Chapter 46: Chapter 46

DAHLIA:

After Kaist had left that morning, Tristan bid me good bye as well since his presence in the council was needed that afternoon.

After purchasing a fallen nobleman’s title, he had instantly become the lord of Crohmwall District, one of the places that were continuously damaged by the countless rogue and vampire invasion.

Although it would be the first time he would join the council, he didn’t seem quite nervous at all. He just smiled warmly towards me as he kissed the top of my head before he boarded the carriage.

Imagine my surprise then when several carriages came in front of the house shortly thereafter, demanding my attention.

“Countess Abell,” Lina said, sounding alarmed. “There’s a commotion outside! I think you need to see it.”

I got up from the bed and wrapped a shawl around my shoulders. I haven’t been feeling too well yet, but if it’s just outside the gates, I don’t think there will be a problem.

As soon as I got out, I saw three carriages lined up in front of the villa.

“What’s this,” I asked the knight that was stationed in front of the gates.

“My lady, it’s the wedding gifts Duke Hurst had promised to send.”

My eyebrows shot up in the air. Wedding gifts? Did my father really send me wedding gifts?...

Dowries aren’t commonly given to the party of lower ranks. If my father had sent his men to wage war, I would have easily believed it, but wedding gifts?

“Did they give you any proofs that these are really from Duke Hurst himself?”

“Yes. Here’s a letter bearing the duke’s seal, my lady.”

The knight handled me the letter. True enough, it bore the seal of our house – a boar standing beside a sword and the inscription ‘Glory to the one who holds the throne.’

I broke the seal away and read the contents. It was addressed to Tristan.

“Count Abell of Crohmwall District, as you wish, here are the wedding gifts. If so, can I see my daughter any time soon?”

I stared at the letter for a long time, unable to believe what I was reading.

Papa… Did he really want to see me?

“My lady, what shall we do with them,” the knight said with a worried look in his eyes.

I looked at the procession of carriages and the crowd gathering near them.

I was dubious of its contents. I would have sent it away if we were still in Crohmwall District until papa himself could verify that he had sent them. However, seeing now that a crowd had gathered, if I refused these gifts, it can give Tristan a bad reputation.

“Uh, let them inside for now…”

I have to quickly dispel the crowd and let the carriages leave safely later on. I’ll have to write a letter to papa as well.

At my signal, the knights opened the gates. After inspecting the carriages one by one, they were allowed to enter and wait at the front part of the manor.

“Should we unload the goods, my lady,” one of the knights asked.

“No. Keep them as they are. Offer some refreshments to the drivers and the footmen, and please let the horses rest a bit in the shade,” I said.

After the knight had bowed down to carry my commands, I went back inside the villa.

“Fetch me some ink, parchment, and writing quills, Lina. I need to write a letter.”

“Are these gifts really from the duke,” my attendant asked, equally dumbfounded as I was.

I pondered for a while. Papa was a hard man to bargain with, and he never forgave people easily. This gesture was something really out of the ordinary for him…

“I think so… This is indeed our seal and his handwriting,” I said back.

“Then, why aren’t you unloading the packages, my lady?”

“I don’t want to receive them like this… I’ll send them back first and wait for papa’s reply…”

That’s right. I needed to know first… What does he mean in the letter that the gifts were given ‘as you wished?’ Did Tristan ask for these gifts? And why was he asking if he could see me?

I sent him countless letters when we were still at Crohmwall District, but he never replied to any of them. Why then is he sending Tristan letters?

I sat by the small table in our room, my back turned against the door. I will have my own study room later on, but since I haven’t finished setting it up yet, I decided to write the letter here for the meantime.

I was reading the short note for probably the tenth time, trying to decipher what papa had meant when I heard the door open and shut quietly behind me.

“Lina, put the articles here,” I said, still not looking up from the letter in my hand.

A pair of arms enveloped my shoulders in an embrace. “Dahlly, thank the Goddess!”

I gasped as I turned around. It was papa!

“Papa! What? Why?!”

I couldn’t even form the words properly in my mouth. He was sobbing while still clutching me by the shoulders.

“Dahlly, are you alright? That son of a b*tch, did he do anything to you?”

“W-What,” I said, “What do you mean?”

I was a terrible liar, so I evaded papa’s eyes. He pulled away from his embrace, still holding me tightly by the shoulders though and looking sternly at my face.

“Dahlly, I had a bad dream. I saw that monster violating you! Tell me it was just a dream, dear… Are you safe? Are you sure he absolutely did not do anything to you? Did he try to harm you in any way? ”

I smiled my hardest to appease his anguished heart. It was the first time I saw my own father break down in tears.

“Papa, I-I’m alright. You worry too much…”

He held me again in his arms. “I was so worried, so worried about you, my baby…”

He stroked the top of my head like I was really a child… His child, which I hadn’t felt for a long time.

I broke away from him as soon as I felt he had settled down his nerves a bit. “But papa, how did you get in here? Did you come by with the carriages? Why didn’t you come and greet me then?”

“I disguised myself as a coach driver so that I could sneak in...”

He held my hand firmly as he spoke again. “Dahlly, no one must know that I came to see you. Not your attendants, your knights, and especially that wretched husband of yours,” he said in between sobs.

I wore a puzzled look in my face. “Why? What do you mean?... Is something the matter?”

“That damned new husband of yours, he forbade me to see you! He is an absolute monster!”

“I don’t understand it, papa…”

“That man, Dahlly – you must stay away from him! He’s a monster, and he’ll only make your life a living hell, I’m sure of it!”