My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 124: Subduing the Duke

Chapter 124: Subduing the Duke

The ride to Montclair Estate was agonizingly slow and Leonor couldn’t bring herself to look at Desmond considering how little he seemed to care about himself.

He refused healing, saying that participants in the matches were a higher priority. His words drove a stake in her heart, but she moved past sadness and felt angry.

While she understood his reasoning for throwing himself into the fire in the past to bring a stop to the war for Castille, she didn’t understand how he could willingly hurt himself. The present stakes were much higher.

It wasn’t only she relying on him. The entire duchy would be in disarray if he wasn’t standing there as the leader. She knew that Stephano wouldn’t force her to marry another to hold the title, but it would be difficult to find someone qualified for the position.

Teaching her how to lead as the duchess was impossible. The education she had under her father to take over as the head of his house was lacking in itself. A county was much smaller than a dukedom.

All prosperity would go out the window because she didn’t know what she was doing.

Negative thoughts carried Leonor to the house and up the front steps.

Gideon was supposed to attend the sword-fighting event but stayed behind at Desmond’s request. It caused Leonor to wonder if he knew something like that would happen. Gideon would have certainly talked the duke out of such an insane act.

As the three of them pushed through the front entrance with unamused expressions, Gideon rushed forward, wondering what was the matter.

No one had an answer as they walked quickly towards Desmond’s wing.

Once they were outside his bedroom, the three men went inside.

Desmond turned to Leonor and he placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from walking forward.

"I’m sorry," he practically whispered, his throat still ragged from before. "Please understand."

If he was to get the care he needed at that moment, she couldn’t be there to see him strip himself down and bear his body to the world. All his secrets would be revealed to her.

When the door was shut, Leonor stayed there for a while simply glaring at the door.

Sometimes she wondered if he wanted her to stop caring for him. He was so insistent on keeping himself hidden and never revealing too much. Her heart relentlessly cared for him because of his kindness and not what she knew of him. She feared that she would truly never know more than what she did at that moment.

Leonor only relented so much and stepped away from the door. However, she didn’t go far.

There was a sitting room she could wait in while he got the care he needed since it seemed he wouldn’t take the healing she offered or that of the king.

As angry as she was, she hoped Gideon could speak sense into him since Stephano could not.

Leonor waited for so long that tea was eventually brought to her. When the maid asked if she wanted something to eat, Leonor declined. She was stubborn and would eat when the duke did.

The hours dragged on and all the entertainment she had was occasionally looking out the window over the beautiful front gardens. Her thoughts were racing and she wished she could go out to touch each one of the flower petals. Perhaps she could calm down if she was in such a serene environment.

By the time the sun was setting, Leonor was considering giving up but she soon heard heavier footsteps coming down the hallway, though they weren’t the duke’s.

Stephano appeared in the opening of the sitting room and gave her a miserable smirk. If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked exhausted.

"He refused healing," Stephano admitted. "Though he couldn’t resist when I put a sleeping spell over him so he would at least stay put."

Leonor couldn’t be happy about the outcome.

"Has his wound stopped bleeding?" she asked.

"Enough not to worry. He forbade me from healing him as he fell asleep," he explained. "Although fighting the bastard exhausted me. I will check on him in the morning."

"Can I see him?" Leonor asked hopefully.

Stephano ran his hand through his fiery hair and sighed.

"How did I know you would ask such a thing?" he wondered. "I told him I wouldn’t let you in the room, but I didn’t tell him I would guard him all night to make sure you wouldn’t go in." The king shrugged. "I would say a spell like that lasts around six hours."

Considering the expected outcome, Stephano wrapped Desmond in a silk robe that had a hood on it. She wouldn’t be able to see his face but she would see his bare chest and arms above the blankets.

"Thank you," Leonor said breathlessly. "I’m glad at least someone could help him."

Stephano stopped her before she could go to Desmond, realizing he needed to say more after she commented like that.

"He’s... complicated," Stephano said. "Even when he was freshly burnt, he didn’t want to burden anyone. He especially doesn’t want to burden you. All he wants for you is a comfortable life without worries."

"How can I not—?" Leonor cut herself off with a resigned sigh. There was no point venting her frustrations. It wasn’t Stephano’s fault, after all. "I just want to see him."

"I understand," Stephano said. "Goodnight, Leonor."

She returned the goodnight but quickly left. There were more pressing matters at hand and her head had been full of Desmond all day.

As if there was a possibility of waking him up, Leonor opened his heavy wooden door as quietly as she could.

She didn’t lift her eyes until the door was shut behind her and her heart clenched when she saw the man lying in bed.

Desmond only wore half of the robe. A bit was over his head and the left side of his body was covered.

His right arm was extended outwards, just underneath the pillows so the wound inside of his armpit wouldn’t heal incorrectly.

The rest of his body was exposed down to his waist and the rest of him was underneath the dark green blankets on his bed.

In the darkness of the room - only one candle responsible for lighting up the space - she saw the extent of the damage from that day as she came closer.

Her eyes didn’t stop there.