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Pairing : Judge Turpin x OC (Emily)
Summary : Turpin has her now. She is his. But she is still so out of reach.
Tag(s)/Warning(s) : Arranged mariage. Some rude words.
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December was beginning, the snow seemed to never stop falling and Emily's heart seemed to melt the ice barrier she had erected just after her marriage to Richard.
When she had shyly asked him if she could decorate the manor, he had agreed. He had taken it as a sign that she was starting to consider the manor as her home. He had not bothered to decorate for a long time. He had not organized a reception for years, preferring the calm to the hustle and bustle and he did not see the point in bothering to make a tree and put up the decorations just for himself. In their neighbourhood, the servants had always been allowed to do as they pleased, but he did not want to be reminded of his unwanted solitude.
"Emily, I would like to ask you something," he said at dinner.
She looked up from her soup, one eyebrow raised in a perfect imitation of himself.
"Yes ?"
"A Christmas ball is being held in five days by the Lord and Lady Chamberlain. Will you accompany me ?"
She froze for a moment, not really identifying the different feelings that were running through her. She was flattered, scared, delighted, frightened and tempted, all at once.
"I... I don't know if I'm really ready," she said, thinking back to the deportment lesson this morning that hadn't gone very well.
"You still have four days to get ready. I can ask your governess and tutor to stay longer with you if you want. I'm sure everything will go well."
She hesitated, uncertain.
"You're my wife now. It would be a talking point if you didn't come. And... I'd really like to have you by my side," he added, hoping that would be enough to convince her.
"Fine," she finally murmured.
Richard held back a smile from spreading across his lips.
The next few days, Emily didn't let up. She worked all morning with her tutor, all afternoon with her governess, and in the evening, she collapsed on her pillow, exhausted.
