Volume 4, Chapter 63 – Father and Daughter

“…”

The entire grand hall was silent. No one dared to raise their head to speak; even their breathing was suppressed to an extremely faint level, for fear of accidentally angering Yelido.

He knew what these people were thinking. His gaze fell directly on the Prime Minister, who had his head lowered in hesitation.

“I’ve heard it all. Aldrich rebelled, Greyan is also dead, and Dofilia was gravely wounded by the Holy Kingdom’s Unsinkable Moon and has lost her memory. Is this how you manage Silvar when I am away? Where is Aldrich? Drag him out for me!”

Yelido’s roar made the nobles in the hall tremble. With the blessing of the Holy Tree, he possessed the strength of a quasi-Eighth Rank. Coupled with his already majestic image, no one dared to act presumptuously in his presence.

Knowing he could not escape, the Prime Minister gritted his teeth, stepped forward, and answered with his hands clasped.

“Your Majesty, Aldrich is already dead.”

“Dead?”

“Yes…” At this, the Prime Minister, his head still lowered, secretly glanced at Fia. “He was killed by Her Highness the Eldest Princess herself. Not only did he use her memory loss to disturb the people’s hearts, but he also forged a document stating that Your Majesty had fallen into the Abyss. In addition, before arriving in Blossom, he colluded with Count Reinhardt, Count Lafaria, Godley, and others to rebel, arranging for elite soldiers to sneak into the city. His intentions were treasonous. Her Highness did not wish to engage in fratricide, but at that time, Aldrich had already used an amulet that broke the [Citadel of Silence] to reach the base of the Holy Tree. Her Highness was forced by the situation to take this action. I hope Your Majesty will quell your anger.”

No one voiced any objection. In fact, Yelido already knew to some extent about Godley’s assistance in the rebellion, which was why he had placed Godley’s younger brother, Gwyn, under house arrest before arriving at the Royal Castle. Just as Yulisha had thought, Yelido did not care about his brother’s death. He had long known that Aldrich coveted his throne and had been looking for an opportunity to clear the obstacle for Fia. Now that he had delivered himself to their doorstep, he deserved to die.

What truly angered him was Greyan’s death and Fia’s memory loss. However, he knew that with Greyan’s title as the Last Shield of Silvar, even he, with the blessing of the Holy Tree, would have found it difficult to assassinate him silently. This matter was by no means simple. To bring it up in court, no one would be able to give him an answer.

That being said, he still raised the question.

“Was Greyan also killed by Aldrich?”

“Well… I am not clear on that. Even after asking the managers of the Three Main Towers, we have not reached a conclusion. General Greyan’s body has been preserved in an ice coffin. We believe that only Your Majesty can investigate this matter.”

The answer was exactly as expected. Yelido tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled.

“The person who could assassinate General Greyan is at least no weaker than me. It is understandable that you could not find any results. But,” at this, Yelido’s red eyes narrowed slightly, and everyone could feel a cold gaze sweep over them, “you should have already investigated thoroughly how Dofi lost her memory. I want to know the whole process.”

“Yes.”

Having long guessed that he would ask this question, the Prime Minister took out a rolled-up parchment from his bosom and read it aloud in front of everyone in the hall.

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Although this was not the first time Fia had heard the process of the princess’s misfortune, the information she had learned from Anastasia in the past had been rather fragmented. In addition, she had seen the process of the princess being pierced by the Unsinkable Moon in her dying memories, like a revolving lantern. So she had never asked for the specific details of the attack—for example, why the princess had appeared on the plain. Of course, it didn’t matter whether she knew these details or not; it would neither affect the result nor make things incomprehensible.

The reason the princess had crossed the ocean to the Holy Kingdom was to use her Seventh-Rank strength to put an end to the war. Although Silvar had invested nearly two hundred thousand soldiers in the war, at the time of her misfortune, she had only had about three thousand people with her. This was because she had planned to bypass the small towns with a small force and, like a sharp knife, thrust directly into the hub city in the heartland of the Holy Kingdom, thereby cutting off the supply lines between their front and rear, and severing communication to accelerate the war’s progress.

And this choice had laid a hidden danger for her. The Holy Kingdom, by some unknown method, had detected that she was advancing with only a small force, and had thus had the guts to secretly move the Unsinkable Moon from their holy capital to her necessary path, setting up an ambush in the vast plains of the wilderness. The two sides had finally met, which had led to the scene Fia had seen in the revolving lantern: the princess being killed by the Unsinkable Moon without any defense, and all the soldiers thrown into chaos.

It should be said that when the Prime Minister was reading out the course of events, the names of many people appeared, such as who on their side had not fulfilled their duties, and who the generals of the Holy Kingdom were. In addition, perhaps from what the few Imperial Guards who had returned first had said, he also read out Fia’s encounter in Aurora City. But due to the influence of Claire’s forgetting curse, the content was vastly different from the facts; it was Fia who was said to have destroyed the Unsinkable Moon.

After hearing the whole story, the atmosphere in the grand hall changed subtly. Yelido, in particular, looked clearly displeased.

Fia knew that trouble was coming.

Sure enough, Yelido said the words she had guessed.

“Where is Anastasia?” he questioned in a grim tone. However, the Prime Minister did not dare to answer. It was because of Anastasia that Fia had clashed with Godley and the military. Now that he was clearly looking to settle scores with her, if he were to speak up, he would only offend Fia.

But now he was in a dilemma. If he didn’t speak, he would offend the Elf King.

At this moment, Fia stood up.

“Father, this matter has nothing to do with Anastasia.”

The princess had been gravely injured. A normal person’s first reaction would indeed be to hold her guard, Anastasia, accountable. However, for everyone to do so—whether it was the military, Mother Yulisha, or Erin Slate—Fia couldn’t help but feel annoyed. But she also knew in her heart that Yelido was looking for Anastasia not just because she was the first person responsible, but also because he himself disliked her.

Just as Clark hated her, Yelido also hated Anastasia. On this level, the two men were the same.

Seeing Fia stand up, Yelido narrowed his eyes, his deep voice filled with anger.

“Nothing to do with her? She is your guard, a slave you picked up from the Land of Exile! She did not act as your shield in the first instance and blocked the Unsinkable Moon for you! That is her crime! It was a mistake to allow you to keep her in the first place! This kind of inferior creature should not exist in this world!”

As he spoke, Yelido gripped the armrest of his throne and suddenly stood up.

“Give my order! Mobilize the southern troops! I will wipe the Holy Kingdom from the face of the World Tree Continent!”

“Your Majesty, calm down, Your Majesty! We don’t have that many ships to cross the sea! And now is the autumn harvest season! If we mobilize the southern troops to the Holy Kingdom, by the time winter comes, the undead from the Netherworld will flood into the south like a tide!”

“Father, I also think this matter should be reconsidered. At the current rate, the Holy Kingdom will soon present us with a letter of surrender. We only need to have them hand over those who advocated for the attack to achieve our goal. To continue to send a large army deep into their mainland, logistics and personnel management will be a problem, and the price we pay will likely be several times what it is now—”

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The advice of the Prime Minister and Kalsey not only did not quell his anger, but made it burn even brighter. With just a single glance, he silenced Kalsey before he could finish. The intense authority was as if it had materialized, making Kalsey feel as if an invisible wall was pressing against his chest, making it hard to breathe.

With a displeased expression, Yelido walked down the steps one by one.

“Silvar is my Silvar. No one can defy me. Whoever hurts the crystal of my and Veronica’s love, I will make them pay a hundred times the price! Go and find Anastasia for me! No one can stop me today!”

“All of you, get out!”

Following his words, Fia shouted at all the nobles and ministers to leave. And her words were like a pardon to them. Everyone knew that this father and daughter were about to have a fight. One was the king, the other the ironclad heir. To be involved in a conversation of this level would do them no good at all. While looking at Yelido’s face, flushed with anger, they backed away and hurried out of the audience chamber.

Soon, only Fia and Yelido were left in the entire room.

Fia turned to the panting king, suppressing the displeasure in her heart as much as possible.

“Father, this matter may have nothing to do with Anastasia. It is possible that my past self was deliberately hit by the Unsinkable Moon. Do you think that with my wisdom, I would be so easily injured by it?”

Yelido laughed in anger. Now that there were no ministers here, he did not need to maintain the majestic image of a king. He took a step forward and looked down at Fia, his eyes fixed on hers.

“Dofi, are you trying to tell me that you were deliberately seriously injured, and then you’re facing me with this look of having lost your memory? What a joke! Yes, you are my, Yelido’s, seed, my and Veronica’s daughter. No matter what you become, this throne belongs to you. The things you have forgotten can be slowly recovered in the future. There is still a long time.”

“But, this does not mean I will act as if nothing has happened. Someone must be held responsible. Besides that group of inferior beings from the Holy Kingdom who used the Unsinkable Moon, there is also the lowly elf you picked up! I will not allow you to find any reason to make excuses for Anastasia. I foresaw it when you took her in back then. In the future, she will surely turn against you, just as that mongrel stole Veronica from my side, she will also take you away from me! No one in their family is a good thing! I should have disregarded Veronica back then and erased them from this world! Then you would not have almost lost your life! I must publicly hang this inferior being today as an example!”

Just as Yelido had laughed in anger, Fia glared back with an anger that was no less than his.

He had called Anastasia an inferior being time and time again, and now he wanted to hang her. Even if he was her father, she could not bear it any longer. This tragedy had been caused by him in the first place. Now, not only did he not show a shred of remorse, but he also wanted to kill Anastasia, who had brought her back from the brink. This was no longer a matter of feelings, but of fundamental right and wrong.

“If Anastasia had wanted to harm me, I would not be standing here right now! Yelido, if you harm her, then don’t blame me for being impolite!”

“…Yelido?”

After Fia finished speaking, he seemed to have seen something incredible. His expression suddenly froze, and the anger on his face receded like a tide, becoming filled with doubt. He even reached out his hands, as if he wanted to hold her shoulders.

“Dofi? You haven’t lost your memory?”

The change in his attitude made Fia also momentarily surprised. Then she understood the reason—the princess had most likely always addressed him as “Yelido,” not “Father.” So when she had called him “Father,” he had been certain that she had lost her memory. Just now, in her anger, she had called him by his name directly, which had made him think that she was the former princess.

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Considering the current situation, it would be best to pretend that she hadn’t lost her memory. But that would be exposed sooner or later, making things worse. Fia still answered in a stiff tone.

“I have indeed lost my memory. But I found traces of my past self in the library. I had anticipated that I might lose my memory before I set out, so I wrote down many things in a book for the current me to read. This is enough to show that my being hit by the Unsinkable Moon may not have been an accident.”

“…Hmph,” receiving her reply that she had indeed lost her memory, the expectation in Yelido’s eyes instantly vanished. He snorted and turned away, his words once again filled with an unquestionable tone. “You think you can deceive me with such a trick? Dofi, you have not only lost your memory, but even your way of thinking has become childish.”

At this, he suddenly turned to face her, his handsome and majestic face showing a look of admonition.

“Dofi, I can allow you to do many things. Even if you hadn’t lured Aldrich into open rebellion and had just killed him directly, I could have turned a blind eye. But only on the matter of your mother, and that bastard Clark, is there no room for discussion. I will no longer tolerate you keeping Anastasia by your side. Her very existence is an insult to me. The moment I see her, I am reminded of that bastard Clark. It just so happens that today, that inferior being must pay the price for her dereliction of duty. I will make her disappear from this world!”

“Then what if I say no?”

“You have no choice. You are my, Yelido’s, daughter.”

“Hehehe… daughter?”

Fia laughed coldly. She had already looked down on him for stealing another man’s wife. Especially after being berated by Clark in the carriage, she felt sad for him and was unhappy that she could only be passively scolded because she was Yelido’s daughter, and thus held an indelible disgust for this scumbag.

If he hadn’t been her father, she would have taken it upon herself to rescue Veronica. Now, not only was he using his status as a father to suppress her, but he was also holding on to the innocent Anastasia. This disgusting behavior only intensified her disgust. She narrowed her eyes, and her tone became impolite.

“Don’t you think you are too arrogant? This whole tragedy was created by your own hands, ending with no one being happy. Are you still proud, thinking this is good? To forcibly break up another’s family, not only to marry your own cousin, but also to brand her husband and daughter with the Sinner’s Mark and exile them. The former princess bringing Anastasia back was already atoning for your mistakes. Now you still want to kill her. Don’t you find your actions shameless?”

“As your daughter, I only feel shame. If you insist on holding on to Anastasia, then I have no choice but to leave this palace. You can restrain Veronica, but you cannot restrain me!”

“…”

Yelido did not answer immediately. He just stared at her for a while, his chest heaving violently with extreme anger, his entire body exuding a strong sense of danger. Then, with a whistling sound of wind, his right hand fell heavily on her face.

A crisp sound echoed in the grand hall.

“Don’t be so impudent! My love for Veronica is—mmph!”

He was not able to finish his sentence.

Because Fia’s fist had already greeted his face.

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Just as he, in a fit of rage, had slapped her, after she had taken the slap, she had gathered her strength and sent a punch straight at his nose.

Thump.

The crisp sound of a nose breaking, and the dull thud of Yelido flying backwards and landing on the stone steps.

“You’re the one who’s being impudent!”

Without giving him a chance to stand up, Fia quickly stepped forward. She grabbed him by the collar, pulled him before her, raised her fist again, and sent another punch to his left cheek.

She had not failed to see his outstretched hand just now. She could have dodged the slap, but she had not. She was his daughter, the one who had inherited the princess’s body, the one who had inherited his daughter’s identity. She felt that this was a price she should pay. But paying the price did not mean she had to be submissive. Everything had to be dealt with on its own terms. Since she had taken this slap as the princess, then as the princess, she had to get justice.

That punch was the beginning.

It was a punch thrown as the princess for her older sister, Anastasia—filled with the guilt she had felt for her all along the way, and the anger she felt for this man.

She wanted to throw a third, a fourth punch, to vent the helplessness she had felt when she had been scolded by Clark, and the righteous indignation of the princess having been ignored by her own mother for a hundred years. But in the end, she did not raise her fist to him again.

Just those two punches, without any magic, had already knocked out several of his teeth. Blood was flowing from his nose and mouth. He was a complete mess, without a trace of a king’s image. Although she felt more dislike than affection for this man, he was, after all, the princess’s father. The princess herself had never beaten her father, so she should also know when to stop. To take things too far would do no good for anyone.

That being said, things had already gone too far. Once one had raised a hand to their father, it would probably be difficult to get along peacefully as before in the future.

Had she done the wrong thing? Although this punch had been thrown in anger, she did not feel that she had done anything wrong. If she were to look at it from God’s perspective, she would have given him a few more. But the fact was, her and her father’s relationship was about to end here.

Even though she had more or less anticipated this from the beginning.

It was unpleasant.

The anger in her heart gradually subsided. Fia lowered her fist and let go of his collar. At this moment, Yelido, lying on the stone steps, had not yet recovered from his shock. His eyes, as magnificent as rubies, just stared blankly at her, as if he did not understand what had happened.

Fia let out a deep breath.

“I already see Anastasia as my own sister. Back in Aurora City, because I had lost my memory, I thought I was just a soul inhabiting Dofilia’s body and wanted to give up the identity of the princess and go and live my own life in a corner of the continent. It was Anastasia who persuaded me to stay, that made me decide to stay. If you insist on doing something to her, Father, then I can only take her and leave this place, and only come back to see you at the beginning of each year. If you still want to maintain this kinship, then please do not say any more about punishing her.”

Without another word, Fia turned around and left the grand hall.