My Disfigured Duke Husband Helps Me Plot My Revenge
Chapter 91: The Duchess’ Birthday

Chapter 91: The Duchess’ Birthday

The summer went on and the temperatures started to rise to what Leonor was more familiar with during that season. She returned to Piedmont despite all of the intense situations that place seemed to bring her.

She was always amused to see people calling the temperature a heat wave even though she could wear long sleeves and be perfectly comfortable. On the coast where she grew up, it was so much warmer than it was in Montclair.

While the summer warmed, so did the feelings in the Montclair Estate.

After causing a scene in the tea house, a switch flipped within Leonor and she started to return the care the duke gave her. For over a month, he cared for her without expecting anything in return. She was determined to be a caring wife even if she couldn’t give him the love he deserved.

There was a strange line between husband and wife yet only behaving as friends. Her care for him grew but there was no way to properly express it to someone who swore to be by her side his entire life but never to touch her.

Sometimes she had the urge to hold his hand on their walks. If a cold breeze rolled in, she would find herself gravitating towards him.

Even if it wasn’t love, it was trust. She was feeling comfortable and cared for. He was her protector and her heart responded to that.

Years before, Valerio said he would protect her through anything and she knew he would if he was given the opportunity.

Yet it was Desmond who had truly gone through the motions from the very first day they were husband and wife.

It started with him harming himself so no one would doubt their union. He protected her from him because of how she looked at him. Each night he slept outside of her carriage so she would be safe. Then he provided her with a house she felt she could be herself inside of.

Life felt beautiful and it felt like her own. Even if she was still under the thumb of someone and he could take away any of her privileges at any time, she knew he wouldn’t. It was so beautiful to trust the person she was with.

The later it got in the summer, the closer it became to Leonor’s 22nd birthday.

After her mother passed away, the day was bittersweet. It wasn’t particularly special and the only person who seemed to care was Francia.

For Count Mikael, it became a day where he would measure what he could judge her for at that moment. When she was 18 and in the Magic Academy, the count told her she should have been making her debut in society rather than making herself look manly with the strength she was gaining while training her mana. When she turned 20, she was practically geriatric according to marriage customs and her father’s expectations of her.

She got married at 21 and only then did he ignore her.

While most would want acknowledgment from their fathers, being entirely ignored was what suited her best. He had only checked on her through letters to the duke a couple of times, but there was never anything more than that.

Desmond seemed to hesitate each time he told her as much. It became clear that he didn’t like her father and it made her like the duke that much more. He was a good judge of character despite his quiet nature.

An observer was often more wise than a speaker, after all.

The morning of Leonor’s birthday, she didn’t expect anything in particular.

After she got into a light green dress that wasn’t too tight or too immodest with the help of maids who were giggly about something beyond her understanding, she went to the kitchen expecting nothing further.

However, the moment she made it through the open door of the nook, she found a feast on the table in front of her. All the breakfast foods she preferred were laid out in front of her.

Despite the expanse of food for her choosing, a pink box stuck out to Leonor and she gasped.

’Pasteles del Principe’ was stamped on the side of the box. She hesitated to open it up as if it were something fragile that might fall apart at the mere touch of her finger.

The powdered sugar coated pastries she told Desmond about the morning after they were married sat on the table without explanation as if it didn’t take a lot of planning to get them there on that day.

The effort put into something so seemingly minor made tears well up in Leonor’s eyes and she had to press her hands against her mouth to try and calm herself down.

No one had ever gone to such great lengths to make her happy. Not since Valerio redid her mother’s garden. That was the last time someone did something for her that required no effort on her part with the one purpose of simply making her happy.

Yet it was so much more complicated than that.

Leonor pushed away the feeling and pulled it closer at times, but there were a few hints every now and then which made her believe the duke could possibly love her.

The very thought made her want to crumble. He deserved someone else. Someone else honest and someone who wasn’t stuck on another person so unbelievably bad.

"Is it not to your liking?"

Leonor turned quickly when she saw the very duke she was thinking of standing in the doorway. Each breakfast before then was by herself. She didn’t think she would have an audience.

Because of the vulnerability of the moment, Leonor stepped towards the duke cautiously.

"Can I hug you?" she asked quietly.

Desmond was resistant the moment the words left her lips, yet he still found it in himself to open his arms to her.

He wondered how he would pretend to not know what it was like to hug her before that moment.

Wordlessly, Leonor walked forward and she wrapped her arms around his surprisingly firm midsection. She wasn’t sure why she expected him to be thin, but he was certainly a man who used his body to get the prestigious title he held.

She felt his hands on her back.

"Thank you," Leonor uttered. "The pastries... you remembered."

"Happy birthday, Leonor," was all he could say in response.

As she pulled away, she noticed his masculine scent for the very first time and she was brought back to her closeness to Valerio in such an alarming way.

With her lack of understanding in men, she simply thought that was how most men smelled. Her heart responded but there was nothing else to glean from it than that.

Pastries weren’t the only surprise of her birthday.

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