Eira's sparkling eyes and lips were like a crimson bloom.
She dwelled in a village at the borderline of the kingdom.
The village she was fond of was almost as bad and old as my village.
Her father was a blacksmith—he worked on forging swords and spears.
Her mother owned a bakery shop where she sold homemade bread and sweets.
Yet, both were divorced.
Mainly because of the family table.
Her father worked day and night—even coming home was something they would get blessed with by praying.
So, Eira always checked on her father—even if he lived far, far away in a small town.
One day, out of the blue, her mother wanted to get remarried.
It was thoughtful of her to raise her one and only daughter with siblings—but that wasn't her point. She was simply bored.
She kept bugging families and friends to find a man.
Days passed...
After a few months, her mother found her new husband.
He was someone of a high caliber.
Someone who had his own servant.
At a place like small towns and villages, pulling off the impossible—which, by any means, was having servants.
An old man, bored of his wife, felt like marrying another who must be a middle-aged woman.
Lucky for her... yet I wonder—is that what she was supposed to do?
She didn't wait long, nor did she go by the traditional way of marrying.
Loneliness had been eating her all those years.
In my opinion, I would say she was an absolute idiot.
Instead of renting her house and renting another for the family in the small town where her husband might have come pretty often, all she did was complain like an imbecile.
As the mother cooked up a future, ready to feast on it, Eira's life ended up being a joke from that day on.
---
The problem was that this filthy-rich old man—her new stepfather—didn't like children.
Expected.
She had one chance: either her daughter or her new husband.
A stupid is a stupid.
That led to Eira being out on the streets—alone.
Fighting against the piercing cold breeze with no water and food for days.
Melting under the sun on other days.
She survived it.
She survived.
As she remembered the times where she used money here and there as she wanted, traveling in a flash... she cried.
Even her own tears felt like they were solidifying into ice right on her angelic face.
Crossing the pedestrianized streets barefoot...
After endless cold and heat—she reached her destination.
Her father's shop was right before her eyes.
She forced her hands on the door, but it wouldn't budge no matter how she tried.
It seemed that she was only getting weaker and weaker as time passed.
At some point, she fell on the ground, vividly remembering her father's warmth—she lost consciousness.
---
In the morning...
Her father came to work as usual.
He woke up like an early bird.
The reason was because the train would take free passengers, as long as they didn't travel long distances, at the caboose.
He saw her body from afar—leaving him in turmoil.
He never raised his voice like that in his life.
Raucously—
"Hey... who... that... hey!"
He sprinted with all his strength toward her.
The second he saw her, he couldn't believe his eyes.
His body trembled in fear.
Quivering, he screamed—
"My daughter! Noooo!!"
His legs were petrified.
He gathered his breath and thoughts, focusing only on saving her—leaving the why aside.
Tattering her clothes, he threw gasoline on the wood in the chimney stack, lighting it up with a lighter.
---
That was the point he hated his wife for the rest of his life.
No matter what she did, he would always shrug it off, saying she didn't get it—she would get it one day.
He strongly believed in this saying:
Being silent is an answer for those who understand. It means I don't want to waste my time and effort to teach a brain that won't get it. It's better to let it comprehend by itself.
Living up to his name as a father, he took care of her.
But there was one problem.
There was this paper.
The paper stated that as long as both divorced parents placed their thumbprint, he could not interfere—even as a parent—mainly because of the village's policy.
He decided to pay a visit.
Thankfully enough, she woke up.
Her tears fell as she cried nonstop, hugging her father.
After their family moment ended, he told the merchant who lived next to his store to take care of her—leaving straight for the village.
Hiding himself, he hung around the village with a nostalgic feeling, since he had grown up there, though it hurt him a bit.
After a while, he got into the village master's office.
The master remembered his face, asked about him, and his family, gave him coffee, and treated him like his own son.
Then he dropped the bomb that ruined the conversation.
When he talked about his daughter, the master said:
"Even though I knew late, there is nothing I can do to help—unless your divorced wife signs the paper again."
With a straight and restricted face, he added—
"But if you want, we can go together and pay her a visit. It would be great for you if I was involved in this."
Her father smiled genuinely, thanking the master. They left.
As they rang the doorbell furiously, she came running and jumping all over the place as if she was ready to attack.
She opened the door, lashing out—then instantly covered her mouth.
"You again... what do you want?"
Unfortunately, she refused.
She claimed she was still her mother and would take care of her—adding irritating trash talk, unlike someone else there.
It couldn't be helped.
After all, new rumors appeared that included this filthy-rich new husband.
So clearing the rumors was her job, not his.
But he insisted on telling the chief—the elder of the village—about what happened. About her health and all.
He even added a side-kick talk, saying, "It's all so they could sleep at night alone."
They got caught playing dirty over a child's life.
They were sentenced to pay for it—with a lot of money.
And they signed the thumbprint.
He was finally allowed to raise her as he wanted.
He also believed that single dads were better than single moms.
---
A very tragic incident happened right after three months.
He was assassinated—by his own wife.
Eira's life was not a joke anymore...
IT WAS HELL!!!