Consequences

The rest of the night passed without much change. Some people would approach Dahlia, she would maintain smalltalk without ever paying attention, and all the while her thoughts would be elsewhere. Lost somewhere between making her future plans and daydreaming, the night eventually came to an end.

It wasn't like she had made any proper friends during this time and, although some still had their eyes on her, no one paid any mind as she was eventually led out by a Lionysus family guard. It had been a long day and everyone was exhausted as the debutante came to a close. In Dahlia's case, she had been woken up early to get prepared and didn't have a moment to rest until now, which happened to be midnight.

Everyone else was tired as well and for similar reasons, but in some cases fatigue can be easily suppressed. Take for example, adrenaline. As the carriage door slammed shut and the sound blocking enchantment was activated, the calm and quiet carriage interior immediately shifted.

"You worthless bitch! I should have killed you when you were still a child. I took care of you, fed you, and made you somewhat presentable and this is how you repay me?!"

The Baron had wasted no time in delivering his judgement and harsh words were far from the only part of his punishment. The moment privacy had been secured, a demonstration of sheer brutality accompanied his words. Near instantly, Dahlia had been dragged by her hair and tossed to the floor where the noble's pointed dress shoe repeatedly kicked and dug its way into the girl.

The strikes were aimed wherever they could land and with the Baron's current fury, the typical restrictions he placed on himself were tossed aside. When she fell to the floor the first part to receive his anger was her face. The one place he had never touched was instantly brutalised.

As Dahlia tried to reposition and hide her face, her father only took the opportunity to stomp on and crush her hand under his heel, only for him to follow up kicking her stomach as she collapsed to the ground in pain. From there he didn't relent. One kick. Two. Another and another. Even as she struggled to protect herself on the verge of consciousness, Dahlia could feel ribs break and she struggled to breathe.

Barely managing to turn over and protect her front and face, the Baron hardly cared, instead choosing to kneel down and beat his daughter with his fists. He hit anywhere he could see, but seemed to focus more so on her kidneys as with each shot came a strained cry from the girl. He exercised his rage so ruthlessly and without restraint that even for Dahlia, what she was experiencing was far worse than normal. As she threw up due to the pain and saw blood mixed in, she feared she may actually die.

It didn't help that with each blow her father would rant and curse her existence. Dreadful words laced with honest and pure hatred came from his mouth, all while he damned her to the hells and all their endless suffering.

One might question Dahlia. Why didn't she use her magic? Even if only a cantrip, surely something could help. Creating a wooden layer could act as armour and protect her. Not only does this train of thought not consider how untrained she was in mana manipulation and the added difficulty of using it while being assaulted but it also ignores how the Baron may respond if he noticed her defending herself. Chances are he would simply overwhelm her defences and make his attacks even worse.

There was an added issue though and this one was far more pressing. Dahlia had simply become trained to be a victim. In her eyes there was no escape, no resistance, and no choice. Long ago it had been drilled into her that going against her parents only led to failure and more severe punishment. She was so far gone in this way that her parents could have been restrained at this moment with her in a suit of armour and a weapon in hand and she would still behave the same and cower in a paralysed fear.

So no, Dahlia wouldn't do anything to defend herself, with magic or without. At this moment, she only had the mentality she always had ever since she was a child and that was fear, desperation, loneliness, despondency, and agony.

The beating had continued for some time now and the Baron was seeming to find euphoria in bringing his daughter so close to death. A wide demonic grin was splitting his face, even as his shoes, suit and skin were spattered in blood and the girl at his feet approached being unrecognisable.

Much to his irritation, he was brought to a stop. Not of his own will, but of the will of the other individual in the carriage. Just as a fist was brought back to bring a haymaker to Dahlia's exposed temple, a white gloved hand firmly grasped his arm.

"Sabrina, what the fuck do you think you're doing? Unhand me and let me discipline our daughter. Else she'll make a fool of us all over again. We need to make sure this bitch knows her place."

He was shaking in both rage and adrenaline and was already pulling to tear his arm free of his wife. In his eyes, perhaps this really was discipline, but anyone other than him would be able to see what it actually was. It was an execution. If any more time had passed, Dahlia would go well past the stage of anything that could be naturally healed. In fact, if the Baron continued, chances were high she would end up in an irreversible coma or dead. Either way, Sabrina wasn't having any of it.

"If you continue to try and harm her while she's in this state, I will forcibly restrain you. She's about to die at your hands and not only would that be legally difficult to explain considering she's now an adult, but it would also waste all the time and effort spent raising her. Punish her if you must, but she must still be presentable to her suitors."

She had said it in a calm and negotiating tone, but there were quite a few emotions hidden just under the surface that she was struggling to contain. First of all, what was most important to her was her daughter's bloodline. Although her husband seemed to be totally indifferent, Sabrina had in inkling of what that bloodline was and had plans that involved the girl. Needless to say, having her die would put all of that to waste.

Perhaps less important, yet still very prevalent in her mind was that Sabrina honestly despised Vincent's form of punishment. There was no art. No tact. Out of everything he had done, what almost tipped her over the edge far sooner was the initial strike to Dahlia's face. It had unleashed a rage deep within the Baroness that she didn't realise she had.

This wasn't the case of a mother being defensive of her daughter. It was closer to a painter watching as a priceless canvas was torn. Sabrina relished every moment she inflicted torment on Dahlia, be it physical or emotional, and beyond the sense of superiority it gave her, more than anything she loved the expressions she could elicit from the girl.

To see that perfect face nearly shredded apart while those cute little cries and whimpers had long since faded left the Baroness in a livid state. It was taking all her willpower not to release her magic and bring ruin upon her husband. There was no love between them, at least on her end, and had it not been advantageous to remain together there was a high chance Sabrina would have at least maimed the Baron by this point.

Instead, she just held his arm and gave the warning. It was a tense moment. Dahia of course was unaware of it all, but behind her her parents were each having their own battle of wills as they stared each other down. After some time, Vincent stepped down and looked away, slightly ashamed of how far he let his emotions take him. He let out a sigh as he looked down on the bloody mess beside his feet.

"Fuck, we only have practical healers in the Barony. For this much damage, we may need a magic healer to prevent permanent damage."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Of course we could always just leave her like this. I've personally talked to both Dignitary Ahmad and Count Torivald and I think they both may actually like scarred women. Ahmad said that he was uncomfortable with how pristine women are here. Apparently in the Sultanate women tend to be the stronger warriors and are regularly scarred as signs of honour, so perhaps sheing Dahlia's face like this would be appealing."

Rubbing his chin in thought, he seemed to mull over the possibilities. Nodding to himself as if he were actually thinking anything intelligent.

"As for the Count, I know for certain he has a complex where he hates to have anyone more attractive than him near. It's why he's gone through seven wives already. He scars all his servants as well, so I basically just did his work for him."

Vincent looked up with a small smile on his face. It was like he was looking for approval for his 'grand plan' to cover up his mistake, but Sabrina wasn't having any of it. First of all, she hated seeing Dahlia's face like this and personally wanted it fixed. Even if the rest of her body were disfigured, she would be content so long as the face was fine.

What made her want magical healing even more though was the threat of an angry vampire. Though her husband remained in the dark, those two suitors would never have the chance to take Dahlia. A much bigger fish had already stolen their bait after all. The issue is said 'big fish' just so happened to be a violent and terrifying woman who, if Sabrina read it right, was incredibly possessive of their daughter. Fear krept in as she began to think how Valentina might react.

"No, Vincent, we need a magical healer. Listen, Torivald almost certainly enjoys disfiguring people. In fact, even considering his complex, there's no way that isn't the case. Why do you think he's only taken attractive wives and servants. He'd just go for the uglies if he didn't want to disfigure them"

She could see him nodding along with her logic. Just before he went and said something stupid, which he almost certainly would, she continued.

"As for the dignitary, do you really think we was referring to this type of scarring? He was probably just saying that as a way to say that the noblewomen here are soft compared to the warriors in his homeland. Even if he finds scarring attractive, he's looking for it from combat, not abuse. Are you an idiot for not seeing that?"

Vincent looked away, a little embarrassed but also unsure how to handle the situation. He had realised there were some gaps in his logic, but he was desperate. More than anything though, he was a little confused why Sabrina was behaving this way. She got a little angry regularly, but today she seemed genuinely upset and he couldn't understand why. Deciding prying into it would do him no favours, he instead looked back at Dahlia.

"Right, so we'll get a magic healer. But that's easier said than done. There's a reason we didn't use them more often. Not only are they absurdly expensive, but the cause of injury must be kept quiet. Not to mention they are in high demand and not particularly common."

Sabrina agreed at least on that much and decided to add on.

"We'll likely need to use one of the two we used previously. They're the only ones that have been vetted enough to know they are trustworthy. We could contact Caleb and see if he can dig up information on alternatives though. Either way… we may not be able to get healing done for a week or more. Between travel, negotiations, and waiting in line for them to eventually get to us after other patients, a week is honestly pushing our luck. We can only be thankful there's no major wars going on to pull healers away."

Vincent agreed but didn't seem to see the issue. They could just hole Dahlia away for a few weeks or a month and keep her locked up until the healers come. Then they'd just contact Ahmad and Torivald once the matter was cleared up. All the while, Sabrina was nearly petrified in the fear of not getting the healing complete before an unknown deadline. She cursed her luck when she heard her husband's response.

"Very well. Because I was the source of this trouble, I'll solve it. I'll talk to Caleb to see if he can find anyone fast, but I'll prioritise the healers we know. We can just delay the suitors' appointments until she heals, so I'll prioritise negotiations, otherwise something of this scale might push us a little too close to bankruptcy than I'd like.These healers charge an arm and a leg, so I might see if I can get dirt on one to reduce the price."

Sighing, the Baroness no longer said anything. Hearing him prioritise finances over speed made sense, but she could see the sword of Damocles right over both their throats. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, she was already trying to think of ways to escape a premature burial at the hands of the Archduchess.

"Alright, fine, you'll be in charge of the healer just… I'll take care of mundane healing and day to day needs. Just in case someone shows up, I want her to not look quite as bad as she does now. Not to mention… honestly, she can't wait that long, I think she'll die in the next day if untreated."

As if to confirm that statement, Dahlia began coughing up blood while still lying there unconscious. Meanwhile, only one thought was running through the Baroness' mind over and over again.

'God damn it, we're going to die. The moment the Archduchess finds out, the entire barony will be razed to the ground.'

She looked up, hoping to see at least some urgency in her husband's eyes, but instead she saw him smiling cheerfully as he watched their daughter cough up more blood.

'Shit.'