Chapter 17

Chapter 17

“Eva Way herself? Why would she even do such a thing?”

“Well, she must have thought that the Count would annul his marriage and choose her. As you may know, the countess had been with him for so long, but she had yet to bear him a child.”

“Still, that’s quite foolish of her. The Count is not the kind of person who would give up everything and choose her.”

“That’s what I wanted to say!”

“So, will the countess’s family remain still? He must have sworn to the countess that he would immediately abandon Eva Way.”

“Ai! If that’s the case, then this is the start of Eva Way’s ruin.”

Whispering quickly, they soon turned around the corner and went elsewhere. Deatrice stood there for a moment, confused as to how to react to this story she had heard by coincidence.

It was only recently she had defined Eva Way in contempt.

In front of Lucius.

It couldn’t be his doing, right?

However, the reason Deatrice could think of such a nonsensical possibility was because similar things have happened in the past. A drunken man harassed her at a certain ball. Not long after, that man was robbed by gangsters on the street. Perhaps the perpetrators thought that wasn’t enough, they even beat him black and blue.

At first, Deatrice did not associate the incident with Lucius. But it was Lucius himself who confessed with a wanting-to-be-praised look on his face.

“I did well, right?”

When he said that, she remembered him laying his head on her lap as he gazed up at her lovingly.

That’s why, she thought today’s incident might also be his doing.

As she walked out the front door, she felt some people gossiping and looking at her.

For some reason, a familiar carriage was already waiting for her, and Lucius was standing in front of it.

Speak of the devil, and he doth appear.

As she stood blankly and stared at him, he swiveled his gaze and saw her. Then he approached with a soft smile.

“Are you done?” He gently took her hand.

She was perplexed.

All of their meetings so far had been discussed in advance. Never had he appeared so suddenly before. Moreover, he did it when she was at the temple.

“Why are you here?” She asked warily.

“Just because.” He replied, kissing the back of her hand. “I missed you.”

Aware of people’s gaze, she knew she had to put on a friendly expression, but Deatrice couldn’t force herself to. She simply could not grasp Lucius’ intentions, so she could only look at him stupidly for a good few seconds.

Then he smiled and lightly coaxed her, “Did you miss me too?”

She hardly opened her lips and replied, albeit a little stiffly.

“Of course.”

He raised his lips at her awkward answer. “I just wanted to see your surprised face, is all. The wait took a lot longer than expected, but I wasn’t bored at all because I was thinking of you.”

Then he kissed her forehead, her upper lids, and the tip of her dainty nose.

There were only a few people passing by, but they were still at the main gate of the temple. It made her uncomfortable when he did it at this kind of place, which led her to push him away all of a sudden.

“Deatrice—” He grabbed her hand that pressed against him with a very serious look.

Then he knelt down on one knee and looked up at her. Deatrice was completely embarrassed and tried to let go of his hand, but Lucius added more force to his grip to prevent her from escaping.

He acted calmly and spoke.

“The times we’ve spent have always been precious to me. Our past may have been complicated, but I just simply can’t see myself being happy with anyone other than you. Because when I had you in my life six years ago, I felt like I was complete.”

Lucius gazed deeply at her with eyes full of tender affection, “Now that I have the chance to make you mine a second time, I don’t want to lose you ever again. So please, grant me the honor of being that man who would give you happiness that lasts for a lifetime.”

“Lucius…” Deatrice’s voice faltered.

This wasn’t part of their play.

She was genuinely surprised and bewildered. She never dreamed that Lucius would come to the temple today and that he would propose to her right in front of it, breaking the tradition that marriage proposals should be done in private and not in front of other people.

Another thing was that, how did he muster the courage to come here?

People might slander him for having the guts to propose in public even with his status as an illegitimate child, and in front of a sacred place no less!

But why here, of all places?

Deatrice looked at him as if waiting for an answer.

They stared into each other’s eyes as the sun shone upon them. Sighing internally, she was painfully aware that there was only one answer she could give here.

She spoke, but her voice was so soft it was barely even heard. “Definitely, Lucius. I shall have no other, but you in my life…”

The words that escaped her lips sounded sweet, but her heart had gone cold. He pulled off this little scheme to make a statement against her, to bring back and twist the history that happened between them.

‘Remember this place? This was where you threw me out.’

Those words kept ringing inside Deatrice’s brain like a taunting menace.

He never uttered them out loud. But the bright, yet somewhat satirical smile on his face had only served to frost her already wintry heart.

***