"Open the door, Eli. Don't you dare test my patience again," The Frost King said in a vexed tone as he banged on a large beautiful door.
The door opened as a beautiful woman with a mature aura, and elegant bearings sighed, "Husband, let's talk to our daughter inside."
The Frost King harrumphed as he entered the room and looked at the silver-haired beauty with radiant crimson eyes, sitting on the bed and looking out the window with an empty stare.
The Frost King said in a stern voice, "There is nothing to discuss anymore, Eli. You better get down there right now. You have already smeared our bloodline name, and now the least you can do is not—"
"You mean I smeared your name?" Eli asked with a look of disappointment as she turned around.
"Eli!" Eli's mother, Rubella, called her out to prevent her from angering her father even more.
"No, mother. I had stayed quiet all this time while everyone, including my own father, was making me feel as if I had done something very wrong when all I did was save the life of somebody I cared about. Is that really wrong to do so? Wouldn't you do the same for my mother?" Eli asked her father with a fixed gaze.
The Frost King's expression remained cold as he said with his hands behind his back, "You seriously think it is the same situation? Don't forget your place. You are the princess of our Frozenblood Kingdom, and since you were fortunate enough to be born as one, you get to enjoy all the power, luxury, and talents your status and bloodline have gifted you with. But in return, you have a responsibility to fulfill towards your own kingdom and to your mother and me. We only have you other than her, and you are supposed to carry down our pure bloodline and not defile it!"
Eli raised her brows as she said defiantly, "Defile it? How could you say that? Azu's mother is the princess of—"
The Frost King clenched his fists as he said vehemently, "It doesn't matter! He is a half-blood belonging to parents who are both traitors. His bloodline will never be pure as ours, nor will he be ever worthy enough to carry our name. I should have wiped out that abomination, no…his parents right when they created that uproar so that we wouldn't even be talking about this right now, and you would have remained my dutiful daughter instead of making me look like a fool before my people and disrespecting our sacred bloodline by stealing our sacred treasure. Do you have any idea how difficult it was for me to hide that fact from the royal elders? What a waste!"
Eli's eyes shook as she stepped back, "You don't mean that…how could you…What wrong did Azu ever do to you?! All he ever did was respect you despite the fact that you exiled his mother. He was supposed to live like a prince, but because of people like you, he can't even wander into a forest without risking his life."
"How else do you expect a family who broke and spat on our sacred laws to live? His parents married, knowing fully well what the consequences would be, despite people warning them. But since they still went with it, they deserve to suffer the consequences, including their son. And instead of rotting away somewhere, they used their son to fool my daughter. You were too blind with foolish love to know your priorities, and now you have failed me as a daughter," The Frost King said with a look of disappointment as Eli's chin trembled.
She loved her father the most, always looking up to him and admiring how he looked after his subjects. But to hear such words from him made her feel a lump in her throat.
"That's enough, husband. How can you say such things to our daughter?" Rubella asked with a look of disagreement as she hugged Eli, trying to comfort her.
The Frost King looked away as guilt flashed in his eyes. He cleared his throat and said, "Forget about it. There is no point in talking about the past, especially when you already did as you wish. But now, you will have to witness the consequences of your actions."
Eli's voice became weak as she said, "You knew Azu only recently got rid of his sickness, and yet you are pitting him against Draven, who has lived and fought like a vampire for years. How is this fair unless you want to get him killed? Don't think that I will marry Draven if something happens to Azu. I already consider Azu as my man even if we are not married, and as his woman, I will share his fate no matter what it is."
"You! If I wanted him dead, I would have already killed him that day. It is for your sake that he is still alive. Don't forget that. Besides, what is so good about him that made you fall in love with him like this?" The Frost King still couldn't understand how his daughter fell in love with an exiled half-blood.
Eli softly smiled as she said, "You won't understand, father. He is much more a man than Draven or any other man could ever dream of being, and his heart is not filthy as those around us. I also know that you didn't spare him for my sake but because I gave him my Origin Blood. So we both know I can't marry anyone else, especially since I can't have a child with anyone else other than Azu."
The Frost King shook his head as a lot of thoughts crossed his mind. He walked towards the door as he said, "Come down, quick. Today we will know what the fate of that boy will be."
"Wait! I don't want you to forget your promise that you won't let anything bad happen to Azu. Remember, the only way you can ever get an heir is with him alive and well," Eli made sure to stress the last sentence since she knew how important the matter of having an heir was to her father.
The Frost King wrinkled his brows but silently left as Eli buried her face against her mother's chest.
"Do not worry, my child. Your father may not show it, but he would never do anything that would break your heart. Now, go downstairs. Your Azu might be coming here anytime now."
