My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 322: New Problem

Chapter 322: New Problem

In the days that Desmond was in the palace speaking to the Eirenguardians alongside the king, Gideon was finally able to hear the truth about Desmond and Leonor. He immediately took to the trail and went back to Montclair. He had a lot to prepare for their future child and wanted to focus on that.

How wonderful it was to see the woman that Desmond was so scared of at the beginning of their marriage finally bearing his child. The world felt right. Talks of another heir being chosen were very nearly forgotten.

Almost.

When others fell pregnant, Leonor often heard the word ’nesting’ being thrown around. It was never something she looked into too seriously but, the further along in her pregnancy she got, the more she understood what they meant.

While Gideon went to great lengths to organize a nursery for them suitable for the future heir of Montclair, Leonor felt it necessary to have her hands in all other aspects of preparing for a baby. Details down to the smallest color or frill on their future clothing were of the utmost importance to her.

She felt crazed, but Stephano’s permission to focus on her child and only return to him as a mage when she was ready made her feel at ease. She could enjoy her pregnancy as she was supposed to. All her mind and body wanted her to do was eat and eat some more then feel panicked that they hadn’t prepared nearly enough.

Off she would go to the shops in Piedmont at the bottom of the mountain they lived nestled against. She only had to stop doing that when the clothing she usually wore was no longer enough to hide her growing belly. It was something sensitive they couldn’t quite yet announce to the average person.

A noblewoman shopping for baby things wasn’t out of the norm—it could be pinned on the multitude of noblewomen in Leonor’s age group falling pregnant all across Montclair. There was an excuse for everything.

However, there was a time when they couldn’t hide and had to go into the township after receiving an urgent message from the orphanage.

They hadn’t written off the little boy who patiently waited in the orphanage for a day they might need him. How cruel would it be to go and meet him often yet disregard him the moment Leonor was with child? She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if they treated a child like that.

He was still their responsibility when the orphanage summoned them.

As the couple rushed through the doors of the orphanage, the headmaster, Armand, was there with an alarmed expression on his face.

"Where is he?" Leonor asked, although her expression didn’t speak of worry. She was eager to see the child after hearing the reason for their summoning.

"We’ve put him in a separate room from the others. He’s volatile right now."

Pushing past her husband, Leonor rushed down the hidden stairs and found the nursemaid overseeing the children.

"Show him to me."

"Your Grace, you mustn’t!"

The headmaster had rushed down behind them but he was too late.

Leonor had already gone into the room where the child was. All the furniture inside was pushed to the left as if someone had picked up the entire room and tilted it to its side.

"Leo," Leonor called to the child. "Or would you prefer I call you Eamon?"

The child raised his hand and the door behind Leonor lit up with a brilliant golden color before slamming shut.

The duchess tried not to overreact.

"Eamon," he responded.

"Eamon," she said. "Is that alright if I come closer? Tell me what happened that scared the other children."

He stared at the woman who had visited him a few times but he still was more hesitant to her than he was to Desmond.

There were knocks of worry on the door behind her but she ignored it for the time being.

Since he didn’t tell her no, she cautiously walked forward before crouching in front of the boy. It was hard to move like that now that she was in her seventh month of pregnancy but she would still try. She felt so large.

"I threw the toys and the furniture!" he shouted.

With his emotions came forth more brilliant golden mana and the furniture floated up a few inches before crashing to the ground again.

"It’s alright!" Leonor assured those outside of the door that was sealed shut and still glowing. "I’m alright!"

The child put his hands over his ears, startled by something that he created. There were tears welling up in his eyes and Leonor felt so sorry for him. However, as he glanced at her, she noticed that his eyes were glowing golden before he released his mana.

She moved even closer and hugged the child even though her expression was one of surprise and awe. His fourth birthday had just passed and he was getting more clever. Leonor had visited him four times since returning from Montclair, wanting to prove that she hadn’t forgotten about him despite the situation they were in. Never once had she felt mana from him, but the type of mana he had wasn’t like hers. That much she could tell easily.

"I can do magic too, but mine looks a bit different," she explained. "You might not remember, but the first time I met you, I showed you my mana."

The duchess did her best to lift something light from the objects that had fallen. The best she could do was a candlestick that she lifted and tossed to the ground with her blue mana. She wasn’t as gifted in enchantment magic.

"Why did this happen?" the boy asked. "They are scared of me."

"You’re talented, that’s all," she persisted. "There’s someone else who has mana just like yours. Our very King, Stephano the Third, has golden mana just as you do. That’s why I think yours is establishing so early. You’re a very special child."

A letter had already been sent to Stephano.

Everyone who went through the Magic Academy knew that golden mana was only available to nobles in Stephano’s line.

It was enough for Eamon to calm down, but he was still having a hard time around the other children because they were afraid of the outburst he had before.

Luckily, just in time for Leonor to start having pains in her back and, at times, her stomach, Stephano and Quinn showed up in Montclair. The physician they called to the manor to oversee her pregnancy advised her to remain in bed because she was already showing signs of early labor despite having what they thought was another month and a half before she was supposed to give birth.

While she wasn’t explicitly involved in the magic community at that moment, she wanted to remain involved in what was happening in her duchy. She felt so sorry for the child who was simply supposed to be an Eirenguardian orphan refugee.

When Stephano and Quinn arrived at Montclair Estate, they immediately went to the duchess’ bedroom with Desmond in tow.

"Leonor, you aren’t going to believe what we’ve discovered in the past couple of weeks now that Eirenguard is working nicely with us."

Leonor perked up at this. She was getting tired of sitting around all the time. She also knew that whatever Stephano was going to say likely had to do with Eamon.

"Please, don’t hold back," she said. "I want to help the child as best as I can."

"My father’s youngest sister was said to have died during the war against Eirenguard when we were all children," Stephano said. "It was always his reason for being so adamant in slicing down the southerners. However, I found that she actually escaped Castille because she fell in love with an Eirenguardian. That bastard was burning down the kingdom to find his sister."

"So then Eamon..." Leonor uttered in disbelief.

"My direct cousin," Stephano confirmed. "His mother passed away shortly after he was born and his father is unknown."