The King and Duke were at an impasse. They stared at one another, not knowing what more could be said.
Desmond dreamed of when he could be Desmond and not what the orphanage called him. Unfortunately, it would have been hard for an orphan to have a foreign name. He was renamed for ease of adoption yet resisted it as much as he could.
Then he met Leonor all he wanted to be was the Valerio she knew and loved. He felt like he had lied to her when she was the one who made him, him.
If only he could have remembered it all before the King got rid of Valerio's life. Since it had been his name for the past few months, he much preferred to be called Desmond. It was a name that struck his core rather than what was given as a placeholder.
He thought of presenting himself to Leonor with all the contradictions. Stealing her away from her father yet wanting her to remain the heiress. He wanted to rescue her from a bad place yet he didn't want her to see him at all.
