Having someone by her side (1)

'Should I leave the duchy right away?'

The thought was tempting even though Amelia knew that there would be no way for her to be able to make a living as it was. Nevertheless, wouldn't taking her chances be better than playing right into the palms of Radford's hands by staying?

'Tomorrow, or even tonight? But what if he comes looking for me? Would he go that far...'

Only imagining it made her stomach churn.

She swept the remaining contents of her glas and the burning of the alcohol in her throat caused her to cough.

That's why she couldn't hear the terrace door opening.

"Aren't you cold, standing out here?"

She only realised the duke's precense when he said this, by this point standing almost right behind her.

She turned her head in surprise and tried her hardest to compose herself.

"No. I mean, perhaps a little. But I needed to cool my head for a moment."

Dario looked at her knowingly as if he knew she wasn't telling the whole truth but to Amelias relief he didnt say anything.

Instead he took of his suit jacket and carefully wrapped it around her shoulders.

"I see. Then would you mind some company? I don't feel like going back in there, you see."

"Of course I don't mind" she answered, looking at Dario as he leaned his tall frame on the terrace's railing with a tired expression.

Even though reason told her to keep quiet Amelia realised that she couldn't hold back from inquiring about what she so desperatly wanted to know.

"May I ask my Lord, how come you don't want to be inside? It seemed to me like you and Marquis Radford were having a pleasant conversation before."

She knew that it was naive, even foolish, but a big part of her wanted him to say something that would assure her that it was safe to stay in his estate, even if only for a short while.

The duke sighed.

"Honestly I find it difficult being around aristocrats, the marquis included. He is however an important advocate of the king and someone that I need to be on good terms with."

He looked bitter as he said this.

"I see..."

They didn't say anything else for a while after that, merely standing quietly next to each other. Dario seemed just as lost in thought as she was herself.

Rather than it being awkward it was comforting having someone by her side at that moment while at the same time not feeling forced to converse.

'If His Grace isn't close to Radford then wouldn't it be alright if i stayed? He did save my life back then and he's been nothing but kind to me all this time.'

Amelia thought so to herself while glancing at Dario's somehow familiar profile. Although his brows were scrunched and his jaws tense the grey eyes that were absently fixed on something in the distnce were soft, gentle even.

'It must have been easy for the marquis to manipulate my family since they disliked me from the start. But with the duke, wouldn't things be diffirent? If I were to become close to him or if I somehow found a way to be useful to him...'

However, could Dario really go against the marquis even if he wanted to help her? With Radford being as important of an ally to the king as he was, then how much power did the duke really have?

'I shouldn't put my trust in enyone besides myself, I know that. So why...'

The conspiracy against the king that had been lead by the marquis had involved getting rid of the duke one way or another. Radford's convictions had been strong; in no way did he support neither the king's background nor his policies.

If Amelia knew Radford at all then he simply wouldn't have given up on his previous plans of treason.

'Can I really leave the duchy knowing this? If I did then what would become of Dario, perhaps even his employees?'

Her face distorted as she thought of this.

"What do you say we leave?" the duke suddenly asked, and Amelia realised that he must have been looking at her.

'Is he worried?' she wondered

"But it's the Lord's birthday. Is that really fine to just leave?" She tried to sound natural when she spoke but she couldn't control the breaking of her voice.

"I think that I have indulged those nobles enough for tonight. As I said before, I do not feel like going back inside."

Amelia hesitated for a moment.

"Then, if it's what the Lord wants I wouldn't mind leaving."