My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 26: Tangled By Feelings

Chapter 26: Tangled By Feelings

The day started with pristine weather for a stablehand who did most of his work outside.

As Valerio swept the stables and organized a few supplies that had just been delivered, his head was in the clouds. He couldn’t pay attention to his surroundings when his kiss with Leonor was fresh in his thoughts.

She not only stole his first kiss but his second as well. He always dreaded the thought of kissing someone and getting it wrong but she came back for seconds and he decided he must not have done such a bad job.

His head and heart were so full he hardly noticed heavy clouds roll in during the late afternoon. It was a typical spring for the coast and should have been no surprise when the heavens poured down.

Whenever it rained for the rest of his life, he thought of Leonor lying in a field with her leg shattered from her horse. She had finally told him what happened that day and made him forever wary of rain. He hoped that on days like that, she wasn’t afraid.

The desire to shirk his responsibilities and run to the lady who sent his heart ablaze returned. He was constantly on the verge of ruining his life to be by her side. How wonderful it would be for neither of them to have a life outside of each other.

It should have been no surprise when Prince Stephano’s aid came into the stables with his cloak soaked through and a dreadful expression on his face. He pulled off his hood to reveal dark yellow clothing without traces of wear and tear. The man who was probably only ten years older than him looked around the stable until he found the person he was looking for. He gestured for Valerio to follow him someplace more private in the corner of the stables.

Valerio put the rake he had been carrying on the rack nearby before doing as he was told. He was eager to hear what he had to say. Based on the weather, he had a good idea of the topic of conversation.

Concealed in an empty stall, Valerio greeted the aid.

"His Highness has decided to return to Coeurvalle tomorrow," the aid explained. "Practice this evening is canceled. We’ll be back in the foreseeable future."

Valerio hoped elation wasn’t visible on his face. He wanted to practice with swords but wanted to see Leonor so much more.

"I wish you both well on your journey back to the capital," Valerio responded. "I don’t see the rain lasting further than the middle of the night."

"Roads are more manicured the further inland you get," the aid responded. "I’ll pass your message on to his highness. Farewell, Valerio."

Valerio politely escorted the man back to the door. However, the moment he was out of the stables, Valerio threw a fist in the air. Leonor wasn’t his for the taking yet all he wanted to do was be by her side. To taste her lips again and get to know her much more closely was stirring up thoughts in his head. He had to be a gentleman but he didn’t want to.

Again, he reminded himself that she wasn’t his to touch. Observing her was enough. His heart was full regardless of what they did - even if it was a mundane conversation about very little.

However, the eager man waited for the sun to set before deciding to visit the lady. He went through his final tasks slowly and cleaned himself up with a clean bucket of water as he often did.

As he looked at his reflection in the water, he wished for a day he could bathe and groom himself properly for someone so soft and sweet smelling. She deserved him at his best, yet all he could give her was someone who worked in a stable all day. After washing his face and hands, he pulled on boots less suitable for working and cleaner than the ones he wore all day. He left them at the stable each night anyway.

It was time to evade the guards.

Rather than going to the left with the others, he quickly darted off to the right and hid behind towering bushes that had been manicured after they grew back their leaves when spring returned. A guard was walking off in the opposite direction so he waited for a while.

He looked at the sky still full of clouds and gentle rain fell on his face, but a few parts of the sky showed him sparkling stars. The sight of them made him want to dream. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do from this point forward. They blurred the lines of friendship and stopped hiding their feelings. Yet neither one of them could truly commit to each other. He couldn’t give her enough. She was her father’s property to give away - something he particularly hated. He wished they both lived in complete free will.

When the guards passed, he took a servant’s entrance and ran to the stairs, evading staff as he had done many times before.

When there was a moment of opportunity, Valerio sprinted up the stairs and around an empty corridor dimly lit with candles. A long runner ran down the middle of the hallway, but there weren’t many more decorations than that. He made it nearly to the end before he took a sharp right to Leonor’s door.

He knocked quietly, though it was loud enough for Leonor to hear.

Expecting to be greeted with meek words as usual, Valerio was beyond shocked when the door was opened then closed and he was pressed against it as lips crashed into his.

Valerio didn’t know how much his heart could handle as he put his hands on her small waist and tried to stabilize her as well as himself. Her hands went to the sides of his face and he felt overwhelmed. The roles were reversed and he caught a taste of his own medicine. All the times he made her blush were coming back to bite him.

Yet he loved each second of their kisses.

They were suffocating one another with the intensity and had to pull away to catch their breaths as they figured out how to properly kiss one another.

"I’m completely overwhelmed," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.

"How do you think I feel?" she asked.

Leonor’s hand left his face and rested on her chest. She could feel her heart. Valerio grabbed her hand and placed it on his chest instead.

Against her palm was a small beating drum. The sign he was alive - the sign he was feeling as much as her.

"Where do we go from here?" Valerio asked. "I don’t know how to go back from this."