Chapter 47: A Woman's Scary Trait
"—Ah."
When he heard that, Armand paused awkwardly. He looked to the left, avoiding Carle’s eyes.
Apologize... Was that a thing?
He only remembered that at the time, he was really troubled, trying to figure out how to make Evelia stop being mad at him. And then, out of nowhere, she attacked him with a scissor kick...
Because Evelia always spoke in that calm, simple way—“Ah,” “Mm,” “Okay”—even when she later did something like help him sleep, Armand still couldn’t tell if she was angry or not. He just couldn’t read Evelia’s mind.
Even if he had said, “Evelia, you’re not allowed to be mad at me anymore,” she would probably just nod. But what she was really thinking inside? Armand had no idea.
“Ahem—Apologize? Why would I need to apologize? I was totally in the right.”
He was still being stubborn. But back then, he had been so worried he couldn’t even eat.
“Is that so?” Carle stared at Armand with a look that said, I know the truth. “You looked pretty upset at the time.”
“—W-Was I? I don’t think so. I’m known for being calm, you know!”
“Ah, I see.”
Carle said this as he walked over from the desk to the sofa. Then he picked up Armand’s coat and pulled it over himself, even covering his own head. He lay there completely still, looking peaceful.
“Damn it.”
Armand instantly understood what Carle was doing.
“—I don’t get it!”
Then Carle suddenly sat up on the sofa just like Armand had done before, the coat still hanging over his head.
“I don’t understand why she’s mad at me.”
It was a perfect imitation, like Carle had won first place in an ‘Armand Impression Contest.’
“You jerk!”
Armand rushed over and grabbed his coat back. Sure enough, under the coat was Carle’s face, wearing a teasing smile.
“So you really didn’t apologize?”
The little act was over, and Carle leaned back on the sofa to keep relaxing. He wasn’t like Armand, he noticed the water in the kettle had gone cold and immediately called a knight at the door to bring him a fresh pot of warm water.
“I don’t need to apologize. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Still so stubborn.
“There you go again. Don’t you remember what the Crown Prince said? That’s a woman, dude. Whether you’re right or wrong doesn’t matter, she just wants an apology.”
“That’s completely unreasonable!”
Carle just shrugged and smiled, not saying anything. He poured himself a cup after the knight brought the warm kettle.
“But,” Armand said, hesitating a bit as he tapped his leg against the table behind him, “it kind of seemed like she wanted to apologize to me.”
“Hmm?”
Carle, who was married and had plenty of experience, became alert the moment he heard that.
“She asked me before if I was still mad... I mean, I wasn’t the one at fault, right? And she even apologized to me.”
“That’s the trap of a woman,” Carle’s gaze became sharp. “Armand, you must not fall for it.”
“Huh? Is it really that bad?”
He still didn’t seem to understand what was going on.
“Women can be tricky. What they show on the outside is often very different from what they really think.”
“Aren’t you afraid your wife will hear you say that?”
“It’s fine. I’m the same way, I show one thing outside and think another inside.”
“You really are something...”
“Okay, no more jokes. Even if what I said doesn’t sound too mean, you still can’t let your guard down. You know, some women will act all soft and say things like ‘It was my fault, please forgive me,’ but later when they’re with their friends, they’ll show a completely different face. They might even talk behind your back and say you’re not attractive anymore.”
Carle said this with a very serious look, more serious than he ever looked at royal meetings.
“Come on... That can’t be true, right? How do you even know all this stuff about women?”
“Because I have a wife.”
“You’re crazy.”
“My wife is a businesswoman. She doesn’t get too emotional about things, so I can breathe a little easier. But to expand her business in the women’s market, she’s gone to tons of tea parties with noble ladies. And there, she’s heard lots of stories. Some of those gentle, soft-spoken women? Behind the scenes, they talk bad about men and even hold grudges. Women’s gossip spreads really fast. It’s almost as fast as the Second Prince’s PR team.”
“The Second Prince is useless, that’s true.”
Even now, Armand couldn’t help taking a jab at the Second Prince, whether it fit the topic or not.
“So you’re saying your wife’s job is basically listening to gossip?”
“It’s called gathering first-hand information. It’s a key skill for any businessperson.”
“Okay, okay... But seriously, is it really that bad?”
Although Armand had been acting tough a moment ago, now he looked a little scared. He really didn’t want Evelia to hold a grudge against him. He thought everything had blown over with time... but now he was hearing that women tend to remember and hold on to things.
“You know what? Women not only hold grudges, they have another habit.”
“What is it?”
“Bringing up the past.”
When he heard those four words, Armand stood at attention like a soldier.
“You have to understand, no matter when something happened, once you argue with a woman, it all comes back. Even if it was when you were little and you wet the bed before you ever met her. If she knows about it, she’ll bring it up. And she’ll throw in something like, ‘You can tell what a person will be like by the time they’re three.’ If you let this argument go unresolved, then the next time you fight, the first thing she’ll say is, ‘You were like this last time too,’ or ‘Do you remember what you did before?’”
Just from Carle’s words, Armand could already feel the pressure building.
“So... what should I do?”
“What else can you do? You waited too long. From now on, this is going to be the top item on her list of complaints.”
Armand took a deep breath. He couldn’t really picture Evelia going on and on, but if it did happen, it would be terrifying. After all, Evelia was a very persistent person. If she really decided to dig into the past, she might go all the way back to before he was born.
“So, Armand, you need to fix this with everything you’ve got.”
“F-Fix it?”
“Exactly. Think about it, what does she like? Is there something she really cares about?”
“Uh...”
When he heard that, Armand frowned in frustration.
He remembered asking Evelia that question before, and at the time she said she didn’t really have anything she liked...
But thinking back, he remembered something always being on the dining table. A red dish that showed up all the time. Evelia... did seem to be very obsessed with something.
Like... ketchup?
But still, who apologizes with a bottle of ketchup?