Even though she wore a hat and fanned herself without stopping, it wasn’t enough to beat the heat of the summer. Fortunately, there was a soft breeze passing through her sweaty nape from time to time.
Dixie’s face was filled with interest as it was her first time seeing her brother’s estate. Deatrice looked at this sister-in-law’s side profile, who, in spite of the heat, held her arm and kept herself from falling so far.
Originally though, Deatrice had to walk the streets with Lucius, Dixie, and Miss Spurt. But this morning, Dixie apologized, and this was what happened.
Miss Spurt was still asleep when Lucius went out for early morning training.
Descending the stairs, Dixie saw Deatrice reading the newspaper, seemingly finished with some light breakfast. She didn’t seem too surprised to see her alone in the parlor, then said as she clasped her hands in front of her.
“It’s good that you’re here!” she exclaimed. “Could you spare some time to have a little chat with me?”
“Of course.” Deatrice folded the newspaper down and Dixie sat across from her.
Dixie was silent for a moment, as if she was preparing something to say, then pulled up her lips and she spoke with a formal smile.
“As you may know, we are already family. I think it’s time to forget the past and start our relationship anew—let bygones be bygones. Perhaps we can start by calling each other’s first names and spending time with each other? What do you think?”
Her words were similar to what Lucius had told her back then, that he wanted a fresh start. Truly siblings in every sense of the word.
But Deatrice wasn’t naive enough to believe the words that came out of his mouth before, and now, she isn’t stupid enough to believe Dixie. She brought another lady with her who was linked to her husband through rumors, there’s definitely a motive behind it.
Despite finding her words hard to believe, Deatrice smiled and nodded her head. “That would be wonderful.”
It wasn’t because she wanted to figure out her intentions, but because she genuinely wanted to give Dixie a small chance. In any case, she still had some guilt towards the woman and wanted to make it up to her somehow.
Once all of them were ready and waiting outside, instead of Miss Spurt’s, Dixie held onto Deatrice’s arm.
Deatrice looked at her with an unreadable expression while Dixie gave a sunny smile as she addressed the two other people with them.
“Today, we would like to strengthen our familial bonds.” Directing her gaze to the younger woman, she said, “Sadly, that means you’ll have to go with my brother, Miss Spurt. You won’t feel sad if I won’t be able to accompany you, right?”
After listening to her, Lucius frowned, but Deatrice just let her be. He looked at his wife, but she nodded her head, indicating him to follow his sister’s arrangements.
Berry Spurt seemed a little bashful about this new development, but she couldn’t hide the glee from her face.
With a hint of excitement, Miss Spurt’s voice could be heard whispering softly from behind. “It’s been a long time since I last enjoyed looking at beautiful summer sceneries and it makes me feel so energized. I think it’s because nature can really help refresh people’s minds.”
“Oh, really?” Lucius politely responded.
“Yes, don’t you feel so too?” she answered, delighted. “I’ve heard that you’re always focused on training and inspecting your territory. So, how do you feel about going for an outing in nature today?”
He put on a pondering expression, then he answered in a sweet voice. “Hm. It’s definitely been a while since I went out to have some fun.”
Deatrice unconsciously compared his voice from yesterday.
“…and even if something really happened between us, what is it to you?”
They were nothing, and that should be nothing to her as well.
Engrossed in her thoughts, Deatrice barely heard when Dixie spoke about her child.
“…they say a child is the most troublesome when he’s three. That’s why Philip is such a handful these days. He could hardly remain still, has a short attention span, and throws some wild tantrums. He doesn’t even feel like my own child because he clings to the nanny and doesn’t want to be separated from her, especially when he’s sleepy.”
At first, Dixie seemed to have brought up the topic because she had nothing else to say and just wanted to make idle conversation. But as she spoke, she became absorbed by her own words and continued endlessly.
“Roy says that being too close or obsessed with children isn’t very aristocratic at all, but he’s still a child that I carried and gave birth to…”
Deatrice was still thinking of why she was doing this, therefore Dixie’s words about her nephew went from one ear and out of the other.
It was as clear as day that the reason Dixie said she wanted to repair their relationship was for Miss Spurt and Lucius to have alone time together.
Why the effort, though?
Her purpose was to hurt Deatrice, nothing more and nothing less.
“She may just want to annoy you.”
She remembered Lucius’ unsure and light-hearted tone when he said those. Maybe he was really right, but she felt strange to take it so nonchalantly.
Throughout the day, Dixie’s persistence in getting Lucius to spend time with Miss Spurt never ceased, like the time when they had lunch together under the canopy and cloth was spread on the grass.
Lucius and Deatrice were seated at one end, opposite of each other with Dixie and Miss Spurt seated in the middle.
“Times like these, it’s like I’m suddenly taken back to my maiden days.” Dixie spoke and sighed wistfully. “I haven’t had this kind of leisure since I married and had Philip.”
“Is Roy behaving badly?” After Lucius spoke, Dixie rolled her eyes at him.
“It’s not that he’s behaving badly, but because my schedule is fuIl. Wives have stuff to do too, you know? Whether it’s Roy or Phillip…” she sighed once more. “You don’t know how busy I am. Some unmarried girls are like this too, am I correct, Miss Spurt?”
She hummed in agreement. “Yes, but others just refer to it as a pastime. However, regardless of that, I think there is always something to do no matter where you are.”
Lucius took a brief glance at Deatrice, who was currently biting into a plum fruit. Outwardly, she didn’t look distracted, but she also didn’t look particularly excited when they went out.
She appeared fine with the fact that her husband was escorting other maidens. She wasn’t like that six years ago, because Deatrice had even gone so far as to say:
“If you let the same thing happen twice, you will never see me again.”
And this was only when a girl simply set her foot on the sofa he was sitting on.