My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 28: Spring Turns to Winter

Chapter 28: Spring Turns to Winter

Their hearts bloomed as beautifully as the gardens of Count Mikael’s manor. Rather than the loneliness Leonor had grown accustomed to, sunshine cleared away the emptiness of her heart. Time became as precious as Valerio told her it was.

Not one second of Leonor’s time lacked a whisper of Valerio.

She knew the day would come when her father told her she needed to resume her horseback riding lessons. Her mistake of getting lost in a storm and injured needed to be corrected. She could not afford deficiencies.

Yet she wasn’t all that disappointed to have to get into riding clothing and meet her instructor at the stables. She conveniently arrived early and slipped into her horse’s stall. Just as the times before, her blue eyes searched elsewhere as her hands tended to her horse.

Soon enough she saw the object of her affection walking through the stable to put something away. He helped a guard with his horse and put him in the stable. After putting away the reins, he locked the pen.

The coast was clear and he sprinted towards the stall Leonor was in with Blanca.

Excitedly, he forgo opening the gate and jumped over the wooden fence with one of his hands aiding him on the post. He landed on the ground in front of Leonor and seemed to be bursting at the seams. He wanted to touch her so badly but he wore gloves worn from work and dirty boots.

"Leonor," he whispered her name like a secret shared between them. "You’re riding your horse again?"

His joy couldn’t completely eclipse his worry at the thought of her on a horse again. Another month of healing and not being able to stand up for herself made him miserable.

"I must get over my fear, according to the Count," she admitted, but her eyes darted around as if what she said meant nothing. Her eyes made it back to Valerio. "My instructor won’t be here for a short while."

His heart responded before his mouth could. She pulled at his gloved hand and he felt nervous.

"What are you implying, my lady?" he asked quietly, wondering if anyone could hear them. He wasn’t sure if a guard followed her there that day.

They exited the pen together and Leonor made her way to a storage closet deeper in the stables.

Rather than a verbal response, Leonor pulled the stablehand inside.

"I’m filthy, Leonor," he warned.

However, his words didn’t dissuade her and her actions didn’t dissuade him.

Before more could be said, Leonor guided his face to hers and she kissed him with all the fervor she had been saving up since the last time they were able to kiss. She thought that once she learned what it was like to kiss Valerio, her heart would calm down. Yet she found no rest as her heart became more greedy.

It became less innocent as Leonor explored uncharted waters and stepped closer to him than she normally did. The dresses she usually wore often had thick skirts that didn’t allow such proximity, but the riding pants were much different.

"I’m supposed to be responsible and push you away," he uttered with their faces close to one another.

Except his arms tightened around her waist and he felt less in control than he ever had before. He didn’t realize kissing someone could be so exhilarating.

Leonor’s fingers found his hat and pushed it onto the floor so her fingers could brush through his beautiful hair.

Their lips parted only a short time later and they had to stand there guiltily as they cooled down.

Temptation wasn’t in either one of their repertoires, yet it became something they faced together. With red faces, they had to continue with their days, terrified of the feelings they elicited from one another.

That would be only the first day they did something of the sort.

It became their ritual at least a couple of times per week. Those days, Valerio wouldn’t see Leonor at night because he claimed his head wasn’t working correctly if they kissed like that. He thought he was out of control.

However, habits were easy to follow and the bubble they thought they lived in was more transparent than they could have thought.

A jealous sister noticed Leonor’s light moods, particularly after she visited the stables. Deciding to skip out on her own etiquette lessons and studying, Anna Maria followed Leonor to the stables one day.

It was obvious what happened when she saw her sister go to the stables and quickly disappear into one of the closets. She went in alone yet she came out with a red face, followed by a stable hand shortly after.

Anna thought that the man was one of the most handsome she had ever seen. It irritated Anna to see Leonor having fun. Leonor could only get away with it because their father didn’t care as much about her. She could be wild and less trained. She wasn’t the one he planned to use as a bargaining chip with an influential house.

Anna came up with a plan after observing her sister for a week. She stalked to her father’s study where he often spent most of his days if he wasn’t going through the township or his lands with Leonor.

At first, he brushed her off, but Anna quickly forced out tears and, at the sound of his daughter gasping, the Count became doting and offered her anything she wanted.

"Father, I fear for Leonor’s virtue," she explained.

The Count’s concern turned into anger at an alarming rate.

His daughter would taint his name if word ever got out that she had lost her virginity. Even though he hadn’t planned for her to be the child he married off, she was taught strict lessons about what was required of her from the start. He couldn’t bring a worthwhile man into his family if his daughter lacked value.

"What in God’s name do you mean?" he snapped, causing Anna to flinch.

Anna went into detail about what she saw. However, she was generous with her descriptions and exaggerated the truth.

Before she left her father’s study, he was pumped up full of so much rage that his face was red. Anna had to talk him down from acting immediately.

She had a better plan for how to corner her sister that wouldn’t force the Count to lose face. It was only a couple of days away.