The Minister of External Affairs was known to be a quiet, yet gloomy man, with an aura that could kill and tear apart. A menacing presence from the dark. Or so...everyone thought. Because that was the mask that everyone was seeing. A man that could get angry beyond the point of no return, but with nothing more scary about him.
He just sat there for a few moments and looked at his daughter. And then-
SLAP!
"..."
There were no words coming out from his daughter's mouth. Jade wasn't even raising her head, she was keeping it where the slap had left it. She hated the feeling in her gut. She hated that she couldn't answer to her father even after all those years spent in the same household as her father.
"You are a disgrace for the Sharrow family", he said. And she didn't listen.
In the past she would've closed her eyes, preparing for a new hit. In the past, she would've given in to her fear. But she had outgrown that scared child's behavior. She was not weak anymore.
He grabbed at her school uniform's shirt and yanked her from her place, forcing her out of his sight. Good thing she had developed a good balance.
"You're done for, b*tch!"
Tears would have been rolling down her cheeks....had she been an average girl. But Jade was not someone average. Jade was still the King of the Shion Royal Academy and even with a slap over "his" crown, it would still stay on "his" head. A King will stay a King even after such a disgrace.
That is why...
*You are going to pay for this, father* ...is what she thought, but she didn't manage to finish that line of thought.
"You're going to go begging after him, wench. The Alacroz clan is our way out. And you're going to help me achieve stability."
Her gaze was still cast down, following only the shadows of her father's movements.
*No*, her thoughts echoed. But she still said nothing. She knew there was something more following and she still had to be careful. Her father was sadly a powerful, influential man.
"Jade", said the Minister.
"Yes", came her answer in a slightly whispered tone. Obedient and prompt, like she was taught.
"Do you seriously want to get your mother involved?"
His tone was calm, but she knew better than to fall for such a cheap trick. Those words meant that she was on the verge of getting her mother punished in her place. For ruining her father's plans.
She clenched her fists to let him know that she would listen from now on. Just so she wouldn't get her mother dragged into this.
Interfering with his plans like that...she had made one grave mistake. Now she had to fix everything. Without unnecessary victims.
"There is no need for that, father. I was mistaken to act like that. I will fix everything."
"Good girl.."
His back was still turned on her as he poured himself a glass of wine to calm down. She glanced shortly at the bottle he had reached for. It was some old wine she couldn't care less for, but it was at least showing her that their discussion was over.
*This was distasteful as all hell...*, was her line of thought. *F*ck, really.*
He sat himself on the couch opposite of his daughter, staring outside of the window. The mood was weird to say the least.
Unable to read what was going on, but just insanely sensitive to the tension filling the room, Jade took a step back, willing to sit down as well. It was at that moment however that the Minister threw a dart her way, barely missing the smooth skin on her cheek. She froze. When did he pick that up?
"Listen to me, Jade."
She held her breath without even realizing it. This was bringing back memories. Bad memories.
She nearly had a flashback with a dim-lit room and her father saying those same words to her. She didn't want to remember any of that. Because things followed.
*No, you're fine. You're fine.*, she told herself.
"I am listening."
The King was finally beginning to remember who "he" was. Not a scared little girl. Someone with "his" dignity intact and a throne to protect.
*Good. You did this. You can talk back. There's really not much he can do to you now. You've gotten rid of your weaknesses.*
"You will marry the Alacroz boy even if I have to sell you personally...", the Minister growled. "I hope you won't make me waste any more time on this matter."
He was still not looking at her. A man such as him wasn't considering his girl to be a threat. Merely a
little rabbit he could mess with. It angered her beyond the point of no return.
"I understand, father."
*I have to say something though. Come on, think. Think, idiotic mind. There has to be something.*
And then, right there, she got an idea.
"I thought you would catch on faster thought. To what my plan was."
The man before her finally got thrown out of his comfort zone. He didn't understand what his girl meant by that. Of course he didn't.
"I wanted him to think I was really a boy. To drive him into a corner with this deal. What do you think happens when he gets home after all this? He's going to tell his parents everything, how we seemingly humiliated him. His clan is of course going to send someone to our household to call the arrangements off officially. They might even try to accuse you of deception, but we're going to act normally. Maybe tell them that their son had acted rudely towards me. Do you get it now?"
The Minister had listened carefully to everything she said, but there was nothing on his face that could give her an idea of what he was thinking.
"I understand", he simply said after a few moments of silence. "What are you getting out of this?"
There was another heartbeat worth of silence.
"Nothing."
He laughed at the sound of that word.
"Jade.." His tone was dangerous. "Don't think you can play me like this. You're trying to get an advantage over the Alacroz boy. But why?"
"No reason."
She was starting to panic. She hadn't thought everything through. Again. Why was she always like this?!
"I just wanted a certain advantage over them. It's as simple as that. I overheard your conversation and it seemed to me as if Victor was getting cocky. I didn't like that."
Jade smiled to herself, but didn't let such precious honesty escape her. What she said just now...it definitely sounded genuine. She wasn't really lying after all.
A low grumble later, he let her go from his eyesight. The little battle was finally over.
She inhaled sharply. It felt as if she had held her breath the entire time.
Her father left the house immediately after putting his emptied glass on the table beside the couch.
It was only after she heard the door slammed shut that her legs finally found the strength to show their slight tremor. She had been shaking on the inside.
*What a weakling..*, she thought about herself.
She had come out of this battle with her army intact, but the war was still waging. She had to think carefully from now on, about how she would act in front of her father. She was by no means going to abide by his rules, let him marry her off to some spoiled homophobic brat.
*Over my dead body, really.*
Jade was going to start manipulating around, while seemingly playing nicely before her father's eyes.
Firstly...she had to win Victor's family over, but never reveal to him that she is female. Never allow him to know her weaknesses. That way, she wouldn't only keep her identity and mind safe, but also put Victor in a bad light. Every time he would refuse to interact with her...he'd be deemed a disgrace for their clan. And their love for her and the way she was handling everything would only grow. Thanks to her family's rank, Jade was in a position of power in this situation.
Secondly...she needed to find an ally in this new family she was seemingly entering. She probably couldn't count on that selfish rich boy for support, but there might be a person she could trust among them.
The King of the Shion Royal Academy needed all "political" alliances she could get her hands on. Her father was an abuser, a manipulator, a traitor. And she...she was determined to bring him down!
But first, she was in need of a plan.