Chapter 252

Chapter 252

“…”

Lucius gave a slight nod, his expression indifferent, as if he were bored.

Deatrice walked to the sofa and knelt before him.

“Let me go, Lucius. We can keep the marriage… for now. I’ll stay, coming and going as I please. Maybe I’ll get a house nearby or leave for a retreat. And in five years, once you’ve inherited the title of Duke—”

“And then what?”

“Then we’ll annul the marriage.”

“Absolutely not.”

He cut her off sharply.

“You think once I inherit the title, we’ll annul our marriage?”

“Then…”

Deatrice faltered, trying to think of another solution. Lucius looked at her, reading the confusion on her face.

“What are you going to do after you leave me?”

“…”

“Are you going to wander around aimlessly? And what if you have nowhere left to go? Are you going to kill yourself? Are you trying to tell me that death is better than staying with me?”

His sharp, sarcastic words cut through her. Deatrice leaned her face weakly against his knee. Lucius hesitated briefly, then, as if giving up, began stroking her hair softly.

“It’ll get better, Dee. Think of this as practice. We’re rehearsing for the day when everything will be fine between us.”

“…”

“Besides, you’ve said it yourself. You couldn’t bear me treating you badly. This is why I’m doing this. If you can’t even bear this, how will you ever handle it?”

She felt as if she had been transported back to the past.

She couldn’t tell whether he was blaming her or trying to comfort her. His words had hidden barbs, but his tone was so gentle, as were his hands, softly stroking her hair.

Slowly, he caressed her forehead and cheek. He lifted her chin and kissed her eyelids, his touch as carefully as if he were holding something fragile, something about to melt away.

Deatrice felt his touch wiping away her tears, her face twisting as she realized they had fallen.

“Crying again?”

Lucius remarked quietly.

“You overthink everything. I don’t understand what’s so difficult. Just live as we are. If you act like nothing’s wrong, eventually, it really won’t be.”

“So I’m supposed to just endure it?”

“Dee, my sweet Dee.”

He kissed her again, but this time Deatrice turned her head away, avoiding it. She frowned and spoke.

“Can’t you understand me, just once? I just want a fresh start. I don’t want to be anyone’s puppet anymore—not yours, not my father’s. I married you because the Emperor ordered it. Before that, I chose Frederick because my father commanded it. I’ve always had to endure the place someone else made for me. I don’t want to live like that anymore.”

“…”

“And look at us. We’ve made so many mistakes. Think of all the foolish things we’ve done to each other. It’s like trying to untangle a knot that can’t be undone. Sometimes the right thing to do is to cut it loose. Sometimes, you have to let go completely for anything to have meaning.”

“And for what? So you can live freely as a teacher in some rundown school?”

His voice grew colder with anger.

“Do you really think that’s freedom? There’s no freedom there either. You’ll just be stuck following the rules the principal sets. Is that really what you want? Do you even know what you want? What are you trying to accomplish? You’re just running away, pretending that calling it freedom will make it right.”

“Lucy…”

Her voice was faint, her face pale. She hadn’t expected him to go this far. Lucius, as if escaping her disappointment, shot up and shouted as he moved away.

“Even that ridiculous nickname! You only call me that when you’re losing! Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re tormenting me! That’s all this is! You’re trying to see how much I’ve been destroyed by you, but you don’t need to. I was already willing to throw away everything for you! That’s why I kept that idiot princess’s son with me! But you, acting like you’re the moral one, the smart one, you just left me for that miserable place, doing menial work, tormenting me all the while…”

Lucius raked his disheveled hands through his hair before looking at her. Deatrice was still kneeling near where he had sat, staring at him blankly.

Lucius, his face twisted in a grimace, glared at her before a single tear slipped from his eye. As soon as it fell, he wiped it away, but Deatrice, who had been watching him the whole time, didn’t miss it.

“Oh, Lucy…”

She slowly rose and approached Lucius. At first, he pushed her away a few times, but eventually, as always, he crumbled in her arms.

With an overwhelming sense of sorrow, Deatrice gently stroked his cheek several times. Lucius, resting his forehead against hers with his eyes closed, finally confessed in a voice laced with tears.

“I didn’t intend to bring you back like this from the start. You left. I thought I hadn’t fallen far enough to force you back. I held on. But the Emperor sent me there. I tried to distance myself from you, but I couldn’t. After seeing you so many times—by coincidence or by design—I realized we’re bound together. You know it too. You felt it then, didn’t you? Please, don’t tell me it was all just my delusion. Please… please, just…”