Sinthia and the Demon Duke of DeSidea: 12

“I hear that you have been acting strangely, Sinthia.”

Those were the first words that were spoken to her when she let herself inside her father’s office. It was a little past noon, and there were few clouds in the sky. The office had large windows that ran from the ceiling to the floor, and a desk was placed in front of them. Her father stood behind his office chair, his features obscured because of the strong midday light that filtered through the glass behind him. He was in a well-fitting cotton button-up shirt, and he had papers in his hands. When didn’t he have papers in his vicinity?

“Good day, Your Majesty. I hope you have been well.” Sinthia gave a smooth curtsey. She kept her eyes on the edge of the desk. “Yes. Now, what’s all this I’ve been hearing about you acting uncharacteristically? It’s only been two and a half months since you woke up.”

“I ask for your forgiveness, Your Majesty. I do not understand.”

She did not need to look up to know that her father’s face did not shift a millimeter. It never did. “You have been sneaking out of the palace to visit the common realms. Commissioned a second engagement portrait. Bought new dresses and jewelry despite not having any coming events to use them. You also assaulted a maid shortly after waking up, and you’ve been disrespectful to your sisters. I would like an explanation.”

Sinthia of Ophelia would have kept her eyes down in terror and apologized profusely in such a situation. She would apologize even when it wasn’t her fault. That was how she has been trained by her sister’s mother, the Duchess. And how she believed she would win a single drop of affection from her father. But Sinthia of the 21st Century did not have enough patience to apologize for things that weren’t her fault. So she looked up and into her father’s eyes without hesitation.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I have been visiting the common realms because I have spent too much time in the palace and don’t know how the kingdom is truly faring in terms of the ordinary people. I had a second portrait painted because I did not find it proper for a princess to be depicted the way I was in the first one. A princess is a representative of her kingdom, and I believed that the portrait was almost slanderous to His Majesty and the Kingdom of Ophelia.”

There was a short silence, in which the king put down his papers. Now, she had his full attention. “And the dresses and jewelry?”

“After a brief inspection of my wardrobe, I concluded that my dresses were not in the current fashion. As I will soon wed, I believe it would be a terrible show of our family and kingdom’s self-awareness if I were inadequately dressed in a foreign land.” This was only a half-truth. In actuality, Sinthia had been inspecting the fashion trends and making predictions as to where they would be heading. She had also been conducting market research and getting to know the kingdom’s top designers’ work.

“But your sisters and Duchess Elissa take care of your wardrobe, don’t they?”

“Not well.” She simply replied.

So startling was that blunt reply, the king almost blinked. Never in her life had Sinthia spoken back to anyone. She would always fall over herself avoiding the possibility of offending anyone. But she had, without a moment’s hesitation, insulted her sisters’ and their mother’s decisions. “I was not aware of that.”

She only gave a bland, knowing smile in return.

“And the maid?”

“Ah, yes. You see, she had said some curious words to me upon realizing that I was awake.”

“And those were?”

“”There really is nothing you can do right. You even failed to die.””

This truly shocked His Majesty. So much so that he felt his hand tremble ever so slightly. “Her name.”

“I have already kicked her out.”

“She should be hung.”

“She should. But I did not wish to see death yet again. I have already tasted it and it was not to my liking.”

His Majesty felt a strange, pervasive feeling spread from his heart. He didn’t know what it was. But he hated it. When he heard her say that, it made him want to look away from her. To avoid her gaze. That was unheard of. For a King to even think of diverting his eyes. So this deeply confused and disturbed him. Had he ever paid her a visit when she was unconscious over two months ago? Had he made the effort to try?

“In regards to my sisters, I will be frank with you father. They do not have my best interests at heart. It took me nearly dying to realize that fully. I have endured it for 20 years. And I will endure it no longer.”

He knew this, too. There was no way a king would not know how his heir was being treated. Sinthia of the 21st Century had taken a very long time to finally separate herself from the experiences of the other Sinthia, and it had taken a promise of retribution to achieve it. Now she looked upon the injustices on the other Sinthia a lot more objectively. Prior, it had been so overwhelming that Sinthia of the 21st Century had trouble sleeping from the sheer rage she reacted with whenever she thought of the sisters. Or of her indifferent father who watched on with his stone mask of a face. But while she had learned to distance herself from the experiences, she knew that she had to get some form of retribution for all those that were active or passive in the injustices Sinthia endured for so long. No one would be spared, for they did not deserve mercy.

“And I will humbly ask for your forgiveness or endure whatever punishment you see fit to lay upon me for what I am about to say, but so be it. I know you are a straightforward man that appreciates being spoken to frankly, so I will. Your Majesty, I will no longer stand your passivity in all this either.”

She had said it. Without a stammer or a hiccup. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the light, she saw his face. His eyes were the same green as hers, but far more lifeless and drained. His skin was pale from how long he had to spend dealing with administrative issues indoors, and his dark brown hair was beginning to grey at the sides. Although he was nearing fifty, he still looked handsome and young, if one were to look past the dark eye bags he had. Sinthia was of the belief that he maintained his youthful looks simply because he was so cold and dead inside that he had no need to smile or frown and thus cause wrinkles to form in his skin. Perhaps his facial muscles had atrophied and frozen into a flawless mask from which no emotion could ever escape. But it was being generous to even assume he felt emotions to begin with.

“Ever since the first time you laid your eyes upon Sinthia, you had vowed to be a spectator. When she was three, the first words I heard you speak in regards to her were, “take that child away.” And the next time she saw you was when she was nine. Even then, She was nearly invisible to you. Even when she worked her hardest to earn a drop of your approval, your eyes remained the same. Distant. Like you were staring past her.”

The king had frozen. Not that he had been moving much to begin with, but his muscles were rigid. His whole body felt numb. “But I will not blame you or hold it against you, Your Majesty. No, perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I can’t. In a few months, I will leave. And I will never come back. Well, I may come back, but for different reasons. Either way, I do not know when I will see you next, for getting an audience with you is difficult despite being your daughter. So I am aware that I may leave for DeSidea before seeing you. This may be the last time I see you in a very long time. Maybe the last time I see you ever. I will not leave here without letting you know that the Sinthia before the accident was mistreated. And that you sat back and let it happen. You were her one and only guardian, and you failed to protect her. I wanted to tear the blinds  you placed on your own eyes away so that you could see the fact of the matter. It took me dancing with death to realize that I will no longer pursue the love and acceptance of a father who had never even held his daughter.”

There were no words for the King to respond with. His head felt light. His breath caught in his throat. He had clenched his jaw so tightly, he felt a wave of numbness slowly seep into his face. He did not want to look at her face any more, but a King never looked away first. He didn’t want to be in the same room as her anymore, but a King never left first. That’s right. His duty as a King came before anything else, even a spontaneously rebellious child. His spontaneously rebellious child. “You understand the consequences of your words, don’t you Sinthia.”

“Fully, Your Majesty.”

“Then remove yourself from my sight this instant.”

“Very well. I will remain ready to receive the punishment you feel is right for my insolence and will do so with the utmost gratitude. Blessings to His Majesty and the Kingdom of Ophelia.” Sinthia gave a curtesy, then turned around and did not look back.

The writing is getting longer and longer lol.