As Leonor walked down the hallway holding her wrist which would undoubtedly be bruised by the next day, she realized she shouldn’t have been so surprised that he woke up in such a state.
The only ti they shared a bed, he gripped his robe shut while he slept. She even heard what people truly thought of him when they were at the tea house.
Even on his birthday, a day she vowed to make special, he couldn’t fully rest from the horrible things he had sustained in his life. She didn’t know if it was from wicked people or monsters he was startled by, but she hoped they could get to a point where he trusted himself with her the way she trusted herself with him.
Leonor let herself sleep for two hours before a maid woke her up and she got back into the beautiful red dress for Desmond’s birthday dinner.
The chef had been tasked with preparing his most requested food. She quickly found that he liked the river fish best. It made her want to show him seafood on one of the southern shores that much faster.
She hoped there was a future where they could both live freely and be completely themselves with one another, but she feared she had taken that future away from them. If he cared for her beyond the realm of platonic feelings, she would have wounded him badly to tell him she was in love with soone else.
Brushing those thoughts aside, Leonor was eager to give him his birthday gift. She had planned it for over a month and wanted to see what he thought of her gift.
When she left her room, rather than going to the dining room right away, she walked further until she found herself in Desmond’s wing of the estate. It was the place she visited the least. She wished she felt more comfortable there.
As she walked up to his door, she was pleased to see her timing was impeccable. He was just leaving his bedroom and shutting his door when she walked up to him.
"Did you rest for longer?" she asked him.
"A little while longer," he lied, hoping she would believe that he was as relaxed as her.
However, when she left the library, he simply lay there, staring at the ceiling and wondering if she saw who he was. Yet her relaxed expression told him maybe she hadn’t.
Relief washed over him and his secret was kept for just a little while longer.
"Aren’t I supposed to walk you to dinner?" he asked her as they went along.
"Rules hardly apply to us, wouldn’t you agree?" she asked. "Nothing of our situation is the usual. People constantly draw ridiculous conclusions about us."
"Does that bother you?" Desmond asked.
"People’s curiosity is much better than them believing the information that’s been fed to them," she answered firmly.
She was referring to the things her father said about her to sway the maids’ opinions in his favor. They thought Leonor was an awful child so they never wanted to help her. Francia only saw through it because she was Jara’s maid before she died.
Desmond’s eyebrow raised, but he said nothing more about that topic. Much of what Leonor said seed to imply other things. She had always been like that.
When they made it to the dining room where they would share an intimate al as they had been since the beginning of the winter, Desmond was surprised to see Gideon standing there with a box.
Leonor took it from him and smiled at the duke.
"Please, sit down," she said. "I would like to give you your gift before we eat."
Desmond settled in his chair but his curiosity was eating him alive. He made a point not to talk about things too incredibly close to him so he wouldn’t reveal sothing that reminded her of Valerio. However, she was clever enough to observe soone and formulate a gift based on that.
Leonor opened the box when Desmond was in his seat and she revealed a pale green material with silvered thread creating a leaf pattern along the edge of it.
He couldn’t tell what it was until he reached into the box and pulled it out for himself.
"A cloak," he realized.
The hood was large and he knew why she got him sothing like that. However, what surprised him was the material.
"I researched it for a while," Leonor explained. "There’s a kingdom based mostly in the desert and they use this lightweight material to stay cool but out of the sun. I figured it might be good for hot days. Unfortunately, it’s not a gift you can use now. During sumr it might be wonderful to stay cool, but you can still wear a hood that way."
Desmond’s eyebrow lowered. Leonor had no idea she had given him the sa gift twice. Yet each ti she gave him a cloak, it was suitable for who he was at that mont.
One of his biggest regrets was losing the cloak she originally gave him on the battlefield. It was so much thicker and better for soone of the working class. On the other hand, the one he held in his hands at that mont was beautiful. It was practically a work of art and considered his need to cover himself even when the weather was hot.
She even went so far as to put a silver clasp and his ducal seal on it so it was undoubtedly his.
"Leonor," he managed to say. "What a thoughtful gift. I don’t know how to thank you."
"Giving this wonderful life is thanks enough," Leonor said. "Please cherish that. I think it will suit you a lot once warr weather cos."
Who he used to be and who he was clashed in that mont as her gift filled him with unwanted emotions.
He held out his hand and she wondered the purpose.
However, the mont her hand was in his, he brought it to his lips, but he didn’t kiss the back of her hand as she was expecting. He angled her hands towards the part of his mouth untouched by scars and he kissed the wrist he hurt earlier.
Only she knew the real reason, but his actions were enough to make Gideon and the other maids in the room have to avert their eyes because it seed like a strangely intimate mont between the husband and wife.
"I-I’m glad you like the gift," she uttered and quickly sat down.
Valerio wasn’t far under the surface, begging Desmond to let him escape.
"More than you could ever imagine," he admitted. "Let’s eat."
For once, his touch terrified her and it made it hard for Leonor to focus on her al. She ate like a frightened bird until it was ti for Desmond to eat the chocolate mousse he had requested for his birthday.
They shared their dessert and her heart felt more miserable again.
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