LUCIA

WHERE DREAM AND REALITY MEET (1)

The brooch Lucia planned to give Hugo as a birthday present took much longer than she expected to be completed. The craftsman who sketched the design was injured in a sudden accident and had to stop working for a while.

The jeweler sent a letter explaining the situation and stated that they could hand over the design to another craftsman if it was needed urgently.

Lucia considered it for a while, but for some reason, she didn't want to have another craftsman in charge of making it. So she decided to leave the design to the original craftsman even if she had to wait longer.

Just when she had almost forgotten about it, the completed brooch was delivered to the mansion.

Lucia placed the brooch wrapped in luxurious velvet on the table and press her hand on her turbulent heart to regulate her breathing. Then she carefully picked it up, like it was a very precious treasure, and brought it closer to her face.

'I'm right. It's the same.'

Lucia didn't make any other further requests of the craftsman nor did she ask the craftsman to add anything at all. She only left it to the craftsman and waited. In other words, the brooch was completely the craftsman's creative work.

Despite that, it looked exactly like the item that Lucia kept for many years in her dream. No matter how she looked at it, even when she closed her eyes to remember, it looked the same. As she stared at the item in her hand, she felt like she was going back and forth between dream and reality.

'Was this originally his...?'

If that was the case, then she really had no idea how his thing found its way into her jewelry box.

Lucia didn't have any relationship with him in her dream. She had really never touched his collar even once. And as for him, he probably didn't even remember that someone like her existed. In her dream, he was someone completely out of her reach.

Jerome carefully approached her as she was lost in thought.

"Milady. The two young masters are back."

"Only the kids are back?"

Lucia wrapped the brooch in velvet again and put it in the box.

"Yes. I only saw the two of them come down from the carriage."

"He didn't say he would be returning late today..."

Lucia gave the box to her maid and told the maid to take it to her bedroom, then she left the receiving room.

* * *

Damian entered the mansion and a smile bloomed on his face as he watched the girl who was rushing down from the second floor. He was ready to hug his sister, running to him with her dazzling golden hair fluttering behind her. Damian opened his arms, but his sister betrayed his expectations.

Evangeline came to a stop just a few steps away from Damian and screamed at him.

"Elder brother, did you stop Jude from coming?!"

Evangeline's pearly cheeks were flushed red. Her expression wasn't that a cute sister joyfully greeting her returning brother but of fury and indignation.

The unfamiliar look on his younger sister's face made Damian pause and he couldn't say anything. Because he was so taken aback, he didn't even really hear what Evangeline said.

"Eve."

"I heard elder brother stopped Jude from coming here! Did you really do that?"

Seeing the raging figure of the girl before him, Damian searched his mind for why his sister was angry.