They peacefully continued their journey to the Sylfinnier's Castle. From time to time the Duke would show interesting places to Marianne, things that would pick her interest and made her pay attention to what was outside.
Orland felt delighted to see how her eyes blinked as they took in the sights. Innocent and pure, the eyes would stare intently at every little thing.
The closer the got to the Duchy the less energetic she became. Seeing how It ended in her fighting against sleepiness, the way she began to doze off, invoked those memories from a far past. The clear image of her small body trying to stay awake, seated on the couch of his office, waiting for the time when he would ask Thomas for the vanilla cookies she liked was displayed in his head, causing loneliness to arise as the precious memory faded.
As a reflex action the words he would always say to her… came out.
"Sweet child, you may go to sleep…."
