Leo raised his eyes from the parchment in his hands at the knock on his door, only muttering an answer before going back down to it. It was the budget for his wedding and the feast that would come right after, a big celebration just like he had planned. His new queen deserved the most beautiful of weddings and the most lavish crowning ceremony – something planned for the Summer, as Plaenia was too cold in the Winters, and still had snow falling on its lands even in the middle of Spring.
He moved his gaze again when his father cleared his throat, and finally focused his attention on him.
"She moved in?" Edgar half exclaimed and half asked, sounding very surprised.
"She moved in," he confirmed, simply.
His father nodded slowly, crossing his arms.
"She... moved in," he spoke slowly. "She moved in!"
Edgar shook his head as if he didn't believe what was happening.
"You know, you're just as stubborn as your mother," he accused him. "When you get things in your head, you don't care about anything else even if they are extremely stupid."
Leo snorted, holding back from laughing.
"Funny enough, she once used the same words to describe how I'm exactly like you in that aspect."
Edgar scoffed, and he rolled his eyes. He knew his father had his reasons. For years, he and his mother had to go through running away, fighting assassins and enemies and protecting both him and Florence himself – with his own hands, sometimes – from Blackhall's mercenaries, but he also knew Coraline had nothing to do with any of it.
"You know what I think?" he asked, finally.
"I might," Leonard confirmed, expecting something at least a little bit offensive to come out of his father's mouth. "But go on. Say it."
"I think you're only doing this because you want to get your dick wet."
He rolled his eyes again. Leo knew very well how this probably what he thought, and he wouldn't blame him, but his father – and Paul, as his friend was another person who opposed the idea of Leo marrying Coraline – was not seeing the bigger picture.
"Do you know how many languages Lady Coraline can speak fluently?" he questioned.
"No," he crossed his arms. "Two? Three?"
Leonard shook his head.
"Seven," he crossed his leg over his knee. "Latin, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew and Gaelic. Do you know someone who speaks Gaelic aside from her? Cause I don't. And she also knows some German and Russian too. She can read and write perfectly in those seven languages and some more on the other two, and she knows the Russian Alphabet."
Edgar didn't answer, relaxing his shoulders, and Leo stood up.
"Father, she is trained in finances and knows the law better than I do. I set up a master to teach her sword fighting and she disarmed him in one minute," he told him, impressed. "Blackhall raised the perfect heir to his throne and still managed to stay away from her enough that he didn't contaminate her with his ways."
His father wasn't having it.
"And how do you even know that? She might be planning to kill you in your sleep as soon as she has a baby to replace you with."
He shook his head.
"I know she won't," he answered simply. "Do you now what she did on her free time with the Dunchs? She spent her time teaching a kitchen girl how to read, and used her new allowance to hire her a good tutor."
Edgar raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"You're already pain her an allowance?"
Leo sighed.
"Dad..."
"Leonard," he stood straight in front of him. "I spent the last 30 years taking care of you and your mother. Those men were ruthless. We couldn't trust anyone, do you know that?" he asked, teary-eyed. "When your mother was pregnant and gave birth to you, we couldn't even go for someone to help her. It was brutal for her, you were huge, and she was all alone. It was just me, her and your uncle Anglo."
Anglo – Anglican – was his godfather, his father's first man and best friend since childhood.
He breathed in, clearing his throat, and Leo could see how he was just blinking away his tears.
"She was in so much pain, she just… crouched there over me and I had to help you out of inside her," he told you. "And then the assassins starting coming for, and it was terrifying. And now we're here, and you're safe. You are safe, and you're where you're supposed to be..." he rubbed his hands over his eyes. "We don't have to run away any more, we don't have to fight to stay alive, and…"
He waited, and Edgar sighed out, looking away from him.
"I don't want anything happening to you," he decided. "After your mother… Leo."
He stood up and touched his father's shoulder, understanding, at least, what he meant. His father was afraid of losing him.
"I know," he finally said, hugging Edgar and giving his back a pat. "I know."
His father sniffed for a second and cleared his throat again, giving him some slaps on the back, stepping back.
"I know what I'm doing," Leonard assured him. "Just… Trust me in this."
Edgar watched his face, still looking like he didn't believe his words, but he insisted on it.
"I know what I'm going," he repeated. "Lady Coraline's a good person, she is going to be a good queen and a good wife, I know it."
His father swallowed down.
"Just keep your eyes open, son," he advised him.
"I will. I promise."