Chapter 230

Chapter 230

Deatrice recalled the chaos that had consumed her life since she heard the news of Lucius’s arrival a few days ago. She had forced herself to endure her work, unable to show any signs to others, but every evening, those agonizing moments returned to haunt her.

All the moments she had to let him go forcibly. The day she had chosen the sharpest words to hurt him and then fled, leaving him in tears – those moments had also left deep scars on her.

“Just leave me, Lucius.”

Her dry voice and his wounded expression. The hurtful words that followed.

As desperate as she was, she knew she shouldn’t have hurt him with such words. Yet, at the same time, she thought, what did it matter now? He was someone she would never see again. What did it matter if he hated her? But at the same time, such callous words left deep scars on her heart and disappeared.

Some days, the loss, the ruin she had caused, felt vast and suffocating, and she would cry uncontrollably. Huddled in her narrow, uncomfortable bed, clutching the sheets tightly, tears streamed down her face.

The beautiful memories, too precious to touch, that she had buried all this time, were now shattered. The emptiness. The idealistic hope that they could have been happy forever was gone.

She had shattered it, or rather, they had been destined to break apart from the moment they reunited, Deatrice thought.

“Now Lucius must have heard all the truth.”

She said it to herself.

It had been a month since she had written to Tom, asking Elena Anise to speak to Lucius directly. Perhaps upon hearing the story, Lucius would have been quite surprised and shaken by the betrayal. He probably resented coming here at such a time when trials and revenge against the aristocrats were in full swing.

Did she leave and Lucius manage well? At first, it must have been very difficult for him, but by now, he would probably be thinking that it was lucky she left him. Suppressing the urge to delve deeper into these thoughts, Deatrice paid for the butter and left the shop.

Despite the time that had passed due to the monsters invading the village, the village was still a mess. Deatrice hurried her steps as she looked around at the familiar faces of people living in makeshift tents in front of broken walls, now something she had grown accustomed to.

Some people greeted her, and she recognized a few faces from the weekends when she distributed food to those who had lost their homes.

She exchanged greetings as she briskly made her way towards the school.

That’s when it happened.

A loud noise erupted from the road. People quickly gathered, and the atmosphere became tense. Deatrice pushed through the crowd to see what had happened.

“Oh my goodness… a child…”

As she heard the sympathetic murmurs, it seemed the child had been distracted and failed to avoid the carriage, resulting in a collision. Guards escorting the carriage tried to control the crowd, but people seemed at a loss for what to do, only murmuring amongst themselves.

Suddenly, from a distance, the small body of a child caught Deatrice’s eye. Without hesitation, she dropped her belongings and ran towards the child.

“Are you okay?”

The child didn’t seem to be seriously injured, but they only whimpered and couldn’t give any response. Deatrice examined the child and found that their ribs were broken. Seeing the child in such pain, whimpering in agony, pained her deeply. Deatrice looked around.

The child’s father was engaged in a scuffle with the guards, and everyone’s attention was focused there. Perhaps now would be a good time to use her powers, just for a moment?

With just a little effort, she could mend the broken bones and alleviate much of the child’s suffering before taking them to a doctor. As she thought this, Deatrice slowly reached out her hand towards the child. But just as a faint shimmer of light began to envelop her hand, someone covered her hand with a cloth and pulled it away.

“Are you out of your mind?”

When she raised her head, she was met with a face contorted in anger.

“Are you insane? Doing something like this again.”

At that moment, the face staring at her as if disbelieving of her using powers in public was a face she had seen only in her dreams.

“Lucius.”

Muttering the name as if enchanted, Deatrice withdrew her powers. Sensing it, Lucius hastily gestured to a nearby knight to take the child away. A familiar knight picked up the belongings she had dropped.

Lucius retrieved the cloth, and Deatrice stared blankly at her empty hands, then at the hand Lucius had grasped beyond the cloth.

“Why are you just standing there blankly? Aren’t you going to pack up and leave?”

Lucius said in a cold tone. As she raised her head, Lucius was already standing up from his seat. Their gazes met briefly. In that moment, it seemed like some emotion flickered across Lucius’s face, but it was hard to discern due to the backlight.

Lucius went straight to where the carriage was without a second thought. A moment later, he held the hand of a lady who descended from the carriage.