CH 116

“It’s probably more than fifty years old. Judging by the craftsmanship, it looks like it was made by a historical family. And from the crude taste, it seems that it was made by Ernest, not Victor. You are holding something very precious.”

With a tone of interest, he looked down at the object he was holding anew.

Lucius was unaware of most of what the prince had said. All Lucius knew was that this was the only undisturbed property he had in his days as an aristocrat. He had never valued it, but because of his habit of smoking all the time, it happened to be one of the things he still had.

If he had known it was so precious, he wouldn’t have brought it.

Lucius thought for a while whether he should return this to the Countess. But at the time, he had just returned as a knight of the Emperor, and his asking to see the Countess so he could return the lighter would seem like a flimsy excuse for disguised politics instead.

So, Lucius spoke as if he was more interested in the prince’s hobby than in answering why he had this object.

“It seems that you have an interest in lighters.”

The prince nodded and answered.

“It is my hobby to collect lighters. Galaba’s royals usually find it ideal to have a hobby of collecting strange things. My brother collects keys and locks, and my sister collects dolls with ghostly appearances.”

After laughing a little at his own joke, the prince began to explain the charm of lighters.

Practicality, how detailed the principles of oil and flint in the small box are, the stability of the mechanisms that ignite the fire, and the skill of various families that only make lighters make it a point to say that each precious item has different characteristics.

Lucius wanted to interrupt, but he remained silent, wondering if the prince would find trouble with him since he adored lighters so much. Moreover, this man was somehow dating his former lover.

In the meantime, he didn’t want to give or receive anything more.

Lucius half-watched as he listened to the prince’s tribute to the lighter, wondering if this man really didn’t know that he and Deatrice were once engaged. It’s either that, or he was pretending to be ignorant and showed an attitude that he didn’t really care about their past.

Lucius’ ears had suddenly grown weary, so he said his greetings and tried to leave first. But the moment he turned around, the prince’s words forced Lucius to stop walking again.

“I’m glad you took Deatrice’s first.”

“…”

“The more dramatically one’s original rebellious desires are destroyed, the more faithful a person is to the duties set before them.”

When Lucius raised his head at those words, the prince shrugged his shoulders and walked away.

Lucius didn’t even move from his spot as he pondered over those words and his face grew uglier the more he thought about it.

The prince could say such words without changing the color of his face. He wasn’t only talking about Deatrice’s connection with her father’s treasonous conduct, but also with the rebellion of the heart as she once had feelings for Lucius.

As if indirectly saying he would tame her to be meek and submissive to him.

It doesn’t matter anymore.

He’s already six feet under.

But the prince’s dullness was of a kind that he wouldn’t glorify, but of course, Deatrice seemed to think differently. After all, even such a man deserves her sympathy just because he died.

Lucius’ anxiety about the unknown person exchanging their letters with her and his jealousy of a man who had already died reached an all-time high. It led him to think about what would’ve happened if he had died on the battlefield.

To be honest, this wasn’t the first time he imagined something like this.

In times of crisis, Lucius would revert to thinking that it would’ve been better if he died as he thought about the aristocratic society that often pushed him to a cliff. His formerly and relatively peaceful life was destroyed by his birth mother after she deprived him of his position.

Deatrice…

Maybe the reason he dared to survive, the reason he dared to come back alive as he stepped on a corpse that was his living comrade just hours ago—maybe it was for the same reason he wanted to die.

Lucius wandered around the library, diving into the rabbit hole of thought that Deatrice might unknowingly be the reason behind his every bit of his action.