My Wonderful Second Life

Chapter 44- Unexpected Feelings

My eyes struggled to open, the absence of the dream not enough to stir me awake. Feeling an acid tingle in my throat, I had my hands grab it as if it would quell my terrible thirst.

Soon, however, I regained control and opened my eyes. Gently at first, releasing my hands when I was sure my previous discomfort was nothing but traces of that damned dream. Instead of thinking of it any further, I concentrated on the boring and safe ceiling. On how the mellow light allowed me to see the very faded details of the walls.

Light?

I raised my head, cursing right away when a bolt of dizziness hit me like a violent punch.

With the help of my fingertips and their pressure on my temples, I could recover enough to see the duke. Seated by the window, a cart with tea and biscuits settled by his side.

He didn't look angry. Which was a relief.

But he did look contemplative and serious. At least his profile, since he was staring at the outside, to the backyard of the house.

And something told me it wasn't because the view was of the exhilarating type.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, his face turning to me. "Is your head alright? Your throat?"

Unable to get my voice back, I just stared at him and those deep blue eyes.

"Should I call for a healer?"

He was about to raise himself from the chair when I shook my head. "No, I am fine." My voice was coarse, dry and very unconvincing.

His brow raised, and I reinforced my answer by gesturing him to lean back in his seat. He did and returned his attention to the outside view in silence.

I waited and waited, sitting on the bed with my legs crossed, wondering about what he would say.

When he spoke, he didn't go far off from what I had imagined.

"Your actions today were extremely dangerous."

And while his words were to be expected, his tone and expression were not. He did not seem angry or even disappointed. He had merely stated a fact with a resignation I found odd in him.

I waited again, forcing myself to keep quiet. Then I waited some more. For the punishment and for the yelling, that never came.

"After what happened to you at that tea party, I accused the Marquis family of assault on a daughter of a great duke. As per the norm." he talked slowly and with pauses in between, allowing me to sink in his words.

"I wish I could tell you I did what I would have done in any other situation. That this happens to anyone. That the punishment is fair to all." He tipped his head to the side to better see me, his legs crossed elegantly.

The tempest blue of his eyes and coat, imposing in the afternoon glow. "But I am not fair. I am your father. In relation to you, I cannot be fair to others who wish to harm you. I will claw, I will rip and I will destroy those who dare to even try to do so."

I caught a breath in my throat, the muscles on my poor legs begging for a release I refused to give.

He took his glance away from me, placing it instead on the tea already served. "I was beyond myself. Angry, but worse than that... Afraid." his finger played with the rim of the cup, moving clockwise. "I reacted. I dug, deep and unmercifully, into anything and everything about the Marquis and I found enough that he would have to accept a guilty verdict right away."

He stopped moving his finger and retracted with an exhausted breath.

"Despite everything, the marquis got a favourable agreement. Some months in prison and he would be free." Each hand gripped the edge of the armrests, his knuckles protruding against his skin. "In the end, he was just a pawn. A message I had envisioned. A cautionary tale."