Bambi and the Duke

Leonard saw Vivian stare into space as seconds turned to minutes with her eyes turning hollow and vacant due to the sudden truth she had come to realize. Out of everything they had gone through this was something he regretted yet didn't regret at the same time. The regret was due to the reason he had killed Vivian's family. Who knew out of all the people he had killed until now her parents had made it into the list.

"Do you want more water to have?" he asked her for her to shake her head. Getting out of the room, he saw Dutan who was waiting outside with Hueren for him and Vivian to finish speaking.

"Is Lady Vivian alright?" asked Heuren with slight worry.

"She's tired at the moment. I will be taking her back home. Hueren, assist Lionel today with the work he has given Vivi and Dutan. You can finish filing the reports here and report back to me in the evening on what we have found. I will keep you men posted if anything comes up," ordered Leonard, his voice low for another man who would be passing by their corridor.

"What about Abel? "What if he asks about what was found?" Dutan asked as they had sent the lady for that very purpose and instead of finding the information regarding the man, Lady Vivian had returned back with the rim of her eyes turning red and she had spoken something about her parents and the next instant they were out of the room.

"He will be dealt with later. Find councilman Lancelot, he will fill you in with the details on what to do next. And if he asks, tell him the plan wasn't successful," answered Leonard, his lips setting into thin unhappy line. He didn't know if Vivian noticed it but every time she went to touch and read the memories, she turned physically weak before she could recover back again.

With Sister Isabelle gone, there was no one they could consult and get answers from over what was going on with Vivian. It was understood that her healing ability would result in her already existed lifespan to be reduced but they didn't know if the ability to foresee had any negative effects on her body.

"We will take care of everything here," Dutan assured his senior with a firm nod.

Leonard took back Vivian home. It felt as if she had suddenly turned childlike, looking lost and out of space where she hardly spoke. And Leonard didn't force her to speak, instead, he gave her all the time she needed to heal her mind over the loss.

He had lost his parents in front of him but for Vivian it was different. She had lost the opportunity to see and interact with them. And though she had no contact with no memory except for what she saw today, the pain would be different from what he felt. Taking her to the room, he helped her out of the clothes. Urging her inside the bathtub, he ran the warm water into it as it took its time to fill up. The doors to the patio and the windows had been locked due to the cold blistering weather. It wasn't only cold but the velocity of the wind had increased making the world outside the mansion hazy and white which wasn't agreeable weather to be out.

Weather like this could affect a vampire and a pureblooded vampire a little but for humans, one would surely freeze to death if stayed for more than an hour.

Leo placed his hand into the tub, the water slowly rising in it where he checked its temperature to make sure it didn't burn Vivian's skin but only warmed her.

"Do you want me to increase the temperature of the water?" he asked her gently which would take a few more minutes as more logs of wood would be needed to be put under the heating water that was on the other end.

"Will you sit with me?" came her soft voice, her eyes waiting for him to agree.

"You want me to?" he was unsure with how things had turned out but for Vivian who had grown to know the man, she couldn't blame him for something he had no control of. It wasn't his fault and it wasn't hers either. It was their fault but the situation that had been put across all of them.

She nodded her head, "Please."

"Give me a moment."

Leonard sat behind Vivian as he usually did in the bathtub, her back away from his chest as he poured water on top of her head. His movements gentle on her as if she were a glass doll who would crack at the slightest pressure of his touch. Cleaning her hair, he washed her hair and she hadn't moved an inch from her place. She had stayed quiet all the while and it was close to two hours since she had spoken out her thoughts where he had let her by herself.

Vivian who had been feeling blank and out of space felt her return back to the room when Leo put his hands around her to hug her.

"I will be okay," she said to assure him she was doing alright.

"I am sorry you had to find it out like this. I would have never guessed for them to be your parents, you're nothing like your family, Vivi," Leo's consoling methods were different compared to others were his words usually turned out to be blunt where he didn't hold back what he thought about a few things, "What are you mourning for? Is it because you didn't get to meet the said family or is it that I killed them unknowingly as they deserved it. Or is it that you know you deserve it and it makes you feel guilty to be feeling this way?"

Vivian didn't answer him but turned around to face him, her body slightly turning around so that she could face and talk to him but not a word came out of her mouth.

What was she supposed to say? Her mind felt muddled over everything and there was nothing that could make things better or make her feel better. But Leo was right about the options he had given her. Deep down she felt guilty for feeling this way about her dead parents.

She felt like a bad daughter to continue to believe they deserved the death and death was never given easily to people who committed grave crimes. One mistake and it had costed their lives including others. The pain was there, and she only could hope for things to get better in time.

"W-where are they?" she asked him, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. Her head ached due to the number of tears that she had shed in such a short time.

"Lake of bones," he uttered for her to nod as if she understood.

"I am sorry, Vivi. If I knew they were your parents-"

"No," she whispered, "No. You did what was right. What you had to do and they deserved it," Leo didn't comment on it, "But is it okay, to make a trip there?" she asked him.

"It will always be okay to make a trip there. Maybe once the weather dies down, we can go visit the lake of bones. Is that okay?" he asked her.

"Yes."

"Good. Come now. The water has turned cold and will make you fall sick if we sit here any more than the given time," he helped her up and out of the tub. Bringing the towel that was placed in a stack, he used it first to wipe her without bothering to dry himself. Vivian had always been his top priority.

Wrapping it around her, he fetched another towel to tie it around his waist and then to put another around his neck.

"I can do it," she said when Leo pulled her nightdress.

But he wasn't having any of it, "Let me help you, Bambi. I want to help my wife and pamper her. Won't you allow me?" there was earnestness in his voice as he asked her.

"I am not a child," she argued, her mood finally shifting to Leo's relief.

"I never said you were one. You are my woman which I am well aware of," his words were calm and collected, the tone gentle like it had always been when he spoke to her. He doubted if there was any time where he had raised his voice as she had never done anything out of line and had always followed his words which were always in terms of her happiness, "I am your husband, Vivi and you are my lawfully wedded wife. I will share every burden you have to lighten your shoulders. Everything that hurts you will hurt me twice the amount if I sit here and watch while you are in pain. I apologize for what had happened in the past, hush now," he shushed her when she opened her mouth to speak, "The things that have happened was not how it was meant to be. You weren't supposed to have your heart changed to a human nor were you supposed to come here to live in this mansion at a young age. You were supposed to grow to this age with your parents, to know their love and love them back without having to feel what you are feeling right now. Nor was I supposed to lose my parents in such fashion. Maybe if things had never changed the way it had in the past, we would have met in a different circumstance. I could have spotted you out in the market or we could have met...over a tea party."

He was referring to the dream they both had shared. The dream which was only a dream. Leo pulled away the towel that was wrapped around Vivian, wiping the little droplets of water that had settled on her shoulders, her neck, and her chest, "We could have met in the tea party where you would have head-butted with me, dropping things just like you do now," a small smile came to form on his mention over her clumsiness, "Life would have been wonderful like that but this isn't bad, Bambi. With all the odds we are still here together, and to top everything you are here with me, as mine while we fight everything together. Facing things and taking life step by step since I have known the little girl who had blown her sleeve for a boy who was hurt."

"I cherish them, Vivi. Every single one of them so don't think that you aren't a good daughter or a good person. You are the most wonderful and lovely person I have ever come across. Your heart is so beautiful that one cannot stop to look at it," leaning forward, Leo pressed his lips softly on her forehead. His lips lingering as she closed her eyes to feel the warmth they held.

Vivian felt fortunate, her eyes blinking back the tears that had resurfaced over his words. She was lucky to have a man like him who understood her with few words when she spoke to him. He had consoled her in his own way, making her chest less heavy without feeling the guilt that had built up over the few minutes and hours after what she found out.

But it also made her wonder if things would still be the same between them. Their dream though different with an alternate reality, she wondered if they would have continued to feel the same way they did right now. The way both of them understood each other was for the reason that they had spent so much time speaking to each other. It wasn't that they had spent every hour of their waking together as Leo had been away but they had kept in contact through the help of secret letters which was passed from the butler Paul to the Rune mansion where Nicholas received it.