The whole room froze. I'd say that at this moment, it seemed like everything outside of the Mallory household seemed to stop in place as soon as he said those words. The blue haired man tilted his head, coldy staring at the younger blue haired girl with a face of disappointment.
"You run off, leaving us all in disarray from your stupid decision of wanting to be an adventurer." He spat at Amelia, who from what I could tell was shaking at her feet from his words. "You understand how your actions could jeopardize our future in the trading business?…Not that it even mattered to you in the first place." He scoffed as he raised his head. "You're too stuck up in your own head to see the reality."
I found myself more shocked than angered by his words. Who the hell says that to their own kid? Better yet, I thought this guy was supposed to be on his deathbed or something?
"Adam, Please." Roul spoke quietly, he ushered his hand to the blue haired man's shoulder but was quickly shut down with a slap.
"With what?! Focusing on the future of our family's lives? I don't have long in this world, and I have to put my family's legacy into the hands of one of these two, and it certainly is not Amelia." Adam Mallory gave Roul a stinging look before turning back to stare at the two blue haired girls. "The thought of either you two running the Mallory Trading goods leaves a sour taste in my mouth…"
The room fell quite once more, with Adam Mallory sagging back into the couch he sat on. His eyes unwavering with dissatisfaction and disappointment as he continued to stare at the speechless blue haired daughters. Standing behind the two, I could see two different reactions to all of this. The utter anger and frustration coming from Amelia as she clenched her fist and shook where she stood, and Claire's more concerned and saddened look as she had her head slightly lowered.
It seemed like Amelia was ready to blow up at the guy, and I didn't come into this situation wanting that sort of issue. Really, I expected this whole conversation to go much smoother…But maybe I should've thought better. These three have a lot of history between themselves that I don't know about, I should've expected some sort of outburst of this kind. The way Amelia described her father really showed at this moment. He's a heartless son of a bitch who seems more worried about the business he runs rather than his own daughters.
"You can't say those things to them!" I shot a look at Lilith, who was still holding onto the cheese wheel. She held a much more serious look than from before, she too was listening in on the conversation and had her thoughts to say. "Amelia has been working hard to be an adventurer, her progress should be something you should be praising!"
Adam stared at her momentarily, his eyes drifted and seemingly scanned her from top to bottom. Once he finished his odd scanning of her, he spoke. "I don't recall asking your opinion on this matter, Girl. And second, why do you have the cheese wheel I bought for myself?" Adam didn't wait for a response from Lilith, quickly dismissing that last part of his question as he continued on. "I do not care if Amelia is a King ranked-Emperor rank or whatever, I will not allow her to go down that path. She belongs here, with the family business." He leaned forward on his couch, placing his hands under his chin once more. "And with that mind and since she was brought home, she isn't allowed to enter the Bounty hall nor exit this kingdom without my knowledge."
Lilith almost went on to argue with the man, but I placed a hand on her shoulder. As she looked back at me with frustration, I simply shook my head. As much as it concerns us at the moment, we'd only make this situation worse. Us talking to the man would surely provoke something that'll increase Amelia's punishment.
That was when Amelia angrily responded. She quickly ran to the couch across from Adam, grabbing a cushion from it and furiously throwing it at him. He casually took that hit with stride as Amelia looked ready to fight him, her fist balled up and readied to punch the older man. But before she could proceed any further, Claire quickly stopped her.
Claire grabbed onto Amelia, stopping her from moving forward. Amelia struggled as she tried to wring herself from her grasp. "Gah- Claire! Let me go! He has no right to say those things! He's a heartless asshole!"
"Language, dear." Adam stared at her as he said that. "It's the only solution to your delinquent attitude to all of this. I'd expect your mother would be quite disappointed with this debacle…"
Claire stared at her own father with shock from what he said. "Father?!"
Bringing up your dead wife? That's gotta be a taboo subject in this family. And it stands correct as that infuriated Amelia even more when he said that, her teeth gritted in anger as she furiously tried to break free from Claire's grasp. "Let me go! Don't you dare talk about mom like that! I'll kill you!"
"I'm only telling you because it is the truth." Adam looked disappointed at her. "You think she'd approve of the behavior you have right now? Lashing out because you didn't get what you wanted?"
Amelia gritted her teeth, almost snarling at her own father as he sat there without any fear or concern. Claire continued to keep hold of the young girl as she seemed to be thinking of what to say.
"Amelia…" Claire's more hushed tone made the younger girl turn to look at her. "Please, just listen to Father…"
I saw Lilith's face squish into a look of concern, as did I. The two of us being observers in this conversation, looking on as Adam let out a smirk from Claire's encouragement.
"Haah?!" The face of betrayal flushed over Amelia's face. "Why are you listening to him!?"
"Because he's thinking about our future…the future of our family." Claire hesitated for a moment, looking at her sister's face with worry. "I-I don't want you to be an adventurer! Just stay here with us, where you'll be safe!" I could hear the regret and sadness in her voice, almost as if she didn't want to say it. "Please! For the Family's sake!"
Amelia was breathing roughly now, Claire's words clearly getting to her. She stared down to Claire's hand before finally breaking free from her grip. Claire looked stunned by her move, not even trying to grab Amelia again. I watched as the young blue haired girl held her hands together, her long blue hair covering her face now. But even that couldn't hide the tears that began to stream down her chin, she began to shake as she cried.
"W-why…" Amelia croaked out. "W-why do you take his side and not mine…you always do…"
Claire's eyes widened, she opened her mouth to say something but couldn't. She reached her hand out to Amelia, perhaps to console her. But her eyes darted past Amelia, Towards their father. I followed her gaze and noticed the older Blue haired man was looking at her, still smirking from before. Claire paused, unsure of what to do.
And that's when Amelia quickly rushed past her, pushing her aside.
As she passed me, I quickly noticed how much she was crying. Tears flowed down and dropped from her face, I could've sworn I saw droplets fly by as she passed. All I could see in her face was Betrayal and anger. I watched as she opened the door and slammed it behind her, listening to her stomps continue on to her room. Then there was another slam, before it went silent.
…This whole thing is a mess. That's all I can really say. The moment we stepped into this house was when we activated a timed bomb, and unfortunately it detonated…
I turned to Lilith to talk with her. The silver haired girl had an angry look in her eyes, I could see her free hand balled up as she looked at me.
"Why would she say that?" She said in a lowered voice, making sure no one else heard us. "That's her own sister, Kota."
"I…" I paused. Surely there needed to be a real reason behind all the things she said, I've seen this sort of thing before with friends in my past life. The look that Claire expressed made it obvious. "There's gotta be more to it."
"Then we should do something. I thought we came to help them, not observe." Lilith gave me a frustrated look.
Before she could continue on, Adam began to speak.
"Tsk, the manners of that child." Adam said, irritated. "For all the things we give her, she throws it all away for herself. Isn't that right, Claire?"
I turned back towards Claire and noticed she still held her hand in the air. Regret plastered on her face as she stared at where Amelia was. Her mouth stayed open, as if choking on the words that should've come out. Adam took notice of this and stared at her, His expression darkening.
"Having second thoughts on your words?"
"I-I…" Claire finally choked out. She slowly lowered her hand, having it fall limply along her side. She then lowered her head, looking more Ashamed than before. "…I was thinking about our families future."
"Yes, and that is the right thing to think about." Adam then smiled. "At least one of you finally realized what they needed to do. You've always followed in my footsteps."
Claire just stood there, unable to say another word.
"And you two." Adam turned to face us. "I hope you enjoyed the little family drama…Though you could've left at any time." He looked quite perplexed by our presence.
"I'm not leaving Amelia and Claire alone with you, you monster." Lilith immediately said. "What kind of a father says that to their own kids?"
"Hah. Me? A monster?" Adam chuckled. "I'm just putting them into the right path of success. If I were to let Amelia run down the path of being an adventurer, what are the chances of her dying? Far more greater than owning a company alongside her sister." Adam then let out a cough, his whole body heaving from it. "I'm no monster. I'm a dying man trying to keep his kids safe."
Lilith clicked her tongue in frustration. "Tsk, I don't believe that."
"And what makes you think that?"
Lilith then looked at me, as if waiting for me to allow her to continue on. I wasn't really sure what she was asking me, but I nodded. With my reassurance, she continued. "Claire is being Targeted by one of the Kidnappers here."
Adam narrowed his eyes on her. "A target…?"
"It's the reason why Amelia and Claire accompanied us back here. Because we're seeing the king so we can help with the issue." Lilith explained. Adams' eyes seemed to exhaust a sense of intrigue. Perhaps he was interested that we were involved with the king himself?
"I see…And how did you find out that Claire was being Targeted?"
"That Kidnapper named Mandy…" Lilith then looked at me. "Right?"
"Yes, I think the Ozoth forces named him a big deal." I said, rubbing my chin. "I suppose you probably heard that name before?" I asked Adam.
Lilith turned to the blue haired man. "King Lucian managed to crack down on who was trying to buy your daughter. Some noble family in Prusha…I think they were called…Er…Lemont?…Trevont?" She looked back at me. "Do you remember?"
I thought for a moment. I do recall king Lucian and Kale talking about who tried to Purchase Claire…
"Oh. The Demont Family." I finally answered.
"Yeah, that one!"
Adam quietly thought for a moment, closing his eyes as he inhaled. He looked to be a little distressed, maybe he didn't expect his own kids to be kidnapped? He then slowly opened his eyes, his blue eyes glossing over me and Lilith.
"The Demont Family…To much dismay, I did have some connections with them when it came to working relationships. As for the…Mandy, I've heard of someone in Ozoth who would drag unaware people into the unknown…never to be seen again. To think someone like that would be out there targeting my girls."
"And we're here to assist…I hope." Lilith crossed her arms, sounding doubtful. "Hopefully Chris is able to have us help. It'd put him in good favor with King Vergis, right?"
"Most likely." I shrugged. "I'm sure Kale would do the talking, he has more knowledge of what's going on."
Adam coughed once more, Roul and Bouane moving closer to him for assistance. Claire still stood idly, having not moved from her spot for some time. It seemed like she was out into a trance of some sort.
Adam then slowly pulled himself from the couch he laid on, struggling momentarily before getting to his feet. "Ah…Well, Perhaps I should thank you two for escorting my girls back home." He began to walk to the bed behind the couch. "I suppose my hostility to you both was unnecessary…If you two are truly with King Lucian, then I Humbly apologize. Thank you for bringing my kids home."
I heard a loud "Tsk" noise coming from Lilith as he finished. But he ignored it. "Coming from how our company operates, I suppose we can exchange some things? Is it money that you need? Some goods for the journey home?" He began to lay in the bed, with the assistance of his two servants.
"Erm…" I thought for a moment. What would we need at this moment? I don't suppose we'd need money at the moment, I think we can manage…And I'm pretty sure Kale supplied us with enough food for the way back. What else could I think of?
"Oh!" Lilith exclaimed, remembering something. "Claire told us about your second house! Can we use that for our stay here?"
Oh yeah, Claire did mention asking her Father about having us stay in a cottage or something…Hm that could prove useful to us. I hope so.
Adam looked at Claire. "Is that so? You were going to ask me that?"
Claire immediately looked up towards him, as if she was powered on. "Y-yes! I-I thought it'd be a good idea since they were assisting us…"
Adam thought for a moment, nodding his head as he thought. "…Very well. We don't use that cottage at all, it's more or less a storage area for goods. They can stay there for the time being."
Claire let out a small smile. "T-thank you, Father."
He simply ignored her gratitude, finally laying his head onto his pillow as he stared at us. "Now leave the room."
With that in mind, all three of us began to head towards the door. I let Lilith and Claire head out first before me, and as I reached for the door…I was stopped.
"And one more thing." I heard Adam say. "Please tell that Silver haired girl to place the cheese wheel she had back where it came from…Such idiotic behavior."
I turned my head around facing him. As I was going to say something back to him, I noticed something that I hadn't even acknowledged at all. Right near the man's bed was a nightstand, and on the top, there was a rock. A plain gray one that I recognized to be similar to the one Claire gave me.
Looking at that also reminded me to ask him something else.
"Uh…Mr. Mallory?" I started. The blue haired man looked at me, deadpanned. "I'll tell Lilith about the cheese wheel…But that rock on your stand, What is that?"
"Ah." Adam looked towards the rock, he pointed at it with his finger. "It is a novelty gift. Not much to it." And that was all he said.
Well that doesn't say much to me. What the hell does this rock even do? It's gotta be magical equipment. Maybe he doesn't even know what it does.
"Well, Thanks for informing me. We'll say our goodbyes to Amelia and Claire and head out." I turned back to the door and headed out of it.
Once I was on the other side of the door, I noticed that Lilith stood at the door of Amelia's room. Seems like Amelia locked herself in there…where'd Claire go?
I reached the second floor, walking towards Lilith as she stood at Amelia's door. She had her hand on the door knob as she knocked on it.
"Amelia! Are you alright?"
"…"
Silence was the answer. Lilith turned to me and frowned.
"We really should've said something during their conversation."
"I…Well, I suppose that was a mistake on my part." I awkwardly scratched my head.
"You try knocking on her door." Lilith let go of the handle, letting me take a try at it.
I simply knocked on her door like I did last time. "Amelia? Are you in there?" I gazed up at the blue sign on her door. The ocean. The vast sea that one could travel. Amelia really does want to be free and swimming, huh? I guess the blue sign does fit her in some ways.
Hearing no answers from Amelia, it became apparent that this was pointless to try to talk at the moment. I wouldn't expect her to be in a talking mood after what happened.
"Well…We'll be at your secondary house. If you know where that is. Hopefully we can see you again. Hopefully." I said to the door. "…Sorry we didn't say much to help." I looked back at Lilith and nodded at her, signaling the need to leave. Lilith let out a deep sigh before nodding as well. The two of us quickly left the door and headed downstairs.
Perhaps she heard that, perhaps she didn't. Either way, we wouldn't get an answer from her. We needed to head to the castle.
And we're taking the Cheese Wheel.
A/N: Hey all, Managed to finish up this chapter quite quickly. I haven't found myself to be that busy, so that's probably why. Either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter!