Chapter - 29
"Why don't you join me outside, My Lady?" Leo suggested.
Hearing him, Lady Seraphine looked genuinely surprised by his sheer audacity.
"How very improper of you, Mr Leo," She shyly looked away in her husband's direction. Leo could feel her heart quicken through his hand on her back.
When she saw him chatting with the High Priest and the Baron, she bit her lip.
She then looked at Leo and breathed, "But just for a moment."
"Will depend if you are willing to let go," Leo with his hand still on her back led her from the dance floor to the large stones that led to the outside.
As he moved through the crowd, everyone instinctively gave way to them.
Leo was about a half a head taller than Lady Seraphine. He glanced over her head in Lord Caelum's direction and found him looking at them. His face was like stone, barely showing any emotions, but his eyes moved along with them as he watched a nobody in his eyes walk away with his wife.
Meanwhile Lady Seraphine and Leo stepped away from all the noise. The cool night breeze brushed past their skin, sending a wave of relief through them.
The full moon hung over in the sky, bathing the stone walls in its colour.
They were finally alone.
Or they thought, when a low voice reached their ears. It was a soft moan.
Lady Seraphine and Leo froze in their tracks. They both turned their heads towards the direction of the voice.
And just beside the gates, in the shadows of the tree branch, they saw two figures move. The woman was pushed against the stone wall and the man had his face buried in her neck like he was trying to take her smell with him.
Leo could see the strap of the girl's dress off her shoulder, her small boobs almost visible. Meanwhile the man's robe was disheveled and his pants were almost halfway down.
Lady Seraphine's face went red instantly. How could she have forgotten this? These parties are a den for horny men and women to enjoy the thrill of doing it under the nose of so many people.
"Ahem! Ahem!" She cleared her throat.
But there was no reaction from the two of them, instead, the moans only got louder.
"These guys!" Lady Seraphine frowned, "Aheemm!" She cleared her throat again, this time even louder.
But she got ignored once again.
Embarrassed, she turned towards Leo, looking at him helplessly. But Leo just shrugged, looking at her amused.
Finally, Seraphine could not let it slide any longer, "Excuse me!" she said, "We have a few rooms reserved for the guests. Why don't you try one of them?"
And this startled the two of them back to their senses.
The man jumped back, and grabbed his pants, pulling them up hurriedly. Now that his head was out of the girl's nape, Leo could see that the man had a bald spot at the back of his head. He should probably be in her fifties, older than Lord Caelum.
The young woman, on the other hand, was younger. She straightened up with a jolt, trying to fix her dress. And when her head was visible in the moonlight, Leo recognized her instantly.
She was the same girl who had asked him for a dance earlier, the one whose mother practically pushed her into his arms.
When their gaze met, her eyes went wide. Shame hit her like a hammer, her eyes dropped instantly, avoiding any eye contact.
But Leo didn't say a word, he just smiled, letting her leave without a scene.
"It's all a misunderstanding," The old man muttered, barely louder than a mosquito's buzz, "We will leave." And saying so, the older man muttered and practically dragged her away.
Once they were gone, Lady Seraphine let out a long sigh and almost slapped her forehead.
"Gods, that was shameful," she muttered, "I am sorry, Mr Leo for this utterly disgraceful sight."
"But this is not a rare sight in such gatherings." Lady Seraphine told him as they continued to walk forward.
"This is normal?" he asked. Obviously he wasn't naive, he had to keep the conversation going.
"At parties like this?" she scoffed softly, "It is far too normal."
"Rich man showing off his power and money, meets a young lady thinking grabbing a powerful man's thigh will solve all her problems."
"Old wives pretend not to see anything. This lets them keep their status."
"It's a circus."
Leo smirked, "You sound like you have been through the naive young woman stage, because you don't look like you need to fight for your place."
Seraphine shot him a horrified look, when she heard him, "I most certainly have not—!" Then she caught his grin and lightly slapped his arm, "You are impossible. Absolutely impossible, Mr. Leo."
"So you haven't?" he teased again, "Doesn't mean you don't want to."
She let out a slight embarrassed laugh and looked away, "I am a married woman, Mr. Leo."
"But you aren't denying it." Leo teased her.
"It is the only answer you are going to get," she said, cheeks still pink.
They finally reached the edge of the balcony and stopped. Both of them stirred at the sky, feeling the cold air brushing against them.
Finally after a moment or so, Lady Seraphine looked at Leo.
"In all seriousness… I am grateful to you, Mr Leo. I truly am,"
"You saved my daughter's life. My only daughter's life."
Leo didn't interrupt her, letting her speak.
"She is a reckless girl. Too bold and wild for her own good. Always chasing something more dangerous than the other." Lady Seraphine sighed.
"And it is partly my fault," She leaned her elbows lightly on the balcony stone wall, "But her father… He is too lenient. Too gentle with her."
"He is the one who spoiled her. Whatever she did, he never reprimanded her."
"Using the status of the Dargan house's only daughter, she bullied the common people of the town."
"She did not care about the young or the old, poor and the weak."
"He lets her ignore every rule of basic behavior," She shook her head, "She thinks of herself as untouchable."
Leo asked quietly, "You wanted her different?"
"Yes," Seraphine answered, "I want her to respect everyone and be a better person."
The moonlight reflected in her eyes, it was not dramatic. But she held something more in her eyes."
"You should have seen him," she continued, "My husband. I thought he loved her. He cared about her."
"But the moment he learned that she was taken away, he first asked if she had delivered the tribute to the Baron or not."
"Only after he was sure that it was on her way back, did he finally get his breath back."
"She is our only child," Seraphine whispered, "Everything we built, everything we did, it was for her."
"If she would have been taken away from us…"
She swallowed, her voice dropping further.
"When I got the news that you brought her back safely… I thought I would collapse. I didn't care about etiquette or titles or what anyone thought."
"I wanted to rush here to see it with my own eyes."
"But you know, nobles need to act a certain way. No matter how dire the situation is, we can't show it on our face."
She turned to look at him fully this time.
"So yes, Mr Leo. I owe you more than polite gratitude and rehearsed smiles. I owe you my peace. My sleep. My daughter's future."
Leo met her gaze, and gave her an assuring smile, "You don't owe me anything, my Lady. I didn't save her for a favour. I just happened to be at the right place, at the right time."
"I know," she murmured. "And that makes it even harder."
She looked away again, the wind catching her hair.
"So, I won't say anything further."
Seraphine sighed, fanning her face, the playful, mischievous mask returning. "The air is lovely. Thank you, I was feeling rather..."
"Why did you do it?"
"Huh?"
"Why did you plot your own daughter's kidnapping, My lady?"
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