My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 86: Get to the Bottom of It

Chapter 86: Get to the Bottom of It

The hallways were dark as the candles the maids placed out every evening started to burn out.

At one point, they used to go out and extinguish each candle, but the duke told them to leave a few because he tended to be a night owl.

Most of his excursions happened at night. He went into the township at night because the streets were less crowded and people wouldn’t notice him as much. He held meetings unusually late if he had to face other nobles.

It certainly didn’t help his reputation as a creature of the night, but he was past trying to prove himself to others. The only person he wanted to be worthy of was Leonor.

Yet she skipped dinner and didn’t tell him why. His worries were through the roof.

He had witnessed her use her magic and thought nothing of it because she studied at the Magic Academy for so long.

However, hearing that she slept through dinner took him back to the first time she showed him her magic. She was depleted by such a small amount of mana use. He felt helpless back then and he felt helpless even as a duke.

There were a few things money couldn’t buy, he was learning.

Originally, he thought he might go to the kitchen and grab something to eat, but he found himself bypassing that area of his estate and walking towards the duchess’ wing. He wanted to see her and make sure she was alright.

Yet there was an underlying worry that she found something out and was avoiding him. Although he wasn’t sure what would be enough for her to ignore him and go to sleep instead.

Much of the time, his thoughts were unfocused and often racing. It only got worse when he thought of Leonor being upset with him because of all he had concealed from her.

When he made it to her door, all he could do was pause with his hand on the door handle. He didn’t have permission to enter. It would be extremely invasive if he walked in without asking.

He was worried as much as he was scared and all it did was give him pause as he anxiously stood at the door, staring down at his scarred hand grasping the bronze handle.

Eventually, he decided it was an overreaction to wait there or knock if she was sleeping. All he wanted for her was to feel safe and secure in his home. She didn’t want him hawking over her like her father once did, that much was certain.

Rather than seeking Leonor directly, Desmond had another solution.

Without a second thought, he strode back down the duchess’ wing and towards the heart of the Montclair Estate. His long legs took him out of the front entrance where he started walking towards the stables on the edge of his personal property.

It wasn’t sitting right with him. He needed to see what happened at the orphanage to settle his mind.

+

Leonor avoiding dinner wasn’t entirely intentional.

After returning from the township, she found herself gravitating towards her bed after being under such heavy emotion on the carriage ride back to the estate.

The books she normally read didn’t sound appealing when she lay down on top of the bed cover, fully dressed and not intending to sleep. It felt particularly like a cloud that fell from heaven. She couldn’t resist when she was pulled into a nap.

She told herself she would just stay there for a little while but ended up falling asleep for a long time.

It was completely dark when she woke up and, in a panic, she lit up the healing mana in her hands. It was just enough to freshen up the flower.

She felt a bit depleted from using more healing mana than normal because it wasn’t the type of magic that came to her most naturally and didn’t spend years in the academy training to widen that pool or use it more efficiently - to Quinn’s chagrin.

However, the most alarming feeling wasn’t her almost being too late to save the lilac bud from certain death - she felt unbelievably guilty for not telling Desmond she was tired and wouldn’t make it to dinner. It was alarming that she was more worried about him than all she had felt for Valerio that day.

Desmond was her reality, Valerio was, unfortunately, far from it.

She had managed to make him her highest priority until she heard about Valerio from someone and her charade came unraveled before she could say anything about it.

Without thinking of whether her dress was disheveled or her hair was a mess, she stood up and rushed out of her room, hoping to find the duke and explain that she had been tired that day. That was all.

The hallway was dark and she had a good measure of just how late it was.

Would he be upset with her for being disrespectful? The more she got to know him, the more she doubted that would be the case.

Leonor grabbed her skirts so she wouldn’t trip over them as she went forth.

A maid who was finishing up a few things that evening stopped and greeted Leonor.

"Is there something I can do for you, your grace?" she asked.

"Where is his grace?" Leonor asked, breathlessly.

"He left a couple of minutes ago," the maid explained.

"Thank you," Leonor said, her voice dejected.

She kept going.

However, once she made it to the heart of the estate and rushed down the stairs towards the front entrance, she was stopped by one of the usual guards who stayed at the front of the estate at night.

"Your grace," he said to her. "It’s dangerous to go out alone at this hour."

While he couldn’t actually tell her what to do, he could warn her that it wasn’t safe if she went out alone at night even with the guards constantly guarding the walls of the Montclair’s personal property.

It was an order directly from Duke Desmond to make sure Leonor was never in danger. Guards had failed her in the past and he was determined not to be one of those for her.

"Has the duke already gone?" she asked.

"He has, my lady," the guard explained.

Leonor’s shoulders slumped. She was too late to explain herself to him. It felt like the progress they had was for nothing.

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