24 Frail

Nuwa Yenay and Mallory rushed after him moments later and were met with an awkward scene.

-Court room-

The two parties faced each other in silence. At first, all the officials were spell bounded by the tiny Daiyu but hearing the general's roar brought them all back to reality. They saw the mighty general Fan Ying approach the tiny angel but they weren't as excited to see him as they were before anymore. They didn't even care about the two new incomers. It seemed as though they were staring at each other but in reality, the emperor's side was completely focused on the tiny baby girl.

She was now dejected and in low spirits. Slow her eyes watered up but she didn't cry. For once, she actually felt like crying. She didn't know that her father's anger and scolding could affect her so much.

Fan Ying looked at her sad face but didn't give in.

[She's always like this. She acts and cries so that no one gets angry with her but if this keeps up she will never learn.]

He thought she was acting but if she were she would have cried long ago. Fake crying was one thing but Fan Daiyu never liked to shed actual tears. She was already in the brink of shedding tears but she bit her lips to hold back. Soon they began to bleed and yet there wasn't a sound from her.

Fan Ying bent down and took her by the shoulders. He looked at her in the eyes and hardened his heart.

"I thought I told you already. Why didn't you listen? If you do that again I will have no other choice but to ground you."

Her eyes were burning and they became so watery that she could barely see. She turned away from her father and bit her lips harder. It was painful. She was a child and she had urges to play around. She knew it was wrong but still she couldn't hold back.

She tried to look away but her father grabbed her chin and his angry voice made her heart tremble.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you Fan Daiyu! Do you think I'm playing?!

I'm not! You need to be obedient!"

"Y- ying stop it I think she knows already."

Nuwa Yenay could tell that her daughter was truly afraid and sad. It wasn't like the other times in which she had shed tears because this time she tried her hardest to hold back.

Her body was shaking and her eyes were lowered.

Even the emperor could look no longer as he said, "Brother, calm down she didn't do anything."

But Fan Ying felt that he needed to get his point a cross. He ignored them both.

"Brother. Yenay. She needs to learn."

"But she is but a child she can't understand."

"Brother believe me, she can. Right Daiyu?!"

They all watched as the tiny baby nodded crestfallen.

"Daiyu you are a very smart child. You need to learn to behave. Now what did you do wrong?"

"I'm sorry daddy."

Her lips trembled and her tears finally started to fall as she let out small sobs.

"I-its just that…wuu..that I had the urge to get h-here faster. Wuuu. I wanted to give uncle a surprise. I-I'm sorry….waah..

I'm sorry for being disobedient."

She tried to hold her tears back but started to choke and gasp for air as her tears fell down her small face.

It was heart breaking. She didn't have a bad intention and yet she was scolded.

Fan Ying didn't know how to respond. He could only stare at her tiny figure as she ran out of the room.

She choked out tears as she ran for sometime and found an isolated cottage. She ran and locked herself in. She didn't feel safe. She needed a sense of security.

[Valley… where's my valley…

Valley. Valley . Valley…]

The thought resonated in her head she looked at a dark corner where a table was at and hid beneath it.

She cried her heart out and talked to Ercan.

[Ercan I wish you were her with me]

{Why are you sad?}

[Will daddy still love me? He got angry with me.]

Neither of them had experienced what a real family was like so neither had an answer for that.

[He was really angry… wuu… wuu]

{It's okay. I'm with you}

[But you're not here!]

She cried and dried her tears with her arms. As she did, her wrist began glowing gold again. She had already forgotten about the golden tear that she had but now that it made contact with a tear, it brightened up again reminding her of its presence.

And yet, this strange occurrence failed to stop her tears even then.

{There's a door}

[hmm?]

{I'm going through}

[No what if loose you too. My fate must be catching up with me again. If you leave I fear I will be engulfed by it much faster.]

Fan Daiyu heard no response. Her golden tear glowed brighter and she became increasingly worried.

Until she saw the brightness dimming and revealing a tiny being.

[Ercan!]

{It seems I can get out of there as long as you will it so with a tear.}

She didn't respond and just pulled him in into a hug as she cried.

She had yet to realize that a small boy was looking at her. He hadn't realized what happened but he had heard her soft cries from his room.

She was tiny and vulnerable. He could easily carry her outside if he weren't so frail and weak.

But even if he had the strength to do so he wouldn't do that to her.

The image of her beautiful and yet sad eyes made his heart stop he couldn't bear to harm her any more that what she already was. Her eyes showed it all. They were clear and they were like traps. He felt like he would willingly fall into them if she wanted him to but he didn't know why.

The small boy stared at the grief-stricken beauty he couldn't tell what she was hugging but he could tell that she was relying on it to keep her emotions steady. She didn't cry aloud like most babies and she didn't annoy him like most either. Looking at her in such a state made him sad. He could feel his heart in pain and each of her small sobs impacted it greatly.

He looked up at her and took a step into the light and in the sweetest voice he could muster he asked her, "What's wrong? Why are you sad? Please don't cry."

Daiyu looked up and her small tear stained face made him feel as if he had been struck by lightning.

She could see a small boy frozen stiff while looking at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize you were here."

Ercan hid within her sleeves and she tried her best to dry the tears that kept on flowing.

She smiled, "My name is Fan Daiyu. Haha. I'm such a mess. I'm sorry."

He looked at her smile in a daze and knew that she was just keeping up a front since her tears were still falling nonstop. Her lips were ripped and blood gushed out of them.

[Who hurt her so much?]

He tried his best to ignore his own thoughts and smiled back at her.

She saw the thin frail boy was nice but he seemed sick. He was such a nice boy. Sadly he was in such a condition.

"I think I should leave I left without saying anything."

She was about to leave when he caught her arm. She turned to look at him in confusion. He pulled her the bed ad began cleaning her face. His gentle gestures only made more tears burst from her eyes.

[No one had been this nice to me before other than mama and papa.]

He chuckled and tried to lift the mood, "how am I supposed to clean your face when you keep crying."

She let out a mall giggle but it didn't stop her sorrow.

"Why are you so sad?"

She looked up at him and his dark eyes seemed to hold a certain warmth within their darkness.

"I wanted to make uncle happy and surprise him but papa got angry because I was disobedient. He had never screamed at me before. A man told me that nobody would want me with my strange eyes. Papa looked very angry. What if its true and I'm abandoned? Will he still love me after being disobedient."

Her hopeful eyes looked up at him.

That look made him nervous. He didn't want to make sad so he could only make her happy.

"Don't worry he will."

She finally calmed down and although her face was still unhappy she was no longer crying.

The boy put some cream on her lips and smiled.

"Can you visit me whenever you have time?

I'm three years old and my name is…

Lóng Wei"

Lóng- Dragon

Wei- the only one