The Feared Knight

A Misfortunate Wedding

Penalia opened the door to her father's study and asked, "You called for me, Father?"

Marquess Zilan looked up at his daughter. It was a Thursday. Penalia greeted her father, who was all dressed in orange. Thursdays were for the colour orange. Her nose quirked in disgust at her father's appearance. He had caramel skin, black hair, and eyes the darkest shade of brown. His eyes looked too black, and the orange all over his skin didn't go well with them.

  "Oh yes," he responded nonchalantly. He continued, "A letter from the north just arrived. It's addressed to you and, of course, I took the liberty to access its content. "

  Penalia nodded her head in mock approval.

  "But so soon," she responded. "This is only the second day since we wrote to them."

Her father just hummed in agreement and proceeded to his other paperwork. It baffled Penalia how it never occurred to him that the contents of the letter were meant to be shared with her as well. He had only called her to notify her of its arrival. She had been drowning in anxiety ever since she said yes to the engagement because of her adrenaline rush. The night she met the stranger, she wasted no moment in rushing to her father's bedroom at night to inform him of her decision. He was petrified of the filthy condition she was in that night. But being the father he was, he acted like he didn't care about her injured foot, unsurprisingly. He liked to call himself prone to his  daughter's silliness who went astray. Much like that, Marquess Zilan sat down in his chair and ignored Penalia. He looked at her after a few moments and raised his eyebrows at his daughter, who probably looked like she was passing kidney stones.

  Penalia bent her head towards him, pointed at herself, and said, "The letter, Father, I need it."

 Marquess Zilan waved his hand towards a cabinet and said, "Take it, of course." Penalia's eyes rolled back into their sockets to the point of pain. Her father's indifference towards her never ceased to amaze her.

 
Upon getting out of her father's study, Penalia was greeted by Mister Muko, the house butler. She responded with a warm smile and enquired, "Have I ever mentioned that my father has the ugliest taste in fashion?"

  Muko chuckled, "More times than I wish to remember, my lady."

Penalia was holding the letter in a death grip, and Muko asked, "Anything troubling you, my lady? You look pale."
 
Penalia was fidgeting while walking; her ankle wasn't fully healed yet. She quickly answered, "I just need a glass of water," and ran towards her chamber. She heard Muko call after her a few times, but she didn't turn, and it felt as if her feet were dying out. The running made her ankle hurt once again. She stumbled into her room and shut the door. She was panting. The moment she had been dreadfully waiting for had arrived.

 
The feared knight had answered back. Her father had sent a letter accepting Eron's proposal directly to his fief in the north. He answered back just after a day, which was very quick considering how far the north was. No carriage was that fast. It made her speculate that maybe he was living in the capital. But it was soon ruled out as the letter was sent to the north. It couldn't reach him back that fast.

 
She diverted her attention back to the letter that she had clutched in her hands with all her life. She knew what was she would find in it. But she was still afraid. Her stomach dropped as she opened it. It was written professionally in beautiful handwriting, and a single dried hydrangea was pasted on it. Penalia cursed at the thought that her favourite flower was also preferred by the devil. But she couldn't fret any more. She had chosen this. chosen to live.

  Only a few words were written.

 
"Even the most fearful tiger can be tamed."

 Infuriated at his words, Penalia kept reading.