Chapter 5: The Failed Heir

Chapter 5: The Failed Heir

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Everyone runs away, but I stay in my seat. Daddy gave everyone a different lesson than me. He’ll give me a different punishment for failing mine, too. Daddy waits until everyone is out of earshot. He scrutinizes me like some bug. I’m scared…

“Well, what do you have to say, Precia?”

His voice is quiet, but I know Daddy. He’s calm now, but will go kaboom fast if I anger him. I mustn’t anger him. But I know I already did. I wasn’t strong enough. There’s nothing I can say. I shake my head and lower it. I can’t look at him. He hates me so much that it pierces straight through my heart. I hate Daddy. But he hates me even more. And I’m making him angry. This is not good…

“Nothing?” he cackles. I know what he can do to me if he’s angry. He’s angry right now. He’s approaching me. One step, another step… Slowly, ominously, threateningly… I’m trembling, I’m closing my eyes, I…

*Slap*

He smacks my right cheek with his massive hand. It’s one of the places they didn’t hurt before. Now, it’s more hurt than anything else. The force topples my chair, and I crash. The chair and I slam to the floor. It adds even more bruises. My entire face burns with pain, but he’ll slap me again if I cry now. I mustn’t cry. I must be strong. But… I’m not… strong.

“That’s right. You, too, learned nothing at all,” Daddy snarls quietly, but it feels like he’s yelling. Everything hurts, but I roll back on my feet and stand up. I know he wants me to. And he has more to say — bad things, hurtful things, things that make me want to cry, not because of the stinging bruises but because they shatter my heart.

“If only we didn’t have to adhere to those stupid, rigid succession rules, we could solve this so easily,” he explains. He’s really annoyed. I know what he wants to say. Daddy told me many times before. Told me that I’m a ne’er-do-well. Well, I AM. He doesn’t need to remind me. I know. But he talks about it anyway. Again and again and again. I can no longer bear it.

“Precia, my daughter… My utterly, UTTERLY useless daughter… Why can’t you be the successor everyone expects you to be? Why can’t you be strong like I am? Why can’t you have courage, assume authority upon those below you, defend yourself when you’re under attack, and wage war against the human scum that took your mother from us? Why can’t you accept your fate to supersede my rule one day? Why? Tell me, enlighten me!”

Daddy whispers again, which isn't good. It never ends well for me when he does this during a lecture. Daddy is hurt, and when he’s hurt, he hurts me. I don’t want to be hurt anymore. I am already hurt. Please don’t hurt me, Daddy!

“Nothing? Do you have nothing to say? My first-born daughter, heir to my rule, nurtured despite your shortcomings, while your perfect-at-everything twin-sister yearns for power not destined to be hers… You truly, truly have… nothing to tell me?”

Nurtured? Daddy lost his mind…

This is madness. Daddy won’t stop until I say something. Anything. I need to tell him whatever. All I can think of is the pain in my right cheek and the heat of the tears I will cry soon. What should I say? He’s going to hurt me again if I stay quiet. Something… ANYthing! Finally, my mouth opens.

“N-no… nothing…”

I didn’t notice that I began shaking, shivering furiously, jittering out of control… And yet, I’m petrified. I cannot move. Daddy is going to cry. I always get hurt if he cries. Help…

“Get out of my sight…” he tells me quietly. I was right; he’s crying now. Big Daddy-sized tears. And then he yells at me again.

“I should have cast you out and drowned you when I still had the chance! Everyone dreams of the beautiful princess who will someday rule our country, but at this rate, someone will usurp me before you’re ever ready to rule! Your sister is scheming against us and conspiring with my power-hungry brother as we speak! And you have nothing to say to me?!”

I shake my head. I can’t tell if it’s part of my body's shaking on its own or if it’s a separate movement. Daddy notices, though. He grabs a desk and whirls it right at me. He’s upset; his aim is terrible. Only the leg hits my forehead, and I collapse. Pain erupts all over my head, but it does not split open. He’s yelling unintelligible things at me. My vision is blurry. I can’t hear well. When things come back to focus, his words pierce my heart.

“You’re a failure through and through. You’re not my daughter.”

I-I’m not his… daughter? A-anymore? B-but… he’s my Daddy!

“Now get out of my sight…”

I know that tone in his voice. It’s the ‘if you don’t listen, I’ll hurt you’ tone. But I do not understand. Where does he want me to go? He sent me here to become stronger. Everyone else is outside swinging weapons. He didn’t order me to join them, did he? There’s nowhere else I can go. I don’t know what to do. He wants me to leave, though. I want to leave. I’m hurt, and I need to cry. Badly. I try to walk, but my legs won’t move. They’re still shaking. Shaking so much, I can barely hold my footing. He’s giving me that deranged gaze again… He’s approaching… Help!

“I said, GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!!”

Daddy grabs me roughly by the shoulder and yanks me outside. He yells so loudly. My ears hurt. He bumps me into several desks as he drags me. He’s fuming. This time, he’ll do more than just slap me. Will he use the belt this time? Or dump me into icy water until I’m frozen stiff?

Suddenly, he lifts me. Lifts me high. High above his head. He aims. He thrusts me like a spear. I sail through the air. Everything is spinning. I have no control; thrashing my arms and legs is all I can do. Then I crash. I hit my head hard. Everything is spinning even harder. Pain… everywhere… Finally, I can no longer hold back my tears and begin to cry.

If only I weren’t the future demon lord, if only I weren’t the first-born daughter, if only Mommy didn’t die, if only I weren’t so weak… then maybe things wouldn’t be so bad…

And then, my sadness and the pain finally drown these horrible thoughts…