The terrace above the 12th floor of Royal Green was actually an open air restaurant, serving the guests staying there. It wasn't an exclusive place with a fancy menu, but for those who like the peace and quiet – It was a perfect place.
Lucian and Violette sat across each other at a small table close to the wall, overlooking the view below. There weren't many people around, but the clear bright sky, the fresh air and the serene atmosphere made for a pleasant experience.
A waitress wearing the standard Royal Green staff uniform – a green top and black pants; quickly came by with the menu cards and took their orders before leaving to get their dishes prepared.
Lucian took a sip of water from his glass and looked at the bare faced Violette. "You looked really good in those glasses." he said, while trying to not sound so disappointed.
Too bad she took them off though.
Violette was able to read him clearly and discerned the unsaid words from his statement. Her lips twitched up into a smile as she quickly took a sip from her glass to hide it. She left the glass on the table and leaned back in her chair as she cast her eyes on him.
"Not anymore?" she asked calmly, with amusement flickering in her eyes and a faint smirk hanging on her lips.
"Huh?" Lucian was caught off-guard by her unexpected response and it took him a second to reorganize himself. "No, I mean you are still cute and-"
He paused as he realized what he just said and let out a fake cough as he grabbed his glass and gulped down the water as if nothing happened.
With a stumped expression on her face, Violette, sat still in her chair for a moment before she turned her head away, her lips curving into a small smile.
As he observed her discretely, Lucian noticed the faint tug of her lips as she turned away and felt a smile forming on his own face.
It seemed things would be just fine between them going forward.
When he was deciding on whether or not to invite Violette to lunch, he was worried about coming off as overly enthusiastic. He spent a while contemplating different scenarios and various approaches to make himself more presentable.
But the moment she opened the door, Lucian was blown away by the sight of her. Violette looked like a sweet college girl in a simple light blue jumper and black leggings. Her short hair was pinned to the side with couple hair pins and the white, thick rimmed square glasses perched on her nose made her icy blue eyes appear much more alluring.
It took him a second to pull himself out of the trance and even then, his head felt empty and he ended up smiling like an idiot as he blurted out. "Are you hungry?"
And to his surprise, Violette agreed to the lunch without much thought and Lucian couldn't be happier.
But it was pity that she removed the hair pins and let her hair down and left her glasses back in her room before coming out.
- -
Lucian propped his elbow on the table and placed his chin in his palm as he dazedly watched her enjoying the pleasant climate.
She relaxed her body and closed her eyes as she let the fresh breeze brush past. Her lips twitched into a small smile as she became immersed in a serene state of mind.
But as the cold wind blew her hair away from her face and revealed the scars underneath, Violette was jolted awake as if she was electrocuted.
Her strong reaction broke Lucian out of his trance and he frowned as Violette quietly adjusted her hair back into place – covering her face hurriedly. She felt Lucian's gaze on her but she pretended not to notice and turned her head away as if nothing happened.
Lucian pursed his lips and continued to stare at her, but Violette refused to look his way and made it clear she didn't want to talk about it.
He let out a heavy sigh and spoke calmly. "You don't have to hide them, Violette. They only prove you are a strong women."
Violette didn't show any outward reaction but her calm heart began to flutter irregularly as she tried hard to maintain her poker face.
"Although… I admit you look more cute with your glasses on." Lucian added, with a cheeky smile on his face as he carefully observed her.
When she finally turned her head around, Violette saw his grey eyed gaze fixed on her and a cheerful smile on his face.
"I know things between us happened quickly and I understand if you need time to process it." He said calmly as he looked straight at her, hoping to convey his sincerity. "We will take things slow, one step at a time. From the beginning."
Violette raised her brow questioningly as Lucian stretched his hand across the table to her. "As friends." He concluded with a sweet smile.
But he never expected the reaction he got.
Violette's eyes frosted over and drooped down as her whole demeanor grew cold in an instant. Lucian was stunned, as he could practically feel the change in her emotions from the other side of the table.
"Friends?" she scoffed, the icy chill and sheer mockery in her tone was heavy and palpable. "Such an overrated and overused term. I lost my respect for that word a long time ago. It's just a cheap, meaningless word people throw around to fulfill their own ulterior motives."
Lucian visibly flinched at her words and Violette also realized that her emotions were spiraling out of control. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm her roiling emotions before she spoke again. "I mean, we are a married couple – you are my husband and I'm your wife. That is what we are, and that is what we will be."
She took another deep breath and continued. "Charlie brought us together as his last wish, so I'm willing to take this relationship seriously. I will be faithful to you and try to be a good wife."
"But…" she paused momentarily. "I don't think I can ever love you." She added in a morose tone, her icy eyes glazed over and her presence itself turned dull.
She knew what her words meant and what effect they would have, but she felt she had to be true to herself and to him as well. She owed him that, at the least.
Lucian was experiencing a multitude of feelings in a roller-coaster ride but the disappointment he felt by those words trumped every other emotion. He tried hard to ignore it but Violette was able to read his face clearly as she felt a helpless feeling welling up inside her.
She hated it. She hated that feeling.
"It's not that I don't want to…" she tried to explain but she only realized there was nothing to explain.
She was just broken like that.
"I can't even love myself. I don't think I have it in me to love another person." she concluded.
She wanted to say something else, anything, so he wouldn't show such a face. But alas, she didn't have the answer he wanted to hear.
With no courage to look at him anymore, Violette let out a defeated sigh and closed her eyes as she turned her head away. The pleasant atmosphere suddenly felt suffocating as each second felt like an eternity.
She didn't regret speaking those words. She meant every word and she wanted him to know. He had the right to know.
What he would do after that was his choice. And whatever decision he'd arrive at, she would respect that.
"You know, you don't have to keep punishing yourself." She finally heard his voice and slowly turned her head around as she looked at him questioningly.
Just then, the waitress from earlier came back with their dishes and carefully arranged them on the table. She then exchanged their water glasses and replaced them with wine glasses and filled them halfway with red wine.
"Anything else, sir? Madam?" the waitress placed the wine bottle back on the table and asked respectfully as she turned from Lucian to Violette.
Lucian looked towards Violette and saw her shaking her head, so he turned to waitress and answered. "Nothing, for now. Thank you."
"Enjoy your meal." The waitress nodded with a smile and left to serve other customers.
"You are right." Lucian spoke as he began to move the dishes around and placed them conveniently for Violette. "We are a married couple, so trying to be anything else is unnecessary."
He then looked at her with a smile – a genuine smile that shook her heart to the core. And under his bright, warm smile, the ice cold walls around her began to crack and crumble, while her frosted eyes slowly cleared up.
"It's okay if you can't love me. And it's also okay if you can't love yourself." He added, as he calmly looked at her. "I will love you for the both of us."
Violette was taken aback by his words and stared blankly at him with her eyes wide.
Lucian couldn't sit still under her strong gaze and picked up his wine glass and took a sip as he looked away, his cheeks burning all the way to his ears.
"Pft…" he heard a sound and turned around to see Violette covering her mouth with a hand and lower her head as she tried hard not to laugh.
But as her mind kept replaying the scene where Lucian spoke such cheesy words with a serious face, she couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.
But in the midst of her amusement, a warm feeling filled her chest and her eyes started to tear up. She covered her face with her hand as she tried to compose herself.
Lucian was stunned by her sudden bout of laughter but as he watched her smile happily without a care, he felt an odd sense of achievement.
He didn't care she was laughing at his words, on the contrary, he found himself lost in her sweet, melodious laughter as he dazedly watched her with a goofy smile on his face.