Chapter 8

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

When Eric and Melissa reached the place, many people were already standing in a circle and cheering.

Melissa saw a man standing nearby and asked him, "Excuse me. What is happening here?"

The man turned to her and replied, "I don't know exactly. But I heard someone tried to rob two adults and now they are fighting."

"Oh okay," Melissa nodded.

"But you know what's fascinating? That they are getting beaten by a girl, they tried to rob." The man finished.

"Oh. A girl." Melissa and Eric nodded.

"What?! A girl?! A girl, you say?!" They both shouted at the same time, startling the man.

The man nodded and said, "Yeah, there they are."

Melissa and Eric turned to each other and gave a horrified look. "Oh no."

They hurriedly crossed the crowd to reach the middle of the chaos. And indeed, it was their friends fighting the two old bull look-alikes.

"Oh no. Diana! What should I do about you?" Melissa smacked her forehead with her hand.

Diana fell right in front of them. She looked up and saw them and greeted, "Oh hi, guys!"

Eric helped her get up and asked, "Diana, what are you both doing?"

"AH!" Carl was getting by two men now and got punched right in the gut. "Diana! Where the hell are you?"

"Uh… Guys! I am kinda busy right now. I'll tell you everything later." Diana said and ran off to help Carl.

"Diana!" Melissa tried to stop her, but she was already gone.

"Don't tell dad about this!!" Diana turned around to yell the command and jumped on one of the men.

Melissa looked to the other side of the crowd and yelled back, "It's too late for that Diana!"

Eric turned to look in the direction of Melissa's eyes and saw Mr. Robert making his way over to the fight.

"Oh no. Should we help them somehow?" Eric asked.

"No. It's too late for that too," Melissa replied frustratingly.

Eric saw Mr. Robert going over to Diana. He thought to himself, 'Why does he look so pale though?'

"Come on, let's go over there," Melissa said and ran over to Diana and Carl. Eric kept his thoughts aside and hurried over too.

"Stop!" Mr. Robert shouted stopping all of them in the middle of their fight.

"What are you doing, Diana?!" Mr. Robert yelled getting the attention of his daughter and the other three men.

"Get up right this instant!" He yelled again taking all of them by surprise.

Melissa and Eric stopped before them.

Melissa whispered to herself, "No way…"

"What?" Eric asked confused.

"I think Diana has gone pushed Uncle Robert to his limit."

The crowd was dispersed by then and everyone went to attend to their business. Diana got up slowly. She had a very shocked and confused expression.

"Dad…"

"What were you doing?" Mr. Robert asked angrily.

"Um… Dad they…," Diana tried to explain.

Mr. Robert raised a hand and stopped her, "Stop. I don't wanna hear anything."

"Huh?" Diana was even more confused by his behavior.

Mr. Robert turned to the two bull-alike men and warned. "Leave. And if I ever see you two anywhere near my daughter again, I will make sure that you two never stand on your own then."

The two men got up. The mustache guy saw Diana's money pouch on the ground, he took it and ran away.

"Hey!" Carl yelled at their backs and tried to follow them.

"Let them be." Mr. Robert said.

Diana was still looking closely at her father and said, "But dad they took away our money."

"Let them be Diana!" Mr. Robert repeated harshly.

Eric, Carl, and Melissa were too stunned to speak.

Melissa whispered, "He was never this angry before…," Eric heard her and was even more confused.

"Dad… Are you okay?" Diana asked with worry written all over her face.

This has never happened before that Mr. Robert would let someone get away with their money or let someone go away after hurting Diana. What was even more shocking was the way Mr. Robert was scolding Diana. It was true that he was strict with her, he would scold and punish her quite often.

But now he was very harsh almost as if he was another person and not just Diana's father.

"I'm fine," Mr. Robert replied.

"Are you sure, dad? You look pale," Diana tried again.

Mr. Robert sighed and repeated, "I'm fine, Diana. Don't worry." He smiled and caressed her head.

"…Okay," Diana was not convinced with the answer but decided to let it slide for the time being.

"Come, let's go back home," Mr. Robert said. He held Diana by her shoulder and started walking away.

"Huh? But what about enjoying the festival?" Carl asked confused.

"Shh… Can't you see the situation right now?" Melissa scolded him in a whisper.

Mr. Robert laughed lightly and turned back around, "You kids can come again some other time. I heard the festival will be going on a for few more days."

"Haha… Okay…," Carl replied with an awkward laugh.

"Come. Let's go home for now. This old man is quite tired," Mr. Robert said and turned back around to walk.

Diana kept looking at her father in concern. But she turned around with him to follow him anyway.

She looked at her side and saw someone standing far away from them. The person was standing behind the back of a shop, wearing a large cloak that covered their face. When the person sensed Diana's eyes on them, they turned and walked away.

"Diana?" Melissa called out to her. "Come on, Let's go. What happened?"

"Uh… I saw someone there," Diana said aloud.

"Huh? Where?" Melissa asked her.

"It must be your imagination, Diana. Come on, it's already very late," Mr. Robert said. He again held her by her shoulder and started moving away hurriedly.

Diana frowned at that but complied anyway. Mr. Robert was holding her very tightly as if he would let go and she would disappear into thin air.

She could feel that Mr. Robert was hiding something and was very worried about it. But she kept quiet and walked home with him.

The walk home was quiet. The air felt eerie and heavy on them.

When they reached Mr. Robert's house, he gave Melissa some ointments and medicines and said,

"Melissa dear, can you please do me a favor and treat the wounds of Diana and Carl?"

"Yes, of course, uncle," Melissa replied and took the things from his hands.

The three of them went to sit on the living room couch. Melissa went to the kitchen and brought a cloth and water to clean up the wounds. She cleaned the wounds and started to apply the ointment to them.

Eric was standing with Mr. Robert at the doorway. He kept observing him. He could feel that something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint it. He was confused about his behavior. Mr. Robert looked very pale from the moment he came to stop the fight and he was keeping a close eye on Diana ever since.

"Eric, I need to talk to you," Mr. Robert said without taking off his eyes from his daughter.

Eric was shocked for a second because it was the first time, he called him by his name.

He nodded and said, "Yes, sure."

Mr. Robert turned to him and said, "Not here. Let's go at the back."

Eric nodded again and let Mr. Robert lead the way to the back of the house. Diana saw them going together. She knew that something was wrong with her father, that he wasn't telling her. But she kept quiet and decided to ask him later when they would be alone.

Mr. Robert led Eric outside of the house but remained silent.

Eric observed him for a while and decided to ask himself, "Sir, is everything all right? What did you need to talk about?"

Mr. Robert kept silent as if collecting his thoughts. He sighed and finally said, "Eric, I know that Diana is confident, independent, reckless, and silly. When she decides to do something, she would do anything and everything in her power to do just that. She can't stand injustice; she can't ignore someone's cry for help. She will fight to the death if it means that she can save a life."

Eric kept listening to him attentively not knowing why he was told all these things in the first place.

Mr. Robert continued, "She doesn't like being scolded, but she covers it up by getting angry or keeping silent. Just like right now," he laughed a bit. "When she is hurt, she would cry herself to sleep but won't say a word. She doesn't open to just anyone, she has to fully trust the person first. She won't say or act, but she feels more than we do. She is tough and strong, but she is also very tender and needs to be treated with care and love.

I promised my wife that I would give her the love of a father and mother, both. I would teach her not only the things that a father or a mother would teach but also the things that could help her stand on her own. I would let her live her life the way she wants."

Mr. Robert finished and turned to Eric. He kept silent for a while and asked, "Sir, why are you telling me all this?"

Mr. Robert smiled and said, "I also promised my wife that I would marry her to a man who knows her worth and accepts her the way she is."

Eric tried to say something, but Mr. Robert beat him to it and said, "Eric, I know that you love my daughter. Don't you?"

Eric was startled but he nodded and said, "Yes, sir. Yes, I do love your daughter."

Mr. Robert smiled and patted his shoulder, "Good. I am happy that you do."

Eric looked at him confused but kept quiet. Mr. Robert looked him in the eyes and asked,

"Eric, can you promise to take care of her? Can you promise to stay by her side no matter what? Can I trust her with you, Your Highness?"

"Yes. I promise to take care of her and stay by her side. You can trust her with me sir," Eric replied confidently.

Mr. Robert laughed and sighed a breath of relief, "I give you my blessings then. Don't ever let her get away from you."

"I won't, sir" Eric smiled and promised himself to keep Diana safe and taken care of.

"Let's go inside," Mr. Robert said and patted Eric's back once more.

When they went inside, Carl was standing in the doorway waiting for them while Diana was asleep on the couch.

"Where's Melissa?" Mr. Robert asked.

"I just came back after escorting her to her house, sir," Carl replied. Then he turned to Eric and asked, "Shall we leave as well?"

Eric nodded with a smile. He turned to Mr. Robert and bowed a bit, "I won't disappoint you, sir." Mr. Robert smiled back and nodded.

Eric took a last glance at Diana and left the house.

Mr. Robert glanced at his daughter and shook his head. He brought a blanket and covered her with it.

"Sweet dreams, my baby. I wish you happiness," Mr. Robert kissed her forehead and went to his room.

On the way back to the palace, Eric couldn't keep his smile.

"You look like you have won a lottery or something," Carl said to him.

Eric laughed and said nothing.

"Stop smiling! You are creeping me out!" Carl scolded and both the friends went on their way.