Obviously, It’s My Child

“If you’re worried that being jealous is unsightly, that’s okay. Because you are not alone.”

“What do you mean? When did I, mmngh…”

It was several minutes later when Erich continued.

“I am not someone who has a private relationship with an unmarried young lady who is not even my betrothed.”

“Wow.”

Claire pursed her lips in an exaggerated exclamation. Behind it was a word that said, ‘Are you saying that in front of me now?’

Erich clears his throat and avoids her gaze. Whatever it was, Claire softened.

With her permission, Erich bowed his head.

Rattle!

My body bounced when something had caught on the wagon wheel. Claire let out a short moan, grabbed Erich’s head and pulled it up, wrapping her arms around his neck.

* * *

Claire woke up from the heat. The twilight dawn filtered through the curtains and illuminated the spacious bedroom.

‘Oh, I stayed out.’

It’s not that there’s someone to scold, though. She didn’t intend to do this.

‘I’m an idiot because of alcohol.’

She cursed herself for not having self-control. But she didn’t drink a drop yesterday, so she had no excuses.

Now she had to admit it. She doesn’t know if she didn’t see him at all, but if she had to face him again, it would have happened someday.

“Haa…”

Claire let out a sigh and wiggled her toe under the covers. Her silk sock got caught, and she grabbed it with her other toe and pushed it out of the blanket. She was sleeping with this on.

The man hugged her from behind, traced her ankles with his feet and pulled her back into the blanket.

“It’s hot.”

Claire muttered in a sigh.

Erich bit the top of her ear with his lips. Claire stretched out her hand behind him, finding him a nuisance, but she didn’t have the energy to push him away, so she just stayed still.

Her desire to sleep more was bubbling like a chimney, but the bed was rocking and her back ached from the overly soft feather mattress.

Even her body, which had fallen asleep after getting drenched in sweat, felt uncomfortable.

It was at times like this that she felt like she had to go to work to survive. There was no tomorrow, and that she wanted to go back to the modern painful proletariat despite the high sense of deprivation and competitive stress.

When it is necessary to develop a civilization that cannot be solved simply by replacing labor.

No matter how happy she was, there were things she couldn’t forget.

Whether it’s a heater on the floor, an air conditioner, or at least an electric blanket or heat packs that are heated in a microwave.

She was done with toys like movies or games, so please just give her a relief patch and acetaminophen. And spring beds too.

‘I wish someone would step on my back.’

Claire thought blankly, fed up with the drowsiness.

After holding on for a while, her back hurt and her head hurt.

Claire tried to get up, but the arms around her waist were tight, wanting to imprison her, and she couldn’t move.

“Let go.”

“…….”

There was no answer. There’s no way he was sleeping right now. He just touched her.

Claire reached her hand back and touched Erich’s ear. Then he replied in a languid voice.

“…Just sleep more. It’s still long till sunrise.”

The high nose swept down from Claire’s ears to her neck, burying himself in the crook of her neck. His hair, which was usually neatly combed back, tickled Claire’s ears and cheeks.

The arm that was wrapped around her waist seemed to loosen, and his index finger and thumb caressed Claire’s cheek and lips.

But as she tried to raise her body, he threw his arms over her chest, restraining her, and knocking her down on his arms.

Claire slaps him on the arm. But he gave no response, so this time she stabbed his stomach with her elbow.

Instead, her arms bounced against his tight abs.

“Are you doing core exercises because of the bed?”

“What are you talking about?”

Erich, who had completely woken up from sleep, asked in a voice mixed with 80% embarrassment and 20% displeasure.

“Doesn’t your back hurt?”

“…….”

Erich was silent for a moment, then he spoke.

“It’s impossible to be a gentleman in bed.”

“Who’s talking about that?! As if you were always gentlemanly out of bed!”

Claire screamed, blushing.

Erich’s arm loosened. However, it wasn’t enough for Claire to escape, and he gave just enough room for her to turn around.

It was obvious, but her back hurt so much that she couldn’t stretch properly. Claire whimpered and turned.

Then they ended up hugging each other, but there were too many things they had already done to be embarrassed for something like this.

“Doesn’t your back hurt while sleeping on a bed like this, for real?”

She wondered how old it was. It must have been a long time ago.

Most of the dignified family furniture was inherited from ancestors. Claire was confident that she wouldn’t be surprised if all the furniture in this room was three hundred years old.

She had fallen asleep in this bed for a brief moment five years ago, but she was drunk and didn’t realize it. In fact, it wasn’t just her back that hurt.

“This bed, is this a rope at the bottom?”

“Perhaps.”

“I want to buy a bed.”

“…….”

“Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t say that you’d break the bed, Senior?”

“What did I do?”

Erich’s eyebrows, which had risen slightly, went down gently again. Claire pressed his eyebrows with her index finger.

“If science and technology have developed, you have to know how to accept it. Beds are science, not mere furniture.”

Erich’s face changed more absurdly. Claire had a plan in her mind regardless of Erich’s mind.

Fortunately, the era of cotton was wide open. She will make a frame out of solid wood and lay a mattress full of cotton.

The bed at Baron Delford’s house had already been replaced with it. At first, her parents were reluctant to remove the precious bed that their great-grandfather had bought for them.

‘If you think you’ll use it for a long time, it would be an ondol mattress.’

As long as there were no spring beds or latex, that was the only option.

—

※ Ondol mattress: “on” means “warm” and “dol” means “radiate,” and while combined, the word can mean “warm radiant heating.” Modern Ondol mattresses are based on the five thousand years of Korean tradition with their Ondol floorings built with red clay and flat stones.