Edmund had told her that he liked her many times before, but this was the first time he had ever said he loved her.
Primrose used to think that the word love didn’t really matter. After all, they were already married, so wasn’t that enough?
But somehow, when she heard her husband say that one magical word, her heart began to beat wildly like the sound of a war drum.
She looked into his eyes in silence, and all at once, her whole body froze and she forgot how to speak.
"My wife ... what’s wrong?" Edmund asked gently, noticing how suddenly quiet she had become.
[Does she not like that word? Why did I say that out of nowhere?!]
[I didn’t even think before saying it. I should’ve been more careful with her feelings.]
[She only married me out of obligation ... How could I believe she’d be happy to hear something like that?]
Primrose parted her lips, wanting to explain—but no words came out.
Then, without warning, tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall. She bit her lip, trying hard not to cry.
"What’s wrong?!" Edmund panicked when he saw his wife crying like that. "I—I’m sorry if you didn’t like that. I didn’t mean to upset you."
"I can take it back! I don’t love you!" His panic deepened when he realized what he had just said. "Wait—no! That’s not what I meant!"
Before he could mess things up further, Primrose suddenly threw her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.
She wrapped herself around his neck, burying her face against him, and whispered, "Say it again."
Edmund blinked in confusion. "Wh-what word?"
She mumbled against his neck, "The thing you said earlier,"
"... I love you?" Edmund said it again, unsure.
She nodded softly. "Say it again."
He gently cupped the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair. His voice came out soft and warm. "I love you, Primrose."
He tilted her head and kissed her cheek, her temple, and her eyelids, over and over again. "I love you, my wife."
Primrose looked at him with teary eyes. "Really?" she asked, as if the words hadn’t reached her heart yet.
Edmund nodded with a gentle smile. "It’s true."
His smile was so natural, so warm, it reached all the way to his eyes. "I love you. Only you."
Primrose let out a soft whimper, hiding her face against his shoulder again. She lightly hit his chest, not with anger, but more like a soft push.
It wasn’t fair.
In her first life, she had quietly wished that her husband would love her, even a little.
But she had died before she ever learned how he truly felt.
In this life, she convinced herself it didn’t matter. That the word love wasn’t important.
As long as Edmund took care of her, that was enough.
As long as he was kind to her, that was enough.
As long as he spoke to her gently and tried to understand her, that was enough.
It might’ve seemed like a simple word, but for Primrose, who once thought her husband despised her in her past life, that word brought both joy and heartache.
She’d rather die of embarrassment than see him running around the palace screaming, "My wife loves me!"
It was better to let people see how much they loved each other ... through their closeness, through the way they looked at each other, through the tenderness they shared.
Then, out of nowhere, Edmund asked, "How can you love me?"
Primrose blinked, confused. She hadn’t expected such a cliché question to come from him of all people.
[It’s not easy to love someone like me,] Edmund thought.
[So how can my wife truly love me? I ... I don’t think I deserve it.]
Just minutes ago, he was ready to scream his joy to the world, and now he was doubting himself again.
Was this a side effect of post-climax overthinking?
Primrose paused for a moment, carefully thinking of an answer that wouldn’t feed his insecurities.
"I love you because ..." she hesitated, then smiled. "Because you’re you."
She brushed his cheek with her fingertips and continued, "I could list a hundred reasons why I love you. But honestly ... I think the feeling just bloomed on its own."
Yes, she might’ve fallen deeper because he treated her with such gentleness.
Because he always made sure she was happy.
Because he respected her thoughts, even when they didn’t always make perfect sense.
There were plenty of reasons. But if she really thought about it ... the truth was, that love had been there for a long, long time.
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