Dariel buttoned up his shirt, he was upset, Angelica had not showed up to dinner, however, due to the fact he did not want to upset Ohara, he held his peace and focused on his dinner.
Ohara walked into their bedroom, she sighed removing her jewelry piece by piece in front of the mirror placing them in her jewelry box.
Dariel climbed into bed waiting for her as she changed into her nightwear and got in bed.
"Did you go and check on her?" he asked as she brushed her chestnut hair. Ohara nodded.
"Why did she not come out for dinner?" he asked.
"Please be patient with her Dariel, today everyone of us were burdened today. She just did not feel hungry at the time, but I asked the maids to prepare something light for her." she replied.
"She must learn respect, she cannot just decide not to join us for dinner whenever she wants to." he replied, clearly he was upset.
"I already told her that Dariel, she will join us for dinner tomorrow." she replied.
"Alright..." he replied.
"My love... she told me that you showed her your scars..." she said turning to look at him.
"Yes..." he replied softly. "I know how personal those scars of yours are, and you do rarely want to look at them yourself, not even to talk about showing someone else." she said.
"I am glad you did, it shows me that you can change if you want to." Reaching out to hold his hand she smiled.
"She needs to know more about you..." Dariel frowned.
"Why did you not tell her about—"
"Because she does not need to know about her." Dariel rudely interjected.
"But why?" Ohara asked, confused, she let go of his hand.
"There is no need bringing up the past." Ohara watched his face closely. She wanted to be understanding, she really wanted to be, but right now it was just very difficult.
"I disagree my love, the past will aid the future." she added. "For instance, if you tell our daughter what happened, maybe she will think twice before she insists on this unacceptable marriage."
"The past should remain buried, if she cannot heed all our warnings then she will learn from her own mistakes." insisted Dariel.
"Not everyone has to be scarred before they learn from their mistakes." Ohara frowned.
Dariel looked offended, Ohara closed her eyes and sighed, she did not mean to say such a hurtful thing.
"I did not mean it that way my love, what I meant to say was maybe if she knows the possible unfavourable outcomes of getting married to someone you do not love at all." she apologized.
Her main concern was that her daughter subject herself to a loveless marriage because she felt that it was her duty to for the sake of her family.
"If she cannot learn from our constant warnings, then there is no need to bring her up." Dariel responded, clearly, he had no intention of revealing his past any more than he had to Angelica.
"Oh, but you know Dariel, it is better when you explain your reasons with real life examples." Ohara explained. "You know the youth of nowadays, they feel like they already know everything, and that is not so." Dariel's frown deepened.
"You know that we used to think like that when we were their age." she laughed. "But I am sure that if we tell Angelica about her aun—"
"Stop it right there Ohara... do not mention her name, or that word." Dariel cut her off speedily. She frowned, she knew that this was a rather touchy subject for him, but avoiding it was not the solution to his pain.
"Let her rest in peace. Stop talking about her, Angelica does not need to know about things that do not concern her." he concluded, his voice definite.
Ohara took a moment to just look at him. She did not want to get upset with him, she knew why he was like this. All she prayed was for more patience to be more understanding with him.
"My love, I know that you think that, but I do not think that is true, this matter concerns her, it concerns her family." she said softly.
"And I am extremely proud of you for being so honest with our daughter today." Dariel saw her smile, he looked away, he did not want to allow himself be charmed by her warm smile once more.
"I know that it took you a lot of strength to show her the scars you hate the most, but for me, that is a good start with telling her the truth." she said leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek.
"Even though I do not like how you did not tell her about..." Ohara decided to pause there so as not to anger him. "You did what you could and at your own pace, and I hope for the day that you will be absolutely transparent with her."
Ohara heard Dariel groan, she knew that this was tough for him, but she was just going to try to urge him to do better every single day.
"You do not have to feel overwhelmed my love, take it one day at a time." she said caressing his hair and smiling. "I know that you can do it." she beamed.
"You always believe in me." he mumbled, but Ohara had heard him loud and clear. She just smiled and gave him another kiss on the cheek.
It was moments like these that reminded her why she fell in love with him in the first place, and why she had remained with him for so long.
These were the moments she wished she could share with her daughter, so she would realize that marriage was not an bondage that was full with constant regret and unhappiness, rather it was a stage of fulfilment of life. She truly hoped that Angelica would see that one day.
"I overheard that the crown prince said he would return tomorrow." Ohara said, Dariel sighed and turned to the side. Things were going so good, why did she have to bring up this matter again? The last thing he wanted to do was think of that insolent prince, much less to speak of him.
"Yes." he replied, his reluctance clear, however, Ohara ignored his nonchalant attitude and continued on.
"So what are you going to tell him tomorrow?" She already knew the answer, yet, maybe she liked to heard bad news that made her heart ache.
"What else do you expect me to tell him Ohara?" Dariel asked lazily as he laid his head on his pillow.
"Do not dare tell me that you are going to agree to give our daughter away to him?!" Dariel almost rolled his eyes at her exclamation, was she only starting to see how existent this decision of their daughter's was.
"Woman, do not sound like that, the girl wants to marry him." he replied. "And you agree because you realize that being an in law to the king would benefit you." she accused.
"Believe me, being in laws with that stout, rather easily manipulated king of ours was the last thing on my mind." he scoffed. "However, I have to admit that a promotion of my title would be certainly beneficial"
"Dariel, do not dare tell me that you are going to allow her ruin her life just like that?!" Ohara exclaimed.
"Woman, what did you expect to happen when you asked me to make peace with her?" He sounded offended, angry almost.
"I expected you to yes, make peace with her, but also find a way to dissuade her from doing this to herself." Ohara sounded like she was shouting, but she was not, she just wanted her voice to be heard.
"Ohara, sometimes—you make me wonder." Dariel sighed.
"The girl is stubborn, that is on her, all I know is that if she decides to go through with her plans, which she will, I will finally give that blasted half-brother of mine a taste of his own medicine." Dariel snickered.
Ohara eyed him in disbelief. She was upset, let down and worst of all enraged that she had no time whatsoever to fix things and make sure her daughter stays happy before she sold herself to a prince whose intentions were not purely known.
"I wonder from whom she received that stubbornness from." she scoffed.
"Woman, what do you want from me?" Dariel asked painfully. "I did everything you asked, now it seems like you want to be purposefully ignorant and just start an argument for the sake of one." Ohara's frown deepened, to think that just a moment ago she was praising him, she really could not take this from him.
"You know what Dariel, goodnight." she declared hotly. She dropped her hairbrush on the bedside table, turning to the right she laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes.
"I see, so that is how you want to behave Ohara? It if perfectly fine with me, woman are impossible to please anyway." Dariel scoffed turning to the other side.
"I really try to be understanding with you my love, how come you never try to be with me?" Dariel heard her soft voice speak out of the silence. He was tongue-tied, he wanted to say something, but he just could not find the words to put together.
He sighed and closed his eyes as Ohara opened hers and a lone tear slipped down her cheek.