Her parents' grave

The next morning, Livy overslept because she couldn't sleep thinking about Arthur's rejection. It was already ten o'clock when she finished taking a shower and came out of the room. She was confused as to why no one had woken her up today, wouldn't normally the maids call her for breakfast?

"Young Lady, you're awake? Want to have breakfast now? I'll reheat the food." The maid said kindly, when she saw her coming down the stairs.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up?" said Livy.

"Young Master ordered not to disturb you because it's a holiday. He wants you to wake up refreshed." The maid explained.

Arthur? Hearing that name was called as there was an uncomfortable throb in her heart that she had almost forgotten.

"Where's Arthur?"

"He is in the swimming pool," replied the maid.

Livy nodded in understanding. She was hesitating whether she should greet Arthur after she was rejected, but it felt like she was being shameless. In fact she was a bit faceless after being rejected, and she was afraid she couldn't help herself when she saw Arthur. She could never hide anything from that man, could she?

"Does he feel the slightest bit of guilt for rejecting me?" muttered Livy, sighed.

On Sundays, it wasn't usually Arthur taking the day off, why did he have to take the day off in this kind of atmosphere? How will Livy deal with it?

Unknowingly her own feet brought her to the indoor swimming pool on the first floor. When Livy arrived at the door, she was surprised and almost turned to leave when she saw that Arthur had surfaced. She stared at Arthur who was bare-chested and wearing thigh-high shorts, Livy gulped nervously, seeing Arthur's flat and wet stomach for far away, that still stirred her up a bit.

"You damn dirty mind!" Livy slapped her cheeks repeatedly hard.

Arthur was rubbing his head with a towel when he noticed Livy's presence. He put on a maroon bathrobe before sitting down on one of the chairs, staring at her. Because Livy had already been spotted by Arthur, she had no other choice to approach him.

"You're awake," Arthur said, drinking the water on the table.

"Mn." Livy bit her lip, standing up nervously. Her eyes subconsciously glanced at Arthur's back from the side. His back was covered by a large bathrobe so that only his neck and legs were exposed.

"Livy?" Arthur called her.

"Ah?"

Livy saw Arthur pat an empty chair and motioned for her to sit down, she complied. She chose to sit in a place away from Arthur, but actually it was facing him directly and she was a bit regretful. As she sat down, Arthur's bathrobe was slightly parted and it revealed a bit of his chest and stomach area, she immediately looked away.

"Have you had breakfast?" he asked.

"Um ... the maid is warming the food up," she said. Seeing the water falling from the ends of Arthur's hair, she subconsciously asked, "Do you need help?"

Arthur turned his head and was confused.

"Your hair is still wet, maybe I can help you." Livy didn't wait for Arthur's answer and got up, she took the towel from the man's shoulder.

The two of them had just taken a shower, the distinct scent of soap wafted through the air into an unfamiliar but soothing mixture of scents. Because Livy was standing, Arthur couldn't see her face, and after hearing her offer, he actually wanted to refuse, but in the end he just let her start to dry his hair.

"Do you often swim in the morning? Aren't you cold?" asked Livy while continuing to brush the wet hair.

"It's a warm pool."

Livy hummed in understanding. During the time she was here, she had never once touched the pool. Just saw it from her room. She never knew that there was a warm pool. The pool was surprisingly clean and spacious. There are two pools that are lined up and have a rectangular shape, the shape of which is rather ordinary and boring, but they can be distinguished between warm and cold water.

Livy was still stroking Arthur's hair, had nothing more to say, she was confused now. Suddenly she recalled Arthur's refusal and how sad she had been unable to sleep, her hands clenched into the towel.

After she also remembered that she had accepted Arthur's decision, she finally sighed and said, "I understand now."

"..."

Livy brushed Arthur's hair again. "Arthur, I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you with my confession yesterday, but after thinking about it all night I think I'm starting to understand," her nose hurt a bit as she continued, "You are a successful man, you are also kind and gentle, I feel I am not suitable to be your companion. You think the same way, right? With how far apart our ages are, uh, ten years is too far, though. Well, you are indeed more suitable to find a woman your age for your life partner."

Livy chuckled.

She didn't understand her own words, and why she had to say these things, every time she said, there was an invisible mana needle stuck in her heart. It hurts a lot. She didn't mind if Arthur didn't respond to this or thought she was a childish, maybe she was saying this just to relieve herself.

After a while, Livy still didn't hear Arthur's answer, didn't even feel the man's movement. She smiled bitterly.

Just as she was about to forget about it, Arthur suddenly took hold of her hand, tugging gently so that the towel also fell. Only Livy wasn't ready when Arthur's other hand grabbed her shoulder and she was unceremoniously buried into the other's chest. For a moment, Livy forgot where she was and what happened, she only felt that Arthur's hands and chest that came into contact with her were very cold. Cold enough to make her shiver.

"A-Arthur ..."

"Sorry."

Arthur's voice cut her off. She fell silent, her body tense in the hug. After a few moments Arthur let her go, and he didn't look at Livy at all as he stood up.

"..."

What? What happened? Why is he hugging her and apologizing? Does he feel guilty?

Livy was still dazed.

"You don't need to think about that for now. You still have many branching paths before your eyes for you to choose from. Thinking about this will only disturb your mind," Arthur said, for some reason Livy looked up with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Why?

He picked up the towel that had fallen on the floor, looked at her and said, "Have breakfast and get ready. I'll take you somewhere."

Livy was stunned. She wanted to ask, but her tongue stuck firmly to the roof of her mouth. After all she was too late to ask anything since Arthur had left before her.

***

Livy's head turned to the street. It was the only object she could comfortably see during her trip. She couldn't glance at Arthur at the moment because their situation was so awkward.

——By the way, Livy really meant what she said. Even though what she said was a bit exaggerated she would truly support what made Arthur happy. All this time Arthur had helped her and been kind to her, also their marriage was only a contract, why did she have to endure it?

Many people say that a stone can also erode if it is continuously exposed to raindrops in the same place; meaning that as long as she tries, she can definitely win Arthur's heart.

But that sounds selfish, doesn't it?

Livy doesn't just give up though. She just gave her heart a chance to accept, on the other hand, she wanted to prove herself worthy one day. She wanted Arthur to see her as someone who deserved to be loved.

Wouldn't it be sweet if she could fight and Arthur would see that struggle to fall in love with her?

Livy thought this and laughed, but then she sneezed. She felt a bit cold in the car. Her body moved closer to the car door, watching the road move in constant motion as the car advanced. Turned out it was raining outside. It wasn't heavy, but the cold air penetrated into the car.

"Turn off the cooler." Arthur said suddenly.

Livy startled and saw that it was an order for the driver. As soon as the cooler was turned off, warm air entered.

Inwardly Livy smiled. How could she look away if Arthur was this considerate? And finally she made up her mind to really fight for this man. Yeah!

"By the way ..."

"How ..."

The two sounds collided at the same time and the two owners of the voices also immediately stopped at the same time because of that.

Livy was the first to notice, "You speak first."

Arthur said, "I just wanted to ask how was your day at university?"

"That's fine. I'm absorbing the lesson just fine."

That's not completely a lie. Livy honestly wanted to say something nasty right after she came to the dorm, but she held it in.

"Nothing bothering you?" Arthur's tone was odd.

"Of course there is," Livy replied, "but I can deal with it. There's never a smooth road at school."

There was no change in Arthur's expression, but he smiled faintly secretly. "That's good. If there's any problem, feel free to let me know."

"Mn."

The car is still going. The journey was quite far and Livy was increasingly curious. She finally asked, "Where are you taking me anyway?"

"To your parents' graves."

Livy's body froze.

"..."

What? Why? Why are they going there?

Livy was still in a bit of a daze until Arthur asked the driver to buy two packets of flowers. It is a flower that both parents liked when they were alive. How did Arthur know this? Did he know this just by investigating her background?

Livy didn't concentrate the rest of the way, her hands clasped together and her heart heavy. It had been a long time since she had come to her parents' graves, would they scold her?

Just as Livy was thinking things through, the car had arrived at the public cemetery. The two of them entered a large hall where the gravestones of Livy's parents were embedded in the floor and there was a photo of the two of them inside.

'Whoa! You even know where their graves are?'

By seeing this, Livy was once again convinced that Arthur really was being meticulous. He had obviously investigated her background, down to even the smallest detail. This man is not to be underestimated.

When Livy's eyes finally caught the two photos of her parents, the edges of her eyes reddened, and her nose hurt. She called them in her heart and was on the verge of tears. Arthur suddenly gave her the two packets of flowers he had bought. Livy took it and placed it in the grave.

"Dad, Mom, I'm coming."

She felt emotional all of a sudden, and the tears she was holding back rolled down. Sobbing silently, she didn't blink just to look at their photo and felt a deep longing well up from her heart.

Livy missed them, ten years was too short for her to feel the love of her parents. Livy once again felt she couldn't take it and wanted to break open this grave to pull them out.

'Dad, Mom, I'm going to university now to study. I know you won't like it, but I want to learn about law and take the rights that uncle and aunt have taken away from us. Bless me.'

After such a long time, Livy was not ashamed to come here anymore. Now she is cultivating the power to take back her rights, and avenge what her aunt's family did. Even though she knew her parents probably wouldn't like it, she couldn't back down just yet.

'And also ... I'm currently married. You don't worry about me anymore, ok?'

Livy was still saying it to herself, and she didn't realize that after she finished saying this, Arthur was done paying respects to both of her parents' graves. Livy peeked in and was surprised when Arthur opened his eyes.

She could faintly see the slight curve of a smile on his lips, as well as his voice as he said,

"Father-in-law, Mother-in-law, I'm Arthur Finnegan, Livy's husband. Please entrust me to take care of Livy from now on."

... to be continued ...