Fighting Fear and Finding Purpose

"Your Grace," Raynold says as he enters the dining room. "The tailor who is here to take Miss Diamond's measurements and Doctor Pledais is waiting for you in the reception hall."

Quietly eating his breakfast, the duke glances over at Ruby who is helping Diamond eat the food. "Ruby, after breakfast, go with your sister to the reception hall to greet the tailor. From what I heard from your etiquette teacher, you are well versed now in greeting and interacting with people, so it's time to put your lessons into real practice. You are in charge of speaking to the tailor and getting Diamond's measurements and dresses together while I speak to Doctor Pledais. If you remembered how I did it when we got your clothes, then this shouldn't be a problem."

"I understand, Father. I will do my best," Ruby answers as she firmly nods her head. "Are there any requirements that you wish for me to tell the tailor?"

"Tell the tailor to have the first set of dresses done by tomorrow morning so that Diamond will have proper clothes that fit her title." The duke scans Diamond's borrowed dress, disgusted that it is not one fit for a noble. Diamond takes note of the duke's intense stare and slowly hides herself behind Ruby in the hopes that her new father will stop staring at her.

"Father," Ruby interrupts as she sets a hand on Diamond's head. "You're scaring Diamond with your sharp eyes. She isn't as unaffected by your stare like how I am. You must learn to soften your gaze when you look at her."

The room of workers silently gasp as they hear Ruby give the duke an order. Even the duke himself is taken aback by Ruby's statement.

Clearing his throat, Duke Stoneborne averts his eyes from Diamond and sits up in his chair. "I understand that my eyes give off a sense of intimidation to others," he says as he slices a piece of sausage. "I will take your advice and learn to not scare Diamond with my stare. As your father, I should also adjust to your pacing just as you are adjusting to mine."

—

~Earlier that morning~

"Excuse me, Your Grace, but what exactly are you asking of me?"

"The girls know things about themselves that they aren't telling me. I must get them to tell me so that we can fully confirm all of the speculations that we have been given, but if I demand them to tell me, it will cause the opposite effect and keep them from telling me at all."

Raynold stands by the door inwardly smiling at the duke while watching him get ready for breakfast.

-I don't think that he can see it himself, but he's also changing due to Ruby's and now Diamond's appearance- Raynold laughs to himself. -He's becoming more considerate of the girls while masking it as a sense of duty to find out their origins.-

"You must be mindful of the girls, Your Grace," Raynold replies, handing the duke his cape. "They are still slightly untrusting because of our strange acts of kindness, so you must get them to realize that you are someone that they can trust and depend on."

"How exactly do I do that?"

"You must be willing to do something that you don't particularly like. They are still children despite their speculated age over the thousands. They will be very touchy, so you need to be willing to respond back appropriately like how when Ruby hugged you. The appropriate response was to hug her back, but because of your fear of physical touch, you weren't able to do so."

"Is there a way to get around the whole physical touch part? That seems unnecessary."

Opening the door for the duke, Raynold comments, "Physical touch may seem unnecessary to you who is an adult. However, children need physical touch because it is a form of communication to them as well as a way to show them that you will always be there. Of course, you don't have to do large amounts of physical touch. You've already shown to Ruby that you can be trusted by letting her hold your hand without hurting her. Small things such as a warm hand on the back is sometimes more than enough to comfort a child if you can't bring yourself to hug them."

The duke sighs and rubs his nose arch. "So mindfulness and physical touch are the two things I need to get the girls to tell me what I need to know?"

"I hope that you aren't expecting them to tell you immediately," Raynold mentions, passing a worried look at the duke. "Gaining their trust will take time, but you never know with the young ladies. They might trust you sooner than expected; however, it will still take time."

—

The duke quickly shifts his eyes over to Raynold as if to ask "Was I mindful enough?" Raynold smiles and nods.

"Father," Diamond whispers, poking her head out from behind Ruby.

"Yes, Diamond, what is it?" the duke answers without looking at her.

"Do you… not like… me?"

The duke gazes up at Diamond with his sharp eyes, causing Diamond to retreat behind Ruby again. "Father, your eyes," Ruby mentions.

"Ah. Right."

-This isn't going to work- the duke thinks to himself. -How do I change something that I can't see?-

The duke gazes back down, and Diamond takes note of this. Still frightened a bit, Diamond gets up from her chair and slowly walks past Ruby and over to the duke, setting her small hands on the duke's leg. The maids and knights watch in suspense as Diamond lays her head on top of her hands that are on the duke's leg.

"Diamond, what are you doing?" the duke asks, stunned by Diamond's sudden action.

"It's okay… if you don't… like me… now," Diamond mumbles. "Ruby said that… we are… safe here… so I will… work hard… so that you… will like… me…"

Unsure of what to do, the duke looks back over at Raynold for advice. Raynold points to his hand then pats his back while mouthing "Comfort her".

In response to Raynold's advice, Duke Stoneborne peeks over at his large hand before letting go of the knife and setting it on Diamond's back, making Diamond flinch for a second.

"I never said that I didn't like you, Diamond," the duke finally responds while awkwardly patting Diamond's back. "You don't have to work hard to make me like you, child. You are already special to me, so you don't have to do any more than just eating and playing until you're ready."

"Playing?"

"Did the duke really say that the young ladies can play?"

"I thought he hated unnecessary noise."

The whispers of the attending maids catches the duke's attention. He coldly glares at them which makes the room fall silent again.

"You… like me?" Diamond asks as she attempts to look up at her father.

"Diamond, Father will always like us because he has a use for us," Ruby comments. "As long as we have a use, Father will never hate us."

"Who told you that?" the duke snaps.

"You said that you don't like unnecessary things," Ruby starts to explain. "And the maids said that you normally throw out people who have no use to you, so I concluded that you are only keeping us because we are useful to you somehow and have a necessary purpose."

-Can this be the reason why the girls don't tell me anything because they think that I will find it unnecessary? Since the information that they have isn't useful in any sort of way in the present time, there was no point in relaying it?-

The duke picks Diamond up and sets her on his lap, causing the jaws of every worker and knight in the room to drop. "Yes, it is true that I'm keeping you two because you have something that could be of use to me, but that could be said about everyone on the estate. Everyone who works on the estate serves a purpose whether it is to clean the house, cut the grass, or cook the food. Even I serve a purpose which is to manage the people who work here."

"But I haven't… been told… my purpose," Diamond says a bit louder as she grabs onto the duke's clothes. "Ruby is… training to… be a knight…. What do I… do?"

"Ruby isn't training to be a knight. She is learning to be the heir of the dukedom. That is her purpose. Training to be a knight is something that she wanted to do which can help her in the future. Right now, you are too young to have a purpose, so we will find your purpose when you get a bit older."

"Father… can I also… learn to use… a sword…?"

"If that is what you want to do, then you are more than welcome to do that. However, you have to get bigger first in order to pick up the sword, so you must eat well, sleep a lot, and run around in order to get enough stamina to wield a sword."

Feeling the warmth that radiates off of the duke, Diamond gets comfortable enough to stretch her tiny arms across the duke's wide chest in order to hug him. "Thank you, Father."

The duke knows that he has to hug Diamond back as per Raynold's advice earlier, but he finds it hard to break past his fear. "Why are you thanking me?" the duke asks as a cover to keep him from hugging Diamond back.

Closing her eyes, Diamond manages to get the confidence needed to speak properly to her father. "Ruby says that I am safe here and that I won't get hurt anymore. I'm thanking you because you are the one who makes it safe for me."