Chapter 47: Chapter 47

DAHLIA:

“Papa, why? What’s the matter?”

My papa never cried, at least not in front of my eyes. They were times he would cry in secret when he was drunk, especially when my mother’s death anniversary was near. Yet, here he was, crying his eyes out in front of me.

“That man is a complete monster, Dahlly! He is an absolute monster!”

I couldn’t quite look my father in the eyes, remembering the recent incident between Tristan and I, but I was deathly curious why he was saying it so.

I reached for the pitcher of lukewarm water beside me that Lina had prepared earlier. I really wanted some cold water, but Lina insisted I drink this while trying to recuperate.

“Here papa,” I offered the glass to him. “Please don’t cry. You’re making me worried… Are you hurt anywhere?”

I stopped as I remembered that my father absolutely hated it when I had to use my powers on him. However, today was an exceptional circumstance. If papa was suffering from an injury, I could never turn my back from healing him even if he didn’t want to.

“I am alright, my baby… You don’t need to heal anything about me physically,” he said. He drank the water I gave him, and right after he had finished, he clutched my hands again.

“Did you lose some weight,” he said. “Are you sleeping well here? Eating well?”

I smiled softly. “On the contrary, papa, I think I gained some weight. I am sleeping and eating well too. Don’t worry.”

“Good, good,” he said, tapping my hands.

My father had never displayed such acts of affection towards me. I was beginning to wonder if he was ill…

“Dahlly, you absolutely cannot tell your husband that you saw me today. I was going to fulfill his and your wishes, but I just can’t stand it… This morning, I had an awful vision, so I wanted to check if you were alright.”

“I am alright, papa,” I said. “I did get sick recently, but I am better now… Um, what do you mean about fulfilling my wishes?”

Father’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I knew you never wanted to see me ever again, but I just can’t bear it… I’m sorry for hitting you… I know I had no right to ever raise my hand on you. If Arialla could have seen it, she would have cursed me and rejected me right then and there for raising a hand against you! I’ve got no excuse… I was wrong…”

He shed more and more tears. I poured him another glass of water.

“It’s just I couldn’t shake the feeling of letting you walk away forever with your last memory of me being that ugly… I know I had caused you so much pain, Dahlly… I’m really sorry.”

I didn’t know what to say to papa. I had harbored a lot of ill feelings towards him since I was young, and it’s the first time I was hearing the word ‘sorry’ from him…

I sighed deeply. “First of all, I never said I do not want to see you… After mother died, you had to take care of me… I am your child. I just couldn’t throw that fact away,” I said. “You can come visit me any time, papa. I will tell Tristan. I’m sure he will -”

“Dahlly, for your sake, please do not tell him about this encounter.”

“He’s a good person, papa. I’m sure it’s just a misunder-”

“He was the one who ordered me not to see you, or else he’ll harm you.”

My heart stopped for a moment. Did I hear papa’s words correctly?...

“My Dahlly, I know you love that man dearly, and right now, you are seeing him using the faulty lenses of love. Please do believe me when I say that he is not a good person. He threatened me that he’ll put your life in danger! He also made these weird demands, which made me think that he’s taking you as a hostage. He is a wicked man!”

“What exactly did he tell you, papa? How did he threaten you?”

“Well, to start with, he asked for a dowry… He said he’ll keep your secret safe if I do so.”

“And what sort of secret is that?”

“Your powers, Dahlly. He said he will keep the knowledge of your powers a secret… I couldn’t really think of any way to appease him except to give in to his whim and send you these wedding presents.”

I exhaled deeply. “Papa, first of all, we don’t need to hide my powers… People had known about it already ever since Tristan had circulated that article on our wedding day.”

“Whatever do you mean, Dahlia? What article are you talking about?”

I stood and walked towards the drawer. I fetched the well-preserved article that Tristan gave me on the carriage when he convinced me to run away with him.

“This article, papa. Tristan had it printed on the day of the wedding. That’s also the reason why I had the courage to apply at the university. I’m going to start my training to be a healer soon,” I said happily to him.

I knew papa didn’t like the idea of me going to the university, so the pale and contrived face he was wearing wasn’t even a big surprise for me.

“About going to the university, Dahlly, are you sure about this?... I mean, even if this article was true, proclaiming that you have powers is one thing, but coming to school where it’s possible for people to hurt you is another…”

I understood papa’s words and fears, but he should understand what was in my heart too…

“Papa, I really want to go to the university and become a full-pledged healer… That’s my dream…”

I smiled as I continued, patting his own hand this time, “I know you are worried about me, but I am fine. I’ll be fine in school, and I’ll be fine with Tristan.”

He exhaled loudly. “I am glad to hear that, sweetheart… But if he ever does something out of the ordinary to you, you must tell me.”

I nodded, although I averted his eyes. “Yes, I definitely would, papa…”

“And one more thing, please don’t hate me so much, Dahlly,” he said yet again. “Your last letter broke my heart to pieces… Please let me visit you in secret like this… This time around, I’ll become a better father.”

I thoughtfully looked away. “Like I mentioned in my letters, I don’t hate you, papa… I really would have wanted you to visit me at Crohmwall District, but I understand if you didn’t want to. You must have been too busy trying to sort the repercussions of the failed wedding with Kaist and the king.”

My father’s face suddenly turned pallid. “Whatever do you mean, Dahlly? I sent countless escorts so that I could come and see you in Crohmwall District. I wrote letter after letter to you, but all I got was one curt response that you didn’t want to see me ever again!”

I turned to him, horrified. “No, papa. I never did send such a letter. I wrote daily to you too, asking for your forgiveness for breaking the engagement and running away, so when you never responded, I felt a little hurt…”

“I never received any such responses, Dahlly. There were no such letters!”