My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 324: Epilogue (Part I)

Chapter 324: Epilogue (Part I)

Throughout Leonor’s pregnancy, Desmond felt on edge constantly.

Not only did he treat her as fragile as glass, but whenever she even so much as moved in a way that wasn’t walking in a straight line, he would be at her side, worried that something was going to happen.

To say Leonor wasn’t annoyed by the end of it was an understatement.

However, as she approached the end and it hurt to do anything, she found that having a doting husband wasn’t such a bad thing, after all. He was more useful than maids and reachable whenever she sent Eve to fetch him.

Considering it was he who put her in that position in the first place, she felt it fair to burden him at least a little bit.

There was a physician and a healer in the room with Leonor while she gave birth as well as two maids. It was late afternoon when her water broke and not until the early morning that she was able to push.

Desmond was worrying too much so he was asked to step in the hallway.

By that time, the duchess was exhausted. All she wanted to do was close her eyes and go to sleep but she had the maids and physician on either side of her, offering words of encouragement.

"I can’t do it," she insisted over and over. "There’s just no way."

Beth was at her side, holding her hand and offering her words of encouragement.

"Are you sure you don’t want the healer to offer you enchantment magic?"

That was enough for Leonor to keep going. She had heard before that there were complications involved when it came to mana and childbirth. If she came to the Earth without it, she could do it too.

The pregnancy had been better than the ones she witnessed her mother have to go through.

With newfound determination, the duchess managed to push until she was crowning and the worst searing pain she had ever felt in her life overtook her entirely. It only lasted for a moment before the rest of the baby came out.

"A son!" Beth cried. "Your Grace you did—! What on Earth?"

Leonor wasn’t finished pushing. The physician was expecting her placenta, but next came a baby smaller than the last. He was quick to pass off the boy to a maid to clean up while the duchess gave birth to her second child. Not without a few good grunts and yells from Leonor.

With Leonor’s last yell, the doors on the balcony opened, and in came the smell of late summer lilacs.

At one point in her pregnancy, she was starting to miss the smell and Desmond found a way to bring in full-grown bushes so his wife would have the scent once summer rolled around.

Tears fell down the duchess’ cheeks. For some reason, it felt like her mother was there with her.

Desmond heard each noise through the door. With Stephano and Quinn on either side of him, he had to be held back. He was already told multiple times that he was getting in the way of the healer and physician and it was better to stay out in the hallway.

"I can’t believe it, Your Grace," Beth uttered, her eyes full of tears. "A girl as well. We thought your child had so much room in there but there were two crowded after all."

Leonor was pleased for a moment, but she soon fell out of consciousness. She was thoroughly exhausted and didn’t come to until a few moments later when a warm baby was placed on her chest then another.

Her arms were trembling because of the fatigue but she did her best to hold on. Beth made sure the babies were handled with care and that their mother who had worked so very hard was able to hold them correctly.

"They’re so small," Leonor whispered.

Her eyes were full of tears. How strange it was that only moments before, she was certain she was going to die before being able to meet the babies. The determination she felt was otherworldly and didn’t feel like her own. They had pushed shut the door—a door that had never once been blown open in such a way.

Leonor was unable to dwell on what happened because Desmond rushed into the room when he was given permission.

It didn’t help that the physician came rushing out of the room with his shirt covered in blood. Desmond thought for certain something awful had happened.

"Two?" the duke asked in disbelief. "How did we not know?"

Neither one of them was able to answer because when Desmond made it to his wife’s bedside, he was overwhelmed entirely and held one of the babies so the burden wasn’t all on Leonor.

"I love you so much," he uttered to the three loves of his life.

He was surrounded by his beautiful family. The love felt physically palpable.

At first, Desmond was terrified of harming his children, but he miraculously became the master of holding babies.

Parenthood was difficult at the beginning with only one baby to worry about but they had double the challenges as Leonor learned how to feed her children. It was so hard to keep up with their demands at first but fortunately, a few weeks of adjustment helped the couple a lot.

Leonor was always grateful to be born with the privileges she had but having a nursemaid and nanny for her babies was sent from heaven. When it got too overwhelming, there was always an extra set of hands to help her through it all.

When the babies were a month old, the entire kingdom was privy to the fact that Montclair was strong and there was not only one eligible heir but two. They thought they had offset a problem by allowing Eamon to go to the palace with Stephano and Quinn, but there was more to think about once again.

In early autumn letter came to Montclair from Count Mikael von Burien, to everyone’s surprise. Leonor assumed he was reaching out with an olive branch and congratulations but the truth was stranger than that.