Euphemia noticed that Lucien was not bringing up the topic of sleeping with her again. It was a relief because it made her feel things she couldn't even understand.
Euphemia looked out of the carriage window. She could see the structures were very poor and dirty. They were in Fred's neighborhood, a place stricken by poverty and misery.
"You shouldn't look out the window, Lady Euphee. It's dangerous. What if someone throws a rock to our window?" Lucien said.
"You're calling me Lady Euphee again. I'm not mad at you," Euphemia said with a gentle smile.
Lucien looked embarrassed. "I'm sorry for the other night. I forced you to call me by a nickname and I even dropped my formality with you."
"It's fine. You can still call me Euphee. We're friends after all, Lucien," Euphemia said cheerfully.
Lucien winced.
"Are you all right? Are you car sick? I mean, carriage sick?" Euphemia asked, she raised her hand to Lucien's face.
"I'm all right. So, we are friends, Euphee?" Lucien asked with a forced smile.
Euphemia nodded. "Yes, you're just like Ruby, you're my friend, Lucien!"
Euphemia was not sure why but Lucien seemed to be in pain.
"You look nauseous again. What's wrong? Do you want me to heal you?" Euphemia asked worriedly.
Lucien covered his face with his hands. "I'll be fine. I can do this," he muttered.
Euphemia looked at him in confusion. What was wrong with him?
*
*
*
They eventually reached the writer's humble home. Lucien got out of the carriage first and helped Euphemia go down afterwards.
Lucien noticed that the door was damaged and was not even hanging properly. Before he could even try to move it, the door was opened suddenly by a man.
"I bid you good morning, Your Grace and Holy Saintess!" The man bowed.
"Raise your head. Are you the writer?" Lucien said.
"Yes, I am, Your Grace. My name is Fred. Would you like to come in?" Fred asked.
"Sure. Sorry for disturbing you," Euphemia said.
"It's not trouble at all, Holy Saintess," Fred said.
They all went inside the house. Euphemia noticed that it looked cleaner than before. There were no wine bottles scattered on the floor. Actually, there were no wine bottles anymore that she could see around the house. Fred himself looked cleaner. He had shaved his ridiculous beard off and his hair was neatly combed.
"You cleaned up a lot, Fred. The house looks nice and you look better too!" Euphemia praised.
The writer looked embarrassed but happy. "I can't take credit for it. Helen came to visit a few times and she helped me a lot. She told me that I should be in clear mind when we talk to each other again, Holy Saintess."
"You can call me Lady Euphemia. Can I sit here?"
"Yes, Lady Euphemia."
"So, we've chosen a story for the play. We've chosen your story of the Sun King and the Moonlight Princess. Will that be all right with you?" Euphemia asked.
Fred looked surprised. "That is my very first manuscript. Yes! I am touched that you have chosen that."
"We would like to pay for your story. After the play, we shall pay you again for the play's earnings," Lucien said and handed him a pouch.
The writer opened the pouch filled with gold coins and his eyes widened in shock. "Your Grace! It's too much! I don't deserve this!"
"Our decision is to pay you. Are you refusing our decision, Fred?" Lucien asked in a scary tone.
Euphemia giggled. "Just accept it, Fred. You deserve it. In fact, we need your help in something else too."
"Anything, Lady Euphemia!"
"We would like to ask if you could recruit people for the play. We would need craftsmen, tailors, actors, and actresses. For the main characters, I would like to see them myself and choose from them. Could you do that?" Euphemia asked with a smile.
Fred looked confused. "But I do not have connections with nobles."
"I don't need nobles, Fred. I would really like it for you to choose from people in this neighborhood. I would like to give them jobs. We would have rehearsals and days to prepare for the play. During those days, they would be paid and given a meal. After the play, they would receive extra payment that we would earn from it. Could you tell them that?"
Fred looked like he was going to cry. "I would be happy to do that. Please give me a few days to tell the people here."
"That's a deal. When you're done, just tell Helen so she can tell me," Euphemia said and got up to leave.
Euphemia noticed that Lucien had not gotten up yet.
"Is there something I've forgotten to tell him, Lucien?" Euphemia asked.
"I have something to ask him. You can go ahead. I'll just walk home," Lucien said.
Euphemia went out of the writer's house and boarded the carriage. She couldn't understand Lucien's actions again.
*
*
*
"Yes, Your Grace? How may I help you?" Fred asked.
"I want to be lovers with Euphee. How do I get to that stage?" Lucien asked.
"Oh um . . . pardon me, but aren't you engaged to her?" Fred asked in confusion.
"Yes, but she said we're not lovers. Just earlier, she told me that we're friends! I do not want to be friends with her! I have Hansel for that!" Lucien said in frustration.
The writer felt increasingly uncomfortable. He was not used to talking to nobles and most especially, he did not know how to advice a noble about love.
"Your Grace, it's good to begin as friends. It means she views you favorably," Fred said, assuring him.
"No. Last night she called me by my nickname. Now she isn't! She must be mad at me! I just told her that I wanted to sleep with her!" Lucien said.
Fred could feel a headache coming.
"Your Grace, you must not rush her. Have you told her how you feel about her?"
Lucien frowned. "Of course, I did. I told her I like feeling her body against mine and I like seeing her face when I wake up."
Fred sighed.
"Your Grace, have you told her that you love her?"
Lucien looked confused.
"Did you tell her that you're in love with her, Your Grace?" Fred rephrased.
Lucien still looked confused.
Fred scratched his head in frustration. He suddenly had an urge to have a bottle of wine.
"Your Grace, are you in love with Lady Euphemia?"
Lucien looked dispirited. "I am not sure what that is."
Nobles. They were taught of the arts, of etiquette, and of several useless things but they were not taught of love.
"Your Grace, love is when you are happy being with that person. It is when you are happy when you see her happy. It is the feeling of sorrow eating inside you when you see her crying. It is the feeling of wanting to spend your whole life with that person and you know that you would be contented. It is being vulnerable to that person but being strong when you're with her."
Lucien still looked lost. "This must be why she said we aren't lovers. I do not even know what love is."
Fred pitied the Duke. He must have had a lonely childhood.
"You'll learn along the way, Your Grace. For now, I think what you're feeling is attraction to Lady Euphemia. You want to be close to her, do you not?"
Lucien nodded, looking sad.
"Get to know the lady first, Your Grace. See what she likes and what she does not. Try to make her happy with what she likes. Try to show her who are you also. I have confidence that you'll learn about love along the way, Your Grace," Fred reassured.
Lucien smiled a little. "Thank you. You really are talented in that subject. I will follow your advice."
Lucien got up and went towards the broken door.
"Thank you, Your Grace." Fred said.
"Good luck with Helen too!" Lucien said as he exited the house. He did not see the writer turn red.