The Duke's Desire

A splitting headache soon strikes Vivian as some images start to flash through her mind, the load of information that just received almost breaks her mind but luckily the pain ends before she runs mad and she is soon distracted by the sound of someone knocking on her door leaving her no time to truly process the memories she just received.

She gets up from the floor to go and open the door for whoever is knocking so late at night, luckily she has sent the maids away early so luckily they did not witness her screaming in pain if not the whole duke household would probably descend into chaos tonight and who knows maybe the rumor of the duchess run mad from jealousy will make the news in the morning.

On the other side, after the duke left the ballroom, he headed to his office where he met with his assistant outside the ballroom, his assistant was no order then

Alaric Thornewood, the second son of Baron Thornewood, one of the vessels of the Valerion family, his appearance if compared to that of the Duke can not be counted as outstanding but he is also a handsome young man, he gives the feeling of being a refined man and gives a scholarly vibe.

Unlike his elder brother who was famous for being titled knight and later became a knight in the royal order and was also the successor of their father's title, Alaric is merely a second son who can not succeed their father's title except if something happened to the successor but luckily there is a great love among the baron family so in order for him to feed for himself in the future the baron arrange for his younger son to enter the duke household as the heir page.

If there is someone who knows Duke Leonard best then it is definitely Alaric, since he entered the Duke's household as the heir page, he and Leonard have become inseparable, they do almost everything together, while Alaric is sunny and bright, Leonard is cold and reserved and this is probably the reason why they are so close.

Every plan that Leonard makes is known to Alaric including his secret identity, Alaric is not just a confidant to Leonard but also like his second-in-command and his face, whereas Leonard is not available, as long as Alaric is there, he has the ability to make decisions on his behalf.

Alaric stood tall, his refined appearance complemented by a tailored doublet of deep burgundy wool adorned with gold embroidery, a crisp linen shirt with pleated cuffs, and fitted black breeches tucked into polished leather boots, while a heavy, floor-length tabard bearing the duke's crest draped over his shoulders; perched on his nose were delicate, wire-rimmed spectacles that hinted at his role as both an advisor and scribe, blending intellect with unwavering loyalty.

"How was the ball, your grace," Alaric said as he helped Leonard out of his tailcoat, Leonard took off his ascot while Alaric held the tailcoat and then proceeded to take off his waistcoat and hand it to Alaric for him to hang.

He swept his hands through his well-groomed hair giving a whole different vibe from the early dignified look but this does not make him look any less charming but rather excels at a whole different level of charm because he looks more casual and relaxed.

"Entertaining I must say," Leonard said with a smirk with amazement written clearly in his eyes, he couldn't help but remember today's event, his rigid wife finally showed a whole different side of hers different from her usual once of trying to behave like his dead mother.

"I heard that the Duchess finally got angry today and announced that you both are getting divorced soon, congratulations for finally achieving your goal, your grace," Alaric said calmly with a slight bow.

"Not so soon Alaric, wait until we really divorce, who knows? The Duchess might decide to change her mind tomorrow morning" Leonard said sternly as he remembered Vivian's obsessive act in the past, although her presence was not overwhelming but it was still obvious that she was obsessed with him.

"Hmmm… that's true your grace considering how much Her Highness loves you it will be hard to believe that she truly wants to divorce you," Alaric said followed by a deep sign.

He can't help but pity the duchess that is trapped in the web of unrequited love, she is the dream woman of a man and yet she is married to a man who does not love her.

Although he can feel that it seems like the Duke cares about the Duchess but due to how much he hates people controlling him, the former Duke is a control freak, he makes all the decisions on behalf of the Duke back then when he was young, it as if he believes that the duke can't make the right decision by himself.

If not for the duchess influence, the duke would probably still be an heir instead of the duke and despite the fact that the duke has already been installed as the duke and head of the Valerion family, the former Duke still tries to control him.

To Duke Leonard, Duchess Vivian is evidence of the fact that his life is being controlled by his father and the fact that a random person can decide what happens in his life so that is why he badly wants to get rid of his marriage with the duchess even if it means acting out of characters.

He knows how much effort the duke put into building his power and making the dukedom more powerful than before including his private power so has to make sure that no one ever force him to do anything against his own wish.

"You know what Alaric, I think I should go and meet my dear wife, we really have someone serious matter to talk about " Leonard said with a faint smirk on his face as he made his way out of his office.

Alaric shakes his head gently as he watches his best friend and master walk out of the office, even if he tries to hide it he can see that he's somehow happy but he can still sense the faint sadness in his eyes, they know each other for far too long for him not to know of his friend love and hate toward his wife and how complicated he feels toward the divorce.