"Sister-in-law, do you live alone here?" Ed asked. He was sitting at the kitchen table, having observed the unremarkable house interior, two large bedrooms, a guest room, a kitchen, a bathroom, and a living room. Jenny was preparing lunch nearby.
"Of course not," Jenny replied, handing a glass of water to Ed and then ignoring Sigurd's pleading look for one. "I live with my parents. Father has gone to another island to buy new medical supplies, and mother is visiting her old friends."
"Wait, doesn't that mean they already know about you and Sigurd?" Ed asked, suddenly remembering Sigurd's plan to stay with his girlfriend today.
"Of course, they know. They've known for the past six months and have no problem with him," Jenny said with an excited smile. "And let me tell you a secret, for the past half year, every time Sigurd comes here, he always stays with me..."
"Cough, cough! Jenny, that's enough! Please, can we change the subject?" Spluttering on his water, Sigurd stood up, desperate to stop Jenny from sharing any more personal information that Ed could use against him. "Let me help you prepare lunch. I think Ed might be very hungry."
"Huh? Sigurd, since when can you cook?" Ed adopted a fake, sad expression. "Did you, like Sister-in-law, hide this ability from everyone? I never expected you to be the kind of person who hides everything from his family. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Sister-in-law, I'm getting more and more worried about our future. Perhaps you should reconsider your relationship with this innocent-looking but not-so-innocent man."
Hearing this, Sigurd noticed Jenny had fallen into deep thought, looking him up and down as if considering Ed's suggestion, which made him break out in a cold sweat.
"ED!" Sigurd yelled.
"What?! Let me tell you, only people who are hiding something get scared when others talk about them. They always fear the next moment will reveal their dark secrets..." Ed, with the experience of a 30-year-old from his past life, found bullying the innocent Sigurd, who loved Jenny dearly and had a great fear of losing her, as easy as eating and drinking.
Unlike Sigurd, Jenny was much quicker on the uptake and had long since figured out Ed's game. She decided to join in, slamming the knife in her hand hard onto the wooden board, making Sigurd jump. She then looked at him with an unfriendly expression.
"Jenny, dear, believe me! Ed is just joking. I'm really not hiding anything from you," Sigurd said, holding her hand with a face so pitiful it seemed he might burst into tears at any moment. The sight made both Ed and Jenny, who had only meant to tease him, feel a pang of guilt.
For the sake of Sigurd's mental health, which he had already damaged a lot during the sea voyage, Ed decided to bully him one last time.
"Really? So that means you've also told Jenny about your dark history, right? Like the one Aunt Marcy told me about, where you went to p— Mmmph! Mmmph!"
As Ed spoke, Sigurd rushed over and clamped a hand over his mouth, giving Jenny an awkward laugh. She watched them with a knowing smile.
"Sigurd, I think you should move your hand from his nose, unless you plan to kill him by suffocation," Jenny said, sighing helplessly at her foolish boyfriend.
Hearing this, Sigurd looked down and saw Ed's face turning red as he patted Sigurd's arm frantically. He hurriedly removed his hand.
"Haaa... haaa... haaa... Bastard! Did you want to kill me?!" Ed gasped for air, then quickly hid behind Jenny. "Now, even if the Stone Mother herself came, no one could stop me from telling Sister-in-law that you still wet the bed at age ten and got beaten by Aunt Marcy for it!"
"What?! At age ten? Seriously?" Jenny asked, her eyes wide with disbelief. She played her part so well that Sigurd felt as if everything was over and she would leave him now. He fell to his knees, on the verge of crying.
"It seems we went too far. He's not actually going to cry, is he?" Jenny whispered, looking at the despondent Sigurd tracing circles on the floor.
"How should I know? You're his girlfriend; you understand him better than I do. You should handle it," Ed said, taking the knife from Jenny and shaking his head with a smile. "You go and coax that little boy. I'll cut the vegetables. I don't think he wants to see my face right now."
Jenny nodded, said "Thanks," put her apron on him, and walked over to Sigurd. She forcefully pulled him up and led him out of the kitchen while hugging him.
Watching this scene, Ed felt a hint of jealousy in his heart at Sigurd's luck. Finding a girl who was kind, caring, playful, smart, and understanding was incredibly rare.
In his past life, he would have been willing to sell his soul to the devil for such a partner. Thankfully, in this life, he hadn't been shy, had used his brains from the start, and had successfully won his dear Raila.