/
“But you asked me to—”
“Just do what you wish, Deatrice.”
Lucius looked at her with a serious expression. “You don’t always have to be swayed by me, nor do you have to let things go my way. Just fight me, reject me, be mad at me as you’ve always done if you didn’t like something.”
His words sounded strange—too strange that Deatrice had to close her eyes for a long time before she could look back at him. But he’s been silent ever since, without any intentions to elaborate on what he said.
No, it would be more accurate to say that he couldn’t speak any further. In the end, all the words that would come next were excuses in an attempt to avoid even more guilt from burdening him.
But the next morning. Deatrice approached him with a tired and sleepy face. With a blue silk robe over her pajamas, she handed him a handkerchief with roses and the letter ‘L’ neatly embroidered on it.
Lucius received the cloth in his hand with a lost expression as he stared at her.
“You didn’t have to
”
As he whispered, Deatrice’s face lit up with a smile that resembled the sprinkling light of dawn with an added touch of incredulity.
Lucius thumbed the handkerchief on his palm, but then he appeared embarrassed. Nonetheless, the soft feel of the wrinkled cloth in his hand dominated all his senses.
When Deatrice poked at his waist, she laughed as his handsome face contorted into a grimace. She thought it was cute. Placing a hand on his cheek, she lifted her heels and gave him a peck on the other cheek. “Take care, and don’t get hurt
”
After the short kiss and as she slowly lowered her heels, Lucius’ arm swiftly snaked around her waist.
Their bodies were brought closer by his abrupt actions and Deatrice looked up at him in panic. But Lucius was quick to bury his face in the nape of her neck, so she didn’t get to see his expression.
After a while, he answered.
“Mm.” His breath tickled the skin of her neck, “I’ll do just that.”
***
Samuel leaned crookedly against a large sword and saw glaring red color sticking out on the commander’s waist. When he took a closer look, the embroidery of roses was particularly striking, a stark contrast against a dull and achromatic background.
Lucius acted as if he didn’t care. However, the thing that was sandwiched between his waist armors was truly too conspicuous, as if asking to be noticed by everyone.
Unsurprisingly, many other people’s attention had also been drawn to that little square piece of cloth.
It was the same for the researcher who informed Lucius regarding matters about the dungeon. He had already glanced at the handkerchief three times in the middle of his report. Perhaps in his mind, he was anguished with the decision to simply leave things unmentioned, or whether he should flatter the commander in hopes to leave a more favorable impression.
In the end, after much internal deliberation, the researcher uttered a passing comment about the handkerchief.
Lucius glance down as if he had just discovered a new accessory he didn’t know was on his person.
“Ah
 this?” and then he looked back up with an expressionless face as if he didn’t want to say much.
The researcher nodded and wondered if he had erred in judgment, so he hurriedly fled the scene after he finished updating his superior.
Samuel watched the whole debacle, then giggled as he spoke to the commander who was walking towards him.
“To be harassed by you,” he sighed dramatically, “poor bloke.”
Instead of greeting his commander politely, it’s like he was asking for a beating with his current tone.
Lucius eyed the man indifferently, “What?”
“Hm. Is this from the last time when John bragged about the handkerchief his girlfriend gave him?”
A teasing glint crossed his features, “Oh, but our mighty commander wouldn’t be so petty, right? I heard it’s very difficult to embroider, and knowing how much he loves his dear wife, he couldn’t bear for her to lift even a single needle—”
“Shut up!” Lucius interrupted, “What did you find?”
Samuel straightened his posture and assumed a serious expression, “Little to no activity detected inside. When one entered, it was too quiet that even I couldn’t hear anything else moving. Researchers cautioned it might still be dangerous.”
“Oh?”
Lucius pondered for a brief moment.
“What did your researcher say to you?” Samuel asked.
“Nuclear weapons were discovered, the kind that had once only been written in books.” he answered, “There are differing opinions on the matter, and since it’s the first time we have come into contact with something of this magnitude, some are apprehensive and others excited.”
Lucius shifted his attention from his subordinate to the papers in front of him, “You’d have to go in person to get an in-depth understanding of the situation. Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am. But are you sure you’re coming with us? You might lose something
” Samuel had oh-so-cleverly brought back the previous subject as he meaningfully glanced at the handkerchief on the commander’s waist. He then vowed that when he also received one, he would also put it in such a conspicuous place to brag so that his buddies would go green with envy.
Samuel chuckled, “Why don’t you tie it around your hands? Here, let me help you with that.”
As he reached out his hands, Lucius avoided his grubby paws. “It’ll get filthy.”
“Whoa, alright!” Samuel put his hands up in surrender, “But don’t you think always seeing it on your hand is the most reassuring thing? Besides, it could easily get lost if you just leave it on your waist armor
”
Lucius paused, then he thought that the words made sense in a way.
“Fine.”
With his curt reply, Samuel took the handkerchief and personally tied it to the commander’s right hand. The deepening of Lucius’s gaze as he looked down at his hand made Samuel feel like he was thinking fondly of his wife.
Samuel, the single dog, became the second one to flee from the commander’s public display of affection today. He shuddered as he thought about how some people change so inexplicably after they got hitched.
Left alone, Lucius glanced at the thing tied to his hand for a moment, then he grabbed a sword and eventually hid it from sight