Aureum might have gone to find the ring right away, but her family had other plans. It was a complete ambush, if not an entirely unexpected one. Her parents and sister waited by the door to the garden before she even entered.
"What did the young Lord Nix do to deserve getting slapped in the face?"
"Calces."
Her mother admonished her father.
"Look! Look. I know our Aureum is not having the best time of it, but bringing the entire Nix family upon us is another thing! Just who is this city named after?"
"Eh? Just whose house is this? So what if they own the city? They can't go against their own laws!"
Aureum tried to exude confidence with her words.
"I should have known the crazy mother would have given me crazy daughters."
"I'm not slapping lordlings!"
"Of course not, Felixia. You're excused."
The three of them finished talking and stared at her. Giving her the floor.
Aureum stared back.
Now just how to explain this?
"Dad. No, father."
"Father?"
"I think this is a bad match. How can a flower suited for fields sit in the cold garden of a castle? I think we should break the engagement."
There was silence. Her father's veins began popping out. The atmosphere sank with unseen weight.
Felixia chose that moment to exit.
"Hahahahaha!"
Her father burst out laughing. A glance passed from her Aureum to her mother.
Her mother broke eye contact first.
Calces cut off his laughter.
"Are you saying that you are suited to the fields?"
"Ah—
"You? Aureum? My daughter, who didn't even bother to form her pearl until she was eight? The one who spent her entire life in the house her mother and I provide without a day of working until twenty? You, in a dirty field?"
"Well, that may be true, but—
"You are a garden flower! What are you talking about?! The castle will suit you perfectly!"
"Even so, I cannot marry that damn man!"
Aureum's voice rose with vitriol.
Her father's face looked like it was about to explode. Her mother put a hand on his arm. He took a breath, but he was still furious.
"What nonsense? What did he even do? He only came to see you? What happened?"
Aureum opened her mouth, then shut it with a clack.
It wasn't what he did now but what he did in the future?
How could she say that?
Her father's face became more and more outraged.
"Aureum, we need to know so we can deal with this properly," her mother said. "Tell us what happened."
Aureum stiffened.
"Ah. Yes. Well. He came to see me. Uh. He greeted me? So I slapped him."
Both her mother and father watched her with widening eyes. It was the first time in her memory their expressions had matched so well.
"No, no, no, no. It wasn't just that he greeted me, it was that he said he wouldn't allow this situation to break off the engagement."
The two sets of wide eyes, one black and furious and the other brown and almost amused. Amused?
Mom?
"A man said he would care for you and you slapped him?"
"Should we sit down first—
Her mother was cut off by her father.
"How many times did you even slap him?"
"How did you know that I slapped him multiple times?"
"This crazy—! What flower? You are a tornado, a tornado!"
"Dad! I didn't do it completely without thought!"
"Really? So you thought about the repercussions? What if the Nix family decides to use your actions as a personal attack against us!"
"Dad, it is well known that people who lose their pearl, especially near the head, are at great risk for insanity," Aureum said. "With the context of this loss, even the great lord of Nix can't directly attack me too much. He can break off the engagement. He can call me insane. But if he pressured a clan like ours, which doesn't even have a bloodline, how could he hold onto his dignity as the ruler of this place?"
That man was all about appearances. She didn't know why a Lord or a city-state felt the need to always appear as one, but it was the most useful weakness she knew.
"In the worst case, all you would have to do is disown me to save the family. After that, he couldn't even begin to hold a grudge. Dad?"
Her father's face, which was supposed to be getting calmer, became darker and darker as she went on. It was almost purple when she finished. The veins bulging at the sides of his head.
"Disown my own daughter? Can I do that? Can I disown you?"
"Yes? You are still the head of this family, you have the right."
"But who would take care of you? You! What would you do to feed yourself? Cloth yourself? Do you have any idea?"
Actually, he had a point?
It wasn't like Aureum had any sellable skills. No, it wasn't like she was uneducated or untalented. But her temperament didn't lend itself to some position like governess or nanny. And her reputation at this point would be un-salvageable. Even if she could save it, it wasn't like she wanted to.
Oh.
"Well, I'll just become a sorceress."
"Your pearl has just been broken!"
"Well, I'll just form another one."
"And how long will that take?"
"Maybe not as long as the first time."
"The first time took eight years!"
Their voices raised, with both speaking almost as soon as the other finished. This was not a conversation.
"Well, what do you want me to do then? If my reputation is trash, and I don't have the skills for tough labor, what do you suggest I do?"
"Why change the original plan you had? Isn't marrying rich just fine?"
"Is there someone I want to marry? Why would I marry just for money? Is there even anyone who wants to marry me now?"
Her father nodded. Simila, her mother, had watched this exchange, her eyes moving back and forth. Calces thought he had found the root of the problem, but Simila sensed it was not so.
"I will find someone to marry you, Aureum," he said. "Don't worry. Your father is a man who makes a lot of money. There will never be a lack of suitors for you."
Aureum's heart felt heavy, or maybe it was full.
"Dad... I don't need that! I don't want it! I can't listen to it! It's crazy!"
"Crazy? You're crazy! Didn't you once want it you lazy thing! And when did my child become so rude to my face!"
"..."
Neither side could concede to the other, so both were dissatisfied.
Why can't you just accept that my solution is the best one?
Both of their faces had this written boldly in their expressions. Simila closed her eyes and smiled. It seems like things would never change.
"Go to your room!"
"You'd send a marri—merry grown woman to her room?"
"Merry what? Sleep off this nonsense!"
Aureum left, with much to consider.
———————————————————
Sometime after the argument.
Calces sat with his entire back slumped, his expression tragic. Simila was serene, as she trimmed away at a pot of flowers on the table.
"Is she really crazy? Our eldest daughter? Aureum used to be so sensible before her pearl broke. Simila, is it possible her mind broke as well?"
Calces spoke freely, driven to his wit's end.
"Well, even if her actions are bizarre, her sense of reality seems intact. Perhaps the loss of her pearl was just the catalyst? Maybe these are things she's been thinking about for a long time, and they just came out today."
Simila words were calm. Her fears for her daughter a week ago had been potential death without any warning. A broken engagement didn't seem worthy of concern.
Calces shook his head, his dark hair framing a maddened expression. His feelings were different. He also rejoiced in Aureum's life but saw her actions as warning signs for her future.
"Such things should be done in moderation. When did I force her into doing anything? Why is she acting like this is a bad thing? It was a miracle that Nivis even wanted to continue this relationship after her pearl shattered!"
Simila chuckled with a cold amusement.
"Since when have miracles ever happened to our family? Is there anything that we haven't earned in our life? If a prince wanted to marry such a lower prospect, then perhaps there is something wrong with the prince. And not our daughter."
"Prince? We are a people without princes or kings, darling. Call him the lordling he is.
But why would she not speak up? Have I seemed so uncaring that she couldn't trust me? Her own father? Have I ever disregarded her own choices?
Still, slapping him should be done in moderation. Moderation!"
Simila nodded. Calces continued speaking.
"At least this all happened before the engagement was officially announced. Now, the matter is small enough not to directly affect Lord Caducus at all. Each young man should be allowed his time of folly. People who know will just see it as his son's actions, not as his own. If she had done this when it was official!" He shook his head. "But why did she have to go so far... Does she think it helps me to have a crazy daughter? There has to be a normal way to reject a man!"
"Isn't slapping a normal way?"
Simila's words held no mercy.
Calces snorted.
"It's difficult to imagine Nivis would hold onto her after all this. Let's see what opportunities she'll have in the future, instead of forcing her to dissect the past."
"Yes. We'll have to reexamine the candidates to be her suitors."
"Is that truly the only way? You'll have to fight her for it if you bring it up now."
"Then can she become a renowned sorceress? A decade past when most start preparing themselves, and she's back at the starting line? And would we give our daughter to a life of bloodshed?"
"Not all sorcerers fight."
But all sorcerers can fight. And when a person can, they are wont to do it. The trouble a person can get into increases with the amount of power they have. Would any sorcerer respect a peer who wouldn't fight? Could Aureum reach the pinnacle that undisputed respect would take without fighting? There was no point in Calces replying. Simila knew the truth.
The expectations for those truly following the path of a dragon were different.
"Perhaps she could take over the business?"
"Our lazy girl? She doesn't like plants and she doesn't like numbers. What would she do? Besides, I'd rather not split what I've promised to Charta."
"Hmmm."
"It could be discussed if she ever showed an interest in it. But why bother if she doesn't want to? To be honest, even being a sorcerer would suit her better. Not if she dies, of course.
But to get her started in training in the business at this point would be difficult. She can't take the usual positions I might have given her before.
And to start her off on her own she'll need everything I've already saved for her wedding.
It might be possible to give her some of her inheritance now, but I have no idea what she'd use it for that would be worth it. And if she rips through that she'll be back for more until there's none left when I'm gone."
Simila shook her head.
"What field flower? Really, my Treasure..."
———————————————————
Reality was a harsh kick in the face. As one problem evaporates, ten more bust in to take its place. Still, Aureum didn't have any regrets.
Should I have held back a little?
Maybe she had a few regrets.
Yet, if she hadn't been so forceful, would her father have given up on the marriage? That would have been even more regretful. Perhaps she could have just dealt with that when it came to it.
But what of the injustice of it all? She had been imprisoned! Imprisoned! And the perpetrators suffered nothing both in the future and now. Wasn't revenge worth anything anymore?
Revenge? So was she planning to take down the Great Lord of Nix?
...
Revenge is just a luxury for those who can afford it. She still had a family after all.
From now on, I should do things with more thought.
She let her face fall onto the pillow she was hugging.
It might be a bit difficult to adjust to living here again.
More importantly, it was time to take action and consider her new future! It could be whatever she wanted!
She sighed, the weight of it crushing her deeper into the bed.
There were more problems than opportunities.
Let's just deal with today.
Today she should get started on forming her new pearl.
She would get started on looking for the ring tomorrow.