"You were the one who brought an army to our doorstep! You're no better than him! Let go of me…" She growled and tried to push me away without much success.
She wasn't weak. On the contrary, I was surprised by her explosive attempts to resist, but even so, she couldn't do much against my strength.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and bent down to talk some sense into her, nothing more. However, a sharp pain blinded me as she unexpectedly smashed her forehead against my face, forcing me to release my grip. She jumped back against the wall and stared at me with fear in her eyes. I could tell she had no idea what she was capable of.
I had to stop Christian, who stepped towards her with his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"It's my fault, leave her be. You can leave, I no longer need your assistance," I ordered and tilted my head back as a precaution, in case blood started to flow from my nose. Feeling the numb pain, I carefully touched the root of my nose, relieved to find nothing broken.
I left her cowering in the corner and made my way over to the bedroom without another word.
Exhausted, eager to rest after everything that had happened in the previous few days. Stripped off my overalls, I finally stretched out on the bed.
Still able to see her sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands, I couldn't help but watch her with growing interest. One of the maids was going around to snuff out the candles and the other sat down beside Valleria and quietly comforted her. I forced my body to turn to the other side and threw a light blanket over my legs.
The lingering guilt consumed me as I thought of the possibility that my actions had only deepened her suffering. A quick death from my father's hands seemed to be an easy way out now. After all, she had tried to do it herself already.
Whole month passed and Valleria began to grow calmer, when she realized I ignored her presence. The maids had brought her clean clothes, a blanket and everything she might need. It was not on my command and it was definitely not on my father's, but I didn't care to ask.
She initially took refuge in the corner of the room, sleeping with her back against the wall for the first few nights, until she eventually moved to the lounge in the middle of my first chamber I used for accepting personal visits.
I often caught her reading one of my books, as she sat captivated with these stories she never came across before. And she also liked to bathe. Late at night, when she thought I must be long asleep, she would move to the private bath in one of my rooms, swimming and humming softly to herself. I made an effort to not disturb her, being mindful of not startling her whenever I stood up or crossed from room to another.
But I enjoyed watching her secretly. It was for the first time I truly felt good in another human being's presence.
I had started to hope that my father had somehow forgotten about her, but my doubts vanished when he unexpectedly appeared one late night without any prior notice.
She was already asleep, curled up on the sofa. With horror, I watched how he crossed the room, pulled the covers off her and forced her to stand by dragging her up by the elbow in one fluent motion. Valleria's eyes widened in shock after the unexpected slap landed on her cheek. Stumbling backward in disbelief, she struggled to regain her balance.
"No need to resort to violence," I overheard her muffled, desperate voice as she looked up to him with those doe eyes of hers "I'll be at your mercy, please don't hurt me..." She begged him, trying to soften his nature.