Daren stood before the aged Duke Florentine and was having some mixed feelings about his soon to be father-in-law. As one of the most powerful people in his homeland he couldn’t give him the cold shoulder, and as a businessman it was advantageous of him to have a good relationship, but his wife-to-be still carried a chip on her shoulder concerning this man.

Though the original source of the fight had long since been resolved, she still hadn’t forgiven him. Even to this day, she never called him Father or Dad, but the Duke.

As for Duke Florentine…

He was glaring at Daren furiously. Any other person might be afraid, but Daren was familiar with this glare. His fiance used it on him all the time and he’d thus become immune to it completely.

“You must convince her to stay here, at her home!”

“It’s not that I don’t understand, but she already sent a letter to the Crown Princess…”

Duke Florentine slammed his hand on the arm of his chair, “Who cares about that bi— woman! It’s tradition for the bride to stay at her parent’s house before the wedding! What will people say if she stays at her ex-fiance’s house instead!”

Daren raises his eyebrows slightly. It seemed the rumor that the Duke was actively antagonistic towards the Crown Princess— and by proxy the Crown Prince, were true. The usually politically savvy Duke Florentine angering the royal heir and his wife didn’t make sense. But it made perfect sense if he held a grudge against the Crown Princess for “causing” the engagement of the Prince and his daughter.

“I think they’d say that the ex-fiance and current wife of the Crown Prince getting along is a good thing?” Daren responded mildly.

The Duke almost choked.

“How can it be a good thing?! That woman stole my daughter’s position! She was publicly shamed in front of—”

“Cammy never wanted that position. And you’ll excuse me for saying so, but it’s a good thing she had it “stolen” from her, otherwise where would I be?” Daren rebuffed stiffly, just barely keeping his expression polite. If this guy thought he’d just sit there and act like his fiance was better off with someone else, he had another thing coming.

Duke Florentine seemed to realize he’d stepped on the proverbial feet of the person in front of him.

“I… I just meant to say… er…” The older man seemed confused for a moment, as if at a bit of loss. Finally, looking extremely uncomfortable, “Even if she told the Crown Princess she’d be staying in the castle, as her father, I can easily have the request overturned.”

“Sir—”

“Father.”

“Uh…”

“We are going to be family, call me Father.”

“R..right…” Daren stuttered a bit in surprise. He was more than aware the Duke did not look favorably on a commoner marrying his daughter. Getting suddenly accepted in the middle of bad news really surprised him… “The whole reason I am here is to iron out these details before Cammy arrives. She was very explicit about not staying in this place.”

“Home! This place is her home!”

Daren sighed, “She hasn’t lived here a very long time, Si… Father.”

Duke Florentine flattened his lips, eyebrows furrowing, his hands gripping the chair arms tightly.

“And… ah… about… about giving her away…”

“What about it?” The Duke looked at the younger man in alarm.

Daren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He disliked being the bearer of this kind of news.

“She doesn’t want you to—”

“NO!” The Duke shot up out of his seat, grabbed Daren by the front of his suit jacket and began shaking him, “She wants to marry a commoner, fine! If—if she won’t stay here, alright! But to not even let me walk her down the aisle— how can she? Is she really going to pretend like I’m not her father? Isn’t it enough I lost my wife, now I’ve lost my daughter too? Not even a single letter all these years! Just up and leaves the country without a word to me—! H-how can she be like this, h-how can she be so cruel—!”

The Duke stopped shaking Daren somewhere in the middle of his speaking and began to openly cry.

This was not a light cry, but giant tears and snot dribbling down to his chin. His face seemed to age another ten years from his bitter remorse, stunning Daren into momentary speechlessness.

Perhaps because he’d always been biased towards Cammy, he’d never given two tiny coins what the Duke’s side of the story was all these years. He wasn’t blind, he knew Cammy’s attitude wasn’t helping anything, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t the Duke he’d be sleeping with every night, it was Cammy. So between who to believe and whose side to take, it was always going to be Cammy...

Unfortunately something that’d seemed straightforward back in the Republic was not so in Ailandale.

Shortly after Cammy and Prince Albert’s engagement was annulled, the Duke had come to school and got into a huge fight with his daughter. Daren hadn’t been there for that, but he did hear that afterward the Duke publicly disowned her. The relationship had always been strained but after that the two became estranged and they stopped talking to each other.

Except just saying “I disown you!” isn’t enough to disown a person, there’s paperwork involved. The Duke never even gathered any of the paperwork. Though they were emotionally estranged, legally they were still family and that meant the Duke was still the head of the house, with all the obligations that came with it.

All the angry things the Duke had said because of the annulment had been just that: things said in the heat of the moment. He hadn’t meant any of it. This was why financial support had remained even when the Duke and his daughter were no longer communicating. Some part of the Duke still cared and still felt responsible for his “wayward” daughter.

Daren did think it a little odd the Duke disowned his daughter but still paid for her school…

Of course, at the time, he didn’t have much contact with Cammy and wasn’t close enough to ask her about it…

He’d just assumed it was because of Prince Albert. If the Prince wanted, he could easily keep Camilla in school and have her tuition paid for even without the Duke’s support.

Unlike the Republic, in Ailandale children weren’t considered legally autonomous even once they were adults. Particularly noble children, there were lots of restrictions until they took over the title from their parents or directly married out. But marrying itself had a lot of rules, so a child of a noble wasn’t “free” from the home that raised them until they were sitting in the house of their new family.

Cammy knew about them but, thinking herself truly disowned, hadn’t given them any thought. Daren, coming from a commoner family, was only vaguely aware that noble marriages were complicated but otherwise was ignorant. He too thought that Cammy had gotten disowned, so knowing wasn’t a priority.

This was why Daren had to come to the Florentine Estate. When they’d first started discussing the wedding details through letters, Princess Bethany had been more than willing to host her friend at the castle. Until Duke Florentine found out about it. He’d thrown a tantrum at the King’s feet—per Prince Albert’s own exasperated words—at the Crown Princess agreeing to something like that without consulting him. The King had said the wedding wasn’t happening until father and daughter sorted things out.

After receiving the news they couldn’t hold any wedding unless the Duke was involved, Blake—Cammy’s adopted brother—sent them a letter PLEADING Cammy to come and talk to the Duke. But Cammy’s heart wasn’t going to be moved after all these years. Her view was, if it came down to it, she’d just get married in the Republic!

Unfortunately that couldn’t work for the Wallsby side of things. Even if Daren was willing to butt heads with Duke Florentine, the rest of his family—who lived in Ailendale—definitely weren’t willing. He got inundated with letters from his own family demanding he do something.

Daren had to beg Cammy to compromise. In the end, she’d said he could go argue with the Duke on her behalf. Her ultimatum was: if he wanted to see his daughter get married, the Duke better keep his nose out of it. As to the details, she trusted Daren enough to know what she’d tolerate.

If the Duke and Cammy couldn’t work things out, they wouldn’t be able to get married in Ailandale. This was the worst case scenario and the one Daren was trying to avoid.

Daren gave a bone weary sigh.

“Sir… Father… I know this is hard but you must also see it from Cammy’s perspective.” Daren spoke in a firm but gentle manner. “All this time, you have put your career above even her most basic happiness. And when she finally escaped something she’d been against from the beginning, you publicly humiliated her. If you think she is cruel, then you are just as cruel.”

“It’s not the same!” The Duke argued hoarsely, “If I don’t fight for the family, for our honor, who will fight for it? If we aren’t strong, we’ll be crushed by those who are! I’m responsible for more than just her life, I can’t be selfish and neither can she! Why can’t she understand that everything I did was for her, for us!”

Daren frowned, feeling irritated, “And how did that work for you?”

The Duke stared at him blankly.

“The price for keeping your honor, power, and land was losing your daughter. Was the cost worth it? Are you satisfied?”

“I…”

“Honestly,” Daren took a step back and looked at the Duke coolly, “I’m not a noble. I don’t understand the noble’s struggles. But maybe that’s good, yes? Cammy chose me because she understood the struggle and rejected it. And so, no matter what you say, I won’t sympathize with you. Because the reason I’m with her is because I’m not like you.”

Duke Florentine’s whole body froze, even the tears on his face seemed to freeze.

“The wedding can happen here, where you can at least attend, or it can happen in the Republic, where you will be kept out.” Daren tilted his head, “Choose what’s more important. Your daughter being happy or you looking good in front of your peers.”

With that, he turned on his heel and left the room. He didn’t even glance behind him.

Standing outside the door, looking very anxious, was Blake. Like the rest of the Florentine family, Blake had platinum blond hair and pale skin, but the resemblance ended there. His eyes were a dark brown and his face didn’t have the vicious edge found in the main branch of the family.

Not surprising, he’s the “illegitimate” child of a cousin within the family. How Duke Florentine found him is a mystery, but from what Cammy said, he was a smart person who would do well as the next Heir. He was 3 years Cammy’s junior and had been brought into the house when she’d left for the Academy.

She at least got along moderately well with him, despite only seeing him during vacations and holidays when she was younger. This alone was enough for Daren to think well of him.

Blake followed him quietly for several minutes as Daren stomped around in frustration, trying to cool off.

“I take it things didn’t go well?” Blake finally asked.

“That guy only cares about his image.”

Blake’s shoulders dropped slightly, “Did he give you that whole ‘It’s for the family’s honor!’ argument?”

“He did.”

The younger man ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“I know I’m talking to the wrong person, but I swear it’s just a bluff.”

“A bluff?”

“Yes, in fact he wants to reconcile. Ever since things fell through with the Prince and he lost his temper it’s clear he’s felt guilty. He’s wanted to reconcile for years now but he’s just…” Blake waved his hand vaguely in the air. “...as you saw.”

“If he feels that bad, he should just apologize.”

“He should.” Blake looked helpless. “But he won’t. Anymore than Sis will.”

“...ah.”

“You see the problem? They both are really proud and stubborn. If one side would just concede, even a little, it would be enough to allow them to reconcile. But neither is willing so…”

Daren was silent, his expression thoughtful.

“I’ve been trying for years to talk sense into both of them, but it’s like banging my head on a brick wall.” Blake gave a sad smile. “Maybe you can have better luck than I did.”

“...I’ll see what I can do.”

***

“Don’t wanna.”

“Darling, it’s not like I’m saying you have to be close with him, but things can’t stay like this.”

After a week, Daren had returned home and was now trying to talk some "sense" into his soon-to-be wife.

She folded her arms across her chest and scowled.

“If that guy won’t apologize, why should I have anything to do with him?”

“So because your family is having an argument, my family needs to have one too?”

Camilla's scowl loosened and a slight hint of guilt formed.

“Cammy, you know my parents aren’t willing to offend Duke Florentine. If you refuse to resolve things with him, we can’t marry in Ailendale. Marrying in the Republic, where he won’t be able to attend at all, will definitely offend him.” Daren paused, “I don’t mind offending him. I don’t mind offending my own family. I don’t even mind the fallout from offending my family, which would be losing my position within WallGoods and having to start from scratch. But Cammy… are you really going to cause me to split with my family because of your argument with the Duke?”

Cammy looked completely guilty now, brow furrowed and head drooped.

“I… of course I don’t want that…”

“You blame the Duke for putting pride and the family honor above your happiness.” Daren was quiet for a moment. “Are you any better if you ruin my relationship with my whole family because of your grudge against him?”

Her body dropped further in her chair, until he couldn’t see her face anymore.

“I will love you no matter what you decide.” He pat her head, got up and sighed, “Just think about it ok?”

***

A week later, Duke Florentine received this letter:

“Father,

If you don’t behave and let me marry as I like in Ailendale, I swear to God Almighty I will throttle you with my own two hands.

Truly,

Camilla”

It was said that Duke Florentine sobbed so hard that he had to stay home from work the next day because his eyes were swollen shut.

***

The marriage of Daren Wallsby and Camilla Florentine was only a little less spectacular than the marriage of the Crown Prince and Princess.

Camilla stayed in the castle instead of her home estate before and after the wedding. This caused some mean gossip to spread among the aristocracy about how the Duke had rejected his daughter for marrying a commoner, on top of the dishonor of a cancelled engagement with the Crown Prince.

But at the wedding Duke Florentine walked his daughter down the aisle and gave her away with a face so bright it was blinding. At the after-party, the Duke got prodigiously drunk and wept all over Mister Wallsby and said that if his son mistreated his daughter Camilla, he’d remove their heads from their necks. Later, the Duke petitioned the King to give Daren Wallsby the “small title” of a Count to bring him “somewhat up to the standards of my daughter”. The King didn’t like handing out titles for no reason but conceded after being relentlessly harassed about it for 3 months.

Whatever people thought initially about the relationship, it was universally decided was untrue.

The Duke and his daughter got along just fine.

Now if only he’d just shut up about her!