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Chapter 41
Seeing a vacant seat, Lucius sat down. Up until now, Deatrice thought that the patriarchal attitude to be the most unlikely characteristic Lucius would possess. But now that she knew, she realized they wouldn’t get along that well.
When she had gone silent, Lucius, who had been staring at her for a good few seconds, said with a smile on his face. “Three million shills—that’s your allowance. It is, by no means, a small amount, but I don’t really care what you do with it. So I’m offering you a generous suggestion: you simply need to eat, sleep, and splurge. You’re free to do whatever you want, I don’t require anything from you.”
Deatrice already knew that he had changed. But staring at him now, she felt that the change had even affected the core of his very nature. At their wedding, he was awfully too friendly, and when they arrived here, he had insisted on calling a doctor to see her.
But after she had called him ‘Lucy’, he left the room and basically stripped her of all her rights. Even if that wasn’t true, she couldn’t help but feel that way.
She opened her mouth, “If I have done something wrong towards you—”
“Don’t be greedy for more. I’ve already made such a generous offer.” He cut off her words and looked pointedly at her.
She pursed her lips. “Was this your purpose from the start?”
“Purpose?”
“When you decided to marry me,” she clarified, “was this what you had planned?”
“Why do you want to know such an insignificant detail?”
“So that I know the extent of your pettiness.” she answered simply.
Lucius scoffed in response. “My pettiness?”
She said, looking him straight in the eye, “Yes, because you married me with the primary intention of getting revenge on me—”
“Don’t.” he cut off her words. “I’m not as consumed by revenge as you may think, and I’m not demented enough to actively act against someone like you. It’s just that I still don’t trust you, and I don’t know whether your loyalty still lies with the duke.”
While saying those words, Lucius had never broken eye contact with her. “I’ll never know if you hand over confidential information to him and betray me a second time.”
“What does that—”
“Also…” Lucius got up slowly and walked over to her. He slowly lowered his body and positioned both of his hands on both sides of the sofa, trapping Deatrice in between.
“Even if our marriage, as decreed by the emperor, is truly my revenge in disguise…” He uttered in a soft, almost whisper-like tone, “Shouldn’t you endure it, my lovely bride?”
A rebellious glint flashed across her eye.
“Am I even really your bride?” Deatrice said, looking up at his languid red eyes that looked as if they were ridiculing her.
A smile escaped from Lucius’ lips and he kissed the tip of her nose, finding her question quite cute. “Yes. Otherwise, why would I even be here with you?”
If we weren’t married, you wouldn’t even be able to see me.
For Deatrice, it sounded something like that. Previously, she would have mistaken such a thought to be a tender and sweet gesture, but she knew better now.
Yes, he wasn’t that eager to take revenge on her, or so he had said.
But…
He can, and he just might. His true feelings were hidden behind such a blunt statement, and the truth remains that the person he hates the most—
—was her.
He hated her so much that he couldn’t even tolerate his own feelings towards her, and that made him hate her even more.
***
Lucius loathed her. And if push comes to shove, he would retaliate against her. It was one of the worst possibilities she could have imagined. But instead of feeling dread, Deatrice actually felt refreshed when she realized it.
Yes, this is how things should be. Clear.
She didn’t have to be anxious if he had some sort of hidden agenda towards her, because he had practically said it himself.
He was willing to take revenge.
His voice asking her to call him that nickname again, his worried gaze, his friendly smile, and those tender eyes—all of them were built upon lies. These things had confused her mind for many months, but now that everything was clear, it felt rather freeing.
When Lucius vaguely said that he had no feelings towards her, she felt heavy with guilt. But when his attitude took a sharp detour and openly expressed his hatred, she felt like she had been freed by the feeling of guilt because it’s like she’s receiving what she deserved.
So, Deatrice thought about his offer and whether or not to accept.
Considering the mistakes she did to him in the past, she should have accepted it. It’s just that… she was utterly reluctant to accept it so meekly and helplessly, without even putting up a fight.
Her future was at stake, and above all else, what he had done so far felt very disrespectful.
It’s because he’s worried about you… Why doesn’t the madam acknowledge the master’s heartfelt intentions?
What a sorry excuse.
After the commotion that day, the pair had half-locked themselves up under the pretext of being sick and taking care of the sick. There were, of course, servants who served them their food and monitored four types of medication that had to be ingested after each meal.
At first, Deatrice vehemently refused, but after hearing the convincing words of a dedicated maid, she too, became quiet and decided to simply let the doctor inside.
She thought that the maid was sincere and genuinely wanted to help her get better. Then, she had another thought.
What would happen to him if I recognized his sincerity and repented from my mistakes?