The private study of the Marquis's castle.
Leopold sat alone at the desk, a vellum book splayed open at his elbow. Half an hour ticked by, and he hadn't turned a single page. His mind was a total mess. Gisela's red, despair-filled eyes kept replaying in his head on a loop.
He shook his head hard, desperate to banish that stubborn, lingering face from his thoughts, and pulled out his carving tools and a block of raw wood. His emotions were roiling too wildly to rein in any other way. Only the intense focus of carving could calm him down, even if just barely.
Soon, a tiny figurine started to take shape under his skilled fingers. He had just let out a small sigh of relief when his hands froze mid-movement. He stared fixedly at the figurine's face.
The little wood carving's features were
