Ti stopped for Leonor as soon as the words left the King’s lips.
An overwhelming urge to reach into the past and tightly squeeze the little girl who would stare at herself in the mirror, wishing she had her mother’s greyish purple eyes or her father’s lighter complexion so she would feel like she belonged. Especially after her mother passed away, there was no one around who looked like her.
Her feelings were valid considering she was treated like an outsider as well. Was there really a possibility that she had been illegitimate and the man she considered to be her father for so long was right in his suspicions?
Leonor felt miserable. She wished her mother was around to explain to her what had happened. All she knew was that her mother loved soone else. Was he truly the man who approached her in the palace that day? The man with the blue eyes that, Leonor was finally realizing, looked a whole lot like her own.
The young duchess wasn’t sure if she was shaking from depletion or the sheer shock of hearing sothing that made so many aspects of her life fall into place all at once. Regardless, her hand covered her lips and the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking.
Seeing that his wife was in no state to speak and imploding in on herself, Desmond imdiately hugged her. He was as shocked as she was, but there was a strange sense of relief that things weren’t what they seed.
Even without her saying specifically that’s how she felt, Desmond knew Leonor was envious of anyone with a good paternal relationship. She spent much of her life wishing she received the sa treatnt as Anna and it seeped into her adulthood. It only went to show that childhood wounds beca scars in adulthood.
There was a glimr of hope within him that perhaps she would finally have that paternal relationship with a man who had never hurt her. If it was the truth, he hoped that Leonor could let go of painful parts of her life and find comfort.
He knew he couldn’t voice his thoughts. All she needed was support so he opted to hold her.
"What evidence does he have for making such a claim?" Desmond asked, deciding to practice caution. "This isn’t sothing we can take at face value and imdiately accept."
Stephano knew that there would be pushback the mont he brought up the topic so he reached out to connections in the northern kingdom and sought validity of his claim that he had been married to Leonor’s mother in the other country. It was lucky that, despite all of his father’s misdeeds, pissing off the other kingdom wasn’t sothing he had done. It would have made the situation far more difficult.
Sure enough, he found records of Jara and Braulio’s marriage. He also found the decree in Castille that nullified marriages in other kingdoms. It was old enough that Stephano wondered if his father had done such a thing with a woman in mind. What sort of awful treatnt had one of the late King’s mistresses endured as she was taken from a man she likely loved and forced to entertain the greedy monarch?
Stephano had been enraged but cald down thinking of how the news could affect his friend in the long run. He imagined it would be hard for her to drop her duties to Burien but it was worth pushing her in that direction regardless.
"If you saw the man yourself, you would understand," Stephano admitted to Desmond. "I didn’t make the connection of where Leonor could have possibly gotten her eyes until Braulio was in my study, saying he thought she was his."
Leonor finally found her voice. She could no longer hide considering such a truth was on the table.
"Not long before my mother passed away, she admitted that she was in love with soone who wasn’t the count," the duchess explained. "I wasn’t aware that this news would be important to in the future..."
She felt Desmond gently rubbing her back and wanted to crumble further, but she was guarded about her tears. She felt dried up from the mana depletion anyway. All the water and teas she had been drinking that day weren’t enough to satiate her thirst.
"What you do with this information is entirely up to you, Leonor," Stephano explained, using a gentle voice considering the fragile state of his friend. "I simply thought you should know before worrying yourself over affairs that have nothing to do with you. Considering your mistreatnt, the Count could be charged with quite a list of abuses. You were never his in the first place."
That only made Leonor crack further as she buried her face in Desmond’s chest and placed her hands over the sides of her face to hide herself further. A quiet sob escaped her lips.
"Why do I still feel guilty?" she gasped, muffled by her husband’s tunic. "I have been indebted to Burien for as long as I can rember. To lose my claim as the heiress was the lowest point of my life, only to find that it was never mine in the first place."
She pulled away from her husband but didn’t move away very far.
"You’re a selfless individual," Stephano spoke before Desmond could. "Even if sothing doesn’t benefit you, you’ll still do it if you think it’s the right thing. Consider this, Leonor. If Burien doesn’t have an heir, it’s up to to decide the next in line of succession. For now, the Count still lives. The fate of the county lies on his shoulders whether he likes it or not."
Leonor tried to keep eye contact with the King but it was becoming too much for her to handle.
"After this conversation, I think I ought to rest so more," she admitted. "What else is there to do but ruminate over this?"
"Of course," Stephano said. "Count Braulio remains in the capital while war looms if you ever decide to go so far as to et with him, knowing that there’s a possibility he’s truly your father."
Leonor nodded her thanks. She didn’t know if she had anything else to say and she couldn’t find her voice regardless.
"Thank you, Stephano," Desmond spoke firmly yet quietly. "I will let my wife rest now."
Stephano wasn’t too ignorant to know when soone was politely telling him to get the hell out of their room. He made himself scarce shortly after.
Desmond tucked Leonor back into the bed and he stayed by her side until she was asleep.
Normally she wouldn’t have been able to sleep after hearing such news but he could tell just how badly she had been affected by the black magic. He decided to leave the room as well and hoped she got a few more hours of deep sleep despite it being dayti.
He was far from finished talking to Stephano and sought out the King the second he left the room, shutting the door behind him as quietly as possible.
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