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Chapter 12
The rumors snowballed into one giant concoction of lies mixed with truths.
Actually, most of them were all lies.
But they were all so believable to anyone who heard them that even Tom, Lucius’ attendant, was starting to get dubious about whether or not the news he was sorting out was still something his master fabricated.
“Even if they had only seen me with her once or twice in an event, people will already create a detailed scenario in their heads about how I purportedly wrote her a poem and professed my love for her.”
Lucius uttered.
Tom didn’t pay attention to his words and previously thought he was just exaggerating. But now, from the looks of things, it was true.
Then, he asked, “What should we do? Should we tone down the rumors a little?”
Lucius was looking through the documents that Tom had brought, and looked out the window. The mansion the emperor bestowed him seemed small at first glance, but in fact, it wasn’t.
Moreover, the garden was beautiful.
As he looked at the different varieties of flora and fauna with one hand on his chin, he remembered the first words the emperor said when he heard about the past of the infamous pair.
After the storytelling was done, the emperor only went:
“Oh, right. The duke’s greenhouse is so beautiful.”
As if the importance of the duke’s beautiful garden paled in comparison to his relationship with Deatrice, which was the main subject of their conversation back then.
As a result, the emperor gave him this mansion.
Lucius surmised that the main purpose of the emperor by giving him this location was for Deatrice in the first place, so she would have a lovely garden to tend to if, by chance, they had gotten together again.
If not, he supposed the unpredictable emperor thought that he had only been dating Deatrice because of the presence of the duke’s greenhouse.
“Just let them be.” Lucius said, watching the butterflies flutter their wings from one flower to another. “Even if Deatrice and I don’t meet, people would still invent stories about us. I’m just using it to my advantage.”
Tom suddenly spoke in a blunt manner.
“So, you’re going to marry her, just like that?”
Lucius found it to be a silly remark and laughed, “Is there still a need to ask that? I’ve already given a marriage proposal to the duke.”
“But sir… at this rate, even the emperor would know of your plans.”
The attendant reasoned. “You do realize you would have to live under one roof… Don’t you hate her? Having a bitter past and such?”
“That wasn’t Deatrice’s fault.”
Looking at Lucius’ side profile, Tom couldn’t help but feel indignation on behalf of his master.
“What do you mean, ‘not her fault’? She betrayed you. When you locked yourself up in your house, not once had she ever visited you.” Then he noticed the change of expression in the knight’s face, so he continued. “Just by looking at your face, the truth is already so obvious—”
“Tommy.”
He abruptly shut his mouth after hearing his master’s nickname for him. He knew he would cross line when he would say those words, but Tom still did it anyway as his heart was filled with dissatisfaction.
But the thing with Lucius was that, the more serious he gets, the nicer he becomes.
“Pardon my manners, Sir Elliot, but—”
“Get out.” Lucius coolly uttered, “And don’t make a fuss.”
The servant glanced at the man before him with concern, then he breathed out a sigh.
“Your soft heart… will be the end of you.” he lowered his spine and bowed his head, “This servant is humbly asking the master to not forget his promise.”
Suddenly, the office door slammed open, and someone walked in with angry steps.
When the person stood in front of his desk, Lucius lifted his head and saw his sister with her soft brown hair in a delicate chignon. Seeing her so angry that her face looked like it was burning, Lucius thought to himself—the time has come.
She stared down at him.
The longer she looked, the more her eyes hardened.
Even Tom’s anger, which had just reached its peak a few seconds ago, quickly deflated when he saw Dixie’s face and hastily declared, “Then, I-I shall take my leave first.”
Then he was gone like the wind.
Dixie eyed him for a long time without even sitting down. It was Lucius who broke the silence.
“You’re here?”
She remained quiet for a few more moments before she spoke, “Is it true that you’re dating Miss Louisen?”
Her voice was so low that it was barely audible, but Lucius still understood.
Her big, round eyes looked at him with such a clear and innocent gaze. It was this aspect of hers that, although she had been married for six years already, caused her to be mistaken as a young and unmarried lady.
The people said it was because of her round forehead and childlike facial features, but for Lucius, it was her fiery attitude that made her appear untainted and youthful. Like a tempestuous storm temper that wildly blazed forward regardless of her enemies.
Lucius closed his eyes, believing he was bound to get a headache from her scolding.
“It’s true. Now, I know what you think of Deatrice, but—”
“Lucius Eden Fenry, you must be out of your mind!”
His eyes shifted, “I don’t go by that name anymore.”
But it was as if she couldn’t hear him. Dixie took a step back in frustration.
“How could you do that after all she’s done to you? She didn’t love you back then, do you honestly think she will love you now?”
A tired expression flitted across her face as she inhaled deeply. “You remember what she did, don’t you? I told her to let that woman out of their home because I could sense that she posed some danger to you. But what did she do?!”
Lucius had heard this tirade many times over already.
He closed his eyes, waiting for her to finish.
“She refused, didn’t she?” Dixie continued. “She even defended that woman and said that Bella Anise was her father’s guest. But you know what makes me angrier? During that fateful day, she didn’t even say a single word to defend you, and her silence makes it like she already knew what would happen right from the very beginning and didn’t even warn you! If she truly loved you then, how could she have done that?”
Lucius didn’t want to go through this again, but with the emperor’s command, he knew it would happen sooner or later. It was best to just let it come over and be done with it.
He wanted to say he no longer had feelings for Deatrice but recalling the emperor’s words that they had to be in love, he endured and kept his silence.
But words still echoed in his head.
She chose her father’s dignity over you.
“Dixie, I don’t care about Deatrice’s heart for me anymore.” he stated.
“What?!”
“I’ll propose to her.” he said and put one leg over the other and turned his gaze towards the garden for the second time. “She’s no longer in the same position as before. But what I hope is that, maybe now, she would be more willing to accept my heart.”