Shattered Fatherly Bonds
Leo felt in that instant as if he'd heard a hallucination. There was no way his healthy self could be hearing things like that, but he wanted to believe he had. So he stayed silent, hoping Elizabeth would open her mouth again and confirm that what he'd heard was just in his head.
"It was a joke. How could a daughter love her dad romantically? Something like that." But reality was cruel.
She looked at him. With utter conviction filling both her eyes.
"I love you."
"…."
"I love you."
Seeing Leo's crumbling expression, Elizabeth didn't soften. She couldn't soften here. She drove the nail home with her words, hammering it in like a blacksmith. One choice of address she'd made. Not "Dad," but "you." That single word quietly toppled an entire world.
"You—"
Leo, stunned, swallowed his words. Or rather, they were swallowed for him. A sweet fragrance rushed in whoosh, a fresh grassy scent, cool air, her body odor and sweat mingling to dizzy his head. An intoxicatingly lush softness pressed firmly against his lips. Plump, moist, tender. Their noses brushed, their gazes locked impossibly close. Her lips covered his, and for a moment—just a fleeting moment—he accepted it. Deep in that split-second unconsciousness, he mistook it for comfort.
But it wasn't comfort. It was ruin.
Unlike Leo's blue eyes flailing in denial of reality, hers shone with liberation and ecstasy.
"You!"
Pop! He shoved her away too late. Elizabeth tumbled onto the grass with a thud, bracing herself with her palms. Then she looked up at him pitifully. Leo winced. Even he knew he'd pushed pretty hard. As a father, he should help his daughter up. But he couldn't move.
Elizabeth was staring at him with clear eyes. Even that simple gesture of helping her up felt like admitting this twisted relationship, and it terrified him. Instead, he lowered his gaze and continued.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Exactly what it looks like."
Elizabeth answered calmly. She wiped her saliva-glistened lips with the back of her hand. That saliva was his. Leo's mouth went dry.
That tiny motion of hers became a scene—a landscape. Too beautiful, too dangerous, sending chills down his neck. Elizabeth was no longer a "child." Not the kid who'd trailed after him with dirt on her skirt hems, not the one who'd fallen asleep using his lap as a pillow. Eight years had indifferently sculpted her into full maturity. Leo crumbled under that indifference. Heat rose to his head. His heart pounded wildly. He despised the sensation.
Leo loathed himself madly. It was utterly repulsive.
"I love you, Dad."
"…."
"As a woman, I love Leo Valentine romantically."
The words came light and clear like a lark's song, but they were a disaster. A calamity shaped like language flowed into Leo's ears and exploded in his chest. Everything collapsed. The name "daughter." The sanctuary of paternal love. The safe haven of family. Shattered into irreparable pieces.
Leo laughed. Or rather, he begged. Like a man dangling from a cliff's edge.
"…Haha. You're kidding, right? This is a joke, yeah?"
His face smiled, but his eyes were already plummeting. Into deep, endless darkness. And Elizabeth watched that fall. She didn't reach out a hand. She just watched him crumble from within.
You might be thinking: It's still fixable. It's not too late. But to the man she loved, unfortunately, Elizabeth had no intention of turning back. This wasn't a cruel joke. Not a spur-of-the-moment impulse or fleeting delusion. It was love that had quietly grown under the starlight when she was twelve. She loved him. For a long time, in secret. And now, it had grown bold enough to spill from her lips.
Leo's laughter cut off. He'd fallen completely into that darkness.
After a brief silence, he spoke in a raspy voice she'd never heard before.
"….You're serious."
"Yes."
At her serene reply, Leo squeezed his eyes shut. It felt like his blood had stopped. A whisper came from somewhere in his consciousness: I want to pass out. Just faint like this and never wake up. But she stood there. Calmly, right in front of him. Leo knew better than anyone. That Elizabeth was dead serious. It wasn't some sudden confusion. In truth, those subtle dissonances in his daily life he'd overlooked long ago—they were finally making noise. It all made sense now. She had loved him.
"……"
Leo realized one thing. Love couldn't always be pure devotion.
"You're young. You don't understand your feelings yet."
"Young? I'm not young."
"No, you are. You don't know your own emotions. You're still a kid."
She shot back.
"What about you, Dad?"
"What?"
"You had me at fifteen. So why say I'm the young one?"
He was speechless. Because you're not my real daughter. He couldn't say it. Uttering that would make the catastrophe real. He muttered to himself like a mantra. Where the hell did it all go wrong…?
"You're my daughter."
"I know. That's why I thought about it."
She slithered toward him like a snake. And slipped her fingers into his hand, interlocking them. Her hand was affectionate, yet firm.
"Come to the empire with me. They haven't fully verified identities yet. I can hide us. We'll go where no one knows, where no one can find us, and start over."
She was spinning a dream. An eerily meticulous, unreal dream.
"I'll do really well. Okay? If you hate the empire, we'll go to Britain. Spain's fine too. I'll work hard. I'll earn money so you're not stressed, take care of you. If you want kids, I'll have them. So come with me. Please…"
"…Are you insane?"
Leo couldn't hold back the words. Her statements transcended imagination. Shockingly, Elizabeth meant every bit of it. The madness and obsession gleaming in her blue eyes proved it.
"I'm not insane. I'm fine. Sane. See?"
Elizabeth pulled Leo's hand to her chest. Her heart thundered wildly inside. Thump-thump.
"It's beating like this—how could it not be real? I really—"
"…No. You're not sane."
Leo shook his head.
"Go home today. We'll talk tomorrow. You need to cool your head."
He pulled his hand free and stepped back. Then suddenly, Elizabeth grabbed his cheeks and shoved her face close. Lips inches from touching, Leo twisted away and seized her shoulders.
"Are you crazy!?"
He bellowed. But Elizabeth didn't back down.
"Why treat a sane person like a lunatic!? My feelings are real!"
"Those things you just said—would a sane person say that!?"
"I really…"
She huffed, unable to continue. Soon, madness filled her eyes as she cast a spell. A strong pressure knocked Leo down, and she mounted him. Leo looked up at her in bewilderment.
Gasp. Their lips overlapped. They met softly for an instant, but Leo shoved her off immediately. He'd let his guard down for a second, but Elizabeth couldn't overpower him. They tangled, and soon Leo pinned her. He tried not to hurt her, pressing down her wrists.
Huff, huff. Elizabeth breathed angrily. Her golden hair splayed wildly on the grass.
"It's because of her, isn't it?"
"What?"
"Hildegard. You're doing this because of that bitch."
She glared at Leo with bloodshot eyes.
"What's so great about her? I've bet everything on you…"
"Elizabeth."
"I know you're going to marry her. Don't hide it. It shows on your face when you lie. You avoid my eyes, your lower lip trembles… You've always been like that."
"…."
"Marry me. I'm young, smart, I can earn money, I can do anything. Whatever you want, I'll do it."
This time, Elizabeth begged.
"So, not some granddaughter of a butcher like—"
"You little—!"
Leo raised his fist. Elizabeth flinched but didn't close her eyes. Instead, her pupils held fear mixed with resignation, as if saying hit me if you want.
That was the moment. A crack formed. The tip of her nose flushed red. Her nostrils quivered, then tears welled in her eyes.
"I really like you, Dad. It's not a joke… But why… why do you keep acting like I'm lying…?"
Her voice cracked. Her lips twisted downward, brows furrowed. She clenched her teeth to hold back sobs, but they trembled. Sniffles escaped. Leo released her hands.
Elizabeth rubbed her eye sockets furiously with her knuckles. But the tears kept flowing endlessly.
"I really like you… Hic, I don't need anything else. I just need you, Dad. Hic, I know. I know I'm weird. But, but how can I stop?"
She bowed her head. Whispering in a crawling voice.
"At first, I just liked that you looked at me… Praised me, and I was so happy… Then… I couldn't stop. It just grew…"
"….."
"When I think of you… My heart races like crazy. My chest tightens, tears come, it's so good it's scary—hic—that's why. What should I do? Tell me how…"
She clamped her mouth shut, swallowing shaky breaths. Silence fell. Magic and momentum meant nothing now. Her defiant gaze faded, light draining from her eyes. Elizabeth sobbed. At first, just trembling shoulders and muffled sniffles. But soon it swelled into full, sorrowful weeping.
"Hic… Sniff… Ha, haa…"
She covered her mouth, but the cries burst louder. Like a lonely child trembling for her mother. Gasping between sobs, she drew endless breaths, hiccuping.
"…I really like you, Dad. It's real…. I mean it."
She said it like she was wronged. Her face was no longer anger or madness—just helpless confusion.
"I just… wanted to be by your side…"
Her voice grew thinner, her gaze unfocused and shaking. She tried to speak, stopped, ragged breaths leaking from her chest. Like a pitiful young beast, sprawled on the ground, she gnawed at herself with feeble whimpers. Loneliness, despair, confusion crushed her into a small, fragile human. Just a child's face, sobbing soundlessly.
Leo watched his daughter with a pained expression.