Zelda nearly dropped her whisk when Leopold came crashing down onto the cobblestone path with a thud.

"Blimey, Leopold, that's flagstone, you absolute brute!" She exclaimed, still half-focused on perfecting her cake recipe. Jasper could not help but chuckle at the scene. "Alright, alright, enough with the dramatics. Get up," he said with a grin.

Leopold rose, shaking his head with a laugh and holding a gift box. "Well, Sir, these are some of your favorite things. I wasn't sure what you'd like, so I just grabbed a bit of everything." Jasper's smile widened. "You're quite the character, kid. No wonder that Martinez girl fancies you so much. Speaking of which, aren't you going to come out?"

Hearing this, Leopold froze, his feet suddenly as heavy as lead.

His heart stopped for a moment as if encased in ice.

Vivienne and Percival exchanged glances that did not need words; it was clear Leopold was in the dark.

Percival just shrugged. If he knew, would he have even shown up?

Thomas muttered under his breath, "Percival's as ruthless as ever."

Zelda, putting aside her baking tools, dragged Griffin out from the shadows. "No use hiding now, love. It's not like you're being dragged to the altar."

Griffin Martinez stood at the threshold, her eyes cast down, her feet rooted to the spot.

Both of them were wracked with unspeakable thoughts and mutual guilt.

Vivienne nudged Leopold forward with a swift kick. "Snap out of it, will ya?"

Leopold stumbled into Griffin's space, and she looked up, her eyes rimmed with unshed tears, at a loss for words.

Zelda snickered and finally remembered to turn off the oven while she, along with Natalia and Yasmine, quietly exited the kitchen.

Percival and Vivienne ushered Jasper to the back garden, leaving the two frozen figures alone in their awkward silence.

chill breeze caused Griffin to

over Griffin's shoulders, breaking

said you were alright, so he let

more, she wrapped her arms around Leopold,

aback, was not sure how to

Griffin pulled back slightly, sniffling. "Couldn't you try to comfort me

been the woman who was either forcing him to marry her, chasing after him on a motorbike, or swinging his custom-made

he blinked in

shin, annoyed. All the tears she had shed for him

yelped, rubbing his

melted away as she saw Leopold's comical attempt to

to see her smile through

never to make her cry

tall, he took her hand in his.

beat as she held his gaze, her hand

never doubted Leopold's innocence, and she was

again, burying her face in the curve

hesitating before wrapping them around

them around her waist,

hiding spot, Vivienne rolled her eyes.

Our dad's

Especially at bedtime, he never lets us sleep in

before they could reveal

and Vivienne shared a laugh

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