Reincarnated Love: Part Two
Literally never getting over y’all wanting a spin off of Orc Slave because of Dianthus. Makes me feel just so 🥰 Anyway, part three is already on Ko-fi and Patreon so check those out to read a week ahead
When Dianthus got back to the manor the next morning, the Duchess noticed how he seemed out of it. He was hardly paying attention to her, and even not teasing her about how her eyes were drawn to her Orc slave, Agak, every time she passed him. Instead he was staring out into space, fiddling with his brooch repeatedly.
“Dianthus, is everything alright?” she asked softly, her brows furrowed together.
He snapped his eyes over to her, his ears flicked back against his face, pink creeping up the base of them. “Everything is fine. I merely met someone last night.”
She raised a curious eyebrow. In all the years they had known each other, he had never mentioned even being interested in having a partner. She had begun to assume he was celibate, though admittedly she hadn’t placed too terribly much thought into her assumption.
“Met someone, you say? Who?” she asked, sitting down on the edge of the fountain, patting the place beside her for him to sit.
Dianthus hadn’t told her about his past love, and he was still hesitant about it now. After a few moments, he looked up at her, his wide eyes somehow impossibly wider. “When I was young, I fell in love with a human.”
Her face softened as she reached out to him, squeezing his hand. “Oh Dianthus…”
He looked away, looking down at where their hands were intertwined. She was always so kind to him. His best friend, nearly his sister. “And I found her again last night.”
“Come again?” the Duchess asked, tilting her head and looking at him with more confusion.
“Her reincarnation. I found her last night and she’s… Gods, she’s stunning. She’s smart, and passionate, and exciting and just… she’s gorgeous. Her smile, her eyes,” his voice faltered and shook his head.
“But?” she prompted, squeezing his hand again.
“She thought I was making fun of her. We talked for a little while, and I told her,” he started.
The Duchess groaned. “No, you didn’t.”
“I did. I had had some ale, too much ale, and…,” he sighed, running his free hand through his hair.
“And she didn’t believe you?” she asked softly.
“No. At first she still was nice and chatted with me, but when I kept telling her, she just grabbed her things and left,” he pulled his hand away from her, shaking his head.
The night before, you hadn’t believed Dianthus in the least. After introducing yourself, the two of you had chatted for a little while longer, but he still insisted repeatedly throughout the night. Eventually you had left, but not before he had pressed a pendant with the Duchess’s insignia, the Duchess he worked for and where you could find him, into your hand.
“Just, please. Take this. If you ever want to see me, wherever she is is where I’ll be,” he told you, his voice thick with emotion. His pupils blown wide nearly taking his entire eyes.
You agreed, and that’s how you wound up here, standing outside the small manor’s gates after asking for directions in town. You fiddle with the pendant, wondering if you made a mistake. If you should have even come here.
Just as you’re turning to go, an Orc walked close to the gates. His eyes narrowed at you. “Who are you? Why are you standing outside Her Grace’s gates like that?”
Your face flushed and you looked down. “I-I had met a Fey last night and he gave me this,” you held up the pendant shyly.
The Orc snorted before walking off. You thought he had strangely dismissed you, so you turned to walk away, but then a few guards had come up to the gate. One, another human, stepped forward. “Apologies, Ma’am. We were patrolling. You said a Fey invited you here?”
You quickly gave a condensed version of the night before and hand the pendant to the guard as he stuck his arm out through the bars of the massive iron gate. He looked over it, then nodded. “Alright. Come in,” he said as he dropped the pendant back into your open hand, pulling the gate open.