There was a silence that stretched for a long time. Elira's mind was forming the right words. Or maybe her emotions were slowly swirling in, taking over the machinery that had been trained since birth to stay quiet, bow, and obey.
Then she looked up. Directly into the eyes of her father. And spoke with a resolve that had been building for months.
"And what if I refuse? What will you do then? Punish me? Or worse, disown me?"
She laughed not mockingly but with the lightness of someone who had already accepted the worst outcome.
"I don't care anymore. Disown me if that's the price for my freedom. I can pay it. Strip the title. Remove my name from your noble bloodline registry. Announce it to the council, the elders, the provinces, whoever needs to hear it."
Her voice didn't shake. "Because I would rather be a nameless girl standing on her own two feet than a princess kneeling on someone else's."
Anger consumed her father's face. His composure cracked as he started. "You insolen—"
