/
She felt the urgency of his gesture, so she had innocently hugged him back then. But in her mind, she couldn’t figure out why he was doing this. Showing her naked body to her maids was a normal thing to her, so she couldn’t find any fault with just letting him see her in wet clothing.
After being hugged for a while, she turned her head in frustration and only then did she see the flushed skin on his ears and at the back of his neck.
It was glaringly obvious as it contrasted against his pale skin. Deatrice had even thought that everyone who looked at him from afar could still practically see it.
But for Lucius, this was the color of a lover’s desire.
Desire that he had felt for the first time…
And now, in front of her, his earlobes and the nape of his neck were dyed the same color she had once seen on him in the past.
Deatrice took a step back and frowned. “Lucius, are you…”
…do you want me now?
The question did not come out of her mouth.
But with that brief and somewhat contemptuous call, it was as if Lucius knew what she meant. He neither denied nor affirmed her suspicions and just kept his face within his hands.
Deatrice looked at him for a moment. She didn’t know what to feel.
“Today, or any day in the future, I will not sleep with you…”’
Should she be happy by the fact that he had fallen prey to his desires? Or should she be disgusted by the fact that the person who desired her wasn’t even her lover?
The room became so silent, they could practically hear each other’s heartbeat.
Then they heard somebody knock. She silently moved from her position and made a motion to twist the knob. Deatrice didn’t know how she found out they were here, but Rosalynn was the one behind the door,
“M’lady, I think we should go back.”
In response to the maid’s urgent words, Lucius asked instead, “Did something happen?”
Rosalynn looked at him for a moment, then spoke to Deatrice again.
“There’s a guest, m’lady.”
Lucius recognized Rosalynn’s unwillingness to recognize him and subsequently left the room after seeing that Deatrice wasn’t responding.
After he left, she took a few steps forwards, but stumbled slightly.
“Are you alright, lady?” the maid asked, worried.
“I’m alright. Let’s go back.”
Rosalynn looked at her, thinking that there might be trouble soon. If her mistress had been in a bad mood before this time, things might take a turn for the worst. Especially if she didn’t like the person who arrived.
Walking forward and looking from a distance, Deatrice finally saw who it was.
The guest was Dixie Belle.
***
Of course, it wasn’t all that surprising to her.
The fact that the lord’s sister would be visiting was something all the servants in the manor had been talking about. They even used to say that, whenever they’re faced with an impossible problem, as long as Dixie came, everything would be alright.
But every time they said something like that, Deatrice just smirked and dismissed it as nonsense.
When the masters have a fight, it is usually up to the mother or sister of the husband to intervene, making it quite a normal occurrence in various households. Deatrice treated her arrival as such.
However, Dixie was one of those people who had always gotten on her nerves for the past six years, except for that single moment when she shouted at the ballroom to shut people’s mouths.
She knew that the brunette’s enmity with her was one that burned more intensely than that of Lucius’. It could even be said that since her marriage with Lucius, Dixie must’ve prepared some cards and had been looking forward to the moment when she could finally use it against her.
But no matter what, the weapon Dixie would choose would definitely be ‘that’.
“Who is with her?” Deatrice asked
Hearing her question, Rosalynn put on a look of disappointment.
“Berry Spurt.”
“Hm. Berry Spurt…” Deatrice quietly muttered the name.
It was the young girl whom Lucius had a ‘friendly relationship’ with for a short while before eventually getting engaged to Deatrice.
After they had gotten married, there was no longer any contact between them at all, so she thought their relationship would end at that.
Of all people, why would Dixie bring her?
Deatrice took off her hat and went down the corridor where the two guests were, the carpeted stairs silencing her footsteps.
As she had gotten nearer, their voices gradually became clearer.
“…this is something I’ve really worked so hard to find because my older brother liked the artist. My brother insisted he liked anything I gave him, but I was stubborn and forced him to bring this picture in. Thankfully, when this piece was put up for auction, Roy was out of the country and thus, I was able to get it. I’m so glad I succeeded, and now I have something to admire when I walk in front of the corridors. Isn’t it so?”
“Mhm. I can’t see the image very well from here, but I do know that it is very special. Oh, by the way, Sir Elliot likes the artist behind this?”
“Well… rather than liking it, it’s best to say that he’s only mildly interested in him. He easily gets bored with everything, you know? And he isn’t that keen on art.”
“Ah, that’s right. It’s like he always has his thoughts wandering elsewhere…”
Deatrice suddenly stopped walking.
Because Berry Spurt’s words were so similar to what Deatrice once said to Lucius.
“I… I would sometimes see you deep in thought, very much unlike your usual cheerful appearance.”
Afterwards, she expressed that Lucius was unique.
Deatrice remained motionless, thinking to herself that it was obvious as to why Dixie had brought Berry Spurt because the lady was two years younger than her. But she contemplated a bit more on what the latter’s intentions were for following Dixie to this place.
Disregarding that thought, from what she knew, Lucius’ and Spurt’s relationship had been nothing more than a simple crush. There was no way Lucius would’ve left room for rumors to spread about having an affair with Berry Spurt. He didn’t even have a property to his name at that time, much less pursue someone.
So did Spurt spread those rumors intentionally? Was there something else between them that she was unaware of?