Volume 4, Chapter 12 – A Father and Daughter’s Quarrel

“So… this is Captain Anastasia’s father?”

Renee, sitting on one side of the carriage with her arms crossed, looked Clark up and down with a frown.

After the two groups met, they had unanimously agreed it was best to leave the Abyss as soon as possible, which led to the current scene of everyone sitting in the carriage. Milu and Liti were in their own carriage, while Fia’s group and Clark were in Chiharu’s—though Milu was not yet a proficient driver, the terrain here was a great plain, so even she could handle it.

The atmosphere in the jolting carriage was exceptionally heavy. The lingering smell of tobacco and sweat made it difficult to breathe.

Looking rather dejected, Clark rested his arms on his thighs and answered with his head down.

“I am Anastasia’s father.”

“It’s hard to imagine a man like you could attract Queen Veronica. The Queen must have been blind.”

“Renee.”

Fia’s brows drew together as she admonished her.

Unlike her usual submissiveness when alone with Fia, Renee now pursed her lips in annoyance.

“I’m not wrong. Look at this pathetic state. The woman who fell for him must have been blind. To think Queen Veronica is still waiting bitterly for him in the palace, only for him to find a beast-kin woman as a mistress on the outside. His taste isn’t bad, though; he even knows how to switch things up. I really feel it’s not worth it for the Queen.”

By the end, Renee’s voice was filled with ridicule and disdain. She didn’t even deign to look at Clark.

It was hard to tell if these were her true feelings or if she was just maintaining her persona.

Fia, sitting next to Anastasia, broke out in a cold sweat. She stole a glance at Anastasia, who had her hands clasped tightly together, her head lowered in silence.

This was supposed to be a touching reunion between a father and daughter. How had it developed into this?

The returning silence made Fia feel as if she were on pins and needles. The expressions on Anastasia’s and Clark’s faces when they returned to the carriage had been incredibly grim. Although Fia didn’t know what they had said to each other, she was certain the outcome had been very unpleasant; they might have barely exchanged a few words at all.

As if she couldn’t stand it anymore, Chiharu, who was driving the carriage, clicked her tongue loudly.

“Hey, hey, you two are a father and daughter who haven’t seen each other in decades. Is this how it’s going to be?”

“This is none of your business.”

Clark’s reply was full of impatience. He bent his back even lower, as if he couldn’t bear to be seen, his head nearly tucked between his legs. In addition to his dejection, his tone now carried a hint of shame.

“You’re right. I’ve let Veronica down.”

“At least you’re self-aware. I’m not interested in your affairs, but don’t think I’ll pretend I didn’t see this.”

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Spitting lightly, Renee stood up and left the carriage.

Suddenly, only Fia, Anastasia, and Clark were left inside.

As the atmosphere was about to turn deathly silent again, Fia looked back and forth between Anastasia and Clark, then whispered.

“Um, I—”

“Don’t let me hear you speak.”

Before Fia could finish, Clark interrupted her with a harsh remark.

Anastasia, who was beside Fia, immediately looked up, her expressive blue eyes filled with anger.

“If you’re going to have that attitude, then don’t let me see you. Without Her Highness, we would have died in that godforsaken place long ago!”

“Without their family, we would have lived better lives! We would never have gone to the Land of Exile in the first place! Anastasia, you have your priorities backward!” Clark retorted, glaring back with an intensity that matched Anastasia’s. His blue eyes, almost identical to hers, were bloodshot. The entire carriage seemed to tremble with his roar, as if a blue-maned lion were sitting there.

However, Anastasia showed no fear. She scolded him back.

“Her Highness and His Majesty are not the same person. You take out your anger on Her Highness because you’re no match for the Elf King. Are you even a man? I don’t care that you found a mistress on the outside, but don’t you dare interfere in my life. From the moment you started treating Her Highness the same as the Elf King, we went our separate ways.”

Anastasia’s words made Clark’s momentum falter. On the matter of Chiharu, he had no courage to face Anastasia. The excuse of “a drunken mistake” was just a pale and feeble excuse.

Clark’s tone softened. As if begging Anastasia, he spoke gently while reaching a hand out to her.

“Don’t be so stubborn… Anastasia. Come with me. We can go back to the days when the three of us lived together. The reason I left you back then was for this day…”

“Have you misunderstood something?” Anastasia dodged Clark’s outstretched hand. “I never once complained that you left the palace without a word. You had your reasons. I know no one could accept that kind of situation. But to lump Her Highness and the Elf King together… put yourself in my shoes. What am I supposed to think? What is Her Highness supposed to think?”

The way Anastasia always seemed to speak up for her enemy infuriated Clark, and he sneered.

“Heh… What are you supposed to think? The Elf King’s blood flows in her veins. She has that despicable man’s bloodline. There isn’t a single good person in the entire elf royal family. Wake up, Anastasia! Her birth itself is a sin! She’s the evil spawn born from the Elf King raping your mother! And you’re still speaking up for her? Are you even my daughter?!”

After Clark’s last sentence, Anastasia was visibly stunned for a moment. Then, a look of sorrow and pity suddenly appeared on her face. Her eyes seemed not to be looking at her father, but at a gambler who had lost all his money. Her gaze fell from Clark, and she looked down.

“No one asks to be born into this world, and no one can choose their own family. To take your anger out on Her Highness… you disappoint me so much, Father. Do you think if I had a choice, I would have chosen to be born into this family?”

“What do you mean? Are you disappointed to be my and Veronica’s daughter?”

“What does the love between you and Mother have to do with me? From the moment I can remember, all there has been is constant exile, killing, and an inescapable hunger. And you, you were only concerned with revenge, thinking that as long as Mother came back, everything would be fine. You never once considered my feelings. In your eyes, I was just an accessory to Mother.”

“Now that Her Highness has pulled me out of the Abyss, you’re going to point your finger at her in front of me and tell me she’s wrong, and that I should go back to you? I don’t want to spell it out, but please, don’t say things like ‘evil spawn’ anymore. I have sworn to be Her Highness’s sword and to no longer be entangled with the past.”

Sensing the coldness in Anastasia’s voice, a look of fear, as if he was about to lose something, appeared on Clark’s stubbled face. His lips trembled as he tried to defend himself, his mouth opening stiffly.

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“I admit I was blinded by hatred back then and didn’t take good care of you, but… but that wasn’t what I wanted either! It’s all Yelido’s fault! Yes, without Yelido, none of this would have happened! The three of us should have been a happy family. It’s all his fault for interfering!”

This time, Anastasia didn’t refute him. The only sounds in the carriage were the creaking of the wheels on the road and Clark’s heavy breathing.

Fia, caught between the two, could only try to make herself as inconspicuous as possible and remain silent. Anything she said now would only add fuel to the fire. Chiharu, in the driver’s seat, probably felt the same, which was why she just smoked and clicked her tongue at the father-daughter pair.

The silence, thick enough to congeal the air, lasted for a considerable time before it was finally broken by a single sentence from Anastasia.

“Apologize.”

Her voice was soft, yet incredibly clear.

Clark was instantly relieved and quickly asked.

“What?”

Anastasia, her head still lowered, bit her lip.

“I want you to apologize to Her Highness.”

“Ugh.”

An inarticulate sound came from Clark’s throat. Like a child who had done something wrong but was unwilling to admit it, he averted his gaze and said nothing.

“You can curse the Elf King however you want, and I can pretend not to hear. But I will not allow you to take out your anger on Her Highness for what the Elf King has done. If you still consider me your daughter, then apologize to Her Highness.”

“Anastasia, you’re threatening me—you’re threatening me, your father.”

When he said the word “father,” Clark’s tone was clearly heavier, and there was a hint of anger in his eyes. He could compromise and stop badmouthing Fia, but he could not bring himself to open his mouth and apologize to her. Nor could he allow his own daughter to threaten him with severing their relationship. The hatred he felt for the man who stole his wife, and his pride as a father, would not allow him to bow his head to Fia.

However, this only earned him a self-deprecating laugh from Anastasia.

“It seems there’s no possibility.”

This is bad.

Fia secretly clenched her fists. Anastasia was ready to get up and leave at any moment. She had a premonition that if she didn’t do something now, this father and daughter would completely sever their ties.

It didn’t have to come to this, yet they were being torn apart because each was too stubborn. If this matter didn’t concern her, one could say it was just a difference of opinion between Anastasia and Clark. But now, she was the central figure, the direct cause of the rift between Anastasia and her father. She didn’t want Anastasia to make an irreversible decision. She could no longer stand by and watch.

Without a word, Fia quietly took Anastasia’s hand, which had fallen to her side. The hand that had once brought her warmth was now slick with sweat, feeling scalding hot.

Subconsciously, Anastasia tried to pull her hand back, but Fia had no intention of letting go.

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Anastasia’s shoulders twitched, but in the end, she didn’t force the issue and pulled Fia from her seat.

She looked at Fia, and her angry gaze softened.

She advised her gently.

“Your Highness, we don’t need to waste our time here. If we travel through the night, we can reach Blossom by tomorrow evening.”

Just think about it a little more…

The words were on the tip of Fia’s tongue, but she couldn’t say them. She only knew that she should stop Anastasia, to prevent this father and daughter from breaking apart, but she didn’t know what to say. Just a simple “think about it” was too pale.

“Tsk…” Chiharu, outside the carriage, took a deep drag, then threw her cigarette onto the road. She said with considerable impatience, “Have you two had enough? Ana, what you’re doing is only going to trouble the little princess you’re trying to protect. Both of you, calm down.”

“What does an outsider like you know?”

“Do I, a beast-kin, need to teach you the principle of not being able to see the forest for the trees? If you want to know if the little princess is troubled, why don’t you just ask her?”

Anastasia turned to look at Fia, but what she saw was an upturned face with a pleading expression, like a weak and helpless child. Except for when Fia had first lost her memory, Anastasia had never seen such a vulnerable look on her. For a moment, she felt as if something had exploded in her mind. Panic and guilt instantly consumed her.

I’ve been too autocratic.

“I…”

Now, even Anastasia didn’t know what to do. She wanted to comfort Fia, but she didn’t know where to start. And with her father, who was hostile towards Fia, right here, anything she said would seem inappropriate. She could only sit back down beside Fia and uneasily squeeze her hand in return.

Seeing Anastasia’s change, Chiharu waved her hand dismissively, as if shooing away a fly.

“Two idiots. No wonder you’re father and daughter. Instead of arguing about whether to apologize at a time like this, isn’t the journey ahead more important? Clark, our tracks have been exposed. Begging the princess for forgiveness is more important than anything right now. I don’t want to see you picking life-or-death fights with those monsters again. Even with magic potions, you don’t have long to live. And don’t you want to see Veronica—dammit.”

Her last statement clearly carried personal feelings. Even with the marriage customs of beast-kin, taking the person you liked to see their rival made Chiharu feel annoyed—of course, it was also possible that having lived in the human world for so long, her views had been influenced by human culture.

Chiharu’s words brought the topic back to Clark, who sat frozen in his seat.

“I…”

Perhaps he was moved by the mention of Veronica, or perhaps Chiharu’s words had given him a way out. Clark’s mouth opened and closed, then he silently pursed his lips, his gaze shifting to the side as he said nothing.

This was probably his apology.

Although Clark hadn’t said a word, Fia could already sense his concession. To make this man say sorry to the daughter of his enemy was harder than killing him. Fia had never expected him to apologize in the first place. She had sat down in this carriage prepared to be cursed at by him. For things to develop to the point of him apologizing was completely unexpected.

Fia first squeezed Anastasia’s hand a little harder, giving her a reassuring smile, then continued the conversation with Clark.

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“I don’t plan on telling anyone I met you. What you do is your business. Veronica never liked me from the start. I have no feelings for her, so naturally, I don’t feel any sense of belonging.”

She had no memories of Veronica at all; it would be strange if she had any feelings. If Clark hadn’t been so hostile towards her, she might have even encouraged him to take Veronica away sooner.

As if he had heard something unbelievable, Clark abruptly raised his head. His stubbled face, which exuded an air of melancholy and decadence, was now filled with astonishment.

“You won’t tell Yelido? Why?”

“Hey, is there something wrong with your head?” Chiharu’s voice was accompanied by what looked like a boot being thrown at Clark. “If she wasn’t a reasonable person, she wouldn’t have risked the Elf King’s displeasure to get you and Ana out of the Land of Exile in the first place. You know that yourself, don’t you?”

“Ugh…”

Catching the boot, Clark awkwardly rubbed his nose. He looked to the side and said in a rather reluctant, low voice,

“…Thanks.”

Fia finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hah, as long as you two don’t act like you’re severing all ties, I’ll be eternally grateful.”

“I’m sorry, Your Highness…” Anastasia apologized with a look of shame. The image of Fia’s helpless expression was still fresh in her mind.

Fia could only pat the back of Anastasia’s hand with her other hand.

“There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s only human.”

As she said this, Fia suddenly felt Clark observing her. There was a look of surprise in his world-weary eyes.

Fia couldn’t help but ask.

“Is there something on my face?”

“No. I just feel that you’ve changed. It’s like you’re a different person.”

“Well…”

This was probably the best time to come clean. It would come out sooner or later anyway, so there was no harm in saying it now. It might even make Clark trust her.

Fia had never intended to keep this secret forever. Her memory loss was most likely already known throughout the capital, thanks to Count Evan and the Second Prince’s tutor. If she stayed silent now, Clark would find out from others tomorrow when he reached the capital.

After a moment of preparation, Fia said slowly.

“I’ve lost my memory.”