Chapter 6 (2/2)

She wasn’t foolish enough to ask him how he knew her heart. “I know, I can’t refuse. Though I know you don’t need to.”

“I am no different. Besides, it’s a marriage that’s quite an advantage to me. The emperor has always wanted to grant me a title, but the conservatives seem to have opposed it because of my bloodline. Your family’s legitimacy is necessary for me to inherit the title,” Lucius explained.

“That was why…,” she trailed off.

He nodded, “Yes. I came here with a marriage proposal, though you would have already guessed.”

It was a light conversation. Far from romance, it was more of a proposal. Deatrice understood that he was not in a position to turn down the proposal, but since the order to keep secrets came to duke and her directly from the emperor, she was speculating that it might be because if Lucius objected, the marriage could be disrupted.

Concerning her speculations, Lucius would never willingly want to have anything to do with her, let alone the duke. But when she saw Lucius calmly revealing his intentions, he must have made up his mind to leave behind his messy past. Deatrice couldn’t stop wondering how can a person be like that?

She suddenly remembered the words of a nobleman who had returned alive from the war. He had mentioned that during a war, trivial matters between people become nothing, and one starts accepting everything that occurred in the past. Lucius might be experiencing the same.

After returning from the war, Deatrice could see that Lucius had learnt to accept everything he had gone through, including him losing all of his property and that precious title. What a great existence the war must be.

“But I have one condition,” Interfering her thoughts, Lucius spoke. “The emperor had wished for our marriage to be built on love.”

“What?” At the sudden, puzzling remark, Deatrice frowned and Lucius laughed to calm her down.

“That’s what he says. Think from his point of view, he wouldn’t want me to perceive that he forced me to marry you just to grant me a title. He knows about our past. Hence, he wants to announce that we got married because after reuniting, we fell in love again. And then he will go on and grant me a title.”

“So that’s why you and I-”

Lucius interrupted and continued with the words she might not wish to hear, “-Should act like we’re in love again in front of other people.”

She went blank and Lucius waited patiently for her reaction. She backed away and said, “Nonsense.”

She started clearing her stance, “Everyone knows how we ended. How am I supposed to act like that again? And it has not been long since Freddy…”

“People’s hearts can change easily. You could just say that I aimed at your heart when it was weak. Is it that hard to happen? Everyone does it like that.” He watched her deny it with a bored attitude.

He added, “Everyone is well aware of the fact that we really loved each other.”

A brief silence passed. She never expected him to remind her of their past this way. She could withstand statements like both of them had a past, but it was not the same on hearing that the both of them had loved each other. It left an undulating ripple in her heart.