Chapter 131

Chapter 131

The light coming from the window was too blinding. Deatrice was debating whether to ask him to close the curtains when she suddenly furrowed her eyebrows.

Since when was he awake?

His hair was in a mess, so it must not be a long time since he’s woken. That messy blondeness she’d touched yesterday was shimmering beautifully in the sun. She thought briefly that she wanted to touch him again, but the thought itself was proof that the stream of passionate emotions they shared last night was still lingering in her.

On the other hand, Lucius looked at her with flustered eyes and lamented briefly.

“You… really…” He didn’t continue with his words. He seemed to be enveloped in a serious sense of shame.

Confused by his reaction, Deatrice got up,

Lucius immediately closed his eyes shut. Her dazzling nakedness was exposed in the sunlight, and he could see that the marks of his kisses from last night still remained. He then opened his eyes to see her wrap her body with the sheets, pull the curtains down, and then come back to bed.

Lucius desperately wanted her to say something first, but eventually realized that he was being a coward and opened his mouth.

After struggling with his own thoughts, he uttered, “I’m sorry.”

“…”

“I should have been clearer. I just thought you were already sleeping yesterday, so I came here…”

He placed his hand on his nape but put it back down after some thought.

“To be honest, I didn’t want to tell you because I’m not a child anymore and I couldn’t really say that thunder frightens me. But,” he looked back at her slightly in panic, “I swear I’ve never been like this before—damn it. Are you alright?”

With shame covering his features, Deatrice thought for a moment that he might just strangle himself to death. She opened her mouth after a moment’s silence.

“You can’t remember anything?”

It was a question asked out of curiosity, but Lucius understood that as a rebuke and had an ‘I want to die’ expression on his face. But he still felt a sense of indebtedness to her, so he said as coolly as he could.

“I can’t. But I heard others tell me whenever it thunders that I cry, tremble, mumble nonsense, and then remember nothing about it the next day.”

“Since when were you like this?”

“…after the war ended.”

“Why?”

He didn’t speak. At first, she thought it was because he didn’t want to answer, but when she looked into his eyes, it seemed that there was something more to it.

“That isn’t what’s important right now. Did I… force you? Last night?”

“…”

With her silence, guilt clawed at his throat. “I’m sorry. Of course, I did because you wouldn’t touch me otherwise. I—damn it! I’m sorry. I’m—”

Believing his own conclusions, his breathing became more hurried and his mind chaotic. Deatrice was surprised that he was thinking of last night that way. When he looked at her with a regretful face, it was then that she understood and her heart eased a little.

Maybe it was because he regretted spending the night with her.

“There’s no need to feel sorry. I took my clothes off first.” Deatrice simply said.

“What?”

He shook his head, in disbelief at her words. It quickly shifted to relief from the fact that their relationship wasn’t at risk of collapse, but then it veered back into suspicion.

“Why did you do it? You…”

…had always been the one to push me away.

He didn’t want to continue with that, so he chose silence. She smiled briefly at the restless man, then turned and picked up the clothes that had fallen on the floor and wore them.

“Because you asked me to kiss you.”

“Huh?” His hoarse voice sounded bewildered, however, she didn’t pay any more attention to him. She picked up her robe, put it on, and walked away.

Lucius thought that she would definitely come back soon. He believed that a person would not leave with just that small bit of explanation.

That is, she wouldn’t leave if she knew even a bit of how agitated his heart is.

When he saw her naked by his bed with no recollection of what happened, even after a thousand years, she wouldn’t understand how his blood ran cold. The reason he didn’t kill himself with the dagger by the table side while she was still asleep was in hopes of giving an apology to her first.

He couldn’t manage to even wake her from sleep because he feared seeing the hate in her eyes. But then, she said nonsense about taking her clothes out of her own initiative because he asked to kiss her, and then left just like that?

Lucius, knowing she wouldn’t return, eventually got up.

“Deatrice!”

Unable to hold her back, Lucius followed her. He overtook her with his wide stride, but she took a sharp turn and went all the way down to the kitchen to avoid him who hovered closely behind her.

The servants were very surprised to see the lady in such a place so early in the morning, especially with the lord hot on her heels. This was a rare sight, indeed.

When they said that they would bring her bread and coffee to her room in a little while, Deatrice simply said she would just bring it herself. It was so natural that Lucius thought she usually came down to the kitchen in this manner.

“Let’s talk.” He uttered when she got to the room, tray in hand.