"Father!"

Thoren looked at his stern father with dissatisfied eyes. "Do you have to make Beo seem so foul-up? She is still so young."

The marquis frowned harder at the opposition of his son to defend this no-good daughter of his.

"What did I say wrong? Hasn't she had enough after smearing the Lagraine's name into the soil in high society lately? It's a miracle our peers are still willing to have dealings with us after she so brazenly had a cat fight with the daughter of the Count Karian’s household at the princess's birthday banquet this year."

Beotis bit her lips in sheer anger. She remembered this scene. That count's daughter was openly provoking her, saying she was the waste of the marquis's household. Though it was true that Beotis Lagraine could not use any spiritual powers as she had not awakened her light magic as of yet, but still, calling out a noble lady in front of the public was still a rude thing to do. Not to mention that the count's daughter was blatantly humiliating her, and with Beotis Lagraine's foul temper, how could she swallow such a humiliation.

So, what ended up happening that day was a disgraceful play of cat fight with torn-off hair and broken nails.

'(Sigh!) Let it be. It's not like I am in a situation where I can deny this scumbag father's claims.' Beotis thought.

"Father! Even you know that it was not Beo's fault. That count’s daughter had the galls to ridicule Beo in front of everyone. How could Beo swallow this insult?” Thoren was adamant on not wronging his sister.

“But brother Thoren, it is not fitting for a noble lady to get into catfights like shrews of the street.” It was evident that Selene Vermont, Beotis’s cousin was insistent on making her seem to be the uncultured offender out here.

Beotis frowned hard at the insinuation of this not-very-nice cousin of hers.

She could take verbal abuse from her so-called father because she was spending his money to live this lavish life right now, so a little hitch and a little disdain here and there, could not matter much to her. But it was entirely another matter if someone who she didn’t owe tried to insult and step on her head.

“Yeah? Then you should point your finger out at the daughter of Count Kerian as she was the one who started it all. In my defense, I could only retaliate as of not to be beaten up more.” Beotis said with a sharp look in her eyes.  

Serene Vermont quickly douched Beotis’s eyes guiltily and bowed her head down to eat her meal quietly.

“It does not matter if the count’s daughter was the one who started it, the point is that, you showed how uncouth your behavior was in front of all. Do you have any idea how ashamed I was when you showed such unrefinedness in front of the royal family? It seems you have not yet reflected on your actions.” The marquis’s steely unsentimental voice reverberated in the big dining hall. 

The steak that was perfectly seasoned, juicy and seared brown on the outside was no longer palpable to her palate. With her new-made father being derisive to her from across the table she had already long lost her appetite.

She put down her cutlery and watched it go cold as she thought dispassionately, ‘Did you forget that your daughter cannot use spiritual powers like the other noble ladies? If she didn’t defend herself like she did, right now, there wouldn’t be a daughter sitting across you listening to you being sarcastic from across the table.’

“Is that all you ever care about father? Your honor and the prestige of the Lagraines? What about your daughter who got hurt in the incident? What about the injustice done to her?” Thoren’s foul mood had already dampen the harmonious dining atmosphere, and now, he seemed like he was going to go throat to throat with the Marquis any moment now.

“Thoren! It is all because you have spoilt her too much. If not, would she be so unmannered today?” The marquis’s frown got even tighter as he spoke.

“Father! You…”

Beotis grabbed onto Thoren’s overcoat from under the table and when he looked at her, she gently shook her head, meaning not to argue any longer with the marquis. It is useless to argue with a person who had already made prior opinion about you. The marquis never really cared about Beotis Lagraine to begin with, so how could he care to understand his daughter’s quandary?

Beotis came from a very normal but loving family. She had always been grateful for having parents who loved each other and loved her and her brother unconditionally. Until today, she felt she had never understood the gravity of the term ‘A broken family.’ It was a concept so familiar yet so foreign to her that she couldn’t really say that she really understood the plight of those from a broken family. Because she could not even begin to imagine how a parent could turn his back on his own child. But today, she felt like she might understand a little bit of what those kids had gone through to become such twisted psychos in their adulthood.

Indifference and prejudice on and itself were an abuse to a child if it was done by the very person who they relied on from the moment they were born. Beotis felt she was going to get indigestion as she couldn’t help think of her own father who would bring her, her favourite sweets and leave them by her bedside once every weekend. Her eyes got foggy as she bowed her head low to put a spoonful of rice inside her mouth.

“Beo, why are you not eating anything. Are you feeling okay?” Thoren asked in a worried tone. He could feel her distress even if he couldn’t see her face.  

“... I am alright brother. My stomach just hurts a bit. So, may I be excused for the day?” She looked at her brother with a soft smile.

Marquis Heldred Lagraine was surprised for a second, he had never seen his daughter respond to Thoren, much less smile so softly at him. He felt something was off about his daughter today. But he didn’t delve much into the thought just because he didn’t feel the need to spent so much thought on this daughter of his.

“Alright. You are excused.”

With the permission of the Marquis, Beotis got up and left the dining hall to make a beeline to the rose garden.

~•~

NEXT CHAPTER UPDATE - TOMORROW AT 10 PM