you've got the wrong woman, duke! | phileo boleoti

09.

♡

fortunately, the dinner ended in peace. though it was mostly you and leonia doing the talking, the duke spared no effort in chiming in the conversation every once in a while.

by the end of the night, the whole situation turned out to be a pleasant experience, save for the constant attention from the duke despite the fact he wasn't directly staring at you anymore.

when the servants started to pack up all the dishes, you decided it was time to leave.

"are you sure? it's still early..." leonia muttered, holding onto the hem of your dress, unwilling to let you go so soon in fear that you wouldn't come back after being discovered by her father.

he hoists her into his arms, bringing her closer to your eye level, allowing you to properly speak to her.

you reach out and tuck in a stray piece of hair falling out of her ponytail. "i still have some business to attend to back at home, i'll be sure to send you a letter so you don't have to worry."

"okay, fine." she sneaked a glance at her father, trying to gauge his reaction but his face leaves no clue behind. "i'll see you next time..." she gives up, sighing.

nodding in response you're about the extend your farewells to the duke but see him hand over leonia to rupert then walk closer to you.

...?

"i'll send you off, it's only proper as the subject with the lower status." he spoke almost mockingly, then faced his daughter. "go to sleep straight away. don't give them trouble, remember to wake up on time for tomorrow."

leonia must've replied but you were too busy deliberating on whether he was going to kidnap you or kill you straight away the moment you stepped outside.

it was only a moment before phileo ushered you throughout the halls of boleoti once more, no words being spoken as you walked towards the entrance.

would right now be the right time to speak...or would it be a death sentence spoken in words?

"would it have burdened you far too much to inform me that you'd been tutoring my daughter?" he asked but his tone did not contain any real feelings in them.

deciding there was no use in delaying the inevitable, you answered truthfully.

"countess bosgruni asked me for this favor and that's it. i didn't send a letter in advance because she said she'd already made arrangements beforehand and told me i had nothing to worry about."

i'll have you take the blame this time, this is my little revenge for you, old friend.

however, he still questioned you further. "then why have i not heard of this arrangement till now? there's no denying that you've been avoiding me this whole time. if not, i would have met you on the first day."

you could see the emerging doors of the entrance.

almost there, just a little bit longer of this interrogation-style conversation and it'll be over, you thought.

"nonetheless," he pushed open the door himself wordlessly, allowing you to pass through. "i don't think we have a close enough relationship between you and i, as far as i remember."

the door creaked closed, no servants present except for your own men, who were stationed near your carriage and far too out to be able to hear the two of you talking.

"then it would be beneficial to create a closer one," he started confidently, "for the sake of leonia, of course." he coughed out the last part, breaking eye contact.

what in the world is this guy talking about?

you looked at him incredulously. there was no way he was serious just now.

by this time, he would have started evaluating the imperial family as a nuisance to the north. what good would come out of mingling with their very own imperial princess? former or not.

"i have nothing to offer you, duke. i have no more connection to subtheo and whatever shenanigans he's busied himself with after my departure. there's no real benefit to a connection with me. unless you plan to dethrone him or some other crazy plan like that, don't bring me into your problems."

you reasoned with him, a bit of sarcasm pushing through at the end, desperate to convince him to leave you alone. to lay at rest everything that happened that night years ago.

but it wasn't just you, who made that time a precious memory.

"leo seems to have taking a liking to you," he offered his arm and stupidly enough, you take it without hesitation as he guides you to the inside of your carriage.

ignoring the footboy already ready to support you, he opens his palm, helping you enter comfortably into it, "in turn, those feelings extend to me as well."

when you're already seated inside, half his body enters the carriage, one gripping the side of the door and the other holding your hand in his, still. when you to to pull away, he refuses the release his hold but instead brings it gently to his face.

the gentle and almost non-existent brush of his lips attacks your senses.

"i hope you take consideration of my goodwill from now on, amelia." his lips turned upwards slightly, too subtle to be a smile but too noticeable to have been nothing.

he separates himself from you, and exits the carriage fully, closing the door after him. your surrounding moves shortly after and when you look outside, the duke continues to watch you leave.

meeting eyes, you look away quickly, the hand he held, burning. leaving you with the same sensation you'd felt, eleven years ago.

...

when you had left, phileo was feeling as strange as you were.

he stared at the hand that held yours, as if looking at it would answer thousands of questions he was asking himself in his head. his hand curled into a fist, a reminder to keep himself together.

spending time with you, even for one evening, dulled his senses and made him act strangely.

regaining his composure, his face became straight once more as he entered his estate and headed towards his office.

he had a lot to think about.

...

not far away, from the second floor of the mansion, was a leonia and rupert, whose jaws were both agape, not believing what they had just seen.

"since when was dad that close to teacher?" leonia couldn't help but ask her father's aid, not realizing he was just as clueless as she was.

rupert gulped, "i-i-his grace has never mentioned any relationship between her highness and him, of any sort...t-this is-"

"don't be heartbroken," she cut him off, "if i was a man, even i wouldn't be able to resist falling in love with teacher."

she had said it to herself as a joke as she couldn't believe that another person other than the boleoti's people, wouldn't be intimidated by her father's personality and presence.

hell even their servants still held fear for their duke's wrath.

feeling as if they had seen something they shouldn't have, the two refused to speak of the matter when he brought her to her room. even leonia had not spoken and went to bed quietly, to the surprise of her maids.

it was fortunate that they were too high up to see the phileo's not-so-smile smile as he spoke to her. if they did, they might've had to call the estate's doctor to check for any illness, mental or physical.