The constant bickering and arguments between the Elders reminded Felici of her childhood days. Her mother died when she was about 5 years old so her Dad had to take up both roles, but he didn't, in fact he played neither. He was too busy with work and his rivalry with another man.

She spent most of her early years with her maids. They were the ones that took care of her. They'd do anything she wanted whenever she wanted. At first she thought it was because they loved her, but as time passed and she grew wiser, she realized that money made the world go round.

After reading several books and coming across the concept of unconditional love, the love a mother had for her child, the love a pet has for it's master, the love a father had for their daughters, she decided she wanted that sort of love. Her mother was dead and her father didn't remarry, so she decided to get a pet. One that'd love her unconditionally. A cat named Dimples fit the description.

She had it for a while but it fell ill one day and died. She was deeply hurt and swore never to own another pet. Not just because she didn't want to replace Dimples, but mainly because she wanted something or someone that would stay with her longer than a year.

For a while she gave up, until the day her Dad was having a meeting in their house and one of the men came over with his son whom she was then made to play with. After meeting the boy on several other occasions, she asked him why he always followed his Dad to the meetings and he said it was simply because he wanted to. That and his Dad made him come along most of the time. He later introduced himself as Peter. And then she remembered the next type of love, the love of a father for his daughter, or at least that's how the novel she read described it.

It didn't work at first but after several days of nagging and countless tantrums, her father finally agreed to let her come along with him to meetings. But contrary to what she believed, It neither improved her relationship with her father nor let him care more about her. If anything, she felt like a burden to him.

Throughout her time going to meetings with him, on the days she was allowed to listen, she noticed that at some points during the meeting they always ended up arguing. When she asked him why it was so, he told her that it was because as an Elder, he had to know his worth and his standards and also know not to settle for less. But that it also entailed responsibilities that he had to commit to whether he liked it or not.

She received her fathers message with awe and she couldn't help but dedicate her future to living by those words. Unfortunately, her immature mind misinterpreted his message. She stopped playing with her friends to take up more "responsibilities" and justified her actions by convincing herself that playing was above her standards.

8 years later, she now sat with her father at another one of his meetings, except this time, she wasn't just a bystander listening, she was a crucial member of the meeting.

"Felici I'm talking to you! What is this we're hearing about you wanting to desert the village?" Her father asked impatiently.

"Desert is a strong word."

"Is it true or is it not?!"

"It's true", She replied.

"Ugh!" He sighed.

"How did you plan on going about this?" asked Elder Giovanna. "And don't bother lying, because we already know the truth."

"If you know the truth why are you still asking me?" She replied.

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"Show some respect will you!" Lady Ursula warned her.

"My apologies."

"Young lady, do you even know the consequences of your actions?" Elder Giovanna leaned forward. He was more serious this time.

She thought for a bit. "Possible death."

Elder Giovanna was shocked, "You knew this yet you still decided to go along with your plan?!"

She nodded her head.

"But don't you think you're being selfish? Do you know that if proven guilty of the crime of desertion, not just you, but your whole family would all have to face the consequences?"

Felici immediately noticed a visible shock on Lady Ursula's face but it was gone as quickly as it came. "I wasn't aware of that, but I doubt that piece of information would have changed my mind."

Her father gasped. "Felici."

"Usually, someone this intent on leaving the village is either found to be going in search of a better life or running away from something or someone. A debt or debt collector for instance. What is it you're running away from Miss Felici?" Elder Giovanna asked.

Felici looked at her father. "I know not what word I shall use to describe it, but I think the word 'obstacle' would suffice."

"Hmm, obstacles are best faced head on."

"More often than usual, that often leads to the destruction of both parties involved. I have no intention of destroying myself nor the other party. I've lost too much to them already." She clenched her fist tightly underneath the table. She was so angry and frustrated that she felt her stomach tying in a knot.

"It was brought to my attention that you were against your marriage to Peter, is that why you tried to run away?"

Felici didn't answer.

After much waiting, Elder Giovanna got impatient, "You may leave us, we'll call you back once we've decided on how to deal with you."

Felici calmly stood up and left. Her legs felt like logs as every step she took seemed like it took forever. A few seconds later, she took her last step outside of the room, shut the door behind her and immediately fell to the floor, then she bawled her eyes out.

The amount her father had to pay to let her off the hook mattered very little to Felici, but she knew getting off with a simple house arrest must've cost a lot. "He's probably just trying to protect his investment", She thought to herself.

For the house arrest, her father decided that she'd spend her time at home where he could keep an eye on her himself. He tried to restrain himself but he spent no less than an hour a day complaining about her and the headaches she'd caused him. Ironically, this was the most her father had spoken to her in years, so she decided to enjoy their father-daughter time together. But eventually, he got tired and stopped when he noticed he wasn't getting anywhere with her.

The next week came with its own share of surprises. Apparently, Mr. Loknot and Lady Ursula's businesses were facing a major downward trend as more than half their individual customers had flocked away from them due to the incident with Felici. Mr. Loknot faced the worst of it as Felici was his daughter, that was to be expected, but no one knew how the villagers found out about Lady Ursula being involved with the incident as well. Suspicions arose and fingers were thrown between both parties but neither of them confessed to leaking the information. It wasn't until they found out where all the customers were flocking to that they both realized that their suspicions needed to be directed elsewhere.

As the other Elders suffered major losses to their businesses, Mr. Jon's business was experiencing its biggest boom in more than a decade. He went from the least successful Elder to the most successful man in the village within the space of 3 days, which was simply incredible considering that one of the only reasons why Mr. Jon was letting Peter marry Felici was because his business was beginning to fold, and rather than buying it from him, Mr. Loknot had promised to help him get the business back on track. It was like an unforseen miracle, the first in years. Sadly, Mr. Jon was not to enjoy this miracle as he was suffering from a sexually transmitted disease with little to no signs of recovery.

Eventually, he noticed that his time was running out and fast, so he gathered his 7 sons and 12 daughters together to share his property. Great levels of math were utilized as he went about sharing his now continuously growing wealth. But after a suspense filled gathering, Peter emerged with a lion's share, being that he was not only the first child of his father, but also the first son, it was no surprise.

Elder Marcus Jon passed a few days later, heralded as the greatest business man in the village. Peter spared no expense for his father's funeral. Lavish amounts of money were expended during the course of the burial, so much so that pouches filled with 10 gold coins were given as gifts to each family that attended. But it merely made a dent in the family's wealth.