Chapter 268

Chapter 268

“…”

“I understood why you did it. You probably wanted to keep me safer, to assign more protection to me.”

“You understood… and said nothing?”

Lucius’s voice dropped, sounding betrayed.

“And it didn’t bother you?”

“It didn’t.”

Her calm reply only seemed to corner him further. Finally, Lucius broke, emotions spilling over as he stood.

“Don’t lie to me.”

His sharp retort pierced the space between them.

“You were the first to demand answers when I assigned knights to you. And now, just a few days later, you’re fine with this?”

“I…”

“Have you grown tired of me? Have I become so predictable that nothing I say matters anymore?”

His voice, tinged with fear, shook as he pressed her. Deatrice reached out and clasped his hand.

“Lucius, no. I thought… it was my turn to yield this time. I decided to wait, to trust that you’d come to me when you were ready. Because I love you.”

Even as her mature, composed words reached him, Lucius stayed motionless, head bowed, struggling with his own turmoil. Deatrice could see her words had struck a chord within him. Rising from her seat, she stepped closer, and Lucius pulled her hand to him, pressing his face into her palm.

His golden hair brushed her hand before his cheek and lips rested against it. Yet his trembling voice betrayed the battle within.

“I want to believe you. I really do. But I can’t.”

He spoke haltingly, struggling with every word.

“I was so sure you were wrong. But now… now I wonder if you were right all along. I can’t trust you anymore. All I do is think about myself. I used to care about your happiness above all else, but now… now I’m not sure I do. Keeping you by my side seems to matter more. When did I become so selfish?”

Gripping the hem of her dress as though it were the last thread connecting them, he whispered,

“What if we’re truly at the end? What if the only reason we’ve lasted this long is that I’ve been holding on too tightly? What if, one day, you grow so weary of me that you can’t even bear to look at me anymore?”

“Lucius.”

“Six years ago, I thought about who we used to be. That summer, you were so free, so happy. But now… if you asked me whether you’re happy now, I…”

“Lucius. Look at me.”

Pulling him from his spiral, Deatrice made him meet her gaze.

“I am happy, Lucius. The past is the past. It can’t be the same as now—you know that.”

“Are you really happy?”

His crimson eyes searched hers, filled with doubt. Deatrice held his gaze before bringing his hand to her lips, pressing a tender kiss to it, and answered with unwavering sincerity.

“You once told me that nothing in your life ever held meaning. Time passed slowly, and you barely managed to fill it with distractions. But for me, life without you was like that. For others, meaning might come from honor, wealth, or art. But for me, it’s always been you. Every attempt to live differently was just an imitation. I know that now. There’s only you.”

Her sweet words melted him.

As Lucius collapsed into her arms, leaning into her warmth, Deatrice softly asked,

“Lucius, shall we have a child?”

Here is the edited translation, polished to reflect the style of an experienced novel editor:

—

Her suggestion was not to soothe his anxiety.

It was merely to add another layer of meaning to their lives, one that connected them even further. Perhaps this, after all, is the closest form of happiness.

Deatrice softly whispered to Lucius, who had buried his face in her arms.

“Imagine it. Our child running through the garden of this mansion. A child who looks like both of us, calling you ‘Dad’ as they leap into your lap. I’ll hold their hand, and sometimes, you’ll give them a piggyback ride.”

At her words, he too began to imagine it. A child who resembled her, perhaps the new happiness they both longed for unfolding before them.

But then, doubt crept in. Wasn’t this perhaps a form of escape? Could they not find happiness on their own, and was the idea of having a child merely a way to bind her to him once more, out of desperation?

Yet, Deatrice’s voice carried the certainty of someone who had thought long and hard about it.

“You’ve always wanted a child, a family, but what I truly wanted was to build a family with you. Because you are the only one who means anything to me. It’s been like that in the past, and it’s the same now. Of course, we won’t always be happy. We have our issues now, and we might fight and feel uncertain. But, Lucius, you can’t deny it. We are the most important thing to each other.”

Swallowing her warm, heavy sincerity, Lucius lifted his head to look into her eyes.

A feeling surged within his chest, as if water were slowly filling the corner of his heart. The happy memories of the past, which he thought were broken and lost, began to flow back and fill that space.

Her teasing smile, the way her soft, pale gray eyes would hold him, even the delicate fingers that reached out to him.

To think that such a fragile body had become his one true meaning— it was almost too wondrous to believe.

“Lucius.”

At that moment, she knelt before him. Under the darkened sky, with the starlight catching her forehead and eyes, she asked him.

“If you still don’t understand, would you kiss me?”

“If I kiss you, will I really know?”

He repeated the words he had once used to try to coax her into his embrace, and Deatrice laughed softly.

“…Do you think kissing me will make your feelings for me clearer?”

“Every drop of blood in your body will surely tremble.”

It was as though the scent of honeyed flowers from some distant memory, mixed with the warm breeze, was sweeping along the back of his neck. Deatrice, smiling with confidence, spoke again.

“Every drop of blood in your body will surely tremble.”

Her gentle declaration left him no choice but to bend down and kiss her.

Their eyes closed, and soon they were lost in each other’s shadow. Their soft lips met, his hand cradling her cheek, the warmth and electric shivers flowing through their bodies, the tingling sensation coursing through his veins— all made those words undeniable.

“We are each other’s greatest meaning.”

It was a perfect union, one no force could ever breach.

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