My Vengeful Former Lover - Chapter 81
The insinuation of the empress’s words was degrading to some extent considering the fact that before he was revealed to be an illegitimate child, Lucius was a promising man and boasted quite a bit of influence since he was groomed to become the next Lord Fenry.
Truth be told, his demeanor and actions were much more ‘noble’ than most, especially those fledgling aristocrats who’d just entered society.
The empress was far from being ignorant of this fact, and yet she treated Lucius like a clueless upstart as she described his duties in great detail. In her defense, this wasn’t her bullying the weak but simply educating them.
But she barely even glanced at Deatrice during the whole ordeal so the latter could only listen.
To fend off her boredom, Deatrice would half-close her eyes and observe Lucius’ handsome face from time to time as he listened to those criticisms with nary a word. The only movements she could see were his eyes blinking and his chest breathing.
The onerous meeting didn’t end until sunset, and that was only because someone was urgently looking for the Empress. When she rose from her seat, Lucius and Deatrice got up as well and saw her off.
Deatrice cast a glance over Lucius who had his head slightly tilted downward with no signs of fatigue.
“Does everyone treat you like that?”
Lucius raised his head, looking a bit lost as he reacted slowly to her question. She kindly repeated her words, “Do they treat you as if you’ve never been a nobleman before?”
“Ah… Well, I’m not one. In any case, there’s no use in dwelling on the things of the past.”
With his indifferent tone, Deatrice stared at him a few seconds longer than usual, assessing him.
Apart from being the subject of her father’s spite and having a selfish lover, what really happened to him after his situation completely changed overnight?
His supposed future and everything that should’ve come with it…
Lucius was introduced into the count’s home as his nephew. Hence, he grew up knowing the count and countess as his uncle and aunt. When Deatrice met him then, she never felt there was anything lacking in him.
He was clever, attractive, and generous. Although he would occasionally pull some pranks here and there, it had only added to his charm. It occurred to Deatrice that she was unaware of Lucius’ other facets other than the ones he showed her.
Why did he have a pale face earlier when Ms. Spirt found him? She had never seen him like that before. Not even when he was at death’s door after his recent expedition.
“By nightfall, the nobles living in the castle shall dine together. The following day, there will be a banquet and it is then that the emperor will grant me the deed to the estate. It’s no secret, so I doubt anyone would be surprised by that.”
Lucius uttered, interrupting her thoughts.
Deatrice, half immersed in observing his shadow and half-listening to his words, thought that something felt odd about him.
They returned to their room together.
She completely forgot about the contents of his words but thought to herself that if there was an event of import she should attend, Rosalynn could simply inform her.
While walking, she suddenly broke the silence between them. “I want to go back sooner.”
“Hm?”
“I don’t want to stay too long in the capital. Can you do that for me?”
Hearing the light, whispery tone of her voice, Lucius instinctively nodded.
“…of course.” He would gladly grant any of her requests at the moment, but of course, Deatrice didn’t know that.
His reply caused a brief smile to surface on Deatrice’s lips, then she opened the door to their chambers and entered first. Eyeing her back as she went towards the changing room, Lucius knew just how terrible it would be for him to sleep in a room with her.
And how terrible it would be for her to sleep next to him…
“From the beginning, I planned to annul my marriage with you.”
“No matter the reason, you will be kicked out of this manor one way or another and that will be the end of our little marriage.”
If she had any remaining affection for him before, then there would most definitely be none left after he said such insulting words.
Lucius bowed his head and held back a sigh of resignation. Then he followed Deatrice into the room.
***
Deatrice was woken up by the dull thud of something falling. She didn’t know what time it was, but she knew it was the second time she heard that sound.
She adjusted her position, put a hand on her forehead, and sighed softly.
“Lucius.”
There was no answer to her almost inaudible call, but she knew he was listening. The one who made that sound could be none other than him falling to the floor.
Why isn’t he responding?
Finally, she got up and squinted her eyes to see a person’s silhouette on the sofa. His hair was messy, and since he couldn’t lie down completely, his nape rested against one armrest while his legs dangled on the other side.
“What are you doing?”
“Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep.” Having just been awakened himself, Lucius’ voice was husky from sleep.
“Why?” Deatrice looked over her shoulder blades as she picked up the fallen cushions. “You’re just going to wake me once more later.”
Lucius stopped shifting his body into a more comfortable position. He had already fallen twice, so he had nothing to say in his defense. But he swore he didn’t do it on purpose.
The sofa was too narrow for him to even lie down properly and makes him slide down if he so much as moved more than an inch.
On the first day, he had shown resolve when he slept on the sofa without falling once. But on the second day, don’t know what’s gotten into him but he had already fallen twice.
If things were to continue this way, it would be so much better to sleep on the floor. But Deatrice scoffed at him when he made his intentions known, feeling that it was undignified for him to sleep on the floor.
With a frown on his face, Lucius only shook his head and apologized again.
“I’m sorry, I won’t fall again.”