Olivia shuffled forward, her feet dragging along the floor.
She forced apart the massive wooden doors, her strength barely enough to move them.
Gathering her strength, Olivia wheeled the creaky trolley into the chamber.
The duke stared intently as she cautiously approached with the laden cart, her hands quivering.
Vela quickly stepped inside the room. Her eyes met her father, Albert Von Kaylon, the Duke of Zestria, who was seated behind his grand mahogany desk.
His face was mix of surprise and confusion; eyes glossy from tears he tried to hold back.
It was a stark contrast to the man she had read about - an ill-tempered tyrant with a cruel heart.
But here before her stood someone softened, almost vulnerable.
The morning sun highlighted his figure, as he shuffled through the towering documents.
"Father!"
Her voice echoed in the air, and her excitement rose with every passing second.
She could feel her palms sweating as she clamped her fists tight.
Vela stepped closer and noticed that the Duke's gaze was transfixed on her, a subtle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he saw the resemblance to his wife in Vela.
A tinge of guilt hit him as he noted her slight frame—something about it wasn't quite right.
"Father,"
Vela tried again, this time more insistently.
"Would you like to join me for breakfast?"
The duke snapped back to reality and glanced nervously between Vela and the documents in his hands. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"Ah...sure, why not?"
Olivia placed the plate on the table with shaky hands, beads of sweat dripping down her face as she lifted the silver cloche and hastily stepped back.
The Duke's nose wrinkled in disgust as his eyes fell upon the meal before him - lukewarm pale green soup sloshing in the bowl and unrecognizable vegetables floating like small islands in a murky sea punctuated by a sodden hunk of moldering bread.
Vela nervously chortled, her fingertips trembling towards the teapot.
"My, how clumsy of me... Would you care for some tea?"
She carefully placed two cups onto the table and poured a suspicious-looking greenish liquid from her pot.
She silently savored her cup, her eyes shutting in forced delight as she exhaled a content sigh.
"Zestria's green tea does make for an exquisite flavor". Her voice bubbled with sarcasm, yet it was clear to anyone that the vile taste was close to making her regurgitate.
The Duke kept staring at the tray of food with discontent.
"Father, why won't you eat?"
Vela gingerly picked up her spoon, ready to savor the soup.
"Vela Von Kaylon!! Explain this right now?!"
The duke's thunderous voice echoed throughout the room before she could take a single sip.
Vela slowly stirred the tea in her cup as her father's piercing gaze scrutinized her every move.
Ignoring his scowl and gruff voice, she took a sip of her tea and speared a piece of the rotten vegetable on her plate with her fork.
The Duke watched in horror as Vela placed the slimy morsel into her mouth. He slammed his fist onto the table, causing Vela to flinch.
His face was red with rage as he reached out and grabbed her by the wrist, squeezing it so hard that she let out a cry of pain as the fork left her grasp.
The Duke released his grip and then turned his attention to Olivia.
"Call for the Palace chef and butler at once" The duke shouted.
Olivia yelped in surprise and quickly backed away before hurrying out of the office.
"Father?"
A hint of a smile tugged at Vela's lips, as she quickly covered her face with her fan.
Olivia strode back into the office, trailed by the chef and Butler who were in a state of panic. The chef's brow was furrowed, while the Butler shuddered in fear.
"Who prepared this?"
he Duke barked, making the walls of the room tremble.
Both men took another step back as if trying to put as much distance between themselves and their irate employer as possible.
"Your Grace, I prepare the most exquisite dishes for you and your family! I do not quite understand as I have no watch over the food once it leaves the kitchen, sire" stammered the chef.
The sincerity of his words hung in the air, yet everyone's gaze seemed to be firmly fixed on the Butler now.
"Your Grace, I swear I didn't do it!" he wailed before dropping to his knees, begging for mercy.
The Duke pulled out his sword as if seeking justice for what appeared to be a crime deserving of death.
"Sire…I…it…was…." the butler kept rambling.
He raised his blade, preparing to decapitate the groveling fool at his feet.
The Duke's fury was suddenly directed inward as he realized his mistakes had caused this situation.
His fists were balled at his sides, and he trembled with rage as he imagined how disappointed his late wife would be to see him now.
"Father?!" Vela's voice shook with fear as she put on a fake sorrowful expression, tears streaming down her cheeks.
The Duke slowly returned the sword to its sheath.
"You can leave and call the Prison Guards" he said in a low growl to the chef as the butler began to plead for mercy, but before he could finish, two higher ranked Knights burst into the room and waited for further orders from the Duke.
"Take this fool to the underground prison now," he commanded gruffly.
The Butler's cries faded away as the guards dragged him away.
The Kaylon Underground Prison—TKUP, though its abbreviated pronunciation sounded more like a teacup— was widely known as a living nightmare, so much so that most criminals would rather take their chances with death than face being locked away there.
Torture methods were brutal: prisoners would be hung upside-down from the ceiling with whip wounds, muffled to stifle their screams, deprived of food and water, and regularly submerged into cells filled with chemicals that hindered wound healing.
The chains used for restraint concealed blades on the inside, which would activate if the prisoner attempted to escape, slowly cutting through their legs and trapping them beneath the water until they drowned.
Vela was appalled yet amused as she heard about this method of torture—"like a teabag in a teacup," she thought to herself as an attempt at humor.
She remembered reading about it in Vela's Story; to think she would actually hear of it made her almost laugh out loud.
The horrifying torture technique had originated with Duke Kaylon's great-grandfather, who clearly enjoyed instilling terror in his enemies.
"A sadist indeed,"
Vela thought with a grim smile, suppressing her laughter in front of her father.
"Vela" The duke called out
Vela flinched to the call of her name, which almost sounded like an apology. She turned to face him, seeing the sorrow in his eyes and how his shoulders drooped.
"I... I'm sorry, I let my rage consume me,"
the Duke looked at Vela, his fingers nervously roving.
Vela stared at him, her gaze drifting from his toes to his hands.
"I want to leave the duchy," she blurted out immediately.
Her father's eyes widened with shock, and tears welled in them as he stuttered, "You want to run away?"
Vela sighed inwardly.
'What is wrong with this man?' she thought.
"If I don't leave, I will be…,kil… uh, killing time to work on my... social... work... status," Vela looked at him, her words stumbling a bit.
"Your safety is my priority" Her father shook his head, but before she could protest, he continued.
"You can use as much money as you want, but I won't grant you the full freedom you wish. Your actions will be under my jurisdiction."
"Your stupid safety won't help me!"
Vela yelled. The fact that she died uselessly in her past life was troubling, only to die again, and in God knows when again.
Vela let out a loud grunt in frustration, but all she could force out was a strained,
"Thank you for your kindness, Father."
Barely containing her fury, Vela yanked the hem of her dress and stormed out of his office.
"I'm sorry, Alhena," he said softly, his gaze fixated on the picture frame that held the image of Vela's deceased mother.
Her vibrant blue eyes stared back at him, reminding him of all the time he had wasted not trying to understand her daughter better.
"I failed you. I let my emotions get in the way of raising her properly. But every time I look at her, I see you.
Those beautiful blue eyes that she inherited from you – if only I could have seen you one last time."