The moment the carriage came to a halt, Lucian stormed out, passing by the line of staffs. He didn't even look at Celine, just walked off.
Celine followed after him, a little miffed that he didn't wait for her.
"..." The staff didn't want to give them weird looks, so they tilted their heads down in a slight bow, welcoming them home.
Lucian's strides were wide, and he was practically running to get away from Celine when he suddenly paused before the grand fountain. He took a few steps backward, turned around, and walked back toward her. He grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers.
Celine widened her eyes, staring at their joined hands, "..."
"..." Lucian coughed and pulled her along. When you can't control a person, control the surrounding people. That's what she had been doing: making everyone keep their distance from him.
More often than not, people didn't care about truth; they believed spoken words that appealed to them. And Celine's bad reputation was only that; a bad reputation. It used to fit him because he once wanted her to be dependent on him. Neither trusted the other's loyalty, which was why they both tried to corner the other into a dead end.
But now, it has brought him more problems than advantages. Celine's bad reputation reflected negatively on him. And he had to put a stop to it before it reached a point where it would be too late for damage control.
'Who are you trying to convince again?'
'Yourself?'
'The worse she is perceived, the more control you'll gain. So, don't try to fix her reputation. Destroy it.'
'It seems like her father wants to use you as a face of the family for the public and Celine as the true successor behind closed doors. You can take advantage of this to get more power. More control and authority.'
Lucian raised their hands, which were linked together, and smiled, "Being on the receiving end of your wrath is more draining than I expected it to be, My Lady. I thought I could use some of the affection you have for His Highness. It seems to be in abundance, and I'm in a shortage...due to the recent events our engagement has brought upon me."
'Maybe this will throw her off?'
"..." Celine looked at him as if he had grown a second head, "Are you asking me to choose between you and His Highness? I thought you had a brain, not a pea."
The servants covered their mouths, their shoulders shaking. Their Lady's humor...how could they explain it?
'Still no sign of strawberry Celine.'
Lucian didn't give up and took it even further, "I don't know what I did to you to make you hate me so," he said, dropping his shoulder as if being hurt by her words. His smile disappeared, replaced by a dejected look, "But if I did, then I apologize. I'm not asking for much. Just a little bit of that love you have for him. If we are going to marry, we should at least do it on good terms, My Lady."
The staff who overheard Lucian gasped behind their covered mouths. He was taking a step back and making the first move to de-escalate the conflict between the two, which was a very mature move. They couldn't help but admire him for it. A man who was willing to swallow his pride to make his relationship with his fiance work? No matter her bad attitude? Who could resist such a man? They refused to believe that he sought the company of courtesans and that he was a womanizer. He was just too nice for that!
"..." Celine tugged her hand, trying to get it free, and Lucian held on tighter, "Are you trying to get on my good side?" she asked him, "Finally realized that the Rochefort house could be of use to climb higher up on the ladder of power?"
Her words mirrored the voice in his head, offering him the same result with a different approach. '...don't fall for it. The moment you associate yourself with her, her enemies will become yours. Her problems will become yours. You'll be dragged down, and it will be hard to climb back to the top.'
Lucian glanced at her and then looked at the path, "The House of Rochefort has nothing to offer me, except for its daughter," he said.
He was not lying. The Rochefort family would have crumbled long ago without Celine, and nobody had realized it yet. Except…
He felt a strong presence around him, and he glanced up toward the balcony to see Duke Rochefort watching the scene from above. The duke's eyes were cold and calculating, staring at his daughter, completely ignoring Lucian as if he didn't exist.
Celine looked at the duke as well. She didn't seem surprised to see him there, and she didn't seem bothered by the way he was looking at her either. Instead, she just smiled and waved. Most would see a spoiled daughter greeting her father. Lucian saw a threat, and... fear?
Celine had a lot of freedom to roam around and do as she pleased. Even the Duke had to compromise to make her follow him to the training grounds, and he was the highest authority in the house!
'Is her father afraid of her?' Lucian thought, his eyebrows furrowing. The duke didn't express any emotions, but something about Celine's smile and the way she held herself, seemed to have made both Lucian and her father uncomfortable.
The duke turned away, and he disappeared back into his room.
'How could a safe territory like the Rocheforts suddenly be dangerous enough that your carriage would be ambushed?' Unless…
Lucian turned his gaze on Celine, who was smiling at the spot where her father had been standing. 'Unless,' he thought, 'she is the one causing trouble on purpose.'
Celine smiled sweetly at Lucian, leaning against his arm. It took a moment for everyone to believe that she was getting along with Lucian due to her father's order. It was a slow but steady progress in her change of attitude. A way to make sense of her actions and make her seem less of a threat and more of a pawn in her father's game of power.
'She couldn't have a hand in my ambush, could she?' Lucian thought, 'Why would she? There should be no gain in it for her.'
He had sent some of his people to dig into the Verrin house's background, so he would have to wait and see. He also ordered them to investigate the heads of the great families across the kingdom who had died of 'natural' causes in the past five years.