/
“No.” Deatrice said with a stern tone. She knew what bothered him.
He must be thinking he should’ve arrived earlier, and that if he had come any later than he did, she would’ve been mauled to pieces. Therefore, he’s probably doing this to relieve his own guilt.
But she didn’t want to lighten the burden on his mind by being carried by him. Not when her legs worked perfectly fine.
A silent battle ensued. Deatrice expected that he would soon realize her reluctance and eventually back down. But he looked down and suddenly grabbed her uninjured arm.
Startled, she cried out.
“What are you doing!”
But he just quietly embraced her without looking directly at her. “You said you didn’t want to be carried.”
“Let go of me!”
“Are you going to struggle like this in front of my sister?”
“Why are you using Belle as an excuse?”
“Because she’ll be here any second now.”
Just as Lucius had said, the two other ladies showed up not long after.
Dixie was supporting Miss Spurt and was startled by the sight of Deatrice who appeared to be injured in multiple places. Letting go of Spurt’s hand, she hurriedly walked over to them.
“Oh my! Are you hurt, Deatrice?”
Without giving her a chance to answer, Lucius answered instead. “Quick! We need to leave.”
Dixie asked, looking at Lucius with a worried face. “Is she badly hurt?”
“Yes.”
It was such a quick and anxious-sounding answer and Deatrice couldn’t even deny it since Lucius swiftly strode away from them. Then she saw Spurt’s pale face in passing and quickly forgot about it.
Now being carried like a handicap, Deatrice just treated it as another performance. But even after getting on and off the carriage, he didn’t drop the act.
When the master and his wife returned both covered in blood, the manor was in uproar. Arriving in a room, Lucius urged the attendants to quickly summon a doctor. Even after it was confirmed that her wounds were not deep, the servants didn’t stop talking because it was still quite shocking to see their madam return with blood all over.
The rumors grew bigger and bigger, and things that only the four people should’ve known, quickly spread to other people like wildfire.
They were puzzled as to why these people who were supposed to be boating by a lake, had an accident in the forest. They also didn’t know why, but among the servants, rumors circulated that the cause of their madam’s injury was Miss Spurt.
On the second day after returning, Dixie visited her brother for the sake of the guest she had brought. Reading a boring poetry book for the second time, she saw Lucius enter the guest room.
“I heard you were looking for me.” He spoke indifferently as he flopped down on the sofa.
When Dixie put down her book, the servants came in thinking they would ask for refreshments. However, Lucius waved his hand towards the servants to send them away.
“There’s no need. She won’t be here for long.” Then, he fixed his gaze towards her, “Whatever you have to say, keep it short because I have more important matters to attend to.”
“What matters?”
“I’m investigating the incident.”
She frowned, “Is there really a need for an investigation? Isn’t it just wolves?”
“There’s no way a wolf would just come out in the middle of the day near the outskirts. And they weren’t just any wolves, but beast wolves and I find it suspicious. That’s why I need to investigate.”
“What do you mean beasts? I thought those only came from Archen?”
“We’ll have to gather more intel to see how things came to be. Furthermore, this is confidential information, so do not breathe a word about this to anyone.”
Crossing his arms, he leaned backwards and tilted his head.
“So, what exactly do you want to say?”
Dixie thought that her brother’s face looked particularly sassy today. Nevertheless, she answered. “I think it’s time for you to forgive Miss Spurt.”
“Forgive?”
His tone was vague and he had a gentle expression, as if he was never angry at Miss Spurt from the beginning. But to Dixie, who had been with him for a long time, that expression wouldn’t confound her as much.
She already knew that Lucius disliked Miss Spurt very much since the young lady made a mistake with her words.
“Even if Deatrice is injured, we mustn’t forget that Miss Spurt is a guest. No matter how you look at it, the guest suffered a lot in an estate managed by you. Of course, we can reason out that Miss Spurt was the one who asked us to go to the mountains so that we’re not the ones at fault. But we’re still the host and it would reflect badly on us.”
“Did Miss Spurt ask me for forgiveness? Do you think that is something easily given just because someone asked for it?”
“Brother.” Dixie called out, indicating him to stop.
Lucius rested his elbows on the armrests and crooked his chin. His form, especially with his leg crossed over his thigh, appeared very arrogant.
Dixie spoke again when she felt Lucius’ negative emotions subsided a little. “You know that Miss Spurt hasn’t taken a step out of her room for days. Don’t you think she’s been punished enough?”
“Deatrice was hurt.”
“But I heard that she wasn’t seriously hurt.”
Lucius’ face hardened. “Had I arrived a little later, had I listened to you and stayed by that woman’s side; Deatrice would’ve been dead by now.”
He said, looking at his sister with steely eyes. “And don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. Do you really think such a lowly woman would be able to catch my attention?”
“Oh, please.” Dixie abruptly got up from her seat, “Could you stop acting now? It’s making me nauseous.”
“Acting?”
“Yes—acting. It was entertaining for a while, but now it’s turned into a drag. So just stop. I already know.”
Dixie seemed to appeal in a nervous tone. However, Lucius deliberately kept his distance and asked indifferently.
“What do you know?”
Dixie wasn’t foolish enough to fall for that ignorance.
“It means,” she looked pointedly at him, “that I know why you proposed to Deatrice. That the Emperor ordered you to marry her so you could have the estate. I can’t stomach seeing you act so lovingly towards her. So please, just stop.”