Chapter 217

Chapter 217

“Lucius, that’s just something I can say because you weren’t affected by that fact. That’s how I see it. Some things never get erased. I…”

She paused, her breath catching for a moment.

“I find it hard to believe that you asked the Emperor to destroy me, just like you said six years ago.”

“Dee, we’ve done each other wrong and were able put it behind us. I’ve forgiven you. Now that I’ve overcome that…”

“Does that mean I am obliged to forgive you too?”

In frustration at her response, laden with annoyance, he called her.

“That’s not what I meant, Dee.”

“Just let me go, Lucius.”

Deatrice suddenly couldn’t hold back and said so. Lucius couldn’t comprehend why she would say such a thing at the moment when it seemed like she was the one letting him go!

“Let you go?”

“You already tried to let me go once. So, feel free to do it again. Our love can’t persist. I realized it painfully. We have too many hidden emotions from each other. So, even when we were happy, I was too anxious. Could this be a moment? Could it be that we are going back to the moment when we couldn’t stand each other? I kept thinking that way. You hate me, you love me I know be both are so sincere. That’s why I can’t choose you. I can’t find a reason to endure this and continue my marriage with you.”

All the words poured out like a torrent.

Deatrice’s words flowed so freely that she even had the paradoxical thought that those words might be true. Is this just an excuse to run away?

“So… you’ll choose the prince instead of me?”

Lucius asked in a lowered voice. Deatrice secretly clenched her fist for a moment before nodding.

“Yes.”

“You said that already. The prince doesn’t love you.”

He frowned as if he couldn’t understand, and Deatrice casually replied.

“Yes. But at least Fredhi doesn’t hate me.”

When she said that, Lucius looked shocked.

“How can you say such a thing? I don’t hate you either. Dee, you know that.”

“No. Now, even I don’t know. What we did. What your feelings are.”

He couldn’t offer any response to that. Deatrice realized it was time to deliver her prepared final words.

“So, to annul our marriage, I’m willingly testifying in court. I’ll say it was a marriage ordered by the Emperor. So, don’t exert yourself in vain. Just let me go.”

“How can you do this? How is it so easy for you to decide on this matter?” He muttered weakly. She instinctively felt that this moment was the best time to hurt him the most.

“Maybe I didn’t love you enough.”

So, she willingly said that.

Having hurt him the most, Deadrace thought that Lucius would become sharp and begin to sneer, as he often does when pushed to the brink. But it was tears that fell from his face.

He didn’t move, just the tears streaming down continuously, wetting his cheeks.

Deatrice was perplexed, unable to say anything. Each tear seemed to melt metal as it burned through and pierced her heart.

I said everything I had to say.

She thought. Now that he had given up on holding onto her, she needed to leave. She had deliberately hurt him, and he couldn’t be caught in the tears he shed.

Determined to harshly fortify her heart and vanish from his life, she stood there without saying a word.

And then, with a composed demeanor, she passed by him, opened the door, and left.

She gave up on me. She’s… gone.

Lucius thought, wiping away tears with a weak hand.

He had considered begging her, but tears weren’t part of the plan. However, from a certain point, she had acted as if she intended to detach herself from him.

Since then, a sense of frustration and suffocation had overwhelmed him.

And it had come to this, with her final words.

“Maybe I didn’t love you enough.”

It was almost as if she deliberately created the most horrifying statement imaginable, even if it meant giving him nightmares.

Throughout their conversation, he had done everything to avoid this statement. Yet, after mentioning it, she left, leaving him to shed tears.

To avoid an awkward situation, he knew he had to get up now, but the overwhelming feeling of loss left him paralyzed.

Then, someone opened the door to the reception room.

Is it a maid?

Thinking she had come to tidy up already, Lucius raised his hand to hide his face. She was probably just confirming that he hadn’t gotten up yet, and she wouldn’t come all the way to where he was. But the footsteps he thought would leave soon approached, and soon someone took his hand, lowering it. It was Deatrice.

He looked at her with a surprised expression.

‘Why is she back?’

Such thoughts crossed his mind, but they quickly dissipated. She held his face with her hands, and then, she kissed his forehead.

“Oh, Lucy.”

Uttering a short sigh, she shed a tear. Her tears flowed down her cheeks, mingling with the tears Lucius had shed. Lucius sat there dumbfounded as she wiped away his tears with her hands.

He wanted to ask her why she did this, why she kissed him, but Deatrice, after leaving that short kiss, quickly left again.

And this time, she didn’t return.