Sunil

She couldn't help but laugh at him saying that it was passing judgement, "No, I'm here to record how you're acting in an impartial manner and report back to the Clergy. And perhaps try to help you with whatever you might still need to learn, or give advise or whatever it is I might be needed for. I don't really know, I've never had to do this before," she would say with a shrug. He could think whatever he wanted to, but she didn't have the power to strip his title. She might be able to sway the Clergy's mind in one direction or another but she would rather try to remain impartial from here on out.

She would blink when he said that he thought her job was to hover over him, "No, it's not. If I'm hovering over you how are you supposed to be a Marquess?" she would ask rhetorically before continuing out of the dining hall. She knew that this was going to be difficult, but now realized that it was probably her own fault. She would shake her head slightly with a sigh before walking down the hall that she had found herself in. She was trying to think of ways to fix her mistake, though she was coming up with a blank; sure she'd been forced to apologize to people before, but never somebody so prickly. She didn't stop moving as she thought about it, and eventually found herself at the end of a hall. She would blink and stare at the door for a moment before shrugging and pushing it open, finding herself outside once again though she now appeared to be in some sort of garden.

She heard the door open behind her, but didn’t pay it any attention, instead continuing to move through the gardens, occasionally allowing her fingers to trail against leaves and such. She preferred the outdoors to the stuffiness of even her own home, and it wasn’t any different now. As she walked through the flowers and such she would shuck her shoes, making note to come back and pick them up later. She wasn’t paying much attention to where she was going, singing softly and letting her thoughts be consumed by the garden. She was actually kind of surprised at how well kept it was; the last march that she had visited had a very small garden, and it honestly wasn’t well managed. It was a delight to see that this one was, though, and as she walked she even came across a white rose bush. She couldn’t help but grin at the flowers, reaching out to gently brush her fingers over the petals before moving on from them, figuring that the place must have much more than just that. Eventually she began to see more edible plants; bushes filled with berries and the like. She would beam at the sight of a blueberry bush, and would move just a bit closer until she realized that somebody else was in the same area. She would glance up to find the Marquess standing there, seemingly savoring a blueberry that he had just popped into his mouth. She would blink, her gaze shifting from him to the blueberries with longing before she would shake her head, “My apologies,” she would murmur, her brows furrowing slightly before she turns to move in a different direction. She’d been trying to give him his space, not wind up in the same exact area that he was in.

Upon hearing him say that she was fine she would turn back to face him, smiling slightly, “Actually, I quite like the smaller size. I don’t have enough family to fill the silence at my duchy. Honestly, I think if I had a brother I would have liked to be married to a Marquess with a smaller holding like this,” she would murmur absentmindedly, letting her gaze drift from him and around the garden once again. She didn’t quite realize that she had told him all of that, though when she did she found that she was quite surprised at herself. Not that long ago she had thought that she wouldn’t ever be able to have a decent conversation with the man, yet here she was revealing what she’d wished for as a child…and even now as an adult. She couldn’t help but grin when she watched him move to a raspberry bush, eating a berry and seemingly losing himself in thought. After a moment of watching him she would clear her throat softly, “Where did you go?” she would ask curiously, her head tipping a bit to the side as she waits to see if he would answer her. She didn’t even think that he might blow her off; she was just used to being friendly with most people. And honestly, his actions made her think a bit of her little sister; she often got lost in thought, and whenever Treise asked her the same question she would gladly tell her what she had been thinking, and more often than not the Duchess would enjoy whatever it was that she had to tell her.

She could only laugh when he said that it probably wouldn’t have been an option for her to marry a Marquess, “I tend to get what I want,” she would say with a shake of her head, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. She liked to think that she had her parents wrapped around her little finger, but in reality they just didn’t care enough to not give her what she wanted. Though, now that she thought about it he was probably right. She would never have been allowed to marry a Marquess…and now she wasn’t really sure if she wanted to marry anybody. So, it was a little ridiculous to be thinking about childhood fantasies. When he revealed to her what he was thinking she would nod slightly, “And I bet you anything she still remembers that,” she would murmur, smiling kindly at him, “I’m sure she’s acted in ways that weren’t very logical from time to time,” she would murmur with a shrug, trying not to press any nerves or anything; he seemed really protective of his sister, and she didn’t want him thinking that she was talking crap about her again. “I guess the only way to find out is if you were actually able to apologize,” she would say, her tone actually sounding rather helpless. She was used to being able to help people solve their problems, but she wasn’t sure if she would be able to help the Marquess with this one. She did feel rather bad for him, and was tempted to offer him a hug, but she didn’t want him to think that she was being condescending or anything, so she would pass on the idea.

She would laugh when he commented that she didn’t seem to be the type of person who was used to hearing no, “Oh, no. I’m used to hearing no. I just don’t listen to it,” she would say with a grin, though she was more talking about little things; ‘No, you can’t wear a kilt.’, ‘No, you’re not supposed to play with your cousins.’, ‘No, ladies aren’t supposed to like archery.’, and so on and so forth. It was actually quite amusing to think about all of the things that she’d been told no about yet she’d done anyways. When he told her about his sister having a temper she couldn’t help but laugh, “I’m afraid to break it to you, but I think it’s more of a woman thing than an O’Halloran thing,” she would joke, her tone playful. Though, when he continued on to talk about how it might not seem like something to dwell over she would shake her head, “No, it is something to be concerned about. If I had angered my sister I wouldn’t stop worrying about it, though I’d probably constantly bug her until she forgave me…but somehow I don’t think that’s something that would work for you and your sister,” she would say with a shrug and a laugh.

She would let the sound trail off, though, when she heard a faint noise coming from nearby. She would blink and glance away from the Marquess, letting her gaze trail over the bushes and such as she hears what sounded like whining again. After another moment or two of listening she would suddenly beam, “Alasdair, it sounds like a puppy!” she would say, turning to grin at him, “We’ve gotta find it,” she would say, moving to suddenly grab his hand before dragging him through the gardens, looking for the owner of the noises. And here was another no that she wasn’t listening to ‘No, a Grand Duchess shouldn’t be dragging a Marquess through a garden in search of a dog.’

She would ignore him when he called her Lady, continuing to drag him along on her pursuit of the puppy, only to have him take his arm away and move off in a different direction. She would follow quietly behind him, looking hopefully at the back of his head until he dropped down onto one knee, causing her to grin wildly. When he called out that the puppy was over there she would move to kneel beside him, crouching down a bit so that she was more on level with the little creature as she looks at it. She would smile softly as she heard the Marquess talking to the animal, letting her gaze flick between him and the pup and back again. “It’s okay,” she would coo softly to the little creature, making sure that her voice was soft and soothing. After awhile the pup would finally move, crawling slowly towards Alasdair. When it had wormed its way into his lap she would look at the man with a grin, “It likes you!” she would exclaim, reaching out tentatively to gently scratch behind its ears so as to not scare it, “You know, dogs are supposed to be good judges of character,” she would say with a soft laugh before beaming at him. Honestly, now that they had the poor thing she was kind of surprised that the Marquess had helped her look for it, though she wouldn’t comment about it.

When he teased about not being the terrible monster everybody thought him to be she would laugh, “Oh, I wouldn’t take it that far,” she would joke back, watching as the pup nibbled and licked his fingers. She hadn’t seen a pup for quite a bit of time, and it did bring her a bit of joy to watch the little creature so comfortable with the man. She would laugh softly when he spoke to the puppy before scooping it up and standing, only to offer his hand to her. She wouldn’t hesitate to grab it, letting him help her up despite the fact that she wouldn’t have let anybody else; she liked to do things on her own, but she figured that it would be a gesture of good will if she accepted his help. Once she was standing she would watch as the pup began to lick and nibble at Alasdair’s chin, “It really does seem to like you,” she would comment, reaching out to gently pet the top of the creature’s head once again. She felt a longing to hold the little pup, though she would let him stay with the man for now, knowing that if he was still holding the creature then he must want to. “What are we going to feed it?” she would ask with a grin, looking at him curiously. She knew that dogs would eat just about anything you threw to them, especially if they were as hungry as this little one seemed to be.