Trials of the Heart

Extra 2

to clarify: this is an official extra chapter for THIS book, not a preview for book 4!

you were in the market, buying some odds and ends for dinner tonight.

"hey."

you flinched and turned around, seeing scaramouche stand there with a cocky smirk on his face.

"don't scare me like that," you scolded him, swatting him on the arm. 

"sorry," he mockingly said, not meaning it one bit, then looked at the grocery bags in your hand. "we're having {sumeru food} tonight?"

"yeah," you replied. "did you want something else?"

"well i can think of something el-"

"no." you deadpanned at him, knowing what he was going to say.

"i didn't even say anything," he said with mock innocence. "in any case, come with me."

"what? why?"

he took you by the shoulders and led you away from the marketplace momentarily, then whispered in your ear. "the vendor you're selling from? he illegally sources his goods."

you had to do a double take, "w-wait what?"

"he illegally sources his products. don't support him," he replied, then pointed at another vendor. "if anything, support her. she has 3 children with no husband."

you gave scaramouche a shocked look, "how did you...?"

"the big ass tree," scaramouche replied with a small smirk.

you gave him an unamused look, "are you seriously telling me that you dug into other people too?"

"what? it didn't hurt," he replied. "might as well have some fun while i was there."

you rolled your eyes, "i never took you as the person who likes gossip. you always hate being involved with humans who aren't me."

"that's fair," he replied. "although, you're my wife. not just an ordinary human."

"i know," you shrugged. "but why did you look into their pasts?"

"like i said, it's a little boring trying to read information from a tree for 30 minutes without getting bored at some point."

"as if i'm buying that excuse," you tease.

he scoffed and looked away, "... just buy your damn groceries and come home."

"oh fine," you rolled your eyes, going to the other vendor and buying your groceries from her. you even left her a tip which she seemed to appreciate, and it made you smile a little as you headed back to your house.

wait...

if he saw irminsul's history...

who else did he have dirt on?

as soon as you got home, you opened the door and called, "kuni! come here!"

he peeped his head out of his office door and waved at you, "hi."

"kuni! if you looked into different people... does that mean you have more gossip?"

"... give me my kiss first."

you rolled your eyes and then set your bags of groceries down before meeting him in the hallway. scaramouche had rolled his chair out of the office, sitting in the middle of the space on his rolling chair. you leaned down and gave him a kiss, which he deepened immediately, holding the back of your neck. you could feel the cold metal of his ring on your neck which made you shiver. 

then he did something unexpected and pulled you so you were straddling his lap, kissing you even deeper as his hand held your thigh and cupped your rear. 

after a moment, he broke the kiss, then began stroking your thigh.

"so... who do you want information on first," he asked, gazing into your eyes with a cocky smirk.