Don stayed in the study for another couple hours after he took Mila to her room. Yet unlike the many late nights before, he barely got a thing done. He was still caught up with the fact that he had actually been able to look into someone’s eyes, to stand by them without them cowering in fear. And so, hours later, he went to bed with his thoughts still of Mila.<br/><br/>The next morning started like any other, with him bolting upright, a face from his past slowly fading into the dark. He dressed and exited his room, sparing a glance at Mila’s door. He’d let her sleep as late as she liked, since she would likely need time to adjust. As he walked down the hall he saw two servant girls engrossed in conversation. As he neared he heard what they were talking about, Mila. “Did you see the girl they brought here last night?” “I did.. her eyes were so blank.” “Can you believe the lord would bring such a useless girl here?” “He must be getting soft in his old age” The girls giggled until they saw a shadow on the wall in front of them. The two turned pale faces towards Don, quickly looking down and shaking a little as they realized they had been caught.<br/><br/>“I would prefer you not refer to our guest as useless” Don said to the two of them firmly, “Now I’ll overlook your little gossiping if you promise to tell the others that Mila will have your respect as a guest of this house. Now begone with you” He dismissed them with a wave of his hand, heading towards the study. When he got there his steward was already waiting for him with the days reports. Once the early morning reports were done Don beckoned the man closer. “Go wait for Mila to get up and have her come here. Please don’t lead her but simply relay that I’d like her to join me” He told the man, making very clear he wasn’t to treat Mila as an invalid. After the steward left he went to work. Today he planned on giving Mila a tour of the grounds and perhaps the surrounding town. When she got there he would probably be buried in his ledgers and records, going over the business of running an entire region of land.