Chapter 165

Chapter 165

“I look younger than I actually am. And,” she paused, gauging his reaction, “you look a little displeased.”

But Lucius was far from angry. It seems Deatrice misunderstood his silence for something else.

Embarrassed, Deatrice fumbled with her words.

“I simply told the painter in passing that you liked me better with my hair down. He called for the servants to untie and fix my hair then, after sitting for a while, he started working. But to be clear, the sketch he showed right after wasn’t this absurd.”

Lucius gazed at the painting in silence. He knew that Deatrice was giving explanations as to why the painting turned out this way, but he too was absorbed in the image to actually hear what she was saying.

He wanted to double the artist’s commission for delivering such a masterpiece to him. But at the same time, he wanted to wring the painter’s neck because he witnessed Deatriced at such a vulnerable and exquisite moment that was supposedly only meant for him.

The painter was very fortunate that Lucius wasn’t present when he made superfluous comments about Deatrice’s ‘soul’ and ‘sharp fragments’ and whatnot. Being beaten would’ve been the least of his worries.

Whilst feeling conflicted, Lucius still offered her genuine praise.

“You don’t look absurd.” He murmured, wanting to loosen the tension on his shoulders. “You are beautiful no matter what. Besides, why would I complain about having such a lovely image of you on my person at all times? Just gazing at it right now relieves me of my fatigue.”

Lucius hugged Deatrice and lifted her up the stairs, kissing her in the process.

After that day, Lucius would always be seen either holding his pocket watch at random intervals of the day or the said watch decorating the outer breast pocket of his daily attire.

However, he would only open it when he was alone.

***

Before Lucius and Deatrice went to the capital in time for the social season, it rained quite heavily and thunder reverberated in the citizens’ homes. Even some of the mansions were said to have been flooded.

Deatrice took out Dixie’s letter from a pile that had just arrived. Among them were the newspapers with headlines reporting the accumulated damages in the capital from the bad weather.

At first, she thought it was a letter addressed to Lucius. Unexpectedly, it was clear that it was intended for Deatrice.

[To Deatrice,

You must be surprised to receive such a letter from me. But I only thought it was fitting that I send one to you since you now have become ‘someone’ to me after we last said goodbye to each other. However, I couldn’t give you one right away due to my delicate constitution. But now that I’ve given birth, I finally found some spare time.

Yes, my child is finally born. Her name is Catherine Bellute and her divine name is Sadella. I ask for you to spare some words of prayer for her since she was born prematurely and everything is a mess right now. Everyone is uttering curses, saying that a child born earlier than their due is bound to be sickly and unhappy in their lives.

Of course, I can’t criticize them for such beliefs. But I can’t understand Ray’s family who are in a frenzy trying to fake the date Catherine was born. They don’t regret their decision either. Henceforth, everyone will believe she was born on the wrong date.

For a month, I fought hard to reverse Catherine’s false birthdate and I’m happy I succeeded.

There is one thing I do regret and it is me ever considering getting rid of the child in my womb. I pray that Catherine will never know, and I believe you won’t tell her as well. Otherwise, I will pray for you to suffer a rotten lifetime in a temple.

Now, let’s get to the point.

I have a request for you. You may have read it in the newspaper already, but there is a large-scale water problem in the capital like flooding in both Walburn and Deacon. Because of this, the nearby Chetworth could not escape the disaster.

News came out a while ago that the place is now completely ruined. As you may not be aware, Chetworth has been neglected for a long time. My mother lived there and vowed to die in the very same place. But because of her illness, she moved to an area closer to where I live so I could take care of her better.

Perhaps the lawsuit going on in our family will be over soon and the estate could be passed onto Will. However, it is stated that we must do our best to care for the mansion until the lawsuit is over. But even if it wasn’t directly stated in the agreement, I wouldn’t have abandoned the mansion where my older brother and I were born and raised. It’s still full of my and my brother’s childhood stuff. Especially Lucius since he didn’t take any of his belongings with him when he left.

Deatrice, I’m begging you. I hope you momentarily finance our expenses for Chetworth.

You must be taken aback by this, but the only person I could think of telling this to was you. My brother already has a lot of things on his plate, and I would hate to bother him for this matter.

If by chance you visit there, please make sure that the people there do not throw away anything, even if it is something seemingly inconsequential. I believe it won’t be difficult since it’s close to the capital. And, more than anything else, I want you to bring precious things to my older brother. If I give it to him myself, my brother won’t accept it.

It’s a chance to see a bunch of older brother’s childhood portraits, toys, and collectibles, so I’m sure you won’t turn it down.

Sincerely yours,
Dixie.

Ps. Just because I asked you to do this doesn’t mean that we became friends. I’ll probably never be able to understand you, who abandoned my older brother then. But in a way, I know you’ve at least developed into someone who is honest and trustworthy.

As a final note, I sent you this letter containing the misfortune that befell the adults of Bellute. If you can digest this well and get rid of it, I won’t hang onto the past anymore.]