Deatrice spent several days doing basically nothing. All of the servants treated her with great hospitality, and they didn’t seem to require her presence for anything.
She could go wherever she wanted and do whatever she pleased. When she lounged by the lake, she would call a worker and weave a tapestry, or she would simply stare at the skies. Other than that, she would just stay in her room.
Of course, there’s nothing bad about a life where she only had to think about her menu for the day.
As soon as her mother died, she had to run the large duke’s house as a stand-in duchess. Together with her father, she looked after the estate and worked hard every day in order to preserve the status of the duke by blending into the society.
Social circles, territories, and the duke’s house had been the center of life then as the pressure of a duchess fell upon her delicate shoulders.
She had only been nineteen then.
Six years passed by, just like that. It would be a lie if she said that her experience was without any troubles.
“When we go back to the manor, I assure you that it won’t happen again. We will sleep in different rooms, and you won’t see me as much then.” Lucius once said, and he truly stuck to his words because she rarely ever saw him these days.
Lucius had returned after a long time had passed, spending a very busy day maintaining the manor with the Knights Templar. He usually leaves before Deatrice wakes up and then returns after she’s already gone to sleep. Sometimes, she would wake up earlier than usual to visit the temple, and it was only then that they would meet by the breakfast table.
While eating, Lucius looked at the stack of papers with a worn out look on his face. Deatrice couldn’t speak to him easily, so she directed her attention to the tea and food in front of her.
Unexpectedly, he was the one who spoke first.
“I’m sorry for being too busy lately. How about the two of us go on a stroll by the lake? There’s also a beautiful forest near here, have you ever been there?”
Probably because he was conscious of the servants’ gazes on them, which was why he would still occasionally speak sweet and vain words towards her.
“I haven’t.”
“Then, after all this is over, let’s go together.”
He made a promise that couldn’t be kept.
Deatrice knew that he would start pretending to feel distant from her because of his busy schedule, as is often the case with arranged marriages. Couples like those would just do their own things and act as a loving pair of husband and wife only when it is necessary to show people.
Though, she had no complaints with that kind arrangement. The only problem was Lucius’ remark that he would not have children, at least with her.
“Today, or any day in the future, I will never sleep with you.”
It wouldn’t be such a big deal if they didn’t spend the night soon, but it was sure to become a fatal weakness for her when after years had passed and she had still not gotten pregnant.
Everyone would be talking about the couple who loved each other so much yet couldn’t have children. After having mingled with nobles as an informal duchess for many years, Deatrice was aware how deadly they could be.
It could even reach the to the point of suicide, and it’s not like it hasn’t happened before.
It was terrifying how they would dissect the tiniest bit of detail to find fault on something or someone, and her relationship with Lucius would definitely be put onto a magnifying glass.
She didn’t want to experience that.
No matter what Lucius said, the people’s opinion of her still remained important to Deatrice. She saw an opportunity and vowed to talk to Lucius about the matter again. Regardless of how humiliating it is for a wife to bring up these words in the first place.
On a certain day after returning from the temple, she could see that her luggage and furniture had arrived at the manor.
She thought it might take longer for it to get here because it was a considerable amount. But while looking at the familiar objects that had accompanied her throughout her maiden days entering an unfamiliar manor… it made her feel strange.
I’m really going to live here for the rest of my life, until the day I die?
She didn’t actually expect her life with him to last that long. But somehow, she had this vague feeling she couldn’t grasp no matter how hard she tried.
Does Lucius feel the same as her?
Deatrice suddenly became curious.
Did he ask her to leave the past behind and start afresh, because he wanted a sense of unity with someone to spend the rest of his life with…?