Touch His Heart

Chapter 3: Devotion (Giles Christophe)

Louis was taught from an early age to be calm and certain. He was required to be decisive with every word that he uttered, every action that he took, and he could never forget the deep wound that all those callous and relentless lessons had buried within his heart, the strain that had been felt with each painful tug at his heartstrings. He resented the scrutiny that shadowed him like a plague as he grappled with countless rules and information that he had to adhere to and understand if he was to properly run the Howard duchy in the country of Wysteria. He remembered the pang of sadness that had struck him like a knife when he witnessed with his own widened eyes how stiff and restricted an art such as dancing was, how sharp and judgemental the words of heartless nobles could be, how doing something that he had poured all his effort into flawlessly disappointed and angered many who wanted to see him humiliated and broken down. No matter how calm, unaffected and controlled his gaze was, no matter many times he was certain, perfection – including utter certainty at all circumstances – was doubtlessly impossible, even if the most selfish and demanding of the nobility elected to ignore that as they sank deeper within their own hypocrisy.

Thankfully, not every single person in the royal palace was self-centred, deceitful or relentless like nearly everyone else that Louis had the misfortune of crossing paths with. And one such person was inevitably, and doubtlessly, none other than the King's advisor and Royal Chamberlain:

Giles Christophe.

Despite his thorough meticulousness around people he had just met, Louis had never had an issue with Giles, even back when they first met years ago. Despite not being cold, rigid or distant on the outside, Giles was easily one of the most level-headed people Louis knew, able to control his own emotions in a way that seemed near effortless. Shrewd, decisive and fair, he was the princess' primary tutor as well as the one who had offered for Louis to be her dance instructor and tutor in fine arts, which the younger blond had accepted without hesitation fully aware that Giles knew what he was doing. Louis observed that while he and Giles had their share of similarities, which mainly revolved around their calm composures and practised mannerisms, their differences were also vividly evident on a daily basis. For one, Giles' charisma was interconnected with his charming smiles, warm approachability and witty jokes, whereas Louis was more distinguished for his sculpted features, flawless conduct and refined elegance. While maintaining consistent professionalism, Giles was a much more welcoming and reassuring presence than Louis, like water in contrast to ice. Louis truly found it rather strange yet comforting how Giles, as well as Leo, could remain outwardly warm and amicable even though he was constantly surrounded by nobles who wished for nothing more than him slipping up and being humiliated for the sake of self-satisfaction and curing boredom.

Deep down, however... the fact actually wrenched Louis's heart, for Giles was able to do the one thing that Louis wished he could have done for himself throughout being surrounded by cold-hearted nobility: save his own self from shutting down his feelings and turning into an emotionless doll in the eyes of everyone else. To feel something besides this loneliness that I have to hide away behind what they call a gaze made of ice... He was unsure if he could ever fulfil that wish completely, to ever feel what it meant to have a heart that was not lonely at all ever again. Sometimes he was unsure if he felt anything at all besides that cold loneliness from the time morning was brought to light until it faded into dusk. What he did not realize, however, was that there were certain people more than close enough to see the emotions that were hidden behind the layers of frozen ice and practised elegance, the warmth that the cruel nobles thought they had extinguished all those years ago.

Giles was one of those people. Those hidden emotions that even Louis himself did not fully fathom were actually one of the main reasons why Giles respected the younger duke so much – not only as a person of high social standing, but also as a friend and human being. With a wry smile, being one of the only people who understood Louis to that extent, Giles secretly wished that those same emotions could move Louis in the heart gradually.