The Duke's Masked Wife

All of Alessandra's worry for Edgar quickly went away. "I am not kissing your stomach, Edgar. If you are okay to request something like that right now, I can only assume you are fine."

"How cruel of you," Edgar stood up straight as the pain had quickly passed. "That is not how you should treat someone you have injured. I am deserving of a kiss where I was hit or a hug to cheer me up."

Alessandra stepped to the side and walked away from being in front of Edgar. She was not going to go along with these demands each time she accidentally hit him. Quite frankly, she would love to stop hurting him.

Alessandra walked back to where she had been painting earlier and placed a blank canvas to start painting again.

Edgar walked back to where they were painting and asked, "Are you ignoring me?"

"I find it to be a better solution than going back and forth with your ridiculous request. Are you going to continue painting or will you leave due to this injury which needs a kiss?" Alessandra laid out her clean brushes as she spoke.

"Of course, I am going to continue painting. Your reactions keep surprising me. You adapt to your surroundings quickly. I expected you to give in like you eventually do."

"Now that you have said that, I will make sure I never do anything you ask of me. What are you going to paint this time? A real flower or should we start you off with just painting a circle," Alessandra bit her lip to refrain from laughing. It felt good to have something she was better at than Edgar.

"You will laugh now and cry later when I master the art of painting. I am getting the hang of it and instead of letting you create paintings for our home, I will do them myself.  Whatever you are painting I will paint alongside you," Edgar picked up his brush.

"It is not a competition, Edgar. We have both learned today that you are not as perfect as everyone claims to be. I've heard you were incredibly talented at everything."

"The ridiculous rumors make me out to be some sort of God. They once questioned if I am able to bleed. I am just a regular man who has to practice certain things just like everyone else. I suppose their hearts will break when they learn I am normal. You lived a sheltered life and yet you know a lot of what was said about me. I'd hate to think your sister or father constantly spoke about me," Edgar would find that to be annoying and weird.

"You'd be surprised how much she did. I can never disagree with the fact I was aware Kate loved you. She spoke about you every time something new happened in your life. It was irritating when she would rub in her face how life would be when she became the Duchess. Even my father spoke of you constantly. You were more popular than me in my own home," Alessandra muttered.

"I'd rather you suffer listening to their words than me. Enough about your family before I get a migraine even though I was the one to mention them. What are we going to paint next for you to take pleasure in laughing at me? Next time, we will do something I am skilled in so I can watch you suffer."

"Like what?" Alessandra was curious about what Edgar did as a hobby.

"Teaching you self-defense. You have a few annoying people around you who are stupid enough to try harming you when I am not around. You still have to meet the guard who will shadow you when I am not nearby but he will not be able to follow you into places like the bathroom. You already perform exceptionally well when it comes to harming me," said Edgar.

"I can hardly wait to start learning though I really wish I would never need to use it in the future. I should have found something better for us to do than painting. You are not good at it and I must be the only one enjoying it. The day is still young, what else can we do for fun?" Alessandra placed her brush down. It was not right for their day together to only involve something she loved doing.

"Even though I am not good when it comes to painting, it has not been boring. This is what we agreed on so we can continue. I am enjoying you in your element and your reaction to my paintings.  After this next one, we are in need of a  break to have a light snack. We need to continue fattening you up," Edgar gently poked Alessandra in her stomach.

Alessandra swatted his hand away. "I feel no different from animals that are fattened up only to be eaten later. I'll gain more weight and you'll tease me about it later."

"I won't and we are only doing this until you reach a healthy weight. It will feel nice when there are a lot more of you to hug," he pinched her cheek only to have his hand swatted away.

"Buy a large pillow if you want something big to hug. I am not gaining weight to become your hug buddy. I am going to paint one of the kittens."

"Curse or blessing?" He poked her arm.

Alessandra's lip twitched out of annoyance. One, for what he was calling the kittens, and two, for Edgar constantly poking her. "I am going to paint both-Edgar!" She exclaimed after he poked her again. "Didn't you have any toys as a child? Why do you keep playing with me?"

"I had three rooms to store all of my toys. You have yourself to blame, Alessandra. You make it so easy for me to upset you. No, don't," Edgar quickly closed his mouth and eyes bracing for impact.

Alessandra had dipped her brush in paint and flicked it at Edgar. "What a beautiful painting."

Edgar slowly opened his eyes and glared at Alessandra. He was not entertained by this as Alessandra was. He had been careful not to get paint on his clothes and now, Alessandra ruined it. "You have started something you won't be able to finish," Edgar spoke in a low voice.

As he dipped his brush in paint Alessandra did the same to prepare for his attack.  "You would look wonderful with a flower painted on your cheek, Alessandra. Don't move."

"No thank you," Alessandra took a step back while eyeing his every move. "Wait," she chuckled, feeling the paint splatter over her after Edgar flicked his brush at her. With eyes closed, Alessandra flicked her brush hoping at least some of it would get on Edgar. She gasped and opened her eyes when Edgar's hand touched her face and she felt paint being rubbed against her skin.

"Green suits you."

Edgar rubbed a handful of paint across her exposed cheek and by her neck. He was a petty man and would see to it that she was covered in paint from head to toe for making him become messy after he tried so hard to remain clean.

Alessandra giggled from the ticklish feeling of Edgar rubbing paint all over her. To make things even, she placed her hand in red paint and then placed it on Edgar's face.

Edgar stood quietly while she drew all sorts of shapes on his face. He began to contemplate his next move to win this battle. "You-"

A high-pitched scream blocked out Edgar's words. Alessandra and Edgar's attention shifted from each other to the door where they found Alfred looking as if he would pass out any minute.

"W-Why is there paint on the floor when there is plenty of canvas for you to use?" Alfred's finger trembled as he pointed at the mess on the floor.

Edgar found humor in Alfred's state while Alessandra felt apologetic.

"You are more concerned about the paint on the floor rather than the amount on us-"

"Out, out, out. Both of you are out. I must clean the floor before the paint dries and stains the floor. Look at this mess and you have the kittens playing around in it. They will need a bath," Alfred approached the mess of paint and gently pushed Edgar to the side.

'I forgot the kittens were by our feet. We could have stepped on them,' Alessandra looked down at the kittens happily playing around Edgar's feet.

Alfred pinched the bridge of his nose holding back his emotions because of the paint on the floor. "Duke, Duchess, please head to your room to wash up and call it a day for painting. I fear if I let this continue and I leave the two of you unsupervised I will return to this entire room splashed with paint."

"I'm so sorry, Alfred. We did get a little out of hand," Alessandra apologized.

"I'm not," Edgar flat-out stated. "It adds character to the room. It is a room assigned for painting, Alfred. There's bound to be paint on the floor at some point."

Seeing Alfred looking on the verge of snapping Alessandra said, "We'll get out of your way, Alfred."

Alessandra took Edgar's  hand and pulled him out of the room. She did not want to witness  why Edgar was afraid of Alfred right now.

On the outside of the room, Alessandra wiped paint from her face.  "I will wash up first. Will you wait  or go to another bathroom?"

"Why? We can do it together."