The Stubborn Daughter

Mellisent's blatant refusal resulted in Demitri turning dumbfounded.

He was at a loss for phrases that, for a couple of minutes, he kept blinking his eyes aimlessly at her face.

After an intense staring competition between them, Demitri eventually found his voice and, with a wrinkled brow, began to ask her cautiously, "My dear Melli, shouldn't you first listen to your father and then come to any conclusion?"

"There is nothing more to this baseless discussion, Father; there is no way that I'm ever going to leave for that place while you're here," Mellisent stated with a blank stare in a monotonous voice.

Demitri knew his daughter was stubborn, but he never imagined that her stubbornness could be up to that extent where she even refused to let him finish first and declared her final decision.

His gaze was directed downwards while his mind ran at an unbelievable velocity to come up with bases by which he could bring around his daughter to leave this place.

Mellisent glimpsed at her father with narrowed eyes, who was lost in his thoughts.

Afterwards, Mellisent soughed as her rigid nerves relaxed, thinking she had won over the conversation. She put both her hands on the table and began to push her body upwards to leave for the kitchen when suddenly, her father clasped her hand.

Mellisent jerked her head with dilated pupils in Demitri's direction as he raised his head. He looked directly into her eyes with a slacked expression before he began to converse again.

"Melli, I had told you about our origins and history regarding us vacating the kingdom of Valor when you were born, as you turned thirteenth. My child, since then, we have been on the run, and it is only a matter of time before our identities are discovered. It would be best if you left before the king's men get wind of this place."

Mellisent gaped at her father with bulging eyes before her face turned rigid. She clenched her fingers tightly as she could feel the blood boiling in her veins.

How..... how could her father ask her to leave when their heads were on the blades?

How can he ask her to abandon her only family and run like a coward to save herself when her father is likely to be hanged on the death gallows?

Mellisent refused to be the only one surviving in this world.

She never revealed it on her face when she came to know the truth of her birth and the events that transpired after that. She had always maintained a calm and rational disposition so that her father would never feel guilty about revealing the atrocities of their past.

Mellisent had constantly despised herself as she was the sole reason her father lost his entire existence and now was on the run for housing a being like her.

She had never seen her mother; for her, her father was both a father and a mother, and she refused to let him die in vain.

Mellisent retracted her palm from her father's grip and turned her face away from his pleading eyes.

"No, Father, I have always complied with your decision. But this... not on this," she veered around to look at him and uttered while gritting her teeth with a light shake of her head, "We only have ea... each other; how can you ask me to leave you here all alone? No, I can't, Father, I can't."

Demitri noticed the pain, anger and refusal behind her repressed voice and facade. He knew his daughter mostly wore a mask to hide her real emotions since childhood. Well, she inherited that trait from him.

He again attempted to take her hand in his, and this time, Mellisent didn't let him be.

"I know, my child; I understand you well. This father's only wish for his daughter is that she gets to live a better life away from harm. I have promised your mother that no matter what, I would be your shield and protect you even when all the swords would be pointed at me. But...now I can no longer keep that promise as I am no longer competent enough to provide you with a haven child," explained Demitri in a desperate voice with his eyes squeezed shut.

He calmed his brimming feelings, opened his eyes and, with a determined stare, began again, "So, the only way for you to remain safe is that you join the Valhalla Academe and gain the assurance of your safety from their side. With their protection, no matter what edict is passed by King Stephen, he would be unable to touch even a single hair of yours as long as you abide by their clauses."

"Once you join that place, you can harness your true potential without worrying about your abilities being revealed. You will have a better life than here, Melli," expectantly, Demitri said to her.

All this while, Mellisent remained silent and gazed at him with a visible chord in her neck as she let her father finish first. And after her father disclosed what he had on his mind, she asked straightforwardly.

"If I depart for that place, where would you live? Surely you, too, would leave this place, right?"

Demitri, the only one speaking all this time, stopped when he heard his daughter's query. His entire countenance hardened as he knew the answer that he was about to give to Mellisent would determine whether she should comply with his decision or not.

After the conversation Demitri had with King Fabain this morning, he had mulled over where he would live after sending his daughter away.

The only place that came to Demitri's mind was the one where he knew his chances of survival were close to none but were better enough than other realms where his death was indeed written in stone.

Thereon, inhaling deeply, Demitri spilt the beans, "After ensuring your triumphant arrival at the Valhalla Academe, I would depart for the Barren Lands across the oceans."

Mellisent, who had been keenly listening to her father the whole time, felt like the ground below her feet was snatched away from her.

Her mouth fell to the floor as she blinked her eyes a few times to absorb her father's words.

When Mellisent came out of her stupor, she clenched a handful of her hair and groaned in frustration, "Is that it, Father? This is the solution you came up with. While I'll be protected by the walls of that place, you'll be experiencing hell? Barren Lands, seriously, Father? That land is said to be infested with dragons and the unknown. I've heard no one came to be alive when they decided to explore that place."

"No!!!!! You will not go to that horrible place. We would find another way. Yes, there has to be a place in this world where we can escape to. We would relocate to another realm, Father," Mellisent earnestly pleaded as she, in desperation, clasped her father's hand with her both.

Dimitri put his palm over his daughter's and spoke with a half-hearted smile.

"There is no place for us, my Melli. Even if we went to another realm, we must fight to see another day. Your Uncle Fabain, this morning, informed me how King Stephen had signed a pact with the rulers of other domains to find us and hand us over to him. Moreover, The King and his men do not know your real face, as the portraits only contain your face when you were younger. You have a chance to live a better life. If we both stay together, we are doomed."

Mellisent shook her head in denial and tightened her grip on her father's hand.

"Even if we have to live as criminals and run from place to place, at least we would be together. I'm no longer a vulnerable child, Father. You trained me to become a warrior, and I can protect myself and you. I can fight every single day, even if that means we can stay together."

"No!!!!!!" Demitri immediately denied her proposal. He sighed and said, "I know your capabilities, my child, but we can not defeat an entire army of soldiers."

"I do not wish for you to spend your life running away from here and there. You have a whole life ahead of you; you are entitled to experience the beauty offered by it, and indeed, it can not happen with the way we are living right now," explained Demitri, hoping to get through to persuade her.

Hearing her father's point of view, Mellisent stared at him with an icy stare, pulled her hands out from his tight grip and sprang up from the chair.

"Why... Why can't you understand, fatherrrrr!!!! I would not leave you... You are the only one for me... How can you ask me to turn myself away from you?" spoke Mellisent loudly as her facade to maintain her composure failed.

With her chest heaving and fists tightly gripped by her sides, she stared hard at Demitri and declared, "I won't be discussing this matter further; I'm going to prepare for our lunch and will assume we never had this talk."

Mellisent turned around to leave, but before she could even take a step further, she heard a loud bang.

STAY WHERE YOU ARE, MELLISENT ARGYRIS, AND DON'T YOU DARE TAKE A SINGLE STEP FORWARD!!!!!!!!!

Followed her father's chilling, commanding voice, which sent tremors down her body, and she stood rooted to her spot.

This was the first time she had ever heard her father's commanding voice, and as a result, it caused Mellisent to fall short of a reaction.

Demitri had slammed the table as his blood boiled in rage directed at his daughter. Her hardheadedness caused him to lose his temper, causing him to exclaim at her.

Demitri, too, stood up from his sitting position and yelled at her.

WHY THE HELL CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND TOO? YOU ARE AlSO THE ONLY FOR ME, AND I REFUSE TO LET YOU DIE IN FRONT OF MY EYES!!!!!!!

Realising he had raised his tone at his daughter, Demitri clenched his fists hard, gritted his teeth, shut his eyes tightly and hung his head low as he tried to calm himself down.

The air surrounding both the father and daughter suddenly filled itself with tension. The afternoon rays scattering from the nearby window cast a shadowed appearance on their silhouettes, adding severity to the current atmosphere.

Mellisent gathered her courage and slowly turned around as tears threatened to spill from her orbs. With a choked voice, she uttered, "Then how can you expect me to do the same, Father? I know once I leave for that academe, I won't ever be able to see you again."

The ache in Mellisent's voice caused Demitri to lift his head abruptly. He carefully took measured steps and stood before her as he sturdily held her shoulders. With a determined glint, he glanced at her tear-filled orbs and spoke in a firm voice.

"I promise you, Melli, that no matter what, I will keep myself alive and when you return after four years, I will come to find you. You know I never make empty promises; I will come back for my child; I will come back."

Tears spilt from Millisent's eyes in a rampant form, and she at once lunged at her father and hugged him tightly and started brawling her eyes out.

Demitri, too, held her closer to him as tears started to drip from his eyes and with a trembling chin, he asked, "So, will you now obey what I will tell you to do, my dear, Melli?"

Though Mellisent wanted to say a thousand words but failed to form coherent words, she only managed to nod against her father's chest.

She finally realised that the only way she could keep both of them alive was to join the Valhalla Academe and gain enough power so that she would be able to secure her father's life.

After some time, still clinging to her father's side, Mellisent ordered him in a cracked tone, "You better keep yourself unharmed, Father or else I will never forgive you."

Demitri felt like a heavy burden was lifted off his chest as he eventually managed to convince her.

He stroked her back and assured her, "I promise, daughter, I will keep myself safe."