/
Wilton quieted down after that as if his purpose had been accomplished. Deatrice gazed out the window and looked at the tidy shrubs in the temple, then suddenly realized why Wilton persuaded Lucius to ride a horse.
To announce the marriage of the duke.
Lucius couldn’t stand Wilton’s attitude of wanting to borrow his hand for his own purposes. Eventually, Deatrice held back and opened her mouth.
“But isn’t Lucius too greedy to aim for the duke position?”
“What do you mean?”
Deatrice continued, not succumbing to Wilton’s hardening expression. “My father brought him great insult and Lucius had long been well-positioned to exact revenge. Moreover, revenge for honor is natural in aristocratic society.”
“Do you even know what that means?”
“Lucius is a knight trusted by the emperor and now a nobleman with a title. On the other hand, my father lost most of his knights. Even if Lucius declared war for territory at this time, the emperor would even back his cause. So, it is not unreasonable to say that the reason why the territorial war did not happen was because of Lucius’ kindness, not greediness.”
She spoke stubbornly and Wilton marked the end of the quarrel by looking elsewhere with a dissatisfied groan.
Perhaps Wilton thinks she’s an immature woman who’s only obsessed with men and dismisses the possible death of her father, her only family left behind. But Deatrice did not regret her own remarks. Rather, she felt relieved in her stomach and her heavy burden on Lucius was relieved by doing so.
When he got off the carriage, Wilton left without looking back. Lucius took one look at the older man’s expression and went to ask Deatrice.
“Did something happen?”
She said, wiping her wrinkled skirt with her own hands. “Nothing much. Just news on my father’s marriage.”
“Is he getting married?”
“As expected—yes.”
Lucius didn’t ask because he wasn’t so sure. But he did of the duke’s marriage a week ago or so. The reason he asked now was because he was surprised that she only heard about it now, and through Wilton no less.
Was she avoiding her father until now?
Well, there’s a reason for that.
After all, it was because of her father that they spent the night. She made a shameful choice to save her maid, perhaps Deatrice will not forgive her father for that.
Lucius could only guess what kind of feelings that night had left in her. He had never thought that she had forced him to embrace her, but he regretted that he shouldn’t have done it just because he had no choice, whether or not the events of that night compelled him to do so.
It suddenly occurred to him that he wasn’t talking to her enough.
After spending that night, he thought of many things he should have talked to her about.
“Deatrice
”
Lucius reached out to her, but Deatrice, who thought it was just a consolation for her father’s marriage, turned her head away as if she was tired of this all.
“No need. You’re the same as Count Wilton. Whether my father gets married or sires new heirs has nothing to do with me anymore.”
“But—”
“Wilton will be fine. It’s not like he’s the type of person who holds onto grudges for a long time.” She tightly grabbed his hand for a few seconds, then released it and turned around. “I’ll go first. There’s someone I need to see.”
Lucius looked down at his hand where she held him. He then let out a sigh and ruffled his hair again.
Nothing was going the way he wanted.
***
As all the people accompanying him were devout believers, the time for private prayer was extended. Lucius didn’t want to talk to the priest again or kneel in his private prayer room, so he stood motionless in front of the large fountain. It was in the middle of several corridors and the place where the priests gather holy water.
Lucius, who had his head half-bowed and was contemplating in front of the large angel statue, immediately sensed that someone was approaching him.
“Sir Elliot.”
When he looked up, he quickly realized that that person was one of the priests who helped his soldiers when the monster appeared. Lucius greeted him with a faint smile. “Hello.”
“What are you doing here? The lady is upstairs.”
“Deatrice doesn’t like praying with anyone.”
The priests were not ones to force their beliefs on others. They did not coerce visitors to believe in the gods in this place where their power was received and directly visible. So now, the priest’s words were obviously his attempt at a joke.
“Oh, I see. It is clear that you are not well aware of your wife’s circumstances in the temple. She is praying with a priest from another temple.”
“Another temple?”
“Yes. From the beginning, I often come to see the lady. It is because she has a deep connection with the temple in the capital city and the temple in the duke’s estate. But today, I was very surprised that a priest studying in Alhen was especially searching for her. He was even talking about your wife’s great piety and various philanthropic activities. She is truly a person to be admired.”
“I see.”
Not wanting to hear news from other people’s mouths, Lucius unknowingly made an uncomfortable expression. The priest reflected that he was somewhat talkative today, so he bowed his head, and retreated.
But even after he had gone that way, Lucius’s mood did not improve at all. Of course, Deatrice’s unusual background—having incomplete divine power—might have forced her relationship with some of the priests to go deeper than he initially thought.
His petty obsession and lust for monopoly did not affect what kind of other relationships she might have. Hence, the illusions that exist only in his imagination have been disturbed. By this point, he had all but confirmed it to be true.