A Tale Beyond Destiny

“I heard that you went out of the palace again,” my father, Leonel Briar, told me while he was looking at something I really didn’t pay attention to. For h*ll I care? After all, my Father only called for me at this kind of hour just because he wanted to scold me for going out of the palace without his consent again. I really didn’t know who the h*ck went out of their way just to tell my Father that I was going out again, but I know that whoever it was, they were forced to tell my father where I was, because I know how scary he was whenever he couldn’t get what he wanted to have. “Yes, I did.” I looked at him with a void expression on my face as I tried as hard as I could to straighten up my posture, because I knew that would be the second thing that he would point out about me. He took a glance at me for a brief second, before he went to turn the page of the files that he was reading. It seemed like he didn’t really care about me because of how he was acting right now. Since when did I even see him look at me with concern in his eyes? I can’t seem to remember that day that he got really worried about me. Even when I was a child, he still didn’t pay attention to me. He was just focused on his work and nothing else. He couldn’t even take care of my Mother because of his ambitions. He couldn’t even have spare time for his own family, because he was focused on the things that he wanted to have. Just like now. He was focused on something about expanding our territory, even if I really don’t know how he could do something like that. H*ck. He was even considered as the king of the whole Asphodel, the whole world to be exact, so how the h*ck would he be able to expand his territories? I think that he was just being too ambitious that he didn't even think of those things. “Didn’t I tell you that you are not allowed to go out of the palace anymore?” he asked me, still looking at the papers in front of him. I let out a snort because of how absurd this talk was; or if this could be considered as a talk, because for me, it was like I’m his subordinate who was reporting to him what I did that day. He raised an eyebrow at me when he noticed that I didn’t answer his question, as if he was asking why I got silent suddenly. I let out a sigh as I looked at him, still wearing the same expression on my face. “Yes,” I answered him in a void tone. “You told me about that countless times.” That was when he finally let go of the paper he was holding as he turned his full attention to me. I almost flinched because of the cold gaze he was giving me, but I tried to stay as calm as I could because I knew that he would also scold me about my facial expression. I really thought that I could stay calm, but what he said next really got into my nerves. “Then, why did you do it again?” he asked me and I saw that he glared at me. “Why?” I asked him, and I couldn’t stop myself anymore because of what he just said to me. “Am I not allowed to talk to other people here at Asphodel?” I couldn’t stop myself anymore because of him. Because of my ever-controlling father, who didn’t even care about my wellbeing. My father always thought of his wrong choices, and his own satisfaction with things. “No.” That was just the answer that I got from him before he returned to look at the paper on his table again. I let out a scoff, and I knew that he heard me, but I didn’t care about it anymore. After all, he just wanted to control me again, and he called me here because he wanted me to know about his decisions that I never really liked. “Manners, Princess Caliana,” he said in a warning tone, still not looking in my direction. “Really? You wanted me to check my manners now?” I asked him in disbelief, with a frown on my face. He stopped writing again, as he glared at me. “Now, you are talking back at me?” he told me in a cold voice as he finally stood up and went to my side. “Is that how a princess would react, huh?” I know that I should back down now, but I can’t take any of this anymore. I couldn’t take this kind of treatment, coming from my own father, anymore. I couldn’t take this control that he had from me. I didn't even want him to have that kind of control over me. “I came here knowing that you would scold me,” I told him as I looked straight into his eyes. “I came here because I thought that it would be the same as before. That you will scold me for a short time, but it looks like you really wanted to point out all the things that I’m doing.” “Caliana,” he said in a warning tone again, but I didn’t stop myself from talking. “You always tell me to do this, do that, do everything that I couldn’t even really do.” A lone tear fell from my eyes, but still, his expression didn’t change. “I’m not perfect, Dad! I cannot do everything that you wanted me to do! I cannot correct all the things that you think are wrong! I am just a person who is living in this world, so I cannot do everything that you say!” “You are not just a person.” That was the only thing that he told me right after my sudden outburst. “You are the crown princess of Asphodel. That’s why I am telling you the things that you have to do. That’s why I am correcting your wrongdoings.” “No.” I shook my head at him. “You are not doing this because I am the only heir of the throne. You are doing this because you think that I am your puppet, and nothing else.” That was the moment that my Mother, Madelyn, went inside my Father’s office. It looked like she found out that I had talked back to my Dad. That’s why she’s here. “Caliana,” my Mother called me, but I did not bother to look at her because I wanted to tell my Father everything that I felt about his attitude towards me. “Am I right?” I asked him as I challenged him to confirm what I said. “You only thought of me as a puppet that you can control, right?” He just stayed silent, and that made me scoff again. My Mother, who was just at the entrance of the office, immediately went to my side to calm me down, but I still didn’t stop myself from talking back at my Father. “Why can’t you answer me, huh?” I asked him again as my voice started to rise. “Is it because I am right? Is it because I already hit a nerve and you cannot seem to dodge the question, huh?” I could see the rage in my Father’s eyes, but I didn’t pay attention to it because I really wanted to know what his answer was to my question. I wanted to know if I was really right about what I said to him. “Why don’t you answer it, huh?” Suddenly, suddenly, a loud smack was heard in the whole room. It was so loud that even my Mother gasped because of shock. It almost echoed in the room, and right after that, I felt a sting on my right cheek. I held my cheek that he just slapped as I looked at him with almost the same cold expression as his. “You don’t have the right to talk back at me,” he said while he was glaring at me. “You do not have the right to ask me questions like that. Do you understand?” I took a step towards him, but my Mother stopped me from going any further. “No,” I told him as I shook my head to answer his question. “I will never understand why you have to do something like that. I will never understand why you have to control even the little things that I do.” After that, I didn’t bother to hear what he was about to say as I left his office. I didn’t even look back, even if I could hear that he was shouting that I should come back, because it was not the end of our talk. I just continued to walk in the hallway of our palace, while I was feeling the pain on my cheek because of his slap earlier. “Caliana!” I heard my Mother shout my name, and that became the reason why I turned to look in her direction. It seemed like she followed me all the way from here, because I could see that she was catching her breath while she was walking down the hallway. Even if I didn’t have any energy to talk to anyone, I decided to stop in my tracks as I waited for her to come by my side. After all, it was my Mother I am talking about. The only person who supports me and believes in me, even if my Father always points out the things that I’m doing. “Why did you do that?” she asked me, and I could see that she was worried about me. I let out a loud sigh. “I think what he did to me for all my life is already enough for me to say something like that in front of his face, Mother.” I looked at her with a serious expression on my face. “But he’s still your father!” she told me as her voice raised. “He never treats me as his daughter though.” I turned to go to my room because I didn’t want to have that conversation anymore. I’m so tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. I’m so tired of all the things that my Father told me to do. I’m so tired of following every word that he says to me. I’m so tired that whenever we ended our talk, my Mother would always come and find just to say that I have to follow him, even if I don’t want to. “Caliana!” I heard my Mother had called me again, but I didn’t bother to look in her direction anymore. That’s it. I’m so tired of living a life that I never really want to have. I’m tired of everything that I see in this palace. I have to leave now or else, I will not be able to live the life that I wanted to have. I will not be able to do the things that I wanted to do. I will not be able to feel the freedom that I never really got in this d*mned palace. Even if it means that I had to leave my Mother, I had to do this because I know that she would never come with me if I told her that we would leave my Father. She loved my Father so much that she couldn’t even see all the mistakes that he made. She couldn’t even see that my Father was not right all the time. “I have to plan this thoroughly though,” I mumbled to myself as soon as I closed the door of my room. “I am sure that my Father will be able to find out about my plan, if I am not careful. I might never have a chance to leave this palace anymore.” I had to do this so that I could leave this palace that I never really considered as my home. I had to leave in order to live the life that I wanted to have. I had to leave in order to turn my back on my Father, who never really considered me as his daughter. He only sees me as the crown princess and nothing else, and I guess that’s a good enough reason why I have decided to do something like that. With that in my mind, I decided to lock myself up in my own room as I started to have a plan so that I could leave the palace without them knowing.