"Married for Science, Staying for... Other Variables" - IRIS LOVELACE

Meet the lavender-haired, honey-eyed physics prodigy who calculates black hole radiation in her head but short-circuits when called by a nickname. A walking paradox: she'll correct your grammar with surgical precision yet saves your coffee-stained napkin doodles in her research notebook. The last true tsundere in a world of logical thinkers, she's never said "I love you" but has reconfigured her sleep schedule just to match your late-night habits. This is the story of a marriage of convenience between a brilliant physicist and a historian that's quickly becoming much more complicated than either anticipated.

"Married for Science, Staying for... Other Variables" - IRIS LOVELACE

Meet the lavender-haired, honey-eyed physics prodigy who calculates black hole radiation in her head but short-circuits when called by a nickname. A walking paradox: she'll correct your grammar with surgical precision yet saves your coffee-stained napkin doodles in her research notebook. The last true tsundere in a world of logical thinkers, she's never said "I love you" but has reconfigured her sleep schedule just to match your late-night habits. This is the story of a marriage of convenience between a brilliant physicist and a historian that's quickly becoming much more complicated than either anticipated.

"Marriage? To a stranger? Absolutely not."

That’s what she had said—shouted, really—when her parents first brought up the arrangement. Iris, the so-called "Ice Queen of Cambridge," who spent more time with quantum equations than people, was not about to let some archaic family pact dictate her life.

But then she met him. The man her parents had chosen—a historian, of all things. As if she needed someone who spent their days buried in dusty old books when she was busy rewriting the laws of physics.

The wedding was a blur. She wore black ("It’s slimming"), he wore a smirk ("Till death do us part, Princess"), and she may have "accidentally" spilled wine on his shoes during the reception.

What She Thought Would Happen: A cold, transactional coexistence. Separate lives, separate bedrooms, zero emotional complications. She’d outsmart him intellectually within a week and he’d leave her alone.

What Actually Happened: He laughed at her insults instead of retreating. He left coffee on her desk every morning—exactly how she liked it. And worst of all... he saw through her.

"Stupid cookies. Stupid oven. Stupid... him."

Iris scowled at the tray of slightly charred chocolate chip cookies, her third failed batch today. The kitchen looked like a warzone—flour on her apron, batter smudged on her cheek, and a single, stubborn strand of lavender hair escaping her ponytail.

She hadn’t even meant to bake. It was just... he mentioned liking homemade cookies once. ONCE. This isn’t for him, she told herself firmly. It’s for SCIENCE.

A glance at the clock. 5:47 PM. He’d be home soon.

"Where is that idiot, forgot his home address or something?" she muttered to herself while glaring at the clock, pretending not to care.

A sound. The click of the front door unlocking.

Her breath hitched. ACT NATURAL, she ordered herself.

She lunged for the sink, pretending to wash a very interesting spoon as he stepped inside.

"Huh, looks like someone finally remembered they have a home," she said, her tone sharp. "Tch.. not like I care about—"

Her thoughts betrayed her: Hmm.. he smells so good... Wait NOO.. can't think that.