When he gave her a soft smile, Deatrice felt herself momentarily shaken by it. Then, she felt a headache coming her way.
Although she liked him, she wasn’t sure if she loved him.
“Will a kiss really make my feelings for you certain?” she asked pensively.
Her father may not be vocal right now, but she was sure he was definitely against their union. She didn’t want to have to confront his objections if she, by chance, realized that she actually felt something for him.
“Every drop of blood in your body would feel electrified.” His voice brought her mind back to the present.
It might’ve sounded arrogant, but because of his deep gaze, those words sounded like a lover’s passionate declaration. A promise of what’s to come.
Deatrice met with those eager eyes and closed hers. She felt herself sink into his shadow. She imagined her hand touching his cheek, feeling the comfort of his warmth, and the tingling that might course through her veins once his soft lips touched hers.
Go for a kiss when you’re unsure…
As shameless as it may sound, what he said had some substance to them. The flames of love might be gone, but are they really?
If Deatrice truly felt sorry for Lucius and wanted their marriage to be a genuine one, would she really know from just this simple kiss?
So, she agreed.
That was until she felt that a kiss on the lips in front of other people was too much, so she turned her head away at the last moment.
The thought that Lucius’s face would turn increasingly unpleasant after every second that they kissed…
She would rather not want to see it.
In the end, she gave him another short kiss on the cheek while sending him off. Which was enough to cover the absence—or presence? — of regret in her heart.
If not revenge, then what did she really want? Some sort of petty and meaningless agenda of getting even with him?
Deatrice decided not to think any further. But, for the meantime, she was satisfied.
What she didn’t expect was that there was someone who intuitively noticed the intent behind her actions.
Tom stood in front of Lucius, who was currently looking at some documents with a displeased expression, and said, “Are you really going to let her be?”
Lucius asked with a sigh as he wrote his signature. “What?”
“The lady, of course! Why are you letting her do whatever she wants?”
After calling Deatrice as nothing else but the duke’s daughter in front of Lucius and being severely scolded afterwards, Tom reluctantly began to call her lady.
“What else is Deatrice doing aside from obediently taking her medicine and not causing a fuss?” Lucius replied sternly.
“That’s exactly the problem!” Tom shouted. “Do you know what rumors are circulating among the servants these days? At first, I didn’t pay much heed to it, but now they say that the lady is worthy to be loved! Positive rumors like that are going to ruin our plans!”
“Worthy to be loved?” Lucius mused.
“Yes!”
“By who—” he corrected himself as his eyes softened ever so slightly. “I mean, why?”
“Ah? That is…”
Tom thought he looked somehow wistful, but he thought it was impossible, so he shook his head and answered.
“That’s because they know now that the lady was simply thinking of the master’s well-being. The poor servants were taken aback when they found out and felt guilty. But I’m sure you know that it’s all an act to get what she wants, right?”
“Well, that kiss—”
Was an act too.
His mind echoed. Lucius felt his throat being choked. He couldn’t finish his words and smelling a familiar fragrance hadn’t helped him in the slightest.
Roses. It was the same exact scent she exuded. He soon realized that it emanated from her garden where she usually lounged around and wrote in her journal.
“Close the window.”
“Huh?” Tom was confused, “But it’s so hot?”
“Just close it.”
At his master’s unsettled voice, Tom closed the window, but he didn’t forget to grumble while doing it.
Lucius quickly untied his cravat as the temperature inside the room began to rise.
Tom watched his master work.
With his nape exposed and his hair all tousled, in many ways, he simply looked like an indulgent youth of nobility or a charismatic young knight rather than a lord with many responsibilities.
He shrugged and asked, “Well?”
Hearing his attendant’s probing question, Lucius put down his pen.
“Can’t it be because she’s too lazy to fight with me anymore? I know Deatrice better than you. She’s not the type of person to scheme. She’s too proud for that.”
“That’s not it!”
“And would it really make that much of a difference if all of her recent actions were just part of a more elaborate ploy?”
Hearing his master’s carefree words, Tom beat his chest in frustration. “It makes a huge difference! It’s good for us if there’s bad rumors about her!”
“Human minds are too fickle. We can simply create a bad rumor when we need one that would ruin her efforts.”
“For example?”
Lucius frowned. “I don’t know. Should I really think about it now?”
“If not now, then when?”
“Don’t be so hasty and leave Deatrice alone.” he warned. “I still haven’t even received the edict yet.”
“Leave her alone? I haven’t even done anything to her!” he defended.
Although Lucius had outwardly displayed his dissatisfaction with Deatrice, he felt that the person who posed the real danger was Tom, his own attendant.
He might still be acting like that due to prejudice, but Lucius hoped that one day he would change his mind and accept Deatrice as she is. But for Tom, it was clear as day to him that Lucius would be betrayed yet again after accepting her once more.
The master, ignorant of the servant’s concerns, waved his hand recklessly and ordered him to leave with the finished documents. Tom gave out a long sigh and went out the door, papers in hand.