Chapter 125

Do I really need to pray? If I kneel down on a cold podium, will my burning heart calm down a bit?

Jealousy and greed must be two of the things the gods want me to stay away from…

As Lucius was immersed in his thoughts, Wilton soon came down and beckoned to him.

“Did you just spend time here without even praying?” he chuckled, “You are something else.”

“I am regretting it now.”

Wilton laughed a little, wondering if it was really sincere regret that had come out of its own accord. Then he guffawed, as if he had never frowned when he got off the carriage.

It was all thanks to this personality of his that Lucius heard about what happened in the carriage.

While looking at the documents stored in the temple together and listening to the priest’s testimony, Wilton then opened his mouth after he had finished reading through all of them in a tone that indicated how moved he was by the enormous amount of data available.

“I heard that you were seriously injured at the time. I did not expect you to have summarized it in such detail.”

Lucius laughed briefly and unknowingly bragged. “Deatrice saved me just in time.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I committed the foolish act of hiding my wounds and, in a situation where I could not even receive treatment, Deatrice immediately called a priest from another temple.”

His initial words that instinctually came out of his mouth made it sound like it was Deatrice herself who healed and saved him that Wilton briefly had a face disapproval. But soon enough, he relaxed his expression and said, “Anyway, I’m glad that the two of you are deeply in love with each other.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. She thinks a lot about you. Even in the carriage, when I said something about you that she didn’t like, she immediately became furious and stood up for you.” he rubbed his chin and continued, “I said that aiming for the throne was greed, but Deatrice said that it was your kindness that you did not declare war for more territory.”

“War?”

“I naturally know that is something you’d like to avoid. The last war for territory happened more than a hundred years ago and Deatrice must’ve said it out of righteous indignation.”

Lucius smiled and said, “I sincerely thank you for caring about us.”

“I don’t mean to reproach. It was hard to hear at first, but it seems that the love between the two of you is strong and after that, I feel quite relieved. As you know, the child has been unable to attach her heart somewhere else since her mother’s death. The past between the two of them is amazing, so I thought it might be difficult even after she got married.”

Lucius had a polite smile on his face and said what he had to say at the moment, but in his head, he was picturing Deatrice boldly saying to her father’s close friend.

“It is his kindness that my husband did not kill my father.”

His heart was in full admiration for her boldness. Thank goodness his expression hasn’t changed.

He wanted to see her, meet her, and ask her what she was thinking, but Deatrice came down only when their work was finished, using prayer as an excuse. Wilton briefly rebuked her for coming down late.

“Why are you so late?”

“…I thought you’d be more comfortable without me.”

“Nonsense. Will my heart be at ease when you come out like this? I don’t feel good about separating like this, so let’s be together a little longer. Lucius will show me some of the monsters he caught, so how about going with us?”

Without any time for Lucius to say anything, Deatrice agreed.

“Sure, I’ll do so.”

Since the monsters didn’t look very beautiful, Lucius tried to stop Deatrice from accompanying him several times before arriving at the laboratory. But her stubbornness was equally tenacious, no matter who came first.

In the end, Deatrice went together with them until they reached the dungeon of the Knights Templar Castle. A musty smell stung her nose, but she did not show any change in expression.

“From a young age, Deatrice was good at hunting so she had seen a fair share of cruelty. Wasn’t she much better than boys her age?”

“I know. Even so…”

Still, it could not be helped that this treatment felt like a punishment for Deatrice’s remarks. Had it not been for Deatrice’s cold, needle-like expression, he would never have let her come into the castle.

“Deatrice, I plead with you to go back.”

In the end, Lucius stopped her with his body. But Deatrice simply smiled slightly at his serious expression. “You told me you wanted to show me the monsters’ weaknesses. Who knows if I’ll encounter them later on, so I should at least know to defend myself.”

“I won’t even let them get near you.”

“Lucius, don’t treat me like a child.”

“I’m not treating you like a child. I’m worried about you.”

“Are you worried about me having nightmares?” She put her hand on his cheek briefly, then lowered it. “I’m sleeping with you, those nightmares aren’t that big of a deal.”

Her words were vague—either he was the one to protect her from her nightmares or being with him is the nightmare itself.

Finally, Deatrice pushed aside and strode forward.