LUCIA

HAPPILY EVER AFTER(8)

<< This is the design for His Grace the Duke's brooch. If Your Grace is satisfied with the attached design, please make a commission to our jeweler. >>

The attached design depicted a lion's head with two red gems as its eyes. Like the letter stated, it was a design for the Duke of Taran who represented the Taran family.

Lucia's heart pounded in her chest as she stared at the familiar brooch design. It brought memories from her dream for the first time in a long while.

Lucia had lived with the mentally unsound old woman for half a year, then her identity became the old woman's daughter, Lucy, around when she held the old lady's funeral. A long time had passed since the old woman's daughter was reported missing, so her daughter's records were erased due to it being ruled as a death.

When Lucia reported the old woman's death, she also notified them to withdraw the ruling of the daughter's death. And at the same time, she requested that an altercation be made to her name because it was recorded incorrectly. The similarity between the names, Lucy and Lucia, allowed for the name change to proceed smoothly.

Using the excuse that her hair had turned white due to an illness, Lucia was given permission to dye her hair black. And so, she succeeded in remaking her identity into a new Lucia, with amber eyes and dark hair.

In order to make a living, she had to work. Lucia didn't want to spend the rest of her life in the old lady's old and isolated home. Even as she feared that someone might be tracking her down, she got a job in a small workshop. And perhaps the workshop's old mistress noticed Lucia working diligently because half a year later, she said to her:

[I plan on scraping this workshop and moving eastward. Do you have any money saved? I'm thinking of handing it over to you.]

So for the first time in a long while, Lucia visited the cemetery that led to the secret tunnel of the Count Matin residence. She went at dawn, and she made sure there was no one was in sight, several times. It had been a long time, but fortunately, the jewelry box she'd hidden was just as she had left it.

After returning to her place, Lucia checked the jewelry box to verify its contents and discovered an ornament that she was seeing for the first time. It was a man's brooch in the shape of a lion's head. She thought about it, over and over again but she couldn't figure out the source of the item. So eventually, Lucia sold everything in the jewelry box, but she couldn't sell the brooch.

'Are the designs the same?'

She couldn't be sure because the one in her hand was just a design pattern. Lucia stared at the design for a while, seized with a strange feeling, then she drew up a letter of commission.

* * *
"Milady. The young Miss' guests are about to leave."

"Oh, is that so? It's already gotten so late."

Lucia stood up, leaving the organization that she was doing alone for the time being. There weren't that many letters left anyway. As Evangeline got older, she grew more interested in playing with her friends than being with her mom, so Lucia's days were relatively relaxed.

"Jerome, how is Roxy doing?"

Lucia asked about Jerome's daughter, whose one year old birthday had recently passed. The girl had suddenly gotten a fever last night, so the doctor came to see her several times throughout the night.

"When I saw her around lunch, her fever looked like it had gone down a lot."

"Haven't you gone since you saw her at lunch?"

Seeing that Jerome wasn't replying, Lucia clicked her tongue. Even after marriage, Jerome's inflexible nature remained the same. The place wasn't even far. The building right next door was Jerome's newlywed home. Even though it had been a while, Lucia was still amazed by the fact that Jerome dated somebody and got married.