That day, Prince Stephano wore a black ensemble that gave him an unapproachable appearance. Leonor had no desire to interact with him, but, as she sat across from him, she knew there was no other choice.
"You look pale" were the first words out of Prince Stephano’s mouth after Leonor sat down to join him for afternoon tea.
Leonor bowed her head in sha.
"I’m sorry, Your Highness," she quickly apologized. "I have been staying inside because I haven’t been feeling well."
"Are the symptoms of whatever ails you bruises?" Stephano asked.
Leonor gasped and she couldn’t keep herself from holding the largest bruise that spread across her ribs. The Prince noticed imdiately it wasn’t the bruise he had witnessed when she curtsied for him. He wondered how many more were hidden under the guise of a beautiful dress so it would seem she wasn’t mistreated.
"I won’t say anything unless you want to," Stephano casually offered.
He was making her feel vulnerable. She could hardly utter a word without feeling like she might start crying at any mont. Most people didn’t see through her father’s charade. It made for a miserably lonely existence.
She tried to find the silver lining and felt lucky she hadn’t been killed. With his intense bouts of anger, it was a wonder he stopped when he did.
"The best thing you could do for is pretend you don’t see a thing," Leonor practically whispered before taking an overly trained and polite sip of tea.
Her hands shook as she resisted shoving the tea cookies on the table into her mouth. She hadn’t eaten properly in a long ti. The milk and sugar in the tea would have to carry her for the ti being.
Sohow she managed to take only a small, polite bite of the cookie. It did nothing to stave away her starvation.
The Prince looked at her in such disbelief she almost had to look over her shoulder to see if soone else was witnessing his expression. Soone might think she was the one being rude to him.
Stephano sat up straighter, the golden chain going into his pocket and a few of his golden buttons gently clanking as he moved. He looked dangerous in black. It wasn’t fitting for sumr, though it was fitting for his personality. Since he was a Prince, he could do whatever he wanted.
"I’m not here to pester you about that," he admitted. However, he cast a mistrustful glance towards the maid patiently waiting off to the side. "Would you like to go on a walk, my lady?"
Despite presenting it as a question, he held out his hand for Leonor, giving her no choice but to follow him wherever he wanted. She couldn’t say no to him and neither could her father.
An uncomfortable silence fell over them as the Prince hastily walked them to the end of the garden. They stopped at a fountain and benches situated away from the manor. Leonor tried to keep up with her skirts in one hand as she kept her hand on Prince Stephano’s arm. She almost stumbled a few tis but he was a solid guide.
In her depleted state, she had to shut her eyes or she thought she might be sick. There was no enjoynt in the freshly manicured gardens. Worries clouded her vision.
When they finally made it to a bench, he sat Leonor down and faced her.
"Where is he?" he asked urgently.
Leonor’s sapphire eyes were full of fear and she didn’t have to ask who he was speaking of. She felt rude looking away from the prince, but she couldn’t help the worry that gripped her heart after being caught kissing Valerio that day. She had ruined her life in less than a half hour.
Beyond that, she was constantly weighed down with the guilt of never seeing Valerio again. Was he hurting? Did her father treat him the way he treated her for the past few days?
"I don’t know specifically," Leonor admitted, trying to hold herself together considering the royal standing in front of her with his arms crossed. "My father sent him to the front lines. That’s all Valerio wrote in a letter."
"The front lines?!" the Prince exclaid, unable to control himself.
Prince Stephano turned towards the looming Burien Manor and silently cursed out the Count, knowing he couldn’t say more, especially on the man’s property. In the sa thought, he cursed his father as well. That entire generation of nobility deserved early graves, in his opinion. They had far more than overindulged in their lifetis.
Many noblen didn’t have sons sending their guards or servants into battle to represent their families. Being without a son was a death sentence.
Leonor stood up and gingerly stepped towards the Prince facing away. She felt it was her responsibility to diffuse the situation.
"Is it as bad as it’s rumored to be?" she asked quietly, hesitating to go close to soone seemingly so volatile.
The Prince knew the answer was yes, but he shook his head. He couldn’t face her with a blatant lie when she seed close to falling apart.
"He’s a good enough swordsman," Stephano said, not directly answering her question. "After all, his talent is why I sought him out today only to find he isn’t here anymore."
Leonor beca quiet as thoughts consud her and the prince watched as she stared into the fountain slowly trickling water into the basin around it. He wanted to ask further about what she had been through in the past days. He was upset that he hadn’t been able to intercept before her father sent his swordsmanship instructor away.
Since she was closer to him, Prince Stephano noticed sothing that Valerio had confird before. He had a lot of questions but no ti to ask all of them.
"You have mana," Stephano observed.
Leonor hesitated before ekly nodding.
"I can’t control it," she responded. "My mother said the Royal Family’s mana puts ours to sha."
While he wasn’t in the business of revealing his family’s dark secrets, Prince Stephano couldn’t hold back the scoff at her words. The strong mana had skipped his father and went straight to him. No one knew the truth as to why Stephano II was so bitter.
"Anyone can learn to build and control their mana," the prince assured her. "Even if you start with very little. You, however, don’t have a small amount. I can feel it just from standing next to you."
Leonor’s head was spinning and she nodded.
"Excuse ," she uttered, unable to hold on for longer.
She didn’t know where their conversation was going. She was too dizzy to keep standing.
With the visible bruising on her skin and her strange behavior, the prince could only imagine what was happening in the Count’s ho behind closed doors. He was jumping to conclusions without Leonor needing to say anything.
"I will keep looking for Valerio," the Prince promised. "However, he can’t return to find you in shambles." With a light sigh, he said words that would change the course of Leonor’s life forever. "I want you to join the Magic Academy. Since you’ll join later than others, I’ll sponsor your way in."
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