"Were you deeply offended by the young lord's words?" Deya asked, noticing her lady's thoughtful gaze through the mirror while brushing her hair.
"Mmm?" The girl raised her head and stretched out. "What are the words? Ah! At dinner? You should know that I've heard more than that. Would he say something new…All right! Better tell me if what I asked you for is ready. It's not for nothing that I came to Relasia."
"Yes, my lady. I managed to contact the person you need and arrange a meeting. It's going to take place in that underground old store." Veronica nodded. "Are you sure you want to go alone?"
"Quite. In case of what, I took my uncle's gift with me."
"I'm sorry for the impertinence, my lady, but why don't you just ask His Highn…"
"Oh damn, no, no!" Veronica interrupted her, frowning. "Don't mention this snake to me! Well, I'll ask him once or twice, but what does he do? He'll tighten the leash and remember it for the rest of his life, and at the most inopportune moment. That little thing and how much it cost...! Br!" The girl shuddered as soon as she remembered this.
Deya touched on the girl's sore point, that she began to gesticulate very actively, expressing all her dissatisfaction.
"He didn't send any letters, did he?" With vague caution and expectation, she glanced at the maid
"As you ordered, I burn every letter he wrote. But if you're interested, he sent a congratulatory letter for the wedding..." she left the sentence unsaid, watching her lady's reaction.
"It's not interesting. Keep burning. "
"As you command, milady."
There's a knock on the door. Without a formal "can I come in?"or "come in," the door opened.
"Leave us alone." Leon's voice sounded hollow.
Wearily and irritably, he pulled back his tie, freeing his throat. Leon slowly sat down on the soft bed. Veronica continued brushing her black hair without looking up at the guy.
It had been only the two of them in the room for a long time, but Leon remained silent. The girl didn't even want to look at him. Even his breathing was annoying.
"If you have nothing to say, then I'm going to sleep. "
"What happened at dinner? " Finally. He forced himself out a little sharply. "Because of your antics, I had to listen to my father's displeasure. Choose an opponent to match yourself, Veronica. My mother? I can still understand, but keep your temper in front of my father. "
"And whose problem is this?"
Twirling in her chair and turning around, she crossed her legs, calmly looking at the exhausted Leon.
"What?"
"Do you really think I should have listened to all that nonsense? Shouldn't the Viscount, and even more so your brother, watch his words? Good!" She got up and walked slowly towards the guy. "Of course, everything they said was true! Of course! But these people shouldn't forget their place! As I told the lord, for any careless word in the direction of the great family, you can lose your head.
"Then why are hundreds of aristocrats still alive? You make a complete fool of me every time!" He didn't believe a word she said. In his eyes, now she looked like the most ordinary pampered aristocrat with an inflated ego.
A malicious grin escaped from her plump lips.
"Don't be moron, Leon. " There was a glint of steel in her gaze. "In such cases, the original source is executed. No matter how big the imperial family is, it will not dare to raise its hand against the head of a great family.
She ran her thin, cool fingers through his hair, slowly stirring it, massaging his head. Leon stared at her with tired and incredulous eyes. He sighed heavily.
"What did you mean when you said that my father knows what you're talking about? After such insolence, my father would not have let you leave so easily, but he did not say a word."
"You shouldn't care about that."
"And then what should I care about!?" Leon snarled and jumped up abruptly.
Startled, the girl took a couple of steps back. Only now, for some reason, she caught a slight plume of alcohol coming from him. Involuntarily, everything tightened inside. Somewhere deep in her subconscious, memories surfaced of those cloudy evenings when her drunken father was dissatisfied with her again
Her vision went dark, and body turned to stone. Leon's casual appearance completely escaped her attention: a rumpled shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned and a swollen red cheek.
"You talk about your books all the time! Books, books, books! The real world is not that simple, Veronica! There are completely different rules here! You're a part of my life now, no matter how much I wish you were! I won't be able to ignore your existence even if you ask for it! Do you understand it?"
"But for some reason you did it perfectly at dinner!" She shouted and continued more calmly, trying to even out her breathing. "Obediently you sat in silence, looking down, when your wife is humiliated and slandered in front of you?!" The words cut into her constricted throat.
Leon chuckled. He looked at her with pity and a certain irony.
"So this is the only thing that hurt your, as it turned out, fragile feelings?"
There was a confidence in him that Veronica couldn't understand. She could never predict the actions, much less the words, of a person under alcohol.
Leon continued to walk slowly towards the girl. Veronica was retreating.
"Did you probably think that you would marry the first person you met, leave your family and life would immediately become easier? You grew up on cheap novels and have no idea about the real world. Oh!" He exclaimed, realizing something. "How blinded was I by my greed that I allowed a man like you to cloud my mind!"
"So let's get divorced. " Veronica only added oil to the fire with her provocative remarks.
The guy's eyes flashed. He chuckled again, barely able to contain his laughter. Leon stroked Veronica's cool pale cheek with his big, hot hand.
"It feels like you weren't listening to me at all." His unexpectedly softened voice had a strange effect on the girl. "Marriage is not a toy that can be thrown away at will desire. And didn't you say on our wedding night that you belong to me now?"
He whispered the last words on her lips, intending to kiss her the next second. A hot tear rolled down Veronica's cheek. She turned away.
"Don't you dare touch me. Especially under alcohol. It's disgusting." She forced out the words in an icy voice.
Leon froze.
For a while she could still feel his hot breath on her cheek. Her ears and temples were pounding furiously. Veronica couldn't figure out where this drumming was coming from.
With sharp movements, the guy slowly pulled away, overpowering himself. With a heavy sigh, he combed his hair back and, taking a couple of steps back, turned around and left the room.
Completely not breathing, Veronica stood against that wall for a while before the adrenaline and tension left her body. Her knees went limp. She collapsed to the floor like a stone, trying to calm the trembling in her body. Her chest hurt. Various thoughts filled her head.
How could she be so wrong about a person? After all, she had conducted a proper investigation, but... why did this happen? From one prison to another?
"No! I will not tolerate such an attitude towards myself! I will not tolerate it! To hell with it all! To hell with it!"
Veronica slapped her cheeks, regaining her former confidence.
"It's for the best. I don't have time for nothing. At least he won't be looking for me tonight." She glanced at the clock on the wall to the left. It's almost midnight. "It's time to go."
An interesting fact unrelated to the story: to cope with stress, Ethan drinks hot scalding tea. When his master got married, he began to break off for tea more often to collect his thoughts.