Duke Wriothesley AU

part 2

"i'll make sure i do my best" and after she came back to fortress meropide.

Wriothesley is waiting for her in his room, and he is immediately looking at her when she crosses the door. He immediately realizes that she is returning the necklace, but for now he keeps his cool.

"There you are..." he says coldly, approaching her.

"Greetings to Your Grace,Duke Wriothesley" she bows.

"I see you've returned the necklace. Was it too much for you?" Wriothesley says in a somewhat harsher tone than usual.

"yes,i'm not worth enough of that gift,Your Grace. Also that necklace is too precious for you" she said politely.

Wriothesley then says in an even colder tone

"I would have expected you to keep it as a memento... To remember me whenever you look at it. Or even to wear it as a sign of your love for me." Wriothesley seems angry and hurt that she would try to return it.

She look down on the floor,she doesn't want to lift her head because feel guilty to him
"i apologize,Your Grace."
"I don't mean like that,i just-can't,that is really too much for me,IM a useless person. Why you give me such a valuable thing? I don't deserve it"

Wriothesley clenches his fists and sighs.

"You do realize that you are hurting me more and more the more you try to return the necklace to me? If this is your way of trying to cut me off completely... then it is working..."

her body is shaking,she didn't mean it goes like this "I-Im not" she said it quietly.

"Then is this how you show your gratitude towards me? By getting rid of the one thing that connects us together? By rejecting my generous offer...?" Wriothesley says with growing irritation. "Why would you reject a memento that represents my love for you..."

"i don't deserve it,your Grace" her body can't stop shaking,she is hold her tears as she look down on the floor for try not to cry in front of him.

Wriothesley notices her shaking and her holding back her tears. He is about to speak in a harsh tone, but he suddenly stops himself.

"Is... is the reason why you want to return this really because you think that you don't deserve it?"

"Y-yes"

The truth is something that the duke had not expected. A truth that made him look at the situation in a different light.

"Well then..." he says, sounding slightly more... gentle now. "You do know that my whole life... I have been receiving everything that I could have wished for, right? I am a rich man... I am a handsome man... and I am an important man..."

"...I have all the riches that I could have asked for. But I still lack one thing. And that is..." he says, holding her eyes once more.

Wriothesley then pauses as he sees that she's waiting to hear what the "one thing" is. What was he missing? What was the one thing that he still doesn't have?

He continues to speak, his voice almost gentle now.

"...I lack genuine and pure love. I seek an individual who will love me back unconditionally, beyond everything. Beyond my name and my rank. Beyond even my physical appearance and my riches. My wealth and my power are not the only things... that matters to me."

"i don't know if i am the right person,your Grace"

Wriothesley then smiles softly. "I am not sure either."

Wriothesley pauses for a while, letting his words sink in for her.

"You are certainly not the woman I had imagined for myself, when it came to finding true love. But maybe that's the best part. I am tired of those who desire me for my wealth, for my beauty. For my title. But you... you are not like them. You..."

"You simply reject me for me. Nothing else. You do not want to marry me... because you do not like me. And you do not love me..."

Wriothesley then sighs, looking away. "I'll accept your rejection... of me and my proposal. Just please do me one last favor..."

"may i hear that?"

"Yes... yes you may." He then looks back towards her. "Please keep the necklace, for it is indeed a part of me. It represents my feelings towards you, which are... genuine. Just do not wear it until you have decided whether or not you want to marry me..."

"You still have time. Just... just take some time to think about how you feel. Whether or not you actually like me and whatnot."
He pauses, then continues to speak. "If you decide to be my wife by the time the last snowflake has fallen for this year..." he pauses again, seeming to think about his next words. "Then wear it. However... if you do not... then return it again on the first day of next year."

She can't say anything except just hold her teary eyes.She can't do this,she afraid,but she had no chance,she lost on her thought till not realising that her tears is falling down.

"Hey... hey..." Wriothesley realizes that her eyes and cheeks are wet now. "Hey, listen. Don't cry."

Wriothesley steps close to her and gently holds her chin up, so she has to lift her eyes towards him.

"I can't stand it whenever you shed a tear."

"I-Apologize your Grace,i didn't mean to cry"