Conquering His Cold Heart

Caspian instantly noticed his wife flinching because her head was resting on his lap. So, he stretched his arm and cast a shadow over her eyes. “Did you sleep well?” he asked her in a soft voice.

“Mhmm...” She nodded. She was confused about one thing though. She was feeling as if she had slept for hours after having breakfast, but the sun still felt harsher as if it was midday.

So, she grimaced and asked Caspian, “What time is it?”

Caspian had checked the pocketwatch just a while ago. Thus, he answered without checking it again. “It’s almost three o’clock.”

“Really?” Anastasia stretched her back and then loosened her shawl from her neck. Then she mumbled in her sleepy voice, “Is it just me, or is it a bit hotter today?”

Caspian looked outside the window. He could see completely different terrain, different styles of houses, and different races of humans. They were already deeper inside the territory of Xanmar.

“I think that the weather in Xanmar is a little warmer than Sorvando,” he replied to his wife.

“Is that so?” Anastasia held her husband’s wrist and pulled herself up. She made herself comfortable in her usual spot at the carriage and then looked out of the window.

.....

There were fields that stretched out until her eyes could see. The whole area looked yellow because of the crops that were growing.

“What kind of crops are those?” Anastasia asked, mesmerized by that out-of-the-world scenery.

Caspian also shifted close to his wife. He rested his hand on the window while trapping his wife in between him and the carriage wall. He peeked outside. His sharp eyes could see the ripe paddies that were swaying along with the soft breeze.

He then rested his chin on his wife’s shoulder and answered in a whisper, “Those are paddies. They are all ripe, ready to be harvested.” He was proud when he answered his wife because he had recently updated his knowledge about human foods and grains.

“Oh! That’s where the rice comes from!” Anastasia exclaimed as though she had just discovered something new.

Caspian chuckled at that innocent excitement of his wife. And he teasingly replied, “Yes, that’s where the rice comes from. They don’t grow on your baskets and plates.”

“Hey!” Anastasia giggled and gently hit her husband’s head with hers. “I never saw the paddy fields in my life before, okay? So, forgive me if I sound a bit too excited.”

Caspian rubbed his cheek against his wife’s and whimsically replied, “Alright, alright. I am sorry for teasing you.”

Anastasia suddenly pulled away from Caspian and held her cheek. She furrowed her brows and then said in a monotone, “You didn’t trim your beard today? It’s prickly.”

“Oh, it’s prickly, huh?” Caspian gave an evil smirk and instantly rubbed his cheek again.

“Ow! Ow!” Anastasia giggled and tried to escape her husband’s wrath. “Don’t do that! Caspian!”

However, Caspian didn’t stop. The more he kept on rubbing his cheeks on her cheeks and her neck, the more she wriggled and squirmed. He was greatly entertained by that newly discovered weakness of his wife.

So, he wrapped his arms around her and kept on tickling and prickling her, all while laughing along with her.

“Caspian! I’m going to cry if you don’t stop now,” Anastasia shouted as the last resort to stop her husband. She was already out of breath from laughing and wriggling excessively.

“Okay.” Caspian stopped what he was doing and rested his chin on her shoulder again. “I will stop. For now,” he whispered.

“For now, huh?” Anastasia shook her head and then massaged her cheeks.

After settling down, she again focused on the scene outside. The swaying crops looked like golden waves every time a gust of wind ran across the field. The clopping sounds of the hooves of their horses acted like the music for the dancing crops. To add to that, the sun that was slowly heading west was creating a perfect halo over the field every few minutes.

Anastasia was enchanted by that simple yet captivating view. She leaned back and rested her back on Caspian’s chest. And she said in a mesmerizing voice, “The field looks so lovely, doesn’t it? It makes me want to take a run there. I wonder how it will feel like...”

“To run in the field?” Caspian asked.

“Mhmm...” she hummed.

Caspian tightened his hold around Anastasia’s shoulder and inhaled the fresh smell of the paddy that was coupled with the lavender scent of his wife. And he asked in his hoarse voice, “Shall we find out?”

“What? Now?” Anastasia tilted a little and asked while looking at her husband’s face.

Caspian nodded his head and agreed, “Yes, now. We can rest here for a while instead of directly stopping at the capital.”

Anastasia looked outside the window again and knitted her brows together. She thought that it would be nice to take a run, but more than running in the field, she wanted to meet her brother and Everard as soon as she could. “I think I will pass for now. We will be late for the ceremony.”

“I don’t think being 5 minutes late will make that much of a difference,” Caspian asserted after seeing that little frown on his wife’s face. “Besides, we are a little ahead of our schedule. We didn’t take a break earlier, remember?”

‘That was because I denied taking it thinking we would reach the capital faster,’ Anastasia answered in her heart.

“Shall I ask them to stop the carriage?” Caspian asked again.

“Okay, let’s stop here for a while then.” Anastasia agreed after thinking for a while. She thought that she was being too selfish by not allowing the others to take the break just because she wanted to see her brother a little sooner.

Caspian knocked at the front of the carriage wall and asked the coachman, “Let’s stop here for a short break. Stop the carriage without blocking the road.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” the coachman replied. He gave a signal to the other coachmen as well, and also to one of the royal guards who was riding a horse close by.

The guard made the horse run even faster so that he could catch up with the others and inform them about the small change in their plan.

All the carriages, on the other hand, came to a halt after a while.

After the coachman opened the door for the King and the Queen, both Caspian and Anastasia got out of the carriage.

Caspian stretched his arms and mumbled to his wife, “Ah! The air smells so goo-” He was distracted when Vincent suddenly barged out of his carriage and ran towards one of the houses that were nearby.

Anastasia simply felt a gust of wind getting slammed against her face. So, she asked her husband, “What was that? Wind or someone?”

“Vincent,” he replied, wondering what could have been so urgent that he ran like a tornado.

Tilla also jumped out of the carriage as if she was a rabbit. When her eyes fell on the Queen, she waved her hand at her to get her attention.

“My Queen, are you feeling alright? Do you need something?” she shouted as she ran towards Anastasia as fast as her human legs could take her. She was worried that they were stopping so suddenly because something might have happened to her.

Anastasia held Tilla’s hands and calmed her down. “Tilla, I am okay. You didn’t have to run like that.”

“Ah!” Tilla gasped for air and spoke breathlessly, “That’s a relief then. I thought that something was troubling you.”

“Something like what?” Caspian asked Tilla worriedly. Seeing her worrying so much about Anastasia made him wonder if Anastasia fell ill a little too often.

Tilla felt a prick in her heart when Caspian questioned her. She gave a nervous laugh and covered up her worry, “Nothing specific, Your Majesty. Her Majesty keeps on demanding sour foods during the travel. I thought that she stopped because she was craving them.”

“Really?” Caspian knitted his brows together in disbelief. It sounded like an absolute lie since all Anastasia did for the past two days was sleep or stare out of the window.

“Umm...” Anastasia also clasped her hands together and gave a nervous laugh. “I used to pester her when I traveled with her. She used to keep on falling asleep, so I used to trouble her a lot to keep her awake.”

Since Anastasia also confirmed what Tilla had just said, Caspian believed the ladies. “Do you want to eat something, perhaps?” he asked his wife, wondering if she hadn’t demanded any such thing from him because she was too shy to ask for a break.

Anastasia shook her head and turned to look at the golden field ahead of her. Her eyes twinkled at the beautiful sight.

So, she longingly asked her husband, “Let’s take a walk first. Now that we have already stopped, the view looks too captivating to wait for another second.”