Chapter 42

"You're a monster!

-Come on, Darling. You know I don't like being called that."

He smiled. How could he be smiling arter what he had just said ? I looked around myself. I couldn't save Arora on my own. I wasn't strong enough. But Ephraim's men only listened to him. Despite knowing that I still screamed:

"I order you to help my daughter!"

But no one moved. They continued what they were doing without batting an eye. This scene broke my heart. I had always known that Arora wasn't loved but it was worse than I could have imagined. How could she be born into such a terrible family? She deserved so much better. Everyone deserved better.

I didn't care about anything anymore. All that mattered was to save Arora and I was ready to do anything for that. I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it but I still tried saving her myself. The debris wasn't moving an inch and I just started bleeding. Seeing the blood made me scream:

"Please! Please someone save my daughter! Anyone!"

I didn't have to plead for long because the next second I felt a cold breeze behind me. Sarangerel's presence was calming and seeing her walk closer comforted me that everything would be fine. The air around her seemed to chill as she approached the debris and she stared at them for a little while before raising her hand without a word.

Ice began to form, solidifying and I suddenly started fearing that if she didn't get crushed, Arora would die frozen. Fortunately I wasn't the only one worried about that. A knight appeared behind Sarangerel and screamed towards the debris and therefore at Arora:

"Get as far away as possible. Don't worry. We will get you out soon."

The knight had the same emotionless face as Sarangerel. She had long blond hair stuck in a ponytail and her shoulders illustrated her years of practice. She felt my staring and softened her voice:

"We will save your daughter."

Once ice had recovered the entirety of the debris, the knight brandished her sword and slashed through it with a simple movement. Within moments the debris was cleared away revealing a dusty but unharmed Arora. Seeing her alive, I immediately ran towards her:

"Arora!

-Dad!"

I hugged her with all my might, shaking from head to toe. I thought I would collapse and tried my best not to crush Arora. My heart couldn't take such things every day.

"Are you okay?"

For some reason, seeing my face made Arora cry.

"Arora! Where are you hurt?"

She started laughing:

"I'm fine, dad. I am fine.

-Who the hell says they're fine while crying?

-I'm sorry, I'm just... Thank you for saving me, dad.

-You foolish-"

I sighed.

"Of course. I will always save you."

That made her cry even more and I started panicking. I really was terrible at this. How did parents comfort their children? Not knowing what to say, I just hugged her. I thought it would be impossible to calm her down in such a chaotic place but having the adrenaline slowly go down, I suddenly realized that it was far from being as noisy as before. I looked up and realized that most of the assailants were already either frozen to death or slashed. Seeing the ice made me remember Sarangerel and I quickly pushed Arora away to bow before her:

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

Seeing me bow made Arora do the same and she quickly thanked Sarangerel as well:

"I thank the Heir to the Glacial Throne for saving my life. I am forever grateful."

Sarangerel stared at us for a bit, her expression unreadable. She did look up at something behind us before looking back down.

"I never thought I would have the almighty Duchess kneel before me."

My head jerked up thinking that she was angry but what I saw was a smile. I was so surprised that I forgot how to talk for a second. Sarangerel didn't say anything more and turned away. Behind her, her personal knight bowed before following her:

"We are relieved that you are safe. Please take care of yourselves."

I suddenly heard a wince and quickly turned to Arora:

"Are you okay? What's wrong?

-I'm fine, dad. I just seem to have sprained my ankle.

-Don't you know what fine means? I will gift you a dictionary. That's not being fine! Why haven't you said anything before?

-But it's really bearable.

-Don't say that! Here, I'll carry you."

I tried pulling Arora up but started shaking uncontrollably not even three seconds later and had to put her back down. I felt so ashamed that I thought I would faint for real. Seeing me go completely red red, Arora quickly said:

"It's okay, dad. I can walk.

-No, how could you walk with a sprained ankle?

-Let's ask a guard, dad.

-I..."

I couldn't forget the way they continued saving the others without a glance at Arora. I didn't want their help.

"No. I'll carry you myself."

Arora quickly raised her hands in the air:

"Wait! Hum... What about the girl?

-What girl?"

Arora pointed to the debris behind her and I was surprised to see a little girl there. She looked a bit younger than Arora and had short black hair. She seemed unharmed but she did have a bit of dried blood on her temple and dripping down on her purple dress. She didn't make a sound during all that time which was the reason why I didn't notice her. She looked terrified and even me looking at her made her flinch. She was just sitting there, shaking uncontrollably, her eyes out of focus.

"Who is that?

-I don't know. She wasn't moving. I couldn't leave her there."

I frowned.

"Wait. Is this why you ran towards the wall? To save that girl?

-Yes.

-Arora! Are you crazy? That's terribly dangerous! How could you do something like that?

-But... She could have gotten hurt.

-I..."

I sighed:

"You are a way better person than me, Arora. You can be proud of yourself. You probably saved that girl's life."

I turned towards the little girl and extended my hand to her. She stared at it for long, not moving an inch. I looked back at Arora, having no idea what to do. Why was I interacting with so many children lately?

Arora smiled at the girl:

"It's okay. My dad will help you."

The girl seemed to calm down a bit and she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. She finally grabbed my hand and I helped her out from under the debris. I didn't have time to ask her if she was okay because what I heard next was a man running towards us:

"Sana!"

He fell to his knees and started examining the child's face:

"Sana! My child! I am so glad you are safe."

The little girl finally felt safe and started crying all the tears that had been accumulating in her tiny body:

"Dad! Dad!"

He hugged her close while rubbing her head:

"I know, darling. You are safe now. Dad will never let anything happen to you. I am sorry I couldn't protect you. It won't happen again. Dads should protect their daughters."

The girl needed a long time to calm down. I didn't know what to do and just waited for her to stop crying. I felt bad creeping away but somehow watching wasn't better. I decided to give her some privacy and looked up at what was left from the ceiling.

While doing so, I noticed all the burned or crushed paintings on the ground and I quickly looked away. My heart couldn't take such grief. I didnt want to know which paintings were ruinned. What if my favorite ones were destroyed? No. I couldn't live with that. I had to pretend I didnt't see anything. Denial was the only solution. Quick focus on the girl.

The latter did calm down at some point and when she did, she looked up at Arora before pulling her father's sleeve:

"Dad, she saved me."

The father looked at Arora and I with round eyes before bowing deeply:

"Young Princess, I am deeply grateful to you. Without you I..."

He cleared his throat.

"My family is forever indebted to you."

Arora only smiled:

"It's okay. Anyone would have done the same thing."

I couldn't help feeling proud. Arora really was badass. I liked that child.