The food in the Montclair Estate was always delicious. All Desmond asked for when hiring a new chef was a specialist in the ways of traditional Montclarian food. He wanted to expand his horizons. He hadn’t experimented much with food since he was a child. Stew was a staple at the orphanage.
For once, the duke pushed around his lunch as he waited to see the outcome of Gideon giving Leonor tea in the garden. She could very well refuse but he hoped that she wouldn’t. She would be closer than she was while looking out the window and he wanted to see if she was happy.
He was tempted to give in and move on to other pressing work, but he saw the inner door at the hard of the u-shaped estate open and Leonor followed Gideon out to the pergola that stood a short distance down the brick pathway.
His appetite suddenly returned as he watched her get settled in.
The duke was told she woke up late and had breakfast only shortly before. He hoped she wasn’t starving herself because she didn’t want anyone to bother with her needs. The people in his estate were there to wait on her. He knew it wasn’t something she was accustomed to.
There was a woman named Francia whom Desmond hoped to bring to his estate soon. He knew she was dear to Leonor and wanted someone she could trust around her.
Unsatisfied with sitting there, the duke walked forward and watched Leonor serenely sip on tea. He could see with his one green eye that she was relaxed enough for her eyes to become lazy. It was nice to see that she wasn’t on guard.
It hadn’t occurred to him that the garden was truly beautiful until Leonor was amongst the flowers and silently gave her approval.
She poured tea for herself two more times before she seemed to sigh and her shoulders slumped. He was dying to know her every thought.
The duchess straightened herself up and placed her hands on her lap.
Seemingly out of nowhere a cat fell onto her lap and Desmond’s mouth hung open in shock. He remembered that cat, although it was smaller when he saw it. At that point, it was a large fluffy cat.
He had so many questions he didn’t know if he would ever get the answers for.
Leonor’s utter joy was infectious when she felt the cat. However, she only petted the cat once before it jumped off of her lap and started running off into the garden.
The entire time he had been in her presence from the day of their wedding, Leonor had been mostly serious except for the occasional small smile. At the sight of the cat, however, she was happier than he had ever seen her.
He was unbelievably jealous it wasn’t him she was smiling at like that.
How pathetic, he thought of himself.
He stepped forward so he wouldn’t lose sight of her as she stood up and ran down the downward trail towards the pond in the garden.
Leonor wasn’t expecting Eve to run from her so suddenly. She sprang up, feeling particularly childish as she chased after the cat.
While the dress she wore wasn’t full, she still grabbed it so she wouldn’t step on it and ruin the hemline as she went forth.
The cat only stopped at the edge of the pond and Leonor slowed her pace, wondering what the creature was doing.
Eve was always so catlike to Leonor. Her mannerisms were never that of a loyal familiar but that of a cat who had her own free will.
As the fluffy creature neared the edge of the pond, she started to crouch.
Leonor was worried by how close the cat was getting to the water, but she knew that Eve was capable enough to get herself out of dangerous situations.
Curious as to what she was doing, Leonor glanced backward at the estate and, when she saw no one who would take notice of her, she surprised Desmond by crouching down and getting onto her knees so she could crawl forward towards the edge of the pond without falling in.
The duchess then realized what the cat was doing.
She wondered if the duke had paid special attention to the fish in the pond as well.
Unlike any kind of fish she had ever seen, she saw a silvery fish with practically translucent fins float to the surface of the water. It had darker speckles all over its body and its mouth moved as if it were trying to kiss the surface of the water.
Leonor and Eve were mesmerized for a moment. Eve’s whiskers were practically touching the pond.
However, Leonor gasped when Eve started to lower a paw as if she were about to attack.
Everything happened at once.
Leonor cried "Eve!" as the cat tried to smack the fish. However, the moment her paw would have met the fish, it turned into a silver bird and took to the sky. With abrupt flaps of its wings, it was off and over the side of the duke’s estate.
The duchess was so surprised, she fell backward onto her backside.
"Eve..." she uttered, pulling a cat away from the water and lifting her to look into her similar eyes. "Was that a familiar?"
Even blinked and her tail swayed. She seemed to silently say that she already knew the answer to that.
"Go follow it at once," she said.
Without confirmation that the cat would do what she said, Leonor tossed the cat into the sky.
Having no choice but to turn into something with decent speed to catch up with the familiar who had just left, the black cat shifted into a black falcon.
All Leonor could do from that point was stare until Eve disappeared.
Realizing she was sitting on the ground, she brushed herself off and stood up.
She had to remember to keep herself contained. There were people all around who would doubt her as the duchess if she started acting strangely. Crawling around on the ground was certainly not becoming of a lady. She had been in Magia for too long and was untrained in a noble household.
Even when she was in Burien after graduating, she spent more time practicing magic than attending social events. She often wondered if her focus on magic was when her father started to decide he didn’t want her as his heiress any longer.
With one last sigh, she decided to head back to her room until dinner. She would leave her door to the balcony open in case Eve came back.
Desmond had witnessed the entire event and didn’t have an explanation. He had the urge to run outside but he knew he shouldn’t have been watching her.
When Gideon came back into his study, he asked the man to check on Leonor and make sure she was doing alright.