Chapter 151

Chapter 151

Lucius half-expected the emperor to say something along the lines of, ‘Oh, is that so? Congratulations.’

Contrary to his expectations, however, the emperor looked very troubled instead. He didn’t know how he came to this conclusion, but it felt like the emperor wanted the same thing as well. That, or he wanted to separate the two of them. Lucius started to get anxious and bit the inside of his cheek.

No. Even if it was the emperor, he would not be able to take back Deatrice’s existence from him. She was his prize.

Fortunately, after a while, the emperor gave an order while looking very sorry.

“I think you need to make a little trip to Carford. I heard they found a clue there regarding those monster transports,” he uttered as he threw a cigarette into the fireplace.

Ah, so his apologetic expression from before was simply him trying to console his knight because he was sending him out for a work trip again?

Lucius made up his mind and bowed down before the emperor.

“I, Lucius Fenry Elliott, have received the Emperor’s order.”

Thinking he still had enough time, he was prepared to leave for the trip after he went back and packed his things from the estate, but the emperor did not indulge him with a brief respite.

“Depart now.”

Heeding his commands, Lucius handled everything on his end without hesitation. He then sent a letter to his vice-commander and even found the duke and duchess at the banquet hall to inform them that he was leaving first.

However, the last thing he had to take care of was difficult, even for him.

Lucius momentarily stood in front of her door, pondering how to talk to her.

He felt like he had missed some kind of congenial flow between them by avoiding her the past two days. Not wanting things to evolve into a fight between them if they pursued a confrontation, he kept his distance instead. But as of now, he didn’t know if that was the right thing to do or not.

Lucius took a few breaths to avoid being distracted, opened the door, and entered.

Deatrice, who was reading the letter and simply wandering around the room, felt a deep sense of relief as soon as she saw Lucius entering.

“Lucy!”

She tugged at his arm. Deatrice thought she had to tell him the news. According to the contents of this letter, didn’t it mean that Frederick is going to restart a revolt in Galaba? Furthermore, Fredhi’s declaration that he would get her back made her very uneasy.

Lucius caught her looking anxious, “What’s wrong?”

He took her arm and seated her in the chair, then cupped her cheek and made eye contact with her. Deatrice opened her mouth to say something, but then she closed her eyes and suddenly looked away, avoiding his touch.

“I still vividly remember that fateful night when you rode off at full gallop with my injured body behind you. It was an impressively heroic sight…”

The contents of Fredhi’s letter suddenly came into her mind the moment Lucius was about to speak.

The night he was referring to was one of the most impressive days for Deatrice as well. Fredhi had a stab wound to his side and was barely hanging as he was sprawled behind her on the horse they were riding. He then boarded a boat to cross the continent.

Before setting out, he took Deatrice’s hand with a bloodied hand.

“I’ll write you a letter.”

The hand he touched was immediately stained with blood. Then she immediately gestured to a merchant who was waiting for them to finish their conversation.

On the way back, Deatrice stopped by a valley, sat down, and wiped her hands as a sick feeling settled in her gut.

Her guilt took over her.

The fight for the throne that will take place in Galaba had nothing to do with the rest of the empire. The contents of the letter only stated that Frederick was alive and that he intended to continue the fight, but there was no other information about where he was or how he would occupy the kingdom.

In other words, even if Lucius knew of this letter, it would only confuse him as there was nothing that would be of direct help.

And if so, why should Lucius know about this?

Fredhi barely survived and she didn’t want to betray him like that.

Just like Lucius, Fredhi also has a place of guilt in her heart. She felt as though she was partly to blame for all the suffering these two have gone through.

Eventually, Deatrice lowered her hand and shook her head.

“Nothing. I just had a nightmare.”

The part about marriage wasn’t something Fredhi could do anything about anyway. If Fredhi really thought of Deatrice as his benefactor and wished to wed her simply for gratitude, she could just write him a letter in return explaining that all she wanted was Lucius.

Deatrice held her breath. Hopefully, this won’t be another betrayal to Lucius.