LUCIA

Chapter 76 Meeting People

The effects of the alcohol simmered down quickly. Lucia came out of the break room. As she walked along the hallway, a handmaid approached her with hurried steps and bowed her head.

"His Grace the Duke sent this servant out of worry that the Duchess' absence was long."

It had only been 30 minutes since she left to rest. Lucia felt embarrassed because she thought that the people around would see his actions as unusual, that he couldn't wait and sent a handmaid for her.

"Go ahead and tell him that I'm on my way."

The maid bowed and quickly went back the way she came from.

"Master always looks for Milady."

The maid who was following her added.

"Are you poking fun at me?"

"No, Milady. I wouldn't dare. I say so because it looks good. If I get married later, I want to live like Master and Milady."

Lucia didn't mind hearing the maid's flattery mixed with envy. She wondered if they looked that good in other people's eyes and felt a little elated. Her relationship with him these days was definitely good.

Even though she had less time to see his face compared to when they were in the north, they had gotten closer. She tried to consider what exactly was different from when they were in the north but there was nothing specific she could point to. But strangely, anything he said would sound so sweet.

Lucia was walking in high spirits but as soon as she saw a group of men that were conversing some distance away, she paused her footsteps.
The maid who was following after her called out, "Milady?"

Lucia squeezed the shawl in her hand as though it were a shield. She regulated her breathing and began to walk again. When she drew close enough to verify the face, she sucked in her breath. She hoped she could just pass by.

After a couple of steps, one of the men discovered Lucia and his eyes shone with greed. Goosebumps rose all over her body.

"Ooh. Are you not the Duchess? I am more than glad for the opportunity to greet such a beautiful personage."

Lucia couldn't ignore the over-dramatic greeting of the man. The Duchess being rude at her first official social debut would only become the target of gossip. She was forced to stop and look at the face of the sickening man. She focused on controlling her gaze so that her expression would not distort.

The man was barely taller than Lucia. He had a tubby figure with a stomach like a pregnant woman's and his greasy face was thickly covered with greed. His grinning mouth was filled with servility. His cunning eyes showed his anxiety to sponge off someone in power one way or the other. It was Lucia's husband in her dream, the man that she didn't even want to see in her dreams(1). Count Matin.

"I am the head of the Matin family and successor to the Count title, Horio Matin. Alas. I saw you from afar earlier but now that I'm closer, your beauty shines even more. I have great respect for His Grace, the Duke of Taran. It is a great honor to be able give my greetings the Great Duke of Taran's wife."

Count Matin wagged his tongue and rubbed his palms together like a mean merchant.

Lucia could identify her current feelings. Disgust. And fear. In her dream, Count Matin was a wall of despair. Her marriage life was darkness. Nevertheless, the reason why Lucia had been able to endure was because ironically, she had married without knowing anything. If she had known even a little bit about how a normal marriage was, she wouldn't have lived so resigned and in suspense. If the memory of her dream was a nightmare then her marriage now was an illusion she didn't want to break.