were willing to come to him because he didn’t like to make waves – he just wanted to keep his head down and do his work.”

   “However, I’m sure he’s not avoiding me, and I think he’s treating me naturally…”

   “Perhaps he’s relieved that you’re not interested in him.”

　Connie is the only one who knows that they are in a contract marriage.

   “I don’t know…”

　The more Bridget got to know about Ray’s personality, the more she wanted him to be happy.

　He’s a calm person, so he’d make a rather good family with any woman he was with. He just never really had the opportunity to do that before.

　If Ray had someone he liked, it would be easy for him to actually build a happy family.

　But what if, because of his current contractual marriage, he’s missed the opportunity to meet someone he really likes?

　Am I not in the way of his happiness?

　Ray, who had been crouched in the herb garden, stood up and looked up at the sky, with his hands on his waist.

　Bridget turned away from Ray and went back to her work with Connie, looking away from the window, as if she was going to get caught staring out of the window.

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