Only in his eyes

It felt strange to stand outside the duke's office unannounced. Although Gordon had assured her that it was fine, it wasn't as if she was his real mistress like the butler believed. Amelia wondered whether it was really alright.

She imagined how ridiculous she must look standing only inches away from his office door and just staring at it. At this thought she braced herself and knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

The deep voice that came from inside sounded tired.

"My Lord, it's Amelia."

It was quiet for a moment, before the sound of a chair being pulled out and approaching footsteps could be heard. Realising that he was about to open the door she quickly stepped back.

She was worried that the face she would meet behind the door would look annoyed, however this was not the case. Dario wore a look of surprise as if he hadn't actually believed that it was her that had come to see him.

"Hi. Am I disturbing you" She asked with a faint voice.

"No, you're not."

He paused for a moment and then he opened the door fully.

"You want to come in?"

"Well, if you're busy I can come back..."

"I'm not. It's about time I take a break anyway."

Amelia looked at him and nodded, treading carefully in to the room in which she hadn't been in before.

The office was simple, similar to Dario's bedroom. The furniture were plain and lacking of any embelishments. In the corner was a small sofa and a coffe table, seemingly not used very often and in front of the large window in the center of the stood a sturdy desk that was covered in documents. Besides this there wasn't much to look at.

"Have a seat" Dario said and motioned towards the sofa.

Because the seat was so small they ended up sitting close to one another. Amelia didn't know why, but she felt slightly awkward.

As to distract herself she glanced towards the desk, focusing on the piles of documents on it. It was understandable why Gordon had looked so tired.

'Since the duke doesn't have a wife there must be a lot of work to do by himself.'

Dario cleared his throat next to her.

"About the mess, I wasn't expecting you..."

"It's no matter. I was just thinking that you must be tired, that's all."

He shifted in his seat.

"There's a lot more work than usual considering the circumstances."

Amelia knew that he was reffering to the treason that her father had been involved with. She lowered her eyes and looked at her hands, unsure of what to say.

"But never mind that. Is there something that you want to talk to me about?"

Thankfully Dario didn't linger on the subject.

"Yes. Well you see, I recieved an invitation to a tea party from a lady that attended the banquet yesterday. And I was wondering if I have permission to go."

Dario looked confused.

"Why are you asking for permission? In the future you should just tell Gordon that you want to go and he'll take care of the preparations."

"Really?"

She didn't like how obviously surprised she sounded, something that didn't seem to go unnoticed by the duke either.

"It's not like you are some kind of prisoner here."

Although he said so jokingly while wearing a crooked smile, his eyes were dull.

He almost looked hurt.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come across like that."

"I know, it's fine" he sighed and leaned forward.

"It's actually good that you came by. I've been meaning to assign you an escort. You should take him with you to the party."

This was not something that Amelia had expected.

"My Lord, it isn't as though I'm not greateful. It's just... Isn't this a bit much for someone like me?"

"It isn't. Since I brought you here it's my duty to see to your safety. Besides, Paul volunteered himself."

"He did?"

She was happy to hear that it was Paul that was going to be her escort since he was someone that she felt somewhat comfortable around, however she did wonder why he would volunteer.

"You don't have to worry, even though he may look weak he's actually a competent knight."

Amelia's nose crinkled as she tried to hold back a giggle. Only in his eyes could someone of Paul's stature look weak.

"If you don't like it I can assign someone else to the task" Dario continued.

"No I'm alright with sir Paul. Thank you my Lord."

She rose to her feet and curtsied.

"Since I've asked what I came here for I'm not going to disrupt you anymore. I will talk to Gordon about the preparations as you said."

Just as she was about to turn leave on her own the duke stood up and came to her side, walking along side her to the door.

"About the dinner we talked about" he said as he layed his hand on the handle.

"How about tomorrow night?"

Amelia hadn't expected him to place much weight to her sudden request, let alone to take her up on it so fast.

It made her feel touched and she answered Dario with a wide smile.

"Yes, I'd like that."