"You should have been there to see all the looks on their faces Ohara." Dariel's jubilant laughs filled his office. His shouts of joy could be heard throughout the manor.
"Especially the completely despairing yet perplexed look on the face of my wretched half brother."
"Of everyone present in court, he was by far the one most affected by the glorious news, and it serves him right, to think that he would be able to defeat me, me Dariel Rivethans, he must be out of his mind like his deranged mother." he cackled.
Even though Ohara was not as delighted at this news as she would have hoped to, she still tried to show her support for Dariel's victory with a plain smile on her face.
To her, this announcement was terrible, it meant that things were official, her daughter was to marry the crown prince, and all for what? Just because she undeniably felt like it was the sole way to solve their problems.
"You do not seem as happy as I am Ohara." Dariel paused, his laughing ceased. If there was one thing he was certain of, it would be that Ohara did not seem pleased.
Ohara sighed, she knew this was a happy day for her husband. He put his enemies to shame, he received a higher title, he did deserve all this happiness, it was unfortunate that she could not partake in his joy.
"My love, I am happy for you, I truly am, however, you must understand that I still do not wish for Angelica to marry the crown prince." she sighed, the least she could do was be completely honest with him.
"I wish that I could rejoice with you, but I cannot, your victory means a slavery for our daughter and I cannot jubilate due to that fact." she said.
Dariel frowned sadly, he had forgotten that she felt this way.
"Honestly, my dear... I cannot lie, I feel the same way you do." he said.
"You do?" she asked surprised and he nodded.
"Now that I have what I want, I was thinking of ways I could stop this marriage from holding." he admitted.
"You have?" Ohara gasped. She felt like he was just saying this to please her.
"Yes I have my love, you see, it makes you unhappy that Angelica is sacrificing herself, maybe there is a way to stop them from marrying." Dariel said as Ohara smiled.
"You will do no such thing." Angelica's voice pierced through the room as she walked in.
"Have you no manners?! Why would you speak to your elders in such a manner?!" Dariel shouted, he had not noticed when she walked into his office.
"Usually I do have manners, but not when the elders in question are about to go back on their word." she loured.
"What are you even doing here!" Dariel said furiously.
"Father, may I remind you that you requested my presence." she replied simply.
"And did you not think it courteous to knock?"
"You would have heard my courteous knock had you both not been seeking for ways to go back on your word, especially you father." she frowned at him.
"Let me state this clearly, the agreement was I will marry the crown prince and in return he will grant you the title of Duke."
"Now, if you dare try to go back on your word, or seek ways to evade what you agreed to, I am certain the crown prince will make you suffer and we will end up far worse than we were before I sought his help." she said sternly.
"This is my final warning to you both, do not dare do something that will put us all in danger." she chided.
"You disrespectful girl." Dariel scoffed. Ohara on the other hand was completely silent, she fought the urge to let out her tears. There was really no way for them to stop their daughter from committing the biggest mistake of her life.
Even though she did not say it, she felt like this was Dariel's fault, he put his greed first and their daughter's wellbeing later.
"It is alright my love, we will not do anything of that such." Ohara simply replied smiling.
"Good, I hope you keep your words." Angelica replied.
Dariel was about to reproach her for her unruly behaviour when a knock on the door interrupted him.
"What is it?!" he asked clearly upset.
"My lord, a letter from the castle just arrived for you." the maid replied from the other side of the door.
Angelica, Ohara and Dariel all looked at one another before Dariel proceeded to tell the maid to come in.
The maid shakily opened the door, she was instantly relieved when she saw Angelica and Ohara were present in the room, or else had she been here alone with Dariel, she would have feared for her life.
She walked to his desk and handed him the letter before taking her leave swiftly.
Dariel wasted no time, he opened the letter hastily and read it to himself before he informed them of its contents.
"What does it say Dariel?" Ohara asked in trepidation. Letters received in this household often brought bad news.
"We have been invited for dinner with his majesty and the crown prince tomorrow evening." Dariel said, he sounded surprised, this was so sudden.
Just this morning the king made it clear that he was not pleased one bit by the crown prince's announcement. Both their families sitting at one table to have dinner together was a disaster waiting to happen.
"So soon?" Ohara asked surprised. Angelica on the hand had an expression of recollection on her face. He truly was a man of his word.
"Too soon, are we sure this crown prince has a healthy mind?" Dariel asked.
"With how things unraveled this morning, both our families present in one room will be disastrous." he added.
"I agree, maybe we should decline the invitation." Ohara voiced out.
"No, we are not going to decline anything, we will attend that dinner tomorrow." Angelica replied swiftly, she was not about to allow her parents derail her plans.
"Are you sure about that my love?" Ohara asked as she looked at her.
"Yes, I am sure mother, the crown prince does not do things without reason, if he insists on our presence tomorrow night, then we will attend." Angelica replied.
"Hmm, why do I have a feeling that you were already aware this would happen." Dariel said distrustfully.
"I do not know why you have such a feeling father, all I know is considering the court case surrounding out family and how things were handled this morning, the king would take it as a sign of disrespect and we will fall out of his good graces even more." she explained.
Dariel hated that Angelica's words had a certain truth to them. Even though he did not wish to kiss the feet of that irritating, hypocritical monarch, it was better to be on his good side and develop cordial ties as in laws which would benefit them both in the future.
"As true as that is my love, this makes me worry, inviting us to dinner means that things are moving swiftly, I worry when the wedding will hold at this rate." Ohara frowned expressing her concerns.
"I am sure that his majesty and his royal highness will inform us of that during dinner tomorrow." Angelica replied.
"Already then." Ohara sighed, even though she was not looking forward to this, she hearkened to her daughter's words, she did not raise her to be an unfaithful person when it came to fulfilling her promises, so she would not allow Dariel to do the same, even though it was what she hoped for most in the world.
"Good, I am glad that we are all on the same page, all of us." Angelica replied, enunciating her last words carefully directed to her father.
Dariel scoffed in response, she was lucky he was in a good mood due to his victory this morning, or else he would have taught her a lesson or two in respecting her elders.
"I presume that I will have to head to the market tomorrow morning to buy a gift for his majesty." Ohara sighed.
"No, there is no need to buy him a gift." Angelica replied.
"Why not?" Ohara asked surprised.
"The king is a man that owns almost anything and everything imaginable, what could we possibly gift him that he would genuinely appreciate?"
"I did not raise you to be ill-mannered, whenever you visit someone, especially the king, you must have a gift ready." Ohara scolded.
Angelica shook her head, she did not want to tell them that Ian had expressly said that they should not bring anything.
"What if you waste your time seeking a befitting gift and he ends up throwing it away?" she asked.
"That is his business, as soon as the gift is presented to him, it is his possession and he can do whatever he deems fit with it." Ohara replied.
"Alright mother, but do not complain when he completely disregards your gift." Angelica replied as Ohara shook her head clearly disappointed.
"May I take my leave now?" she asked as Dariel waved her off.
"Thank you." she replied as she took her leave.
Dariel and Ohara looked at each other sighing, their daughter was definitely different from others.