Erica

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"You are one frustrating man and for the last time, you aren't indebted to the Waisend household." The Duke half-heartedly glared at Ron.

Ron just innocently smiled. "I better take my leave now. Feel free to call on me whenever you require my assistance again." Ron gave a final bow dismissing himself.

He found Erica by simply following her voice just in time as the song came to an end. He noticed the young Waisend children staring at her in complete aware with wide innocent eyes.

He chuckled immediately knowing what had happened. The noise drew Erica's attention towards him. She blushed in embarrassment feeling shy that he had caught singing. Erica believed that her voice was not the best and after years of not being able to use it, she did not sound very great. She was completely oblivious to the power it held.

Cassius and Edith were completely dazed from Erica's singing and did not notice anything until the girl was long gone. Both of them were upset that they did not get to hear anymore. Edith especially.

During dinner that night with their father who reassured the two little ones that their mother would be okay, somehow the topic of the singing was brought up.

Edith was quick to gush over at how pretty Erica's voice was, yet she completely failed to mention her name for she could not remember it.

The Duke smiled at his children. He loved the both of them dearly and he was relieved that they were no longer shaken up at their mother's accident. He felt guilty that he could not comfort them for he was to blinded by worry and far to consumed in the moment at the sight of his injured wife to do anything but seeing them now made him grateful to the girl who had sung to them.

In fact, he was very grateful as the song had even calmed his duchess. He wanted to know who the young girl was so he could personally express his gratitude. That and the fact that Edith kept pestering him to find her so she could hear the pretty voice again as she described it with sparkly eyes.

The Duke of Waisend planned to do it the following day if he had the chance. When he told Edith this, she was very happy and giggled in delight. His son, Cassius, who was a quiet child that often kept to himself seemed happy as well.

Fortunately, the following morning the Duchess woke. The Duke was the first person at her side and helped his beloved sit up gently feeding her some pain medicine that Ron had made for her.

"You really scared me." The Duke frowned as he handed his wife a glass of water.

"I am sorry. I did not mean for this to happen." The Duchess reached for his hand and gently squeezed it.

"Of course, you did not, but please be careful. I do not know what I would do without you." He brought her hand to his face gently kissing her delicate fingers.

The Duchess's heart ached at her husband's vulnerability in that moment. She pulled her hand away from his lips and gently tucked away one of his loose strands of hair from his face before placing her hand against his cheek.

He lent into her touch and briefly closed his eyes savouring the moment. Her touch was the only one that he craved and never wanted to be parted from it.

"I... I thought I died for a moment." The Duchess tried to take her hand away, but he stopped her by placing his hand over it keeping it in place against his cheek.

"Please do not say anything of that sort. I will not tolerate that kind of speech." The Duke closed his eyes again, trying to hide the uneasiness and fear he felt at her words.

"I remember hearing the voice of an angel. She sang to me... It was beautiful." The Duchess gently ran her thumb over his closed eye in an attempt to comfort him.

The Duke opened his deep eyes and looked at her, a small smile forming on his lips at her words.

"That was no angel for I heard it too."

Before the Duchess could enquire on what her husband meant, the doors swung open, and two bustling bounces of energy ran in.

"Mother!" They both squealed joyously and ran up to her side.

The Duke was not annoyed in the slightest that his two children had interrupted his moment with his wife. In fact, he felt an immense amount of love and affection seeing his whole family together. He treasured moments like these dearly.

He stood back and watched as his children rambled on to their mother. A warm feeling settled in his chest.

"–She sounded so pretty! I wish you could have heard it!" Edith's loud voice pulled the Duke out of his thoughts.

He could not help but chuckled at his daughter's continuous antics. At the rate she was going, the whole town would know about the girl who had sung for her and Cassius.

"Your mother did." The Duke responded on behalf of his wife while picking up both his son and daughter and placing them on the bed next to their mother careful not to hurt her.

The Duchess lifted an eyebrow in confusion at her husband's statement. He just lent down and kissed her forehead before making his way to the door. He stopped last moment and turned his head.

"It was your angel."