Filial Daughter

Diana's father abandoned her in the most decent way possible. He stopped talking to her.

For the past three months, Diana had been trying her best to reconcile with him. Still, she was unsuccessful in her every attempt to make peace with her father.

One month ago, she accidentally heard women talking about how tasty food helps in lessening the anger of any man. From that day onwards, she tried to change herself into a filial daughter and started to learn cooking from her best and only friend, Wyatt.

That day was the day of judgement in terms of her cooking practice. Diana spent the whole evening preparing a meal for her father. Since he was working outside on the wheat farmland, she chose to bring the food by herself.

When she stepped outside their house, the surrounding darkened as if it was a bad omen. The sky was overcast and then it rained. Diana boldly ignored it as she grabbed an umbrella and walked towards the village gate. It went from drizzle to downpour when she stepped outside the village.

This was anomalous. It was as if the universe was scheming against her. The rain itself was a damper for Diana.

Whenever it rains, the peasants would rather stay in the treehouse in the farmland and eat there. Her father might do so. Diana didn't want him to fill his stomach before she reach her so she had to take the shortcut route that she found out herself. She walked through the pastureland to the farmland instead of walking the common path that every other would use.

When she entered the farmland, the wheat and grains danced to the wind and welcomed her. Only them... There was no one else. She hastily looked around the land only to find out that the peasants had returned home.

But it was still working hours... She wasn't a halfwit to still be pondering over this. At once, she understood that it was an emergency declaration: an unavoidable occurrence in every Ruthernglaner's life.

The villagers always took drastic measures to protect themselves. This emergency declaration was one of them. It protected them from 'wild beasts': deers and monkeys that intruded on Lanir.

The villagers must have alarmed the peasants and told them to retract from the farmland. She did not have a clue. It might be her bad luck that she took the shortcut route and ended up not meeting them on her way. Diana's heart sank at this thought. She trudged back to the village gate, disappointed. Her father would cook something and fill his stomach before she reach the gate. It was a given.

When she reached the gate, it was dark and still muzzling. She was never afraid of such trivial things as darkness and rainy weather. But her jaws dropped when she saw the locked village gate. Not a single soul was there by the gate to open it for her.

Diana once again tried to digest the truth. It's not only an emergency but a curfew!

The stupid Ruthernglan knight imposes curfews once in a while. Whenever there was a notable incursion in the neighbouring villages, the knight and the hunters would leave Ruthernglan to rescue the village in danger. Before they leave, they will impose these curfews. Curfews meant the knight had departed the village that night.

Then what about her father? Why didn't he search for her?

She suddenly remembered. Her father had taken responsibility for the hunter's food provision that month to repay the knight for sparing Diana! So he must have left with the troop transporting their food!

Diana was blue in the face.

Nobody knows she is outside the wall. Nobody is going to search for her as well.

She tried shouting out for help for a few minutes, but no hero appeared to save the damsel in distress. Shouting was one of the stupidest things she could do at that moment. Though she was so motivated to protect the wild, she was still aware of the fact that there was a forest nearby. When there is a forest, there could be carnivores as well. Carnivores hunt at the night. If she continued to shout, she might attract some nocturnal animals from the forest. So she had to stop at that point.

As time passed, Diana couldn't continue to stand there alone with only an umbrella in that rainfall. She had to find a place to spend that night. The only option was the tree house.

Though it was near the danger zone, this treehouse was the only choice. This treehouse is a place where they stored food, clothes, and weapons for the peasants. They had built it since their unprotected farmlands were next to the forest.

She climbed up the treehouse at an altitude of twenty feet. This may not be the safest place to spend the night, but for someone outside the wall, this place is a haven.

From the moment she entered the treehouse, she was standing by the window, stupidly staring at the faraway turret of Ruthernglan castle. That was where her only friend lived.

"Cuckoo!" Diana's heart skipped a beat! The sound rose behind her, breaking her thought progress.

"Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!" A startled Diana turned around to see what it was. Thankfully, it was just an old wooden cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. It stopped after twittering ten times. She let out a sigh of relief.

Now that she was out of her trance, and had already turned around, she got curious and wanted to have a look at that forbidden land.

Yes, the forest...

Excitement mixed with sight fear crept inside her as she walked hesitantly towards the other end of that tree house. She walked to the other end in slow but steady steps. There was a window, with only rails and a curtain. The movement of the curtain itself gave off creepy vibes.

Diana held the curtain from moving and carefully peeked through this window. She saw the 'forest' through those windows.

Diana could name a few features of this forest, maybe because her eyes had gotten adjusted to the darkness.

It was a dense forest. The trees were undoubtedly reaching for the sky. She could see nothing beyond the first three rows of woods, as usual. The spectacle of this forest was a never-ending abyss that wanted to draw her.

Fascinating... Mesmerized by the greenery and obscurity, she stood there for a while.

An icy breeze whirled around the bushes below the trees and reached for her, giving her chills. The handmade navy blue and white dirndl she was wearing was not enough to protect her from the crisp.

"So chilly!" Diana rubbed her arm, not willing to move away from that window. The forest had always been intriguingly magnificent. Diana always wanted to explore this forest. But the surrounding people taught her it's forbidden. Even her only friend didn't want her to enter the forest.