037. What You Truly Desire (1)
Yes.
It seemed like such a conversation was going to come up.
Lucia gazed quietly at Louis.
He had red hair like hers, but his eyes, unlike hers, were brown, giving the boy a youthful appearance.
At just nineteen years old, he still had a year left before reaching adulthood.
“What. Why are you looking at me like that again?”
Louis frowned as Lucia stared at him blankly.
In response to Louis’s reaction, Lucia let out a small laugh.
“Just.”
Her cute stepbrother seemed to be feeling anxious.
Perhaps he was still concerned about being only half-blood related.
Maybe he was worried that his eyes not being red enough might lead the Duke to entertain other thoughts.
“You’re still young, it seems.”
“What nonsense.”
Louis’s brow furrowed.
It was truly childish not even to consider hiding his expression.
“Louis.”
Lucia smiled.
Brightly, very brightly.
Her deep and radiant smile was her best expression.
It was also the expression her stepbrother hated the most.
“Don’t act rashly just because what you fear might not happen. It could lead to harm.”
“Don’t lecture me.”
“Lecture? I’m just giving advice as your older sister. Just like I did last time.”
After lightly retorting, Lucia stood up immediately.
Her gaze shifted back to Duke Edelt.
“I understand Father’s intentions well. But I think it’s too soon. We haven’t been acquainted for long, and to jump straight into marriage seems hasty.”
Lucia rejected the Duke’s proposal.
This progression was too sudden.
It seemed obvious to me, but from Owen’s perspective, it was even more so.
“That’s the life of nobles. Even courtship is rare in some places.”
“Yes, I know that well. However, Father. The other party is Duke Verdin.”
Despite her rejection, the Duke remained firm.
Knowing that the Duke would react that way, Lucia responded with a smile.
“He’s different from ordinary nobles. Father must be well aware of that.”
“….”
The Duke fell silent.
Lucia knew this was a sign of approval.
“If you don’t want it, you won’t engage in marriage or even betrothal. If you hear the need for an heir, you’ll likely choose one of your relatives as a successor.”
Those familiar with Owen were well aware of this fact.
Owen had no interest in courtship, betrothal, or marriage.
He didn’t show even a hint of interest in any of it.
While noble families typically brought in someone for succession, even out of obligation, he showed no interest whatsoever.
Rumors related to this had already spread through social and political circles.
There were jests about Duke Verdin ending his line with this generation.
Naturally, no one truly believed such talk.
Duke Verdin would not end his line.
He had too much at stake in the Empire to do so.
If he didn’t have a direct heir, someone born with the symbolic black hair and black eyes would likely succeed him.
While it was rare to have both traits, there were a few who had at least one.
“So please wait. Until he brings up the subject first.”
Lucia’s words were logical.
The Duke, apparently finding them valid, nodded.
“…Very well. Do as she says.”
The only one dissatisfied was Louis.
He clenched his lower lip, eager to erase the name “Edelt” from Lucia as soon as possible.
“Thank you.”
Lucia bowed to the Duke and then turned her gaze to Louis.
Seeing her anxious stepbrother with his lower lip trembling was quite pitiful.
He even resembled a fragile animal.
“Have a good talk with Father.”
Lucia looked down at the seated Louis and smiled slyly.
Contrary to her beautifully pursed lips, her eyes, which seemed to have been painted, were cold.
Within them, her red irises were incredibly deep and icy.
“There must be a lot to talk about.”
The Marquis must have noticed, as he made a statement in front of her, “Things you think won’t happen.”
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Why did Louis bring up such a story to him, and in what state of mind did the child come to this conclusion?
“….”
A fierce gaze was directed at me.
Even if he widened his brown eyes menacingly, it wasn’t intimidating at all.
Lucia smiled even more deeply and informed the Marquis that she would step back.
“I’ll take my leave now. See you at dinner.”
“Very well. Be on your way.”
The Marquis did not hold her back.
Instead, his gaze turned towards Louis.
His cold, warmth-lacking eyes held only reproach.
Pitiful.
Even without doing anything, he would have naturally given up his seat, yet he showed an attitude of not trusting his father, causing unnecessary fear and anxiety.
It would be quite a mess.
Satisfied, Lucia let out a faint laugh as she turned away.
It was absurd for two people who shared the same intentions to have conflicts and misunderstandings.
It’s so clear, why can’t they see that?
The Marquis had loved his current Marquise and, as much, cherished his son.
Wouldn’t he properly pass down a seat to such a son?
If he couldn’t inherit directly from the main line, at least half was inherited.
If Lucia herself had ambitions for the seat, things might have turned out differently, but she had no desire for the Marquisate.
“There’s no need for those bearing the Edelt name.”
She did not hold much affection for those belonging to Edelt.
It was the place that bore her, sustained her, and that was all.
Edelt was not so beautiful for her to build up affection and fondness.
The beauty in Edelt was only in the manor of the capital.
Of course, those bearing the name of Edelt, even through my bloodline, were quite beautiful in appearance.
Even the Marquise, who had a different lineage from Edelt, and her mother were not exempt from beauty.
Just because they looked the part like scentless flowers.
Inside, they were all rotten to the core.
I have nothing to say either, but what can I do?
We shared the same bloodline, and that’s all I saw and learned from those people.
“If I were to marry, it would be best to marry Owen, after all.”
Although she rejected her father’s proposal, ultimately, the path she had to choose was the same.
She once had a fiancé.
Lord Cedric Yeong-sik was quite a noble figure from a prestigious family.
He was quite presentable in appearance and well-regarded in social circles.
He wasn’t a bad match for marriage, so she acquiesced, but Yeong-sik had the worst mindset.
“What are you doing?”
“I was punishing the maid who spilled tea on your dress, madam.”
He was a madman.
Pouring hot tea on someone for spilling tea on your dress.
It was not the thinking of a normal person.
It was hard to consider myself a person of good conscience, but at least I didn’t hit others or resort to violence.
After that incident, Lucia informed her former fiancé, Lord Cedric, of their breakup.
That was exactly three years ago.
“And not long after, I met Owen.”
Although the other party didn’t hold any special feelings, she didn’t realize he was such trash, so she wasn’t in a good mood.
Because of that guy, she became a guest who burned a maid who made a mistake, and the maid suffered greatly.
If she hadn’t called the doctor immediately, a large scar would have remained.
“So, was it because he looked even more perfect?”
Was it because he was in contrast to Lord Cedric?
Owen seemed flawless.
That was still the case now.
“Even compared to anyone else, he would seem that way.”
I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than Owen.
Moreover, he was indifferent to strangers but always took care of his own people.
He didn’t resort to violence like some, nor did he betray trust in relationships like others.
Even though he had been annoying and dismissive of me for three years, he at least maintained basic courtesy.
The idea of burning letters or getting rid of gifts was a bit surprising, but… it wasn’t the first time.
For two years, he kept refusing gifts, returning them in the same state he received them.
But no matter how much I spoke, he continued with the same actions, so I gave up.
I thought that if I burned the gifts and letters, he would be disappointed and stop.
“I don’t understand why the duke is chasing after me.”
There was a time when he sighed, looking weary of her persistence, and asked, “Why are you following me?”
He was genuinely curious.
What part of him did she like, why did she not give up even after being rejected?
At that moment, she replied.
“Because Your Highness is handsome.”
“And kind. Even when I chase after you like this, you never utter a harsh word.”
“Your Highness. In society, that’s called basic courtesy. Not kindness.”
Upon hearing this, Owen looked at me with an incredulous expression.
Then, he sighed again, turned his back, and walked away.
But as Lucia, it was sincere.
If she persistently chased after someone, cursing under her breath was mostly the case.
Most people would get annoyed and show displeasure even with a little inconvenience.
Even her own family was like that.
They would either look as if they didn’t want to see me, or as if they were irritated, or as if they were angry.
But Owen was different.
It wasn’t quite what ordinary people would call ‘kindness,’ but that was enough.
She believed that if she persisted and worked hard enough, she would become herself.
“And eventually, we got closer.”
Even though he avoided and ignored me for three years, the relationship eventually changed.
Isn’t that what matters in the end?
“But I still have doubts.”
Lucia, walking to her bedroom, let out a short breath.
Standing in the corridor, occasionally catching the gaze of passing servants, Lucia pretended not to notice those gazes.
“It’s so difficult to have certainty about emotions.”
She had never thought that winning someone’s favor was difficult.
Smile and treat them well, and most of them became hers.
A few months at most were enough.
But Owen was truly difficult.
Knowing that the other person liked her, yet not being able to receive a confession.
“…”
Her mind became tangled again with distracting thoughts.
Lucia turned her body and changed direction.
Anyway, her methods were limited.
Make a face the other person likes, act provocatively, give gifts.
Among them, she thought of doing what she could do now.
“Make a bouquet by tying red roses together.”
Lucia went out to the garden to find the gardener.
And immediately made that request.
“It’s for Duke Verdin. It would be nice to include about ten flowers.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Since this request had been made several times before, the gardener bowed familiarly and replied.
After finishing her instructions, Lucia returned to her bedroom.
“Marie.”
Marie, who had walked with her to the study, had already returned to the bedroom to work.
Her main task as a personal maid was to carry out Lucia’s orders.
One of the tasks she did every day was none other than organizing invitations and letters.
Invitations and letters received by Lucia, a socialite, piled up to dozens.
It was almost impossible for Lucia to handle and sort through dozens of them alone, so she often entrusted Marie with the major categorization.
As always, she was diligently sorting out the invitations today.
“So you were sorting them out. I’ll take care of the rest, so could you go to the warehouse and fetch the tie pin to send to Count Verdin?”
“What should I fetch?”
“The tie pin. The one we bought last month.”