Chapter 263

Chapter 263

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Then why would he lie? Why would he let me go and keep me alive in that harsh forest for two weeks?”

Deatrice glared at Ethan before turning abruptly and leaving the prison. The unpleasant smells and Ethan’s intense outbursts made her head ache.

As she held her head, Rosalyn, who had been waiting outside, reached out to her and asked,

“Are you alright, ma’am?”

“Rosalyn, could you hear the sounds from inside?”

“No, ma’am. But why is your wrist…?”

“Shh.”

Deatrice rewrapped the handkerchief that had slipped from her wrist.

The knight who had escorted her out bowed his head as he saw her off. Tristan and Curtis, the knights who had become quite familiar to her, came to meet her.

“He might harm you, so the knights have to stay by your side. Once he’s caught, I’ll let you be free.”

Lucius had certainly said that.

He had promised that once Ethan was caught, she would be free. But the knights were still guarding her.

She suddenly realized how strange that was.

‘Perhaps…’

Deatrice thought Lucius had no reason to lie, but if he had lied to keep the knights by her side, it made sense.

If he had let Ethan go to create a reason to keep the knights with her…

“No, that can’t be.”

Deatrice shook her head to stop the thoughts from continuing. It was absurd.

But Ethan’s words and the doubts they planted lingered within her. As a result, she felt uneasy all day, even without having eaten. Deatrice folded her arms and paced the room, recalling Ethan’s words and Lucius’s conflicting statements.

“That time, when I thought I was completely caught, he let me go. He stopped his horse from a distance and just watched me. Why did he do that? If he didn’t intend to spare me, why did he…?”

Ethan had said that,

“It was my carelessness. I thought we could easily catch him. But I didn’t expect him to hide and then stab the horse I was riding on before escaping. I never thought he would target the horse instead of me.”

Lucius had said this. Whose words were true?

Deatrice sank into deep thought.

Deatrice shook her head, trying to block the thoughts that were starting to connect. It was absurd.

“Last night, as I watched you asleep in my arms, I had a lot of thoughts. Some were positive, for sure. But then I couldn’t stop thinking about the way you fled to Ponto… and watching how easily you slipped away from the Duke’s estate, I wondered just how simple it would be for you to disappear from here. You’re the mistress of this house too, after all. You could just call for the carriage and ask the driver to take you to the nearest station. Then, you’d be gone…”

Deatrice remembered Lucius, forcing a smile to mask his anxiety. He spoke as if joking, but there was nothing in his words that wasn’t sincere.

His unease was clearer than ever, intensified by the two heartbreaks he’d endured. Deatrice had assumed that, in time, Lucius’s fears would fade, but perhaps that was her own naive thinking.

If Lucius really had lied…

She imagined him, standing in the dark forest, watching in silence until Ethan had fully escaped. And the image continued to unfold, morphing into something darker… Lucius dismounting and, with no change in expression, plunging a knife into the soft, compliant beast he’d ridden, cruelly ending its life.

“My lady!”

Startled by the sudden call, Deatrice looked up as if waking from a trance. Her maid knelt by her feet, adjusting the loosened ribbon around her waist, informing her that it was almost time for dinner. Deatrice frowned, rubbing her forehead, feeling as if the echo of a dying horse’s cry lingered in her ears.

The maid, oblivious to her mistress’s inner turmoil, relayed Lucius’s news in a cheerful tone.

“The master has returned! He’s delighted to have dinner with you. Will you be joining him?”

“Lucius is back already?”

Taking on the duties of a duke had kept Lucius so busy lately that he’d often leave early and return late. Even on the rare days he stayed home, he’d be sequestered in his study or office, leaving her only glimpses of him—like watching him slip carefully out the door at dawn from the warmth of her bed.

Lucius still tried to carve out time for her amid his hectic schedule, but with reports and documents piling up, his brief attempts to stay ended in him resigning to the study once again.

There was one day, however, that stood out.

Wanting to lift his spirits, Deatrice brought a tray of refreshments to the study. A gentle scent of jasmine wafted from the teapot. She imagined his face softening into a smile upon seeing her. But as she approached, voices slipped through the slightly ajar door.

“That would be difficult. I intend to keep Deatrice out of this as much as possible.”

“But… she is a member of the duke’s family, after all. I’m sure she could provide more insight than we have.”

“Precisely.”

Lucius’s reply was firm.

“I don’t want to burden her with that. I don’t intend to flaunt the things that were originally hers as if I’m doing her a favor.”