Chapter 28: The Real Annalise
Annalise watched as Lord Valerius took the letter from Mr. Warren and silently read through the content. She couldn’t deny that she was really curious to know what the letter was about but she tried her best to appear as calm as possible.
"You can leave." The words were directed at Mr. Warren who bowed his head before leaving the four of them alone.
"What is it?" Lord Damien questioned when Lord Valerius was done reading the letter. The latter’s eyes landed on Annalise and it made her feel more anxious. Were they waiting for her to leave so that they could discuss about the letter and whatever it said?
The realization made her stand up from her seat but before she could have said anything, she felt Lord Kenric’s hand taking a hold of her arm as he made her sit down. She looked at her husband in confusion and found him looking back at her with warm eyes.
She didn’t even notice when he changed seats with Lord Damien because as far as she could tell, Lord Damien was still sitting beside her a couple of seconds ago but now it was Lord Kenric sitting there on his seat.
"Where are you going?" He asked as if he had no idea about why she was leaving.
"I... I was leaving so that My Lords can discuss about the letter..." Annalise mumbled as she quickly glanced at Lord Valerius and Lord Damien. The other two lords had their attention pointed at her and Lord Kenric.
She heard a sigh leaving Kenric’s lips and it made her return her attention to him. "What are we going to do with you, my silly little bird." It wasn’t really a question but Annalise was too distracted by his ’my silly little bird’ to pay attention to anything else.
"You don’t have to leave. Unless we specifically tell you to leave a place, you don’t have to leave if you don’t want to. The letter is from the Palace and you have the right to know what it says unless it’s mentioned otherwise in the letter." Kenric tried to get some sense inside her head that was too muddled with the teachings of ’How to be a perfect wife and a modest woman’.
She felt a warm touch on the back of her head which made her turn her attention towards her other side where Lord Valerius was sitting. He had one of his hands placed at the back of her head as he spoke, "I hope we aren’t asking too much from you, but can you try to not be so closed off, Annalise? We want to see the real you, the one that you are hiding under the weight of the rules and regulations that you have been taught to follow ever since you were a child."
"This is not the Palace, nor the Grand Duke’s mansion. This is your home where you can live just the way you want. No one here is going to judge you or question your choices, not even us. So please, don’t try to be someone who isn’t you. I want to meet my real wife, the real Annalise."