Chapter Text
“Mylord?”
Percy shot up, as he had been hunched over his workbank. He hadn’t even noticed until now, the pain in his back a telling sign. A look on one of the many clocks in his workshop told him it was just about four in the afternoon. It couldn’t be Vex dragging him to dinner already, so he didn’t know who could be bothering him.
“Come in.”
It was Theresa, the tutor he and Vex hired for the twins. For obvious reasons, Percy had been hesitant about that at first, but the young woman had proven to be more than capable of handling their little rascals. Her coming to his workshop to speak with him directly could only mean one thing: His children were either misbehaving or doing bad in lectures, and the latter simply couldn’t be the case.
“Mylord, I’m so sorry to disturb you, but Lady Vex’ahlia is out and I have something to discuss with you.” She sounded distraught, but not very alarmed or angry. “Don’t worry, it’s probably good for me to take the occasional break, as my wife would say. Shall we take the matter to my office? It’s far more comfortable there.”
A few minutes later, they were sitting in Percy’s much bigger and lighter office, with him sitting behind his desk and her on the other side. “Now, what is it, Theresa? Are my children causing any trouble?”
He couldn’t help sounding at least a little worried. While Vesper was never one for mischief, the twins were a whole nother story. Leone and Wolfe couldn’t stop competing and bickering with each other, in a way they reminded Percy of himself and Cassandra. While they both inherited their parents’ intelligence, Leona was the more level-headed of the two, always making sure to keep her brother on the ground. That didn’t stop her from being an absolute chatterbox though.
“No no no!”, the teacher hastily exclaimed, afraid of a misunderstanding. “I assure you, everything is fine, the twins’ behavior has improved a lot and they never do badly in class. However, lately, especially today, I noticed something about Leona.” A pregnant pause followed, as the Lord of Whitestone patiently waited for an answer.
“She seems to struggle more and more when it comes to reading the things I write on the board. I mean, sure, my writing isn't always the prettiest, but at this point it’s…noticeable. Mylord, I’m afraid your daughter is in need of glasses.”
Percy felt a rush of relief wash through him. Glasses? A lot of problems had come to his mind when Theresa came to him, but not that. In fact, he preferred that over anything else. He remembered being about her age when he got his first pair of spectacles, so it should be easy talking to her. Right?
With a polite smile, Lord de Rolo thanked her for informing him, assuring that he would talk to his daughter and an optician. After the teacher was gone, he got up to go do exactly what he had said.
Just when he was on his way to his younger daughter’s room, there were light footsteps approaching, followed by a "Did I miss anything?"
Percy turned and smiled at his wife, who apparently just came back.
“I guess so.” Knowing that their children were blessed with good hearing, Percy made sure to be as far away as possible before telling Vex’ahlia the news.
“The twin’s teacher informed me that Leona requires glasses. I was just on my way to speak with her about it.” Vex couldn’t help but smile at her husband. Sometimes he still surprised her how caring and solicitous he could be when it came to his family. She truly couldn’t wish for a better husband and father. He also was the best person for the following conversation, since he was the one with the bad eyesight in this relationship. From what he had told her, he was the only one in his family with glasses as well.
“I’ll be there if you need me.” With that, Vex left and Percy proceeded his way to Leona’s room.
He knocked a few times against Leona's door, waiting for a response. After a few seconds, there was a quiet 'Come in'. Concern rose in Percy as he entered, since his younger daughter’s voice usually didn’t sound like that. It made sense once he saw her face, wet streams down her cheeks and red, puffy eyes. In an instant he was by her side, on her bed where the young quarter Elf was sitting.
"Leona, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Of course he already had a hunch what caused her distress, but a wife and two daughters later, Percival de Rolo learned that letting them speak was the best option, for him and for them. Sniffling, she pointed at the book Percy now realized she had been holding in her hand. “I think my eyes are broken.”
If the sight of his younger daughter crying didn’t break his heart, the desperation and sadness in her voice certainly did. Her father sighed, knowing the confusion and desperation all too well.
“Why do you think that?” Again, letting her explain things from her point of view was best. The girl wiped her eyes, trying her best to finally stop crying. “When I see things up close, like book pages, I see perfectly fine. But lately, I’ve had more and more problems seeing things that are far away. Especially in our lessons, the board seems just like a blurry mess to me. It’s just a couple feet away! Also”, she got up and went up to the biggest window in her room. Understanding his daughter’s intentions, Percy followed, standing right beside her. From Leona’s room, they could see the huge garden behind the castle, surrounded by tall walls.
“I can see Trinket clear as day, in front of the bushes, but up there”, she pointed at the walls and the trees that could be seen behind them. “The walls and the trees are…blurry. I can see that they are there, but it just looks like blobs of white and green.” And then, her big eyes, that reminded him way too much of her mother’s, were looking directly up at him. It certainly didn’t help that there were new tears forming.
“Can we fix it?”
Percy really had to be careful to not burst into tears himself. Thank the Gods they could fix it, or else he would make every possible pact to just stop Leona’s crying.
"Sweetheart", he said and crouched down to be on her level, opening one arm as he did so. Without a word the girl leaned into the embrace, putting her head on her father’s shoulder.
“Of course we can, dear.” Leona’s little head shot up, her eyes now filled with hope. Much better. “Your tutor informed me about your difficulties in class. You simply need glasses.”
“Like Daddy?" Percy’s face broke into a smile. “Yes dear, like Daddy. You know, I got them when I was around your age too. It started the same way, I struggled more and more with seeing things clearly. But when I got them, everything became much easier.” She nodded, processing the information. “Does Wolfe need them too?” Percy shook his head. “I’m afraid not." Noticing the little pout he quickly continued: “I was the only one of my siblings who needed them as well. It happens. But see it this way, they make you stand out more, wouldn’t you say so?”
After thinking a bit more, the girl nodded. “And they really help me see all things clearly all the time?” Percy held his free hand out, with the pinky up.
“Pinky promise.”