"What is your name?" She asked the man before her, the gigolo that she paid for, whose task is to only listen and talk to her.
"......" The fine man remained silent, boring his eyes onto her, as if reluctant to answer her question.
Although it was daytime, he still wore a ridiculous mask. Yet the mask still couldn't hide his beautiful features.
Cordelia could not figure out a face of him, for half of his face was covered with the ridiculous mask. But she knew early on, that he was certainly good looking with one look.
"Don't you feel stuffy with that mask on?" She asked.
"It's a rule to never remove our mask, madam." He answered. His voice had changed upon drinking a potion on his way to the red house. Therefore his voice was unrecognizable by Cordelia.
"Ah, so you will wear that all the time?" She asked curiously, slightly tilting her head in amusement.
"Yes." Leon answered briefly. Just a word, and nothing else. His blatant straightforwardness.
"Is that so..." She trailed, taking the cup into her hand to take a sip of the freshly brewed tea. "I see."
"I presume that you already know this from what I've said to you in our previous encounter." Cordelia trailed as she carefully placed the teacup on the table.
Cordelia had ordered tea and deserts. And now, they were amidst of getting to know each other.
His eyes lingered on her, as if studying her. His thought was getting clouded with certainties of Cordelia as he observed his wife, whom he never paid attention to nor given the proper care a husband should have to his wife.
The warm rays of sunlight gleamed from the window of the room. Faint rays leaving a subtle glow on her skin as she raised her head to look at him.
"As I've said last time, I have no intention of sleeping with you." She said, her eyes boring onto him.
The two of them sat in front of each other, with a table in between, sitting in a rather awkward atmosphere.
"Nor do I have imprudent thoughts about lusting over your body in any particular way." She added, smiling at him in a friendly matter.
Cordelia hoped he'd speak more, but he seemed too guarded around her, as if he didn't believe her words and her intentions.
Leon sat straight with his muscular arms crossed on his hard chests. His legs crossed as well.
"Sure." He said, pausing for a short moment as he moved his eyes onto hers, meeting her amber orbs.
"But when you said you wanted a friend whom you could talk to, I couldn't help but wonder. Wouldn't it have been better if you were to choose a woman to talk to, madam?" His voice came straightforwardly, sounding blunt.
It was nowhere near how one should have spoken to a noble lady.
But instead of feeling offended by his blunt remark, the corners of her lips softly rose. Cordelia smiled subtly as she opened her lips to speak.
"Though I would have loved that, I believe that a woman's perspective in a marriage, especially when what I need is the perspective of a man, is different." Said Cordelia.
Leon's eyes lingered on her longer, trying to understand what she meant. His face remained still and cold, but his mind was curious.
"I wanted to talk about my marriage. And since you're a man with plenty of experience, I believe that you'd be able to give me a few advices on how I could improve my relationship with my husband?"
"....." Leon quietly stared at her with an unexpected expression, his lips were subtly parted in surprise. He was not expecting that her purpose was to ask for advice.
Cordelia smiled in amusement seeing his reaction. "Isn't my reason valid enough as to why I chose a man to be my talk mate?"
After a few seconds, Leon closed his parted lips as he looked at her. "But won't a woman be more knowledgeable in terms of seducing a man?"
'Oh my...' Cordelia quietly thought.
'He's really pushing his questions.'
"My handmaidens had given me advices and tried many ways to improve my relationship with my husband. Unfortunately, none of it is near successful."
"And you are seeking advice from a man because?"
"Because a man knows how other men think." Cordelia said firmly.
"....."
'This woman...' He thought in disbelief.
'She's asking a gigolo for advice to better our relationship..?'
"Ha..." A small sigh unknowingly left Leon's lips.
"Let's see where this go." He quietly mumbled underneath his breath.
"Pardon?"
"If I am to give you advice, I must first know the state of your relationship." He said, ignoring her previous words.
"What do you think of your husband?" He asked. To Leon, it was an opportunity to learn of what his wife, thought about him. He couldn't help but be curious.
It was only his curiosity that moved him. He still held no romantic feelings nor great care toward her whatsoever.
'I'm sure of what she'd say.' Thought, quite expectant.
Considering that he seldom poured his attention to her, he knew that she probably disliked him by now. Especially with an outside woman constantly lingering around him wherever he went.
"What do I think of my husband..." She repeated to herself.
"Hm..."
Leon couldn't help but grow impatient as his wife, who had no idea that her husband was sitting in front of her, took her time finding her answer his question.
"I think that he is a good lord to his people." She said.
His ears perked upon hearing her words. He had expected that she'd speak ill of him behind his back and express her disliking toward his neglect, but what greeted him was the opposite.
Instead, it was as though she was praising him.
"My husband, he is respectable nobleman with authority. His servants thinks of him highly, and so do I." Cordelia spoke, raising the teacup to her lips. Her eyes gazed upon the almost empty cup as her eyes began to display her dismay.
"Although," She trailed.
Leon unknowingly rose his brows behind his thick mask. "Although?"
"Though he is a good lord and a good nobleman, that does not make him a good husband." She said, drinking the remaining tea on her saucer.
Pang!
A sting hit his ego.
"He is cold and distant. He rarely speaks to me, nor does he even ask about me."
Leon lightly stiffened as he listened. Slowly realizing and reflecting upon himself.
'Perhaps because I'm rarely home and always busy with work, that I didn't have the time to get to know her-"
"I am certainly not disregarding him as my husband, however, he's really not acting like a husband should."
'Ah...'
'Was I that neglectful of my duties as her husband?' He pondered upon himself, frowning at her behind his mask.
'What an ungrateful woman.' He thought.
'I gave her a large monthly allowance that she could freely spend, gave her guards and servants that would tend her, and she was allowed to do anything she wanted. Are all of those things not enough?' Leon's frown deepened tauntingly as his gaze began to pierce her head.
"What more, is that he has another woman whom he pours his attention to." She spoke with an expressionless face. Not an ounce of hurt nor jealousy was evident.
His eyes lingered on her longer than it should have, his gaze softening as he observed her intently. It was just the face of dismay on her face that was present.
Cordelia placed her teacup back down on the table as she raised her head to meet his eyes. "So tell me sir," She said.
"What must I, as his wife, do to earn a bit of his attention?"
"May I ask you a question, my lady?"
"Please go ahead. Feel free to ask me anything." She spoke warmly, smiling in delight and sincerity as he finally seemed to be willing to talk to her.
Looking at her now, and her reaction, Leon believed that it was the first time his attention was properly set on her, as he only cared about his work. For once, he realized that she wasn't what he perceived her to be.
The woman in front of him was not mannerless.
Nor was she discourteous.
She was not impolite either.
The image of her that he built in his head, purely based out of his own assumptions, rumors, and reports from his servants, was slowly getting proven to be untrue.
"Feel free to say it, sir. What is it that you want to ask me?" The way she spoke was warm and respectful, even though she was a high ranking noblewoman speaking to a lowly gigolo.
'So far, she is not like how her rumors describes her to be.' He thought to himself, as though pleased to find out.
Somehow, something inside him suddenly wanted to know more of her, the wife he seldom acknowledged.
"Why do you wish for the betterment of your relationship?"
Cordelia blinked, staring at him in disbelief. She couldn't contain the small chuckle that left her lips. "Is that even a question?" She laughed.
"How funny you are, sir. What wife would not wish for the betterment of her marriage?"
"And what for?" Asked Leon.
Cordelia's lips turned into a small smile, looking back at the piercing eyes with reluctance. "I only want to experience a normal marriage. If could not have love, at least as far as friendship with my husband would be enough."
"Is it acknowledgement that you seek?"
She her smile rose. "Maybe."
Said Cordelia. "Maybe not."
"Perhaps his attention?"
Her lips slowly parted as she spoke. "No." She shook her head.
"What I truly seek is to experience a marriage where I am not neglected. It doesn't necessarily have to be love, but to be understood and be on good terms with my husband is enough."
'After all, after we divorce, I do not plan on accepting another proposal-' She paused.
'If there is even another marriage proposal to begin with.' Cordelia thought as she heaved a dejected sigh.
The goal that she kept to all herself throughout this time lingered in her mind. Ever since Leon told her to find a lover of her own, Cordelia had been reflecting on what she wanted for days.
'That's why I hope I'll experience the healthy marriage that my handmaidens spoke of. Because I know I won't be able to give the son he wants.'
'Our divorce is inevitable.'
"Have you tried speaking to your husband?"
"I did." Said Cordelia. "But he is always busy. I'd rather him speak to me first so I know I am not disturbing him."
Leon stiffened.
"Then..."
"Why don't you try to spark a conversation with him."
"Will that work..?"
"Give it a try."
"Then what should I talk to him about?" She asked, looking like a lost cat.
"Just tell him about your concerns, and ask him questions you'd like to ask." Said Leon.
"Is that so..." She trailed. "But I think he'd dislike me more if I were to ask about his mistress."
Leon flinched upon hearing her words.
"How are you sure that the woman is his mistress..?"
"He said so, he told me to find a lover of my own because he has his lover."
"Maybe he didn't mean it."
Cordelia raised her head and looked at the gigolo as her brows furrowed together. "His woman told me herself."
"She did?" He asked, his voice suddenly turning serious.
"What did the woman say?"
"Oh she said many things."
"Like what?" His question came quickly.
She couldn't help but lightly frown at the man, wondering why he was asking so much about her husband's woman.
'He must be nosy.' She thought, not paying much attention to the nosy gigolo. But Cordelia was looking for someone whom she can share her problems to, to ease the heavy feelings she was carrying for the past year, even just a bit.
And so she was speaking before she could even realize.
"She said that she and my husband love each other and I was in the way." She sighed.
"I respect her for being an important person to my husband, but she said many discourteous things to me that I couldn't even word."
"You've never confronted her?" Leon asked, confused as he is. He never knew about these things.
"That woman..." Cordelia exhaled in a stressed manner.
"She would constantly find troubles with me, and he'd believe her like he always do." Cordelia spoke vaguely, but Leon knew what she was referring to.
"You've never confronted her?" He asked, eager to know more.
"....."
"I only did once. But in the end, my husband chose her side." Cordelia answered truthfully, her eyes laced with dismay.
As it seems, the words of his servants were indeed true. Cordelia never did start any trouble. Leon felt rather foolish for not believing them.
"Did you tell your husband about that?"
She looked down at her empty cup, not meeting his gaze. "Even if I did tell him, I doubt that he would believe me." She said, silently trailing her hand on the porcelain.
"Tell him everything." Said the gigolo in front of her, causing her to move her eyes to him.
She blinked upon his suggestion. No, it certainly didn't sound like a suggestion, but a demand.
"Do you think it'll change anything?" Said Cordelia.
"At least I know for sure that he'll believe you this time." Leon spoke.
Somehow, the heavy burdening feeling in her chest was slightly eased after sharing her problems with the stranger she paid for.
And now, Leon's attention that she spoke of that was never given to her, was suddenly on her.