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Lucius had the exact same expression back when he questioned her. That was when she knew just how cruel Lucius could be.
When Prince Edin heard a voice he detested, he felt a hint of surprise. His grip slackened and Deatrice successfully pushed him away.
He was courting a married woman, and the husband just so happened to have caught him red-handed. But Prince Edin didn’t cower. Dusting off the dirt from his pants, his face had a nonchalant expression when he turned around and calmly addressed the other man.
“Why, if it isn’t Sir Elliot!”
“What have you done to my wife?”
“Oh, that? She dropped a ring and I simply retrieved it for her.” He paused to look at Lucius’ reaction and grinned, “The way you’re looking at me right now, makes me feel as if I’ve done some heinous crime.”
“Is that so?” Lucius’ deep voice resounded.
He took one step closer, and Prince Edin unconsciously backed away, coughing at the anger radiating from Lucius’ red eyes.
“You are nothing more than a knight of the imperial family. You have no right to doubt me.”
“Of course, my prince. I am not suspicious of you. But as you have said, I am a knight and knights do not tolerate injustice.” Lucius chuckled, but Deatrice recognized the sinister laughter hidden within so she grabbed his arm as if to stop him.
He continued, “To be punished by righteousness, you should deem it is an honor. From what I have witnessed, I do not think it is unreasonable of me to demand a duel. Say what you, Prince Edin?”
“A duel?” Edin, who didn’t expect things to turn out this way, failed to hide his confusion and looked at Lucius with a puzzled face. Deatrice was perplexed all the same because she didn’t know what he was playing at.
If he won the duel against the prince thus beheading him, Lucius will be sentenced to death for offending the imperial family.
There was no way that he didn’t know that. So why risk his life and even calmly ask to be delivered at death’s door?
Perhaps it was just meant to scare the prince

Her heart skipped a beat. Deatrice’s chest was pounding with anxiety the longer she thought about it.
“Kill me or not, you won’t survive either way.”
“Precisely,” Lucius answered without an ounce of hesitation. “I’m going to die anyway, so there’s no point in delaying it for much longer. A duel is a much more honorable way to go if I may so say.”
Now, Prince Edin was truly at a loss. “What are you talking—”
“Lucius!” Deatrice called out his name in a loud voice and grabbed his hand. Things were getting awry. Lucius looked back at her with calm, inquisitive eyes and Deatrice waved her hand to distract him.
“You saw it wrong. The prince really did pick up my wedding ring.”
“What?”
Lucius’ eyebrows furrowed. When Deatrice took the prince’s side, his momentum faltered and he exclaimed. “Then, why didn’t you just say so? I almost committed a grave offense—accusing and murdering an innocent. How are you going to compensate me for this?”
Deatrice maintained a smile on her face and tried to soothe him with her eyes and took one step towards the prince. “The prince is magnanimous and knows it is simply a misunderstanding. Surely he can forgive my husband’s righteous anger and nonsense. Am I right, Your Highness?”
She paused for a moment while Prince Edin avoided her eyes, unable to hide his discomfort. She glanced back at Lucius.
“The prince had unintentional contact with me, is all. He did not insult me if that’s what you’re worried about, so there’s no need to bring upon a knight’s justice.”
A moment of silence passed.
Prince Edin, who had been scrutinizing various things, immediately wrinkled his face after he raised his head.
“So, you’re all bark and no bite, and your wife apologizes on your behalf.”
He tapped Lucius on the shoulder.
Lucius glanced down at the shoulder that he had touched and, frightened at that brief glare, Prince Edin sighed and backed away. “Now that he’s here, you won’t need my help anymore. I should go, Lady Elliot.”
“Peace be with you.” she curtsied.
Prince Edin shook his head and walked back towards the banquet hall. Until then, Lucius remained silent and motionless, staring at Deatrice’s hand. After seeing the prince disappear, Deatrice opened her mouth.
“What were you thinking?”
“
”
“What’s so noble about dying for a wife you would simply abandon soon?”
Maybe Lucius couldn’t detect the sarcasm lacing her tone, but there was no change in his face. He stretched out his palm towards her.
“Let me look at your hand.”
He acted as if the prince had physically hurt her hands, his red eyes examining every inch of her skin. “I already told you. I will do anything to get rid of the prince if he does something to disturb you.”
His skin couldn’t touch hers because she was wearing gloves, but wherever the gloves were creased, Lucius carefully examined if even a single strand of Prince Edin’s auburn hair would materialize. Eventually, when he saw that there were no traces of the man left on her person, he let go.
Deatrice frowned slightly at his peculiar attitude and gently massaged her wrist.
“Don’t be reckless.” She muttered.
Lucius unbuttoned the top of his uniform, deciding to leave altogether. “Since when have I been reckless?”
“I’m just telling you to restrain yourself. You get so unpredictable when you’re too focused. I don’t know if it’s the aftermath of the war or what, but if your goal is to get into politics, then you need to fix that unruly attitude.”
Lucius, who had been silently removing the uncomfortable buttons, took the first step away from her. Deatrice mirrored his movements, examining Lucius’s strangely dour face.
Putting down the suit jacket he had loosened, Lucius didn’t make a sound until they had reached their room. Then he let out the words he had been holding back.