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“Greetings to the commander!”
By her side, Atkins saluted. Lucius roughly greeted him back with just his gaze, and then he approached Deatrice. “You’re working hard, I heard you’ve been here since dawn.”
“That’s hardly worthy of mention. You’ve been going out since dawn too.”
He raised an eyebrow at her defensive attitude. Although he chased her all the way here in anger, he felt something else as he watched the woman wipe the dirty child with her own hand.
“I won’t disturb you.” He said softly. “There’s no need to be all riled up.”
At his unexpected words, Deatrice watched him doubtfully. “Really now? Then why are you here?”
“Just because.” Lucius’ gaze wandered to his surroundings, but still leaving her figure in his peripheral vision, “Why? Not happy to see me?”
His last words were muttered as he took her hand and kissed the back of it. In front of people, his loving side was yet again revealed. Deatrice did not want to lose out to his acting.
A smile that could melt one’s frozen heart graced her delicate features as she pulled her hand from his grasp.
Lucius smirked and followed her.
Apparently, the person following is the person who takes overall responsibility for this work, so Deatrice was explaining his job without realizing it.
“I spent most of the budget on food and lodging judging by how those two are what the refugees needed the most right now. I also went around and looked at the recovery progress from time to time—”
She halted her words.
Her escort knight had discouraged her from visiting there because the fact that it was being repaired for damage meant that a monster had attacked just a few days ago. However, she did visit the manor and added more guards to accompany, so she should be safe.
Fortunately, Lucius seemed to be okay with it on the outside.
Deatrice continued speaking, “Fortunately, everything is going smoothly. The system of having very little overall command was inefficient, so I just changed it.”
“You don’t have to report this to me.”
He said in a slightly hoarse voice. Deatrice seemed to be somewhat flustered by his response. However, what followed did not mean that Deatrice would be excluded from this case.
“I’ve received all the paperwork related to this anyway, and I believe you did well. I didn’t even need to interfere.”
He smiled.
His words felt uniquely affectionate, not like when he kissed her hand but also quite similar to it. He sounded sincere rather than simply saying it for the sake of being conscious of other people’s gazes.
She nodded her head lightly and continued to look around.
All the while they were together, Lucius had stood silently behind her like an escort knight. Afterwards, they got into the carriage and returned to the mansion.
Deatrice looked at Lucius who wore heavy clothing and directed her gaze back out the window. In the end, she couldn’t stand the silence and was the first to break the silence.
“How is the situation with the monsters?”
“I caught almost every single one of them. We’re not sure of the exact location yet, but they still keep showing up from somewhere. We’re narrowing the search tomorrow.”
She eyed him with a concerned gaze. “Won’t it be dangerous?”
“We’ll be fine, there’s one unit of priests and researchers specializing in those places who will accompany us.”
“You’re going in too?”
“Yes.”
There was a short silence after he replied, then Deatrice spoke.
“Be careful…” she said, making sure to pay attention to her tone to avoid him telling her off again.
Like the previous time.
“Are you worried for me? Do you really think you can unsettle me with a simple word of concern?”
Lucius was looking out the window when he slowly turned his head to look at her. She stared back at him. However, when their eyes made contact, he smiled playfully. “No handkerchief?”
“What?”
“Even if I don’t fight with people, I risk my life to go to battle. So shouldn’t you give me one?”
He was acting childishly. What more, it has been a while since he fought a monster, and Deatrice knew that he was saying things like that as a joke. But in any case, she took into account the fact that Lucius was her husband, so she still asked.
“Then, what kind of flower do you want embroidered in it?”
Lucius, who didn’t really think she would agree to it, looked at her with a surprised look.
“For me—”
He smiled, albeit a little shyly.
“—a rose.”
“Rose?”
Lucius had always been sensitive to scents because he had a strong sense of smell. To the point that he would even complain of not being able to eat properly because the fragrance of roses stung his nose. That’s why, being invited by a family who decorated their dining tables with roses was such a chore for him.
And he didn’t really like colorful flowers, but now he’s requesting a rose.
Well, maybe because there are a lot of roses in the garden back at the manor? Actually, he used to love roses six years ago, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise if he fell in love with roses again.
Deatrice answered while engraving that little detail in her mind, “Alright.”
At her affirmation, Lucius looked at her with eyes like a little boy’s who had just been given his new favorite toy. “Are you really going to do it?”
“Yes.” she answered while nodding. “We are husband and wife, so it’s only normal if I do this.”
“Ah.” With that brief exclamation, he smiled awkwardly, then turned his head again and looked out the window.
She then hung her words around his neck like prickly thorns. “This is nothing. If you ask for it, I have no choice but to do it. You and I are a ‘couple’ after all.”
It reminded him of their arrangements in this marriage.
The Deatrice whom he had worshipped six years ago could not be his wife. And now that there was bad blood between them, she was now his wife but only in name.
How ironic.
If Lucius pushes forward his request of annulling the marriage, she would eventually be deprived of all her status and expelled from the world she was born and raised in.
He then said, “I was just joking, there’s no need for you to do it.”
Deatrice furrowed her eyebrows at his sudden change in attitude.