It was nighttime when she reached her home. Her father was waiting for her outside the house. He was walking to and from in front of the door.

"Father, it is cold. Why are you waiting outside? Are you that worried for me?"

"Of course. What kind of father wouldn't when his dear daughter went to a court?"

"I am just a witness, father."

"But human mouths speak what they want to believe. Rumours are the deadliest weapons."

"Father. I have already told you. Ethan is my saviour and protector. I owe this much to him."

"I know. I know. I am just saying. Reputation is everything in a society. I can't let even a dent in yours. Especially now that the Duke has accepted to see you."

"What do you mean?"

"Let's talk inside."

The expression of Mr Longbart changed. It turned serious as he looked here and there suspiciously. Leila couldn't understand her father. He wasn't like this before.

Mr Longbart locked the door soon after they entered the house.

"Father, why are you acting weird?"

"Don't worry dear. This is good news. It just rolled in. The Duke accepted to see you after he saw your portrait. My informant said Duke couldn't eye on others anymore after he saw you."

"No. No. Wait!. Seriously what did you do Father? Explain to me so that I understand."

"Like I said. The Duke has taken a liking to you. It is been a year since the duchess passed away. So he is now looking for a wife. Every beauty in town sent their portraits. I heard even royalties from the capital are involved. But my dear, after he saw your portrait he threw others away. He said you are the one."

The sudden announcement from her father surprised her. Before she visited her mother's grave, her father asked her to paint a portrait. At that time he didn't say anything about the Duke. She thought he wanted a portrait because that was the fashion of the rich lately.

"Father! Are you serious? You told me that the portrait was for the home. You lied to me?"

"Yes. I mean... No. I thought I should use it for better. And I was right. My dear daughter. We are becoming royalties!! My dream has come true!"

She had already had a bad day in court. Now her father was suddenly telling her to marry a person she had never seen before, just for the money. It ticked her off.

"No!! I am not marrying that grey-hair, father. He is older than you. Grandfather would be younger than him. I am not marrying that old sag of balls!"

Her outburst shocked her father. He had never seen his beloved daughter this angry before. There were times when the two did not meet the same term but never this heated.

"Sshh...My dear, keep your voice down. If others were heard, our heads would be cut off."

"No, father. I won't be silenced. You promised Mother that you would do the best for me. You said I could marry the one I love like my mother did. You promised me that."

"Leila, my dear. This is the best for you. Stop acting like a child. You are already twenty. Many had fallen to your beauty yet I rejected their proposals to you. I had waited three years hoping you would find a fine gentleman yourself. Yet where is he?"

"Give me some time."

"More time? You are at your peak. Any later and you would miss to grab the best man."

"Is the old duke the best man?"

"Not ideally."

"I have found him. My ideal man. He is a Templer...I mean a Templer-to-be. He is young and talented. One day, he will become the greatest warrior. He cared about me and protected me sincerely."

"No. Not a Templer. They are always on missions and never come home. They lay with women in every village. And do you know how many Templers killed by monsters each year? Their stories and endeavours are only good for ears."

Her father tried to shatter the unrealistic idolising of warriors.

"Ethan is not like them."

"Ethan? Do you mean Ethanial? The one who is accused of betrayal? Absolutely not. I told you to search for a fine gentleman and you brought me a criminal?"

"He is not a criminal. He is my protector. Everyone was wrong about him and I will set things right. I will make everyone see to it."

"Even by chance he is not guilty, still he will never become a high Templer with his tarnished reputation. You will live in poor and constant grief. These days, the power lies in position and wealth."

"Is that it? Wealth and power. Are those the only things that matter to you, Father? Did you marry Mother for her wealth?"

The moment she said those words, she knew she was wrong. She was upset but she did not mean to. It came out wrong. She was trying to say that she and Ethan would strive on the same road he and her mother walked. They were the self-made people who became successful through brain and brawn.

Right after her words, she felt a hit to her cheek. The dizziness threw her off balance to the ground. The first in her lifetime, her father slapped her.

As the argument turned violent, the rest of the household came out to see the situation. Her stepmother waved the nanny to take Leila away. She winked at her husband telling him that she would persuade Leila, woman to woman.

Mr Longbart accepted her idea and threw himself to a chair. He looked at his trembling hand. He could not believe he hit Leila. Tears ran down from the corner of his eyes. Tears are signs of weakness, he believed. He, as the head, did not want to show that in front of the entire household. Yet he could not help himself and let out a few drops.

After Mrs Borger took Leila upstairs, her stepmother entered her room with a sweet smile. She approached her daughter slowly and sat beside her gently.

"Leila," she called her with the softest and kindest voice while she rubbed Leila lightly on the shoulder, "I understand how you feel. I am also the eldest daughter of my family. For us, marriage is the business we must succeed. I didn't love your father at first. But his relentless show of affection made me fall in love and now we have a son together. I am sure you will come around too. I heard the Duke was always good to his late wife even though she didn't give him any children. He will truly treasure a young fertile beauty like you."

"Because the late duchess was the real royalty and he married her to become the duke. You do know he has three mistresses and a courtesan he usually visits, right? And I heard he usually treats them like pleasurable meat. He is an old douchbag."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"He is a douchbag. So what? All the better if he had others who could pleasure him. He won't bother you much. Like you said, he is old, one foot in the grave. Soon you will be the duchess and the second most powerful woman in all of the empire. Then you can do whatever you want. Hell, you could clear his name. Who is that warrior you love, Ethanial? You could knight him and marry him after you become the Duchess. All the golds, silks and a castle for you and your lover, for your father and all of us."

"So you are the same. No loyalty. No love. The marriage is a business for you. And now you want to barter me like an item to realise your dream of royalty."

"Oh! Don't be so selfish Leila. Like I said, this is the responsibility of the eldest daughter."

"Selfish? Me? I gave up my mother's jewellery when my father asked them to bribe the late duchess and royalties. I gave you my mother's garments and her necklace because you said you liked them. Even though they were left by my mother for me, I gave them to you because you said you love them. The only thing I kept was a bottle of palm oil as my mother's memory! So don't you tell me I am selfish!! Get out of my room. Out! Now!"

"Get out? This is my house. I am the lady of the house. Don't you dare speak with that tone to your mother, young girl?"

"You are my step-mother."

"You... This is all because your father spoiled you. I told him this would happen."

"Spoiled? I was never spoiled. I never asked for anything. I wanted to help at the store my mother founded, yet I gave up because you never liked me going there. You were afraid I would take it from your son. Didn't you? Father already gave the crown city branch to Bran but you still eyed on my mother's store. And I let you have them all. So don't tell me I am spoiled."

"My son is a man. It was his birthright to inherit the family business. You are a girl."

"Then give birth to a girl on your own and sell her to the old man yourself. Don't use me for your gain!"

A hand reached her face the second time and she did not regret it this time. Although her stepmother and she was not close to each other, there was never a clash either. Whenever her stepmother asked for something, she gave it without complaint. Leila didn't want the bad blood between them to be a burden for her father. She did not want her father to be uncomfortable.

However, Mrs Longbart assumed Leila's compromise was her dominance over Leila. This time again, she thought Leila would say yes like always. She was wrong. This was the first time she noticed Leila was never afraid of her.

Mrs Longbart vented her anger by slamming the door as she walked out of the room. It nearly shook the house.

Leila was also fuming with anger. She let it all out, everything she wanted to say but never really didn't, in one go. However, she still felt heavy in her chest, more than ever. It was more of the disappointment than anger. Also sadness. It had been more than a decade yet she still remembered how her mother would embrace her tightly and encourage her in these hard times. She felt alone.

"Mother, what did I do wrong to be met with this fate? The man I love is arrested and about to be executed. And my own father sold me off to an old man for the gain. Why is it so hard to ask to live like you, mother?" She mumbled.

She looked at her nanny who was watching her from the corner. She found her eyes full of empathy, love and sorrow.

Mrs Borger had been Leila's nanny since birth. She was the woman who understood Leila the most after Lily, Leila's mother.

Mrs Borger slowly walked toward her with her arms open It was the thing she needed the most now so Leila threw herself into her nanny's chest. Tears poured down, and so were the snots wetting and staining Mrs Borger's clothes. She felt bad and moved back.

However, Mrs Borger pulled her in closer and patted her head gently, muttering "Oh poor child" repeatedly.

"Nanny, am I being a bad daughter to my father? Am I selfish?" Leila asked her nanny in a crackling voice.

Mrs Borger embraced her harder before she answered to Leila.

"No, child. You are far from being selfish. Although Mrs Longbart is right about the duty of the eldest daughter, I don't believe you are wrong either. When Lily chose to marry Mr Longbart, your father, she had to fight her family real hard. There was not a single day that she didn't cry. But Lily was a woman with sheer determination and strong conviction. She knew what she truly wanted and what would make her happy. She fought all objections along and long till she finally won. You are your mother's child. Leila. So I am sure of it. If that's what will let you live without regret, go for it. You can do it."

Her nanny's words touched her. She felt like her mother herself was here. She cuddled to her like a baby till she fell asleep under her lullaby. "Child o' sleep tight, after the rough light

Rest well and wake up

When new light comes;

Tomorrow is tougher, as it always be

Cry when hard, for I'll lend my shoulders..."

Mrs Borger carried her to bed and put her down gently not to wake her up. She covered her with a blanket and kissed her forehead as she left Leila's room.

"Rest well child. Tomorrow is always harder when you become an adult."

Meanwhile under the town square, inside the dungeon of the temple;

Ethanial gritted his teeth and clenched his fists so that he would not scream. The moment he screamed, they would enjoy doing it.

"You don't need to hold it in. Scream if you feel pain. It is fine," said the torturer nicely, "I don't want to do this to you too. Just confess and this will end."

"A warrior never gave in to pain. And I have nothing to confess. I did nothing wrong."

"Bastard!" The torturer yelled. He hit Ethanial's shins with a bat as he had lost his patience. "You are a deserter. A man with no honour."

Again Ethanial shut his lips tight so as not to scream.

"You betrayed your brothers in arms. Left them to die like pigs."

"They died like warriors. Their honourable sacrifice was the reason the client lives."

"... You are right. They died a warrior's death. You should have done the same!" Again the man swang hard to his knees.

The moment the surface of the bat met his bones, the crackling sound echoed through the small grimy room. Yet Ethanial did not give in to pain.

He promised Leila that he would be with her again. If he confessed because of some pain, he would never see her again. He was determined to withstand all the pain until his innocence was proven.