It has been a few months since Elenor was engaged with Alec. Immediately the day after being engaged, Alec had already ordered his men to take all her belongings from the Marquess' household into his place.
"Wait- what about my parents and brother!?" she tried to reason but her parents waved goodbye to her, tears welling up in their eyes as they sent her off.
"Remember to always visit us!!" they cried out, hugging her.
Her brother, Richard was busy taking care of his work as he was now the Marquess, their father finally retiring once Elenor woke up from her coma. He only found out that Alec had taken (stolen) his little sister away once he returned back home and without wasting time, he went to the household, demanding his little sister to stay with them until their wedding.
"My apologies, brother-in-law but Elenor herself said she would like to stay with me." Alec said, flatly.
Elenor who was standing beside Alec nearly dropped her jaw to the ground as she listened to him utter lies to Richard.
'I never said that!?'
Richard turned to Elenor with sad downturned eyes, "Did..did you really say that?"
Elenor was about to reply to him, exposing Alec's lie but when she noticed his gaze on her which felt extremely pressuring, she swallowed back her words and said,
"..Yes..."
Thanks to her answer, Richard reluctantly returned back to the Marquess' household, empty handed.
Elenor could tell she said the right answer as she felt the aura around Alec seemed to have brightened up. The servants and workers working in the Duke Cullingford's household were all hand picked by Alec himself along with a few that used to be victims of Hera's abuse who decided to follow under him.
Elenor grew used to the new environment she was in and became laidback, lounging around, spending her time either napping or doing nothing. Her three maids which she was the closest with, Alice, Paige and Denice followed her claiming that they would follow her wherever she went.
"Madam, I heard that someone who was a Count's son tried to propose to Lady Isabella!!" Denice mentioned as they were dressing her up after her bath.
Elenor sighed, shaking her head. "Just call me miss, I am only engaged not married. I also heard this from Isabella, she came to me immediately after he proposed. She said he was disgusting as he tried to kiss up to her."
Alice lightly giggled, combing her hair slowly, "Lady Isabella really likes Lord Richard doesn't she?"
Elenor smiled brightly, "That's right, I hope the two will be able to be together."
Paige chuckled at their miss' excitement, "Shouldn't you be more excited about your wedding instead?"
"I am! However watching romance bloom in front of me is also exciting." Elenor grinned.
Paige adjusted the dress on Elenor before remembering something, "Ah that's right miss, the injury you had before. It's been quite some time already but how is it?"
Elenor raised an eyebrow, trying to recall about it, "Is it that time I got stabbed?"
"What!? You got stabbed?!" Denice yelled out before her mouth was shut tight by Alice.
"The wound has been reduced to a really light scar so it isn't really visible unless you really look at it. Why did you suddenly bring this up Paige?" she questioned, finding it odd that she suddenly brought it up.
Paige had a guilty look on her face as she responded, "I was talking to Alice about it when suddenly Alec- I mean the Duke overheard our conversation."
"I was talking to Paige, asking about the scar since when we were dressing you up, I have noticed it many times." Alice explained.
Elenor gave them a reassuring smile, shaking her head. "It's alright. This would definitely be found out sooner or later anyway. Don't blame yourselves for this and luckily he hasn't said anything to me yet!"
"Wait, how come you both didn't tell me about this! When did madam get stabbed?!"
"Denice at least keep your voice down or else we might get heard by the other servants." Alice sighed, pinching Denice's cheeks who whined in return.
Elenor chuckled, completely unaware of what was coming soon.
Elenor left her room to the dining hall for dinner with Alec who just returned back from work. She took a seat, patiently waiting for him to arrive but after ten minutes passed from his usual arriving time, she raised an eyebrow, wondering what happened to him.
"Where's Alec?" Elenor questioned one of the servants who were on standby.
Hearing her question, they grew stiff before answering with an unsure tone, "Perhaps master is still at work..?"
"Hm that could be true, thank you. Your name is Edwin am I right?"
The servant, Edwin lightly jumped in surprise, not expecting her to remember his name. "Y-yes madam!"
Elenor laughed, "I'm not married to him yet, we're still engaged."
Edwin shook his head and enthusiastically said with bright eyes, "Madam is madam!!"
She let out an exasperated sigh but didn't comment more, allowing him to continue to call her madam. She waited for another couple of minutes before getting up and deciding to put off having dinner until Alec returned back.
She wasn't hungry anyway.
She headed outside, standing at the front door, awaiting for him to return. The sky was already dark, the sun had disappeared long ago. Alice gave her a shawl, wrapping it around her body as the cool night breeze blew. She hung around before ultimately giving up on waiting for him.
She clicked her tongue, rolling her eyes as she headed to the back of the manor, where a large field was.
"It's been almost a week since he came back home, what on earth is he doing?" she muttered to herself.
She walked into the stable where her horse was staying in. She noticed her horse was still awake and lively.
"Hello Ace, how have you been?" she softly questioned as she patted Ace.
It responded with a grunt before trying to nuzzle its head on her but she moved away, chuckling.
"I've already cleaned myself for the day so I can't ride you for today. How about tomorrow, first thing in the morning?"
Ace responded, moving its body around. Elenor smiled and nodded, "I'll take that as a yes then. I will leave now, Ace, go and get some rest alright?"
She left the stable and walked around before stopping in the middle of the large field which was left empty as of now since both her and Alec didn't know what to do with it. She looked up, the stars shining brightly above her.
The cool night breeze blew against her making her shudder into her shawl. Quietly, she heaved out a sigh. Never did she expect she would be engaged- soon to be married to someone. She remembered how much she didn't fancy the idea of getting married since she had so much life ahead of her.
"Ironic." she laughed, her hair swaying in the air before she felt someone gently brushing her hair out of her face.
"Welcome back, it's been almost a week since I last saw you." Elenor greeted with a smile though it had a hint of sarcasm in it as she turned to the extra presence beside her.
Alec leaned in, pressing a soft kiss on her lips before replying, "Sorry. There was a lot of work piled up."
"That much until it kept you away that long?" she chuckled but nonetheless said nothing else, turning back to the night sky.
"This feels somewhat nostalgic doesn't it?" she muttered, hugging the shawl around her body closer.
Alec noticed what she was doing and removed his coat, draping it over her shoulders, giving her extra warmth. Elenor looked at the coat on her shoulders before a grin bloomed on her face.
"Didn't you do this before but with your worn out cardigan?" she teased.
Alec cupped her cheeks with his hands, warming her cheeks up before lightly kissing her once again.
"I remember. You were also bare footed and I had to clean your mess up." he bluntly answered, pulling away from the kiss.
She glared at him but a chuckle slipped out of her lips, "That's right. You even said you would be glad if I disappeared from this world."
His eyes darken and his expression turned grim. He pulled her into his arms, tightly holding on to her.
Noticing, his mood had plummeted, Elenor looked up at him.
"I'm not gonna leave, don't worry. That was a matter in the past, it doesn't matter anymore alright?" she tried to console him which somewhat worked as his eyes regained some sparkle in them.
He buried his face into her neck, exhaling hot air onto her bare skin, sending butterflies down to her stomach.
"I'm sorry for what I've said." he mumbled, his lips grazing on her skin.
"It's fine, it was in the past." she replied back, her heart picking up pace.
She still wasn't used to it. She doubts she would ever be used to it, in a good way.
Alec didn't move, staying in that position awhile longer. Elenor thought he was acting cute at the moment seeing how quiet and docile he was but when she felt a semi rough hand roaming around her body, she took it back.
"Hey! Get your hands off me!" she scolded, prying his hands off her but he wouldn't budge.
He nibbled the skin on her neck, creating a small hickey, his hands stroking her back before making way down to her thighs, slipping inside her dress.
Elenor smacked him on the head, trying to stop him. He finally stopped and lifted his head up close to hers, his hand still.
"Get your hands off me, Alec. We promised only after we got married!" Elenor huffed, glaring at him.
Alec's eyes bore into hers silently. His hand moved once more but only around one spot of her body. Elenor furrowed her brows together before realising where he was touching.
The lower abdomen where she had been stabbed by Mille before.
"I heard from Paige that you got stabbed here, am I right?" he asked, his hand never leaving the spot.
Elenor averted her eyes away, nervously chuckling as she knew what he was talking about. Alec's fingers continued grazing against the light bump scar, his facial expressions growing darker and darker.
"Hyejin." his voice rumbled, almost coming off as a low growl.
Elenor sighed, knowing she had to tell him everything or else he wouldn't let her go. "Yes, I got injured there."
"And why did you never tell me? I had to find out from someone else and after so long as well." he said, his voice laced with irritation.
"Because I didn't want you to get angry but I guess it didn't work since you found out anyway."
Alec heaved out a deep sigh, removing his hand from the scar before lifting her up from the ground. Feeling a loss of gravity and ground, Elenor instinctively held Alec around his neck.
"Alec?"
"We're going back inside. The cold wind will make it worse."
"...What? It has already been healed ages ago-"
"It will open up again."
"No it won't!"
"Yes it will. Please listen to me."
Elenor rolled her eyes, leaning her head against his chest as he carried her back inside their home. Alec headed back to her room, placing her down on the bed, covering her body with the blanket.
"Alec, I'm fine. Really. This was long ago so there's only a small scar left." she tried to reason but he shook his head.
"You got hurt because I wasn't there to protect you."
"But you're here now, isn't that what's important?"
Alec kept quiet by her reasoning but she could tell he still wasn't satisfied as the look on his face didn't lighten up. She tried to remove the blankets off her to sit upright but Alec held her down, forcing her to lay on the bed.
"Stay in bed. If you move more the scar might open up."
"You're being ridiculous, a scar won't open up once it's been healed fully and mine has already been healed."
"Hyejin."
Elenor pulled Alec closer to her, "I know you feel like it's your fault and you think it isn't right for me to get hurt but if you were in my shoes, you wouldn't care if you got hurt as long as that person you care for is safe right?"
Alec slowly nodded.
"Exactly, that's the same for me. I wouldn't care if I got hurt if I can protect someone I care about."
Alec sighed again before pulling her into a hug, "I know but I hate it.. I hate it when you get hurt, it physically hurts me, Hyejin."
Elenor hummed in response, hugging him back, running her fingers through his hair, comforting him. Comfortable silence fell over them as they embraced one another.
"Hyejin,"
"Yes Alec?"
"I love you."
"Hm, I love you too."
"I love you so much."
"Me too."
"I truly love you."
Elenor stifled her laugh back, responding to him again, "Yes, me too."
Alec pulled away from the hug, a deadpan look on his face, "I know you're holding in your laugh."
Unable to hold it in anymore, Elenor burst into laughter, clutching her stomach as she laughed with her whole body.
"What's so funny?" he raised an eyebrow, his voice almost sounding whiny.
Elenor tried to calm herself down before answering his question, "Be..because of how cute you are."
Alec frowned but it only made her laugh more. Tears welled up in her eyes as she kept laughing.
Alec couldn't take it any longer, diving in and kissing her roughly, forcing her laughter to die in her throat.
Her head was pressed further into the pillow as he got on top of her, their lips never once parting. Elenor could feel herself needing air as the kiss grew longer.
As if he knew she was running out of oxygen, he pulled away, his eyes looking down upon her.
"Do you still think I'm cute?" he grumbled, ripping his tie off from his shirt.
Elenor laughed, "If I say yes?"
He rolled his eyes, knowing she was playing with him. He dipped his head back down, his lips back on hers.
"Then I'll keep doing this until you acknowledge that I'm not."
"Hmm I guess you would have to keep doing it for a long time since I won't be changing my mind anytime soon."
He lightly laughed at Elenor's remark, intertwining their fingers together before kissing her again, "Don't say I didn't warn you."
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Author's note: as promised here's an extra where they talk about the scar （○｀ω'）ゞ