The Amber Knight's Vow to the Saint's Left Hand - Chapter 1.4
As Quill was lost in thought, the door behind him opened.
Guided by Nicola, Lynette appeared.
If you asked ten people, ten would surely say she was beautiful. Was physical appearance part of the criteria for selecting a saint? If fate hadn’t forced it upon her, she would undoubtedly have been in high demand in high society. Yet, despite such a young lady’s beauty, what had led her to fall into Quill’s hands, someone who had so many suitors?
Lynette came to stand beside the troubled Quill and looked up at him, meeting his crimson gaze.
Quill, though tall and proud of his height, found that when standing next to Lynette, she still stood a full head shorter.
“It must have been noisy. My sister has been rude.”
Adèle was still a child. Even if Quill and Lars tried to keep their voices down, Adèle’s volume was such that most of the conversation could be easily guessed.
However, Lynette, wearing her skillful smile, slowly shook her head.
“Miss Adèle is quite a lovely young lady.”
“She’s so much younger than me, so both my brother and I tend to spoil her.”
“That’s not true. She is only ten, but she seems much more mature. When I was ten, I was the type of child who would fall out of trees.”
Looking at Lynette now, it was hard to imagine such a childhood.
Quill found himself naturally thinking that even saints were once children, and as he did, he extended his hand to Lynette.
The cheap vow lock hung from Lynette’s left wrist. It was nothing more than a flimsy cord that could easily be cut. Perhaps it was Quill’s lack of confidence that had led him to choose such a token.
The voice that escaped from his beautiful fiancée’s lips was soft, carrying the comfort of a breeze that swayed the blossoms of the chestnut trees this season. Quill couldn’t help but think how out of place he felt with such a remarkable partner.
He realized he had to face his fiancée properly. If he did, she would probably be the one to call off the engagement. That was how Quill viewed himself.
“Miss Celies, you said you have a heart that can feel pleasure and displeasure?”
“Yes. But those feelings disappear after just three counts, so there’s no need to concern yourself with them.”
“Then, could you please raise your hand within those three counts?”
“Raise my hand?”
“If it’s a feeling of pleasure, raise your left hand, the one with the vow lock. If it’s a feeling of discomfort, raise your right hand. Of course, only when you feel like it. I’d much prefer that to seeing a forced smile for social purposes.”
It was a simple idea that came to him.
Quill had always found it difficult to accept the smiles of young ladies, whose true feelings were hidden behind them. It was the very reason he disliked social gatherings.
In high society, he knew too well that people looked down on his appearance. That’s why the smiles exchanged at balls, filled with empty politeness, made him feel disgusted. The forced social pleasantries made him nauseous.
If he was going to face his fiancée properly, he needed to see beyond the mask she was wearing.
Lynette stared at the vow lock for a while. Eventually, she looked up, nodded softly, and raised her left hand.
The blue stone on her wrist swayed. There was no change in her expression or words. It was a simple movement that could be easily faked, just like a social smile.
But then…
“I swear, with the vow lock that Lord Quill gave me, that this hand will never lie.”
They had yet to build a relationship worthy of such a vow.
Lynette’s eyes, unclouded and direct, captured Quill’s dark red ones. Unable to face them fully, Quill averted his gaze slightly and took her hand.