When they arrived at the estate, Leonor accompanied Atallie back to her room and excused herself immediately after. Atallie changed into a new dress inside her room with the help of her personal maidservants.
Meanwhile, Lila brought the man towards the duchess' drawing room before she went back to her room as well to change clothes.
After several minutes, the door of the drawing room was opened then came in the duchess.
The man sitting inside stood up immediately upon seeing the duchess arrived.
"Greetings, Your Grace. Honored to be here," the man said as he slightly bowed down.
"You may take a seat," Atallie said with her usual calm and indifference. Lila went in with freshly brewed tea and left quietly after setting everything down.
Only the duchess Atallie and the man were left inside.
After Lila closed the door, the man suddenly raised his hand and made a gesture. What came after was extraordinary and magical.
Blue translucent walls came out of nowhere and surrounded the entire room.
"Must you really do that?" Atallie asked. This time, though her tone is still flat, it was not devoid of any emotions. Her eyes were not as cold as it always been as well.
"You don't have to worry, I checked and no one will find out," the man answered with his gentle demeanor but his expression was as indifferent as to the usual expression of Atallie.
"Why are you here?" Atallie asked as was about to pour herself a cup of tea but before she could even touch the pot, the man was quick to pick it up and pour a cup for Atallie.
"Must you really ask that?" The man asked. It was the same manner as how Atallie asked him a while ago. Atallie's eyebrow rose upon hearing it.
"Del, you know that this matter –"
"I know. I just wanted to see you. That's all I'm asking of you. Just let me stay behind you. Just like as always..." The man answered unhurried and his stone sounded so melancholic.
Silence engulfed the room and both the duchess and the man just quietly stared into each other's eyes. Both have a tacit understanding of the meaning behind what has been said.
After just a few minutes, duchess Atallie broke the silence.
"If you're looking so down like a lost puppy, how am I supposed to send you back?" she said with a sneer.
"Tallie..." the man across the duchess out an even more dejected look.
"Enough. You've already earned my permission,"
"I know Tallie won't be able to leave me behind!" His dejected look was gone in a blink and was replaced by a gentle sweet smile.
Seeing the familiar smile from the man, Atallie ignored him and picked up the cup of tea, and took a few sips before putting it down.
The man named Del, Atallie's friend, has ordinary brown hair and brown eyes but his pleasant facial features and strong built cannot be left unnoticed. And most importantly, Del was a Wizard. Which explained the sudden appearance of blue translucent walls around the room that could block any sound from the inside to come out. He had done this to make sure that no one would be able to eavesdrop on the conversation between him and the duchess.
Del, upon seeing the almost empty cup of Atallie, quickly filled it with tea once again.
"Del, you know that this matter is out of my hand," Atallie began once again. This time, Del didn't interrupt her. Seeing this, Atallie continued.
"At least for now," Atallie slightly sighed. "It's just that a lot of things are unclear and I just arrived in this unfamiliar estate without any foothold yet." She was finally able to voice out the unspoken words which were always just on her mind. For Atallie, Del was her closest confidant. Thus, it was natural for her to disclose some of her inner thoughts. "Even the marriage was truly something –"
"I understand," Del cut her off once again this time.
"The marriage is –"
Atallie would still like to continue her sentence, but before she could do that, Del had to cut her off again, "Tallie, you don't have to explain anything. I understand that you won't definitely have to put up with the repertoire if you are currently given a way out."
The duchess Atallie, whom he has been calling Tallie, finally stopped with her words. It would just piss her off if she would continuously be cut off.
"Since you already understand, then be prepared for what's to come," she flatly said.
"I'm all prepared before I even go after you. And you know that I've always been prepared," Del said confidently.
Atallie gave him a long look and said, "Leonor, the previous nanny of the duke and the current head maid of the estate probably already did something to inform the duke of your arrival. The duke will certainly be back before we knew it."
Since Leonor went off immediately upon returning to the estate and has not been seen even after she has changed her clothes, Atallie was certain that she must have already gone off to communicate with the duke. After all, Atallie knew how Leonor was protective of the duke and knew some things that could put the already muddy reputation of the duke into an, even more, murkier one with the trouble that the new duchess might bring with the sudden appearance of an unknown man.
"I understand," Del answered.
"Alright, I trust that you will do well. As always. For now, I have to go and will call for Leonor to arrange a room for you in the separate building mainly for the guests. In this way, we will be able to lessen any unnecessary rumors which could be irritating in the ears if they will buzz around," Atallie said. She fully drank the tea on her cup and finally stood up.
"Just in time," Del put up the gesture, and then the translucent walls instantly disappeared.
Atallie knew what Del meant in his words as she spoke, "Enjoy your stay as our guest and wait upon the arrival of the duke. He will decide whether to employ you in our estate or not."
Leonor was already standing outside the door with her ear against it. When she heard the gentle but indifferent voice of the duchess and what she meant about it, Leonor was relieved.
"I understand, Your Grace. Thank you for benevolence," Del answered with a formality that was completely in contrast to how he was speaking with the duchess before.
"I will leave first and call for the head maid to help you arrange a room where you could stay," Atallie said.
"I will never forget the favor that you have bestowed upon me, Your Grace," Del answered as he bowed down respectfully.
Leonor upon hearing that the duchess was about to leave, ran a little farther from the door. She had to pretend that she was just on her way towards the room.
When Atallie finally came out, Leonor could be seen that she was truly just on her way.
Atallie was well aware of it and also had to pretend along with Leonor.
When she looked up, she spotted Leonor not far from the room and said, "Oh, Leonor, just in time."
Leonor hastened her steps a bit and shortly arrived in front of the duchess.
"Madame, I apologize for being late. I had something to do after changing a while ago," she said.
"No worries, I know that you have some other responsibilities other than accompanying me."
"What can this humble servant do for you, Madame?"
"As you know, the man who went back with us is my friend and something terrible happened to his family on the mountain. And because of grief and desire to walk away from sadness and sorrow, he decided to leave to start a new life somewhere. But then, coincidence it was, he ended up meeting me here. He narrated his story to me and as his friend, I can't just turn a blind eye to his misery. He is in need of a job. Thus, I asked him to stay here as a guest until the duke come back. I will leave the decision to the duke," said Atallie. This was the plan for Del to be able to stay in the estate.
"Oh, if that's the case, that won't be a problem, Madame. I will see to it and help him to settle down for a while as a guest in the separate building. I will also instruct the servants about it so that they are aware and be of help when your guest is in need of something," Leonor answered. She seemed convinced of how the duchess explained everything to her in one go. Besides, she already heard a bit of it when she was eavesdropping just now. Thus, Leonor was not suspicious of the duchess words.
It was just that, Leonor was still a bit suspicious about some other things. Especially, did the mentioned friend never knew that his friend was the current duchess of the duchy of Kargaz? Was it truly a coincidence?
But for now, at least some of her questions were answered. And that was already fine for Leonor. She will leave the rest to the duke. Since matters like this would definitely be more understood from the perspective of the duke.
"Thank you, Leonor," said Atallie.
"You're most welcome, Madame." Leonor bowed respectfully to the duchess.
"Please escort me back to my room. I would like to take a rest now."
"As you wish," Leonor complied and gestured Atallie to lead the way as she followed behind.