My Vengeful Former Lover - Chapter 101

With his striking blonde hair and tall stature, Lucius would immediately stand out in a crowd without even doing anything.

His eyes were closed, and Deatrice stared at him. Suddenly, she had the impulse to do something and opened the door. Rosalynn, who was sitting quietly across from her, looked at her in surprise. At the sound of the door opening, Atkins halted his conversation with the coachman and hurriedly went to her side.

Getting off his horse, he immediately inquired.

“Is there something wrong inside, Madam?”

“No, no there isn’t.” Deatrice laughed and stared at him. “Perhaps it’s because someone is outside.”

Atkins blushed for a moment, then hurriedly said.

“What I meant was, do you have a request…”

Deatrice raised her hand and gestured for him to come closer. Atkins watched her actions, a bit confused with the expression of innocence on his face. A few seconds later, he understood what she meant and subsequently placed his ear closer to her lips.

“I was just worried I scared you and you’d run away.” She whispered in a sing-song tone.

Atkins’s felt stupefied at the suddenness of her words that bordered on being flirtatious.

“Madam…?”

“Waiting here is such a bore. I wondered if we should just walk since it’s already so near.”

What do you think of it?

Her gray eyes seemed to ask so.

Atkins simply blinked his eyes in surprise, the lady today seemed different. Like she was shining in a new light and it made her glow. Her eyes brimmed with mischief and her movements acted so familiar around him that he couldn’t quite adapt so quickly to the changes.

After escorting her for quite some time, Atkins acknowledged Deatrice as a kind and generous lady, but never felt this type of closeness from her. Her demeanor screamed ‘aristocratic arrogance’ and the coldness of her attitude didn’t help.

Sometimes he even felt it was a bit stifling when he was just escorting her.

But, today is different. The way she smiled and the informal tone she used while talking to him…

Akins felt his face redden for some reason and swiftly straightened his spine. Then he put one foot forward and extended his hand. Deatrice smiled and took his hand as she went down the carriage.

“Rosalynn, I’ll be buying the present in that store. Inform me when our ride is ready. ”

“Yes, m’lady.”

Even after stepping on the ground, the mud mercilessly soiled the hem of her white dress. Atkins constantly glanced at those dainty shoes and hem with a pained expression, like he was the maid who does Deatrice’s laundry.

If he could carry her all the way, he would.

Atkins couldn’t help but ask. “Will you really be alright, m’lady?”

“Hm? What?” She spun her head to face him and Atkins saw the clearness of her eyes and the liveliness of her expression.

Deatrice looked even more beautiful and radiant without the aura of coldness she had been wearing for so long. He felt his heart tickling somewhat. Like some unknown glaciers were starting to melt into nothing.

But instead of saying those out loud, Atkins spoke, “There are puddles, m’lady. Please hold my arm so you won’t slip and fall.”

“Sure.”

A bright smile appeared on her face as she ran away from the two puddles in succession. As she moved, she felt her blood rushing throughout her body, exhilarated.

“I think I should start horse riding.”

“Hm?”

“If I stay holed up at home for so long again without doing anything, do you reckon I’d rot?”

Another puddle appeared.

Akins felt Deatrice’s weight on his arms and looked at her face. His gaze focused on her hair being scattered by the wind. She looked up at him when he didn’t answer her question and Atkins blushed, shifting his gaze to the front.

“Well, you do spend a lot of time at home. I had no way of knowing what other ladies do in their spare time, so I thought it was normal.”

“It is normal, especially for my mother. Her only other pastime was to go to the temple. But I want to move my body, it feels good. At least you get to train for an hour or two every day.”

“But—”

If you’re tasked with being an escort, your skills will deteriorate. It’s basically a demotion.

Atkins didn’t continue his line of thought and shut his mouth. His eyes widened slightly when he thought she guessed his thoughts and took offense.

Deatrice smiled and didn’t give further comment, concentrating instead on walking.

“So, I was just wondering if I could ride around on horseback without other people judging me. Just like Lucius.”

Atkins was more surprised yet again by her words that did not seem to fit what he knew of her. Seeing as she had always acted proud and dignified, he thought she didn’t care about what other people thought of her.

“Ah, Sir Atkins didn’t know?” Deatrice responded with a playful expression. “Don’t be fooled by appearances. The more one looks to be like something, the more that they are usually the opposite.”

Atkins didn’t know why, but her tone, despite sounding so cheerful, was laced with sadness. He had always been sensitive to things like these since he was a child.

There was a paved road ahead, near the shopping street, so Deatrice lifted her skirt and took the lead. While purchasing a gift for Dixie, Deatrice decided to purchase a gift for her son Philip as well.

According to the letter from Lucius, Dixie is three months pregnant. Meaning she was already pregnant when she last came here.

At that time, Dixie had several things to say including her desire to avoid having children again if possible. But it didn’t seem that way in her letter when she asked Lucius to name her child enthusiastically.

Picking a toy that would suit the boy, Deatrice realized for a while that Dixie’s life was the kind of life she longed for.

A loving husband, an adorable son, a warm home…

It was like that when she was first in love with Lucius, and that what also what she tried to cultivate when she was engaged to Fredhi.

Deatrice had quite often imagined a portrait of herself with two children and a husband or falling asleep in her beloved’s strong arms as she held a healthy baby to her bosom.

Of course, this was wishful thinking that all girls of Deatrice’s age have. It was close to what Deatrice also hoped for, but whether she sincerely wanted it or not, she couldn’t deny that having a genuine and affectionate family would’ve been nice.