He could’ve just pretended he was sick, but at the time, he wasn’t really in the right frame of mind to think clearly. Seemingly small and trivial sensations were magnified as his head spun and his vision turned hazy, like it was obscured by mist.
He kept imagining things that weren’t real, so he diverted his attention elsewhere.
The nape of her neck, her cheeks, her eyes, and his hot breath blowing against the tendrils of her hair that went all the way down to her collarbone…
His fingertips turned numb.
After staring blankly at her gray eyes, he finally raised his hand and covered his expression. Because his face was hidden, the tips of his blushing ears and the nape of his neck were exceptionally visible.
Noticing that small change, Deatrice recalled a moment in the past.
It was when she twisted her ankle and spoke to him for the first time.
During that brief meeting, she discovered that Lucius knew she was secretly stealing glances at him, and he also managed to address her own feelings about the duchess’s death when she had never even talked about them to anyone.
After she had gotten home that night, she had regretted the things she had said to him and therefore, couldn’t sleep until daylight came. However, the next time she saw Lucius, he just gave her a friendly smile like nothing happened.
He never requested her for a dance or asked her personally to meet with him outside. But whenever she was alone, he would always approach her with a low-alcohol cocktail in one hand.
She would then listen to the music from the hall with him without saying much. But if not that, then she would either go out for a walk or have a heated discussion with him.
She couldn’t remember what they’d discussed back then, but she could recall that when the cocktail glass was empty and their small chat was over, she would feel a bit special.
Before he departed, Deatrice would usually see Lucius smiling, almost like a smirk.
Either way, she loved that smile on his handsome face. Slightly indistinct as it was shrouded by the hall lights under the dark night sky.
She would think of that smile before going to sleep, and when she woke up in the morning, she could hardly wait for night to come so she could attend a ball. There were even many instances when she was out in the garden, waiting for him to come.
But at the same time, there’s always this thought at the back of her head, that this brief meeting between them was just a bubble waiting to burst and disappear. That when the next season comes, the two of them will exchange awkward smiles just as they did before.
For that reason, Deatrice headed to Victoria More’s house impulsively, pretending to be sick and simply leaving a letter to her father that said she needed her aunt’s comfort as a ‘mother’.
Thankfully, she was able to gain Aunt Victoria’s full support right before she got back home.
But even if Elwood More and Lucius were close friends, there was a very slim chance of seeing him again at the More’s house. She didn’t have any hopes for it either, but there was still the slightest expectation that Elwood just might be able to receive a letter from Lucius.
He really has no ambition to see me…
She made up her mind to leave when that thought occurred to her. But after a while, she caught wind of the news that Lucius Fenry was in a villa near the More’s mansion.
The young Deatrice took a deep breath and covered her face with a folding fan, hiding her agitation.
It was then that she realized how badly she wanted to meet him.
In Lucius’ case, he thought that Deatrice coming to the More’s mansion almost every day must’ve been an outright signal for him to come to her.
Later on, the two saw each other again and Deatrice’s worries were finally eased. He was still polite and docile in front of others, but when the two of them were alone, his attitude would change into a more familiar one.
Soon enough, she quickly became absorbed in spending the ripe summer season with Charlie, Elwood and Lucius as they freely enjoyed the sceneries of nearby forests and lakes.
She just wanted to have a happy time. With him.
I wish the season would stay like this forever—us spending it together, even if it means we always must hide our feelings for each other. Deatrice thought.
However, unlike her feelings which were a little sentimental and passive, his were much more serious and he wanted certainty.
When he leaned against the bookshelf and talked about a book, when he pulled out a book near her finger and rubbed against her skin, when their eyes widened a little and he just stared at her gloved hands for a long time without saying a word…
After so much tension had gone on between the two of them, Lucius finally confessed.
He wanted her to marry him.
However, Deatrice did not have the courage to fight against her father, so she turned him down. But after a long time, she finally fell for his foolish ‘kiss to convince’.
They had a secret engagement.
Soon enough, she revealed it to Victoria, and although the older woman had nagged at her endlessly while she endured, nothing could stop the young woman from falling in love.
She was truly happy, until she had to return to the duke’s residence.