The young duchess sat alone in her room, huddled up on the bed, hugging her knees close, tears still in the corners of her eyes even though she had long since stopped crying. The earlier incident weighed heavy on her heart, dragging her down into a deep depression. So much was on her mind. The swiftly approaching wedding, the words Eli had said to her, what she had said in return, how she had acted, and most of all, her impending demise.
A fate that couldn’t be overturned.
Hugging her knees a little closer, she rested her head upon them solemnly.
As she sat in silence, a knock would come at the door.
The girl didn’t move, nor did she speak to grant the person entrance into her room.
After a minute more of silence, the door would open slowly, as a tall, raven-haired man stepped into the room.
“Ivalinne? What is the matter?” He asked softly as he gazed at her with eyes full of concern.
“...” The young noble didn’t respond, merely hugging her knees a little tighter.
With a frown, her father sauntered over to the bed upon which she sat, gently taking a seat at the girl’s side. “What weighs upon your heart, my flower?”
The girl didn’t speak, but her eyes averted slightly to look away from him in humiliation.
“Did you perhaps get into a fight with that girl you’ve been spending time with?” He asked, watching her reaction carefully.
There was a twitch in her features at the mention, eyes narrowing and brow furrowing as she grimaced.
With her body language answering his question in the place of spoken words, he let out a small sigh as a faint smile appeared on his features. Anton knew his daughter well enough, that she tended to be unreasonable at times, insisting that she was in the right when she clearly wasn’t. Perhaps he had spoiled her a little too much, but either way, Ivalinne was his daughter, and he loved her all the same. Despite all her flaws and eccentricities, in spite of and for them, he loved his child with all his heart, and that would never change.
Reaching over, he pulled the girl closer—to which she gave a reflexive flinch as an arm wrapped around her. Giving his daughter a gentle hug, he looked to her face, seeing the tears that remained in the corners of her eyes. Lifting his hand to her face, he wiped them from her eyes, garnering a wince from the girl.
“Whatever it was you fought over must have been very important to leave you in such a state. It is all right if you do not wish to tell me what happened.” He said as he stroked the girl’s hair gently. “I have seen the two of you in the garden before. You seem to get along quite well from what I saw.” Looking to his daughter, he let out a chuckle as he gave her a warm smile. “Not to mention all the food you have been sneaking out for her.”
The young duchess flinched, a look of embarrassment appearing on her face as she glanced up at her father with a whimper. “Y-you knew of that?!” She exclaimed as her cheeks flushed with a faint red.
“Haha, of course! I know all that goes on within our estate.” He said as he turned a jovial smile to the girl. “...Though, having the servants report of our dwindling supply of pastries and other treats may have helped in that regard.” He said with an amused chuckle as he hugged his child, who merely gave a shameful whimper at having been found out.
Giving the girl a gentle smile, Anton pulled back slightly, releasing the girl from his embrace. “Ivalinne, I know you must be upset with her at this moment, but you must remember something of great importance.” He said softly, giving the girl’s head another pat as she looked up towards him with a quizzical gaze. “Every relationship has its ups and downs, its highs and lows. This is true of everyone, of you and that girl, even your mother and I. We all struggle to understand one another, to connect with the people that surround us. Sometimes we may stumble, sometimes we may fall, but nonetheless, we get back up and try again. This is true of more than just our friendships with one another, but of many things in life.” Taking a breath, his brown eyes met with Ivalinne’s red hues. “You must keep in mind what matters most.”
“Whatever it was that was said between the two of you, it hurt because she is important to you, Ivalinne, and from what I have witnessed, I can say with certainty that you are not the only one who is hurting.”
“If you truly care about her, then can you truly let things remain as they currently are? I know it must be hard right now, but eventually it will lessen. Take your time, think about what happened, and ask yourself, is it truly worth losing a friend over?”
“I...” Lowering her head, the young duchess averted her gaze, thinking back to the things Eli had said.
“I am certain it was not her intent to cause you such distress. Perhaps she just did not know how to put into words how she felt about the matter.”
The girl lowered her gaze further, a sullen look upon her face. She had no response for him. Did she perhaps misunderstand Eli’s intentions? But what she said, those words—
“Do you want to let her go?” The question came abruptly, a firm but caring gaze fixated upon his daughter.
“Ah...” Her expression twisted into a mixture of guilt and and regret. Hesitation would consume her, preventing her from answering his question. She hadn’t thought about that. Did she want to see Eli again, even after what she had said?
Anton, seeing his daughter’s inner turmoil, sighed softly. “It is all too easy to just let things be as they are, and to lose our grip on what we hold dear. Attempting to resolve an issue can be a daunting task when we are so afraid that we will only make matters worse. I know that doing nothing can seem like the best option when we are paralyzed by the fear of losing what we care about permanently.” A small, somber frown would appear on the duke’s face as he recalled a similar situation he had encountered in the past. “It may seem like there are a dozen things that could go wrong, a dozen reasons not to make an effort towards repairing this issue, but in the end, there is really only two choices here. Do you wish to act, even if there is no guarantee that you will succeed? Or will you not, thus ensuring that you will fail.”
“But Father...I—” She stopped herself from telling him what had been said, that she would die upon the day of her wedding—that they would die.
At the thought, the memory of those horrific images that had been forced into her mind would resurface, bringing tears to her eyes.
Noticing the shift in the girl’s behavior, and seeing the tears in her eyes, Anton turned to his daughter with a look of concern as he pulled her close. “What is the matter Ivalinne? What is troubling you so?”
The young duchess merely whimpered in response. I cannot tell Father......That I–...that we are... Holding in the urge to confess what she knew, the tears in the corners of her eyes would slide down her face.
Giving her a loving embrace, the duke would stroke the girl’s head, trying to ease his daughter’s suffering as best as he could. “It will be all right Ivalinne, I am sure she does not wish to lose you either. Give it time, she will come back to you, I am certain of it.” Anton said as he closed his eyes and focused on soothing his daughter’s cries, oblivious to the true reason for her tears.
Wrapping her arms around her father, the young duchess would let loose her emotions, letting her pain flow freely as she cried into her father’s arms for what would likely be the last time.