Reasons for Contract Marriage - Chapter 177

There was an inscription he already knew well.

[Heinz Everett & Lotta Everett

To our beloved Nana]

And beneath it, there was a newly engraved phrase.

[To my beloved Lucius Carlisle]

Lucius lifted his head and gazed into Brianna’s eyes.

“This is…”

“I had it engraved yesterday when I went out.”

“Yesterday?”

At his surprised question, Brianna blushed slightly. After all, the very person who had thrown divorce papers at him had, at the same time, engraved such words onto the watch. It was no wonder he was bewildered.

“I was going to buy you a gift, but in the end, I couldn’t choose anything. So I decided to give you my father’s watch, just as I had originally planned.”

“Would you stop the carriage for a moment?”

Yesterday, on her way to the bank, she had come across a shop that offered engravings. And suddenly, a good idea came to her.

If she was going to give Lucius her father’s watch again, this time she should give it with an even more special meaning.

“As you said, it seemed our relationship was more than just a contract. I was certain I loved you, and it seemed you loved me too, so I decided to stake everything once more on these feelings. So before going to the bank, I had the engraving done…”

“And then, at the bank, you found out what I had done and became furious.”

He spoke with a voice tinged with laughter, and Brianna fanned her reddened face with her hand.

Saying she loved him one moment, then asking for divorce the next. Even she had to admit she had been far too emotional yesterday. It would’ve been better if she had listened to him a little longer before accusing him of lying.

Brianna carefully asked him the most important question.

“…Do you like the gift?”

“Of course.”

Lucius held the watch and smiled brightly. His expression was like that of a boy who had finally received the birthday gift he had long wished for.

“Thank you, for giving me what is most precious to you. I’ll treasure it for life.”

Come to think of it, the watch and the gun they had exchanged today were items tied to their fate from the very beginning. The first time Brianna had met Lucius, she had pointed a gun at him, and he, in turn, had gone to great trouble to retrieve the watch she had lost that day.

As though all of it had been foreshadowing this very moment.

Lucius fiddled with the watch for a long time. He opened and closed the lid, and from time to time, he traced the newly engraved phrase with his finger.

Unlike the new and gleaming chain, the body of the watch was old and worn, and that worried Brianna a little. For a man of his standing, it seemed too shabby an item to carry. It was not made of gold or silver, nor was it set with jewels, but only an ordinary watch one could see anywhere.

“You can just keep this at home and carry another. It is enough for me if you only keep my father’s watch safe…”

At once, he replied firmly, “No, I’ll carry it with me every day so that you can always see it. That way, with the words you engraved on it weighing on your heart, you’ll never even think of leaving me again.”

“I’ve already promised to stay by your side. Do you still not trust my words?”

“You already have a history of changing your mind in less than half a day, don’t you?”

Lucius pulled Brianna into his arms. And together, they fell back onto the bed.

“When fifty years of living together have passed, then I will believe you.”

Soft kisses fell all over her face. As she received his kisses, Brianna burst into laughter. Fifty years. By then, they might both be buried in the ground.

Brianna stretched out her arms and clung tightly around his neck.

“I love you, Lucius.”

She whispered to him the very words she had engraved on the watch.

“Even if you were not in the snow, but in the midst of flames, I’d find you no matter what and stay with you, so don’t worry anymore.”

She said this because when she’d told him about going to find Florian lost in the snow as a child, she thought he had seemed slightly envious.

To that, Lucius shook his head. “No, Brianna. You do not need to struggle to find me. Because I’m better at finding you.”

He whispered as he kissed her deeply, “I recognized Brianna Everett, whose face I had never even seen before, among countless people at once. And I found you, even when you hid from me. So no matter where you are, all you need to do is stay there. Then I’ll come and find you.”

And he whispered again and again by her ear, telling her that he loved her, until the words were etched into her very soul.

***

After a long time apart, Lily had become a famous figure in Bastogne.

At first, the two had planned to stroll leisurely through the park and talk about all they had not been able to share, but as crowds suddenly gathered, they quickly moved to a tearoom. Even there, guests who recognized Lily lined up to ask for her autograph, and only after moving into a private room could they finally escape the eyes of others.

“Lily, you have really become famous. I never knew it was to this extent.”

Brianna lifted her teacup, astonished at Lily’s popularity, now confirmed with her own eyes.

She had suspected somewhat from reading newspaper articles, but the popularity of the newly rising prima donna far exceeded her expectations.

To think it was to the point where walking the streets was difficult. She could hardly imagine that Lily Serna, who once lived in a communal apartment without proper heating, had become this person.

“And yet I am only trying to catch up to the Duchess of Carlisle. My face is simply well-known, that’s all. If people had recognized that you are the Duchess of Carlisle, they’d all have flocked to you instead.”

“What nonsense…”

“Is it really nonsense? There’s immense interest in a duchess who suddenly disappeared and then reappeared after six months. In fact, all sorts of rumors spread during that time.”

As Lily said, many rumors had indeed circulated.

As the Duchess of Carlisle’s absence grew longer, suspicions arose that there might be trouble in their marriage. Since the marriage itself had been quite scandalous from the beginning, gossipmongers were not about to miss such an opportunity.

“There were even rumors that you had conceived a child with another man, and that the duke, enraged, had sent you away to another region. Can you believe that?”

“Heavens…”

“Don’t worry. The woman who spread that nonsense, I personally ripped out her hair.”

Showing off her long nails and pretending to bite like a cat, Lily made Brianna burst into laughter.

In the end, all those rumors died down once Brianna returned. Seeing that the couple still cherished each other just as before, people were left speechless.

And much of that was thanks to Marchioness Schroeder as well. At the request of the Dowager Duchess Carlisle, she had already worked to quiet all the malicious rumors in society before Brianna’s return.

Soon the duchess was to return from convalescence, and the warning was spread—if anyone wished to avoid having their slander repeated to her directly, they had better keep their mouths shut.

“…But what about with His Grace? Did everything work out?”

Lily soon asked cautiously. When Brianna nodded, she unleashed a rapid stream of questions, unable to hold back any longer.

“Then tell me everything. What happened? Did he eventually come to find you? How did he find you? Are you not divorcing, and will you continue to live together?”

Brianna briefly explained to Lily what had happened. Including how the misunderstandings between her and Lucius had been resolved.

After hearing everything, Lily let out a long sigh, almost like a lament.

“Florian truly was remarkable. To leave such a letter, even when his own life was in danger… It cannot have been easy to entrust the woman he loved to his friend.”

“Yes, though that letter deepened the misunderstandings, if Florian had not left it, we might have lived with guilt for the rest of our lives.”

Happy, yet at times endlessly miserable. Tormented by the thought of having betrayed both a friend and a lover.

“Now, I will no longer let myself feel guilty. Because Florian too must have wanted us to live happily.”

Lily nodded. “Yes, without a doubt, Florian more than anyone must have wished for your happiness. That much is certain.”

“Soon, the two of us will go together to see Florian.”