Chapter 290: The Warmest in a While

Leonor felt peace she hadn’t felt in ages. The bed she was in was comfortable and she could smell familiarity all around her.

None of it made sense.

The last thing she remembered was being at her father’s house where she was never truly comfortable. She grimaced and let out a groan of disagreement. She needed to be more alert but a massive headache behind her eyes made it hard to open them.

The duchess rolled to the side and curled into a fetal position to protect herself. It was the only defensive move she could make. At that moment, she wasn’t even sure if she could lift a shield around herself if she wanted to.

She felt... depleted.

"Leonor."

The bed shifted next to her and strong arms wrapped around her. She knew right away who it was.

"I can’t believe it. You scared the hell out of me," her husband whispered under his breath.

Knowing she really was safe, she rolled her body towards the warmth Desmond was providing her with and tears came quickly. Her memories were hazy but she knew that she hadn’t been safe before. Only in his arms did the world feel right.

Tears came quickly at the thought and she buried her face in his chest which was half covered by a loose tunic. His skin was warm and the material was so soft.

"I feel so horrible," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "What happened to me, Desmond?"

However, memories were opening up to her. She was starting to remember bits and pieces.

Even though her head throbbed, she pushed against him and finally met his eye.

"You’re not supposed to be here," she realized.

Despite her pushing, he pulled her against him again and willed her to get as comfortable as she had been before. He had been dying to hug her in all the time they had been separated. For her to leave his embrace was a travesty in his eyes.

"How could I keep away knowing my wife was in danger?" he asked her. "Stephano sent me a letter the moment you left Coeurvalle. On the way to Burien, Eve appeared before me and crumbled into pieces in my grasp. I’ve never been more horrified."

It was still early in the morning and he had been sleeping until he felt Leonor shift next to him.

He thought it was okay to finally get into nightclothes and lay in bed as well since Leonor had been sleeping for nearly a day. He was finally able to get some sleep after staying awake for over a day when he was urgently trying to get to Leonor. At least until she woke up in a panic.

The duchess realized they were in the room where they had spent their wedding night despite not even sleeping in the same bed. Memories of her far past and more recent past were returning.

"Black magic," Leonor uttered, slowly remembering everything. "I remember now. What on Earth is happening, Desmond? They have to make sure that man and my sister don’t get too far."

"Don’t worry," he insisted. "It’s handled. Both of them have been imprisoned in rooms with powerful magic circles created using Stephano’s Royal Mana. There’s nothing more to worry about. We must also take into consideration your father being in on this ploy. He will be guarded constantly until he wakes up again."

Leonor had started to sit up while Desmond explained to her everything. Seeing that even moving such a small amount was enough for her to grab her head, the duke quickly got up and began adjusting her pillows so she could lean into them.

"I suppose it’s for the best," she responded hesitantly. "Have you seen my father? He looks even worse than when we saw him in the palace. Perhaps I’m disillusioned and hopeful of a future that isn’t true, but I don’t think he’s involved this time."

Desmond sat next to his wife and listened to her words intently. He gently held her hand while she spoke and when she was finished, he stroked her cheek.

He gently sighed.

"I wish I could respond positively but I can’t be unbiased when it comes to your father," Desmond admitted. "He took you from me once. He’s the reason I look like this to this day."

Leonor leaned into him and she lifted her arms so they were wrapped around her husband’s neck. She didn’t want to have a serious conversation at that moment even though they had to. What she really wanted was to kiss him and make love to him–at least that was the reunion she always imagined when he came back from Eirenguard.

Holding onto him while they talked would have to be enough for the time being. Her head felt too faint to do anything else anyway.

In response, Desmond pulled Leonor on top of him so he was the one sitting against the pillows and she was on his lap. She nestled her face into his neck.

"You know what’s really pathetic?" Leonor uttered.

"What?"

"I want to believe my father has been under the influence of black magic for so long that it was what caused him to start hurting me after my mother died," she admitted. "I want there to be a reality where he didn’t want to do those things to me." Her voice wavered. "Except I know that he would have already been dead if he was under the influence of black magic for so long. This was likely only a couple of years in the making. Likely not even that much."

Leonor spoke slowly and Desmond could tell it was taking a ton of effort to get her words out, but he was glad she was talking to him. The entire day she slept was pure torture. After she healed him and passed out next to his bed, he thought that was the worst she had ever looked, but he was finding that there was worse. She looked worse.

"You never deserved for someone to do that to you," Desmond whispered in understanding. "That’s why, even before I had the means to, I wanted to take you far from this place. You deserve a soft life full of beautiful things but those aren’t the cards handed to you. You’re making the best of it regardless."

Leonor could only squeeze Desmond helplessly as tears slipped from her eyes.

Being at her father’s manor made her think of all the things she and Desmond did together when they were teenagers. He introduced her to tenderness she had never experienced before. Something about him made all caution inside of her disappear as long as he was close by.

The duke and duchess simply cuddled for a while as the sun rose and clouds of morning were burnt away. It was a mild coastal winter morning and the temperature wasn’t bad.

Desmond occasionally fed his wife water but anything more than that and she thought her stomach would get upset. At one point, he was able to bring her tea with honey but even that made her feel bad after a while.

Before midday, there was a knock on the door and Desmond moved forward to open it.

When the door was only opened a crack, King Stephano pushed his way through.

"I don’t care what’s going on in here," the monarch announced. "I’m going to check on Leonor whether you like it or not."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read