Chapter 3: Who Are You, Nathaniel?

But the next morning, lying in bed sore all over, all those weird things started coming back to me.

Last night, Nathaniel hadn’t acted like a man who’d been married two years. He was more like a teenager who’d just come of age. It was almost cute, but also baffling.

No experience, no technique.

His hands shook when he tried to put on a condom, couldn’t find the right spot, and the first time he nearly finished in seconds.

I almost wanted to kick him out, but when I saw the sweat on his forehead and the flush in his eyes, I held back.

He got better as the night went on—eventually back to his usual self—but still...

It was weird.

How could a man who was so skilled just forget everything overnight?

I thought about it over and over, but couldn’t figure it out.

While I was still puzzling over it, Nathaniel walked in.

He was wearing comfy loungewear, his hair half-dry from a recent shower, messy bangs falling over his forehead, making him look strangely youthful. Like a college kid on a lazy Sunday.

Looking at him, I felt like he was both familiar and a stranger. It was unsettling.

Nathaniel sat down on the edge of the bed with a tray holding a bowl of plain oatmeal. He asked gently, “Are you hungry? Eat a little something first, and then we’ll have a real breakfast.”

“Feed me,” I said softly. “My arms are sore.”

The tips of his ears turned red, but he calmly picked up the spoon and brought it to my lips.

The oatmeal was the perfect temperature, but there was no sugar in it. Bland, like everything else lately.

I shot him a look.

Nathaniel was always meticulous—he’d never forget something as simple as sugar. Ever.

My suspicions only grew. Something was definitely up.

After a few tasteless spoonfuls, I stared at his flushed ears and couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you blushing?”

Nathaniel lowered his eyes and mumbled, “Your clothes... are a little messy.”

I looked down.

He’d dressed me in a camisole afterward, but the straps were loose, slipping off my shoulder, showing a lot of skin and a few red marks.

I was even more confused. “So what?”

He reached out to fix the straps, his face serious, movements so careful it was like he was afraid to touch me. It was almost comical.

I put my hand over his, forcing him to rest his hand on my shoulder: “We’ve been married for years—haven’t you seen it all before?”

Nathaniel blinked in a panic.

I got more suspicious and decided to just ask, “What’s going on with you? You won’t kiss me, won’t touch me—it’s like you’re a different person. Are you really my husband?”

“I—I am your husband.”

“Then why are you stammering?”

Nathaniel paused for a few seconds, then put his hand on my shoulder and kissed me, like he was trying to shut me up.

But I wasn’t about to let him get away with it so easily.

I pushed him away and said coldly, “Talk first.”

Nathaniel looked down. “Some things have happened lately, and I don’t know how to handle them. Can you give me a little more time? I’ll figure it out soon.”

I’d rarely seen him like this.

For some reason, I thought back to how lost and dejected he’d looked right after that business trip.

“Work stuff?” I asked.

“Y-yeah.” He nodded quickly. “It’s a bit tricky. Sorry I’ve been neglecting you lately...” He looked genuinely apologetic.

Just like that, all my suspicions disappeared.

It was rare for Nathaniel to have a problem he couldn’t solve, so it made sense he’d be acting a little off. Maybe I was just being paranoid.

“You’re really letting Prince Nathaniel off easy,” my friend Tessa said, baffled.

“What else am I supposed to do?”

I stirred my tea, glancing up casually. “Keep fighting? Keep arguing? What’s the point?”

“Is Nathaniel still acting weird?”

“He’s not himself, but he’s not totally off either.” I shrugged.

It was a weird feeling I couldn’t quite describe.

Sometimes it seemed like he was faking intimacy, sometimes not. I chalked it up to me being too sensitive.

“Then just try to relax.” My friend clinked glasses with me.

I nodded, comforting myself. “He’s busy, after all, so I just have to—”

Before I could finish, Nathaniel’s assistant walked in.

It was mid-afternoon.

His assistant showing up here was definitely unusual. Something was off.

So when he came over to say hello, I asked, “Has work been busy lately?”

“Not really.”

“Any tricky problems come up?”

He thought for a moment. “Everything’s been under control recently. As far as I know, nothing out of the ordinary.”

I smiled slightly and stood up. “Great. I’ll go to the office with you.”

All the way there, I kept thinking about how Nathaniel had lied to me.

If work troubles weren’t the cause, then what explained his weird behavior?

I didn’t want to suspect him, but all the signs pointed to one thing—

He’d fallen out of love.

Maybe there was someone else in his life now, so he’d started acting distant, cold.

He was brushing me off.

His hugs were stiff, his kisses awkward, and even when we were intimate, he seemed distracted.

He was like a completely different person from before. It made my skin crawl.