After their meal, Lucia took a walk with him in the yard. When they were in Roam, he would often take evening walks with her whenever he had time. Her husband was a busy and diligent man.
There wasn't much of his time that she could have before they retired to bed. So, Lucia was much happier with this leisure time of walking with him than receiving an expensive gift.
"They were all individually beautiful and lovely. Did you choose everything yourself?" (Lucia)
"I did." (Hugo)
Hugo had just packed them up after one glance but it was correct to say he chose everything himself.
"Did you like it?" (Hugo)
"Yes, thank you."
Lucia was more grateful for his heart of giving rather than any jewelry.
"You seem to know a lot about female jewelry. I guess because you've gifted a lot."
Lucia wanted to take those words back after they left her mouth. She had no intention of criticizing him and thought that her words had crossed the line. She felt he would be displeased and was about to apologize for her slip of tongue but he spoke first.
"Vivian."
He gave a deep sigh, reached out to hold her wrists and stopped walking.
"Can't you forget the things that happened before we got married?"
Lucia thought he might get angry but he looked unexpectedly vulnerable. She gazed at him blankly.
"Do I keep mentioning things from before our marriage? I'll be careful in the future."
"That is not what I meant. This is from a while ago but, do you remember what you said when you asked to modify our contract?"
[Please do not go making lovers without my knowledge. If you get tired or disgusted of me, and want to leave me for another woman, please tell me first. I do not wish to hear it from another person's mouth.] (1)
"Yes. I remember."
"I won't have a lover without your knowledge nor will I leave you because I am tired or disgusted of you so I would like it if you trusted me."
Lucia's heart began to race. She didn't know the intention behind his words. A huge whirlwind began to sweep through her mind. She was the one that made a mistake. She didn't have any reason or right to criticize or mention his past actions before their marriage.
It was possible that he had a personality which was bogged down by rules. Therefore, after the legal contract of marriage was established, he kept to it strictly.
However, that didn't agree with the person that Lucia had been watching all this time. He was a wilful person that had no qualms of changing the existing rules to suit himself.
"...Why?"
Lucia couldn't make heads or tails of what he was thinking and mumbled absentmindedly as she looked at him. She wanted him to say something, anything, so she could draw a conclusion that 'ah, it was a meaningless remark'.
However, his pupils quivered with disappointment. He made a face that said he didn't know what to say. He repeatedly opened his mouth as if to say something then he closed it.
'Why...?'
Lucia felt her fingers going numb so she clenched and unclenched her fists. This man in front of her. He was hurt.
The man whom Sir Krotin was so confident of, that no one under the sky could hurt even his fingers, was now in pain from her short words.
A long time ago, Lucia had once felt like this. When she had sharply told him that she would never fall in love with him, just for a short moment, she peeked at his pain.
At the time, she was not in a situation to think deeply so she had pushed it aside. It was such a long time ago that she had almost forgotten her feeling from back then. But now, she was left with a bitter taste in her mouth.
'Could I have...'
Her heart felt too full for words and ached like it was guilty. It hurt but it was a pain that she hoped would never end.
'Do I...mean something to you?' (Lucia)
After carefully choosing his words, Hugo opened his mouth.
"I know you cannot believe me. And I understand why."
He had made a lot of mistakes with her. Ever since their encounter with Sofia Lawrence, it was the worst. Before they got married, he brought documents and told her not to interfere in his private life.
He omitted the wedding ceremony because he found it bothersome, on their first wedding night, he only satisfied his greed and didn't take her into consideration. It was himself that thoroughly sought out her body.
"I will try. So, look kindly on me."
'Why? Why and for what reason are you trying?'
Lucia looked at him in silence for her question wasn't answered. As her silence grew longer, Hugo sighed and turned away, sweeping a hand through his hair.
Looking at him fidgeting, Lucia's eyes gradually began to grow clearer and brighter.
'Is it a whim?'
She did not know what he did to his other lovers. She didn't know how he whispered words of love to the person he was once most affectionate with.
The only thing she had seen was the scene of him heartlessly rejecting his lover. And that scene was deeply rooted in her heart as a fundamental fear. She thought that someday, she may be in Sofia Lawrence's position.
"...I do not care about what happened before our marriage." (Lucia)
"Really?" (Hugo)
"I do not have the right to."
"..."
I'm going crazy. Hugo mumbled under his breath. Could any wall be stronger than this? She didn't, even for an instant, step away from the line that she drew around herself.
"I believe in you." (Lucia)
"...You do...?"
"I believe that if you get a lover, you will tell me and not meet in secret. You keep your promises."
Sure enough, she was a witch. In a short moment, she shoved him down a cliff then she pulled him up again. Hugo felt bleak. He didn't where to start from to unravel the twisted strings. His previous solutions of cutting the twisted strings instead of unraveling them, was of no help in this situation.
"Why do you want me to trust you?" (Lucia)
Hugo was at loss for words. He hadn't thought about the reason. He barely managed to make up an excuse.
"...You cannot live in the same house with someone you cannot trust."
When she began to watch him in silence again, Hugo grew nervous wondering if he made a mistake.
'I have no idea.' (Lucia)
She knew but she didn't. It seemed like she was getting close to the answer but it also seemed like she was back to the beginning.
'Does he...?'
It was a very slight suspicion but Lucia didn't think it was possible.
Lucia held expectations that she would someday receive his love. It was a vague and huge desire that she didn't know when it would be accomplished. It could not be that simple. So, she excluded that option while looking for the reason why he was being this way.
'He does quite like me.'
His actions were not just him being dutiful as a husband. Of course she knew that he saw her favorably and treated her well.
'Is it that he needs trust because he is fond of me?'
He was a knight, the lord of a family and the lord of a large territory. He was in a position where he couldn't place someone that he didn't trust beside him. Trust is completed when it is shared with the other. When she thought of it like that, she could somewhat understand it, although not entirely.
"What you're saying is...what you mean is, you will be faithful as a husband, so I should trust you, right?"
When she put it like that, it seemed right but also didn't. Hugo couldn't exactly put his finger on it so he just nodded.
"Okay, I will." (Lucia)
Her answer was concise, contradicting the suspense he had been in so far. Hugo looked at her doubtfully. He was afraid she would say something and stab him in the back.(3)
"Depending on how you do." (Lucia)
Nevertheless, she didn't betray his uneasy expectations.
"...If it's a joke, it's not amusing."
"I'm not joking."
Actually, she had said it as a joke but when he took it so seriously, she got embarrassed. She threw out those words prudishly, turned and began to walk ahead.
He looked at her absentmindedly then he took a step forward. He didn't know what to do to get her to trust him. With the way things were going, he wondered if she would hear some absurd rumor and change her mind.
'I have to call Fabian.'
Fabian was pronounced to be working overtime today again.
****
Antoine arrived at the ducal residence with two assistants and several workers. She ordered the workers to neatly display the sample dresses, hats and shoes that she brought along with her in the receiving room.
It was a usual task so they worked very cooperatively and in the blink of an eye, the atmosphere of the receiving room was changed to that of a boutique's.
Lucia came down from the second floor after hearing that the designer had arrived and paused as she walked into the receiving room that was now unfamiliar.
Just in time, thee workers finished their task and quickly rushed out while Antoine and her two assistants who were standing behind her, gave a deep bow.
"I offer my greetings to the Duchess. I am called Antoine, manager of a small boutique."
Lucia had often heard the name Antoine. It was her first time meeting Antoine but the woman was very famous in her dream. Antoine was one of the first-class designers that dominated in popularity among noblewomen.
But Countess Lucia was unable to even conceive the idea of buying a dress from a famous designer. Count Matin spent all his money like water but was terribly stingy to everyone but himself, even if it was family. Lucia could only wear a few fashionable dresses after fixing them countless times.
'This will be expensive.'
That was the first thought that came to Lucia's mind. But, when she went out to the social circles, the talk of the women would be who designed the Duchess' dress.
It was not possible for anyone to create fashion on their own(1). If they didn't have skill, the easiest way was to get help from a famous designer.
"It's nice to meet you. I heard you would be coming to help me today."
"It is an honor to meet your noble personage."
Antoine averted her gaze in order not to give the impression that she was blatantly observing but with her sharp falcon eyes, she quickly grasped the overall feel and appearance of the Duchess. Thanks to her experience with countless customers, this didn't take long.
Antoine was thrilled with excitement before coming to the ducal residence today. Ever since she became a well-known designer, it was her first time feeling so nervous before meeting a client. She could once again feel the excitement that she felt in the days when she was doing her first fittings as a trainee.
Antoine had already heard that the Duke had swept away all the merchandise on display at Sepia Jewelry.
The golden egg she would soon acquire dangled before her eyes, and her heart raced at the appearance of the romanticist Duke that stimulated all her senses so she couldn't sleep at night.
Her boutique was a place where famous people in the high society visited frequently so it was at the center of all sorts of rumors. Simply eavesdropping on the chatter of noblewomen gave one access to endless information.
Nowadays, rumors about the Duchess of Taran were the most lively and interesting rumors. Antoine knew that, no matter how interesting, rumors were mostly lies and speculations, so she wasn't that entranced by it unlike young boutiques designers.
She had seen numerous topics rise to the spotlight and disappear without a word. The rumors of the Duchess were like dust on a barren road. No one had ever seen the Duchess properly and one rumor led to another.
Antoine assumed that once the Duchess actually appeared, this would all settle, like morning weather after a rainy day. However, her assumption began to waver when the Duke of Taran added onto that amount on her memo. And following the sellout of Sepia Jewelry, that assumption was in danger of collapsing.
And today, as soon as she saw the Duchess of the rumors, something burst open in her heart.
'Oh. My. Goodness.'
It was completely unexpected. This was a type she had never seen in the high society filled with flashy, sensual, and confident noblewomen.
The world that Antoine saw was very different, compared to what many people saw. The doll-like figure that people often referred to as beautiful was so cliché that it wasn't interesting to her.
A beauty as defined by Antoine, had to be able to stimulate her creativity. And the Duchess was an appearance of new material to work with. She was fresh and charming.
While Antoine sat on the couch and drank tea served by the maid, her sight was continuously trained on the Duchess.
"This design book is filled with the collection of dresses that I have made over the years. Please look through it and tell me if any piece strikes your fancy."
Antoine had no qualms about referring to the dresses that she made as her pieces.
Lucia's expression was calm as she looked at the luxurious dresses in the fairly thick book on her lap, one by one. Just as her expression portrayed, she was not that impressed.
In her dream, she had seen enough dresses to be sick of them. She didn't know much about fashion. To her, it was just a distinction between more glamor and less glamor.
Ball dresses were meant more for show than practicality so if one wore them for a several hours, they would get very uncomfortable. To Lucia, apart from feeling uncomfortable, there was nothing more to wearing a luxurious dress.
'It seems this won't be easy.'
Antoine could now understand what the Duke of Taran meant when he said 'my wife is frugal.' Usually, when noblewomen received the design book, they would express their desire with an ecstatic expression. Compared to that, the Duchess' expression was too calm.
In addition, the dress that the Duchess was currently wearing was very much simple. Only the base material was high-class and there was no indication of dressing herself up.
"Is there no piece that catches your eye? I can only apologize for this inadequate display of items."
"No, these are all wonderful and lovely. It's just, I'm not quite familiar with this subject...you are the expert, you can handle it appropriately at your discretion."
At your discretion. There was no worse customer than this. Antoine felt a sense of crisis and at the same time, she felt fired up with a sense of challenge. The amount on the memo written by the Duke glimmered in front of her. Antoine couldn't miss out on the gold within her reach.
"May we take your measurements?"
Antoine had Lucia stand in front of a full-length mirror and slowly walked around her. In the meantime, her assistants were at the side of the Duchess, measuring her dimensions with a tapeline.
Antoine stood a little distance away and looked at the Duchess as a whole. She got a rough outline of the Duchess' measurements and drew up an attire in her head.
'It won't suit her.'
Antoine quickly realized this. The dress she thought of was glamourous and styled to make the chest stand out. It was a form that showed the body in a sensual matter and was the fashion these days. But in Antoine's opinion, if the Duchess wore such a design, rather than suiting her, it ran the risk of making her look vulgar.
'The Duchess is on the paler side. If color is added to her, there is a different charm.'
On a slender figure, it was better to emphasize the slim waist and stir up the protective instinct rather than emphasize sensual charm. If the Duchess's white, clear skin was made the focus and supplemented with light makeup, it was possible to create a pure and enchanting atmosphere.
A new picture was drawn in Antoine's head. A vibrant creation was brought to life.
Antoine began to instruct her assistants. Her assistants moved like her hands and feet, bringing her what she wanted and understanding her small gestures and glances.
Antoine used a cloth to emphasize the lace of the simple dress that the Duchess was wearing, then she used a pin to hold down her slight modifications to the shape of the dress. To finish, she gave a partial makeover to simply change the feel of the dress.
The whole process took place very quickly. Then Antoine took Lucia to the mirror.
"What do you think?"
Antoine asked while smiling triumphantly.
Lucia's eyes widened as she looked in the mirror. It was like magic. With just a rough touch here and there, the feel had changed completely. The dress she often wore had become a completely new attire and there was something beautiful about her appearance in the mirror.
She couldn't really put it in words but something was different.
"Your Grace is very attractive. I do not know why you are hiding this charm."
Lucia touched her face and looked at her appearance in the mirror with admiration.
'Good. Good.'
Antoine gave a smile of satisfaction. Like a hyena, she didn't let go once she had bitten. Antoine's hunt had only just begun.