Three weeks after Lady Beatrice Swift's coming-of-age day.

The servants brought the food to the table, today the dining room was rather empty. Beatrice was eating in her bedroom, Talbot and Baldwin had left Staflake to hunt since yesterday, not expected to return in the next few days, only the lord and his wife and youngest daughter Damiana on a large table containing full of delicious food. Today the kitchen prepared venison stew and grilled cod with venison, served with a berry platter of strawberries and blueberries.

The food was hot and steamy, and the smoke was so inviting, yet all three of them looked uninterested. Damiana, still distracted by the conversation between her father and Beatrice that she overheard, only tasted a tablespoon of stew and put it down. Lady Elena, too, was reeling from her daughter's coronation, unable to eat well when thinking about Beatrice's health. But they two are better than Frankie. It was Frankie who looked the most dismayed. He had to take care of both the inside and the outside. And the thing he was most worried about was taxes, and the image of his daughter in the eyes of the vassals. He scooped up a spoonful of soup, but then he didn't bother to put it in his mouth but put it down, sitting back in displeasure. The soup was still good, the cod was brought up when it was still hot but now it's cold. Frankie just leaned over and put a strawberry in his mouth, then poured the entire glass of wine onto the table.

Elena, of course, saw her husband's distraction, put Beatrice's story aside for a moment, and reached out to take his hand to find out:

"How are you, my love?"

Damiana also took a blueberry and bit it in half, looked at him and said:

"If it's Beatrice's business then rest assured, she's fine."

"Damiana!", Elena turned to look at her daughter with a stern look, causing her to immediately shut her mouth and eat the rest of the cranberries. After that, she continued to care about Frankie's upset. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

Frankie looked at her and smiled, and he patted her hand a few times as if a sincere thank you. The smile made the wrinkles on the corners of his eyes appear, it was both a sign of age, and a sign of whether someone was really feeling happy or not. Frankie made a thoughtful expression, his eyes fixed on some endless space. After a while, he looked Elena straight in the eye and asked:

“Do you think I made my decision too quickly?”

Elena jerked her head as if she didn't understand what he meant, but then, as everything was in order, she asked again as a surefire test:

“You mean the ordination of Beatrice?”

Damiana was now sipping a spoonful of soup but had to stop and sneer lightly. She picked up a piece of fish and put it in her mouth, then shrugged her shoulders and said:

“I feel the same way.”

"Damiana, what did I say about meddling in other people's stories?"

Now Elena could not stand her daughter's unruly personality. This was one of the few times she had to raise her voice at them. Compared to Frankie, both Damiana and Beatrice were more afraid of their mother. In a way, the supreme lord of Ubberst, a vassal of the Howmen dynasty that even the Emperor was afraid of, was a man of the family. The Swift family's proverb is recorded in history books as "Pierce the Snow", but there is another equally famous saying, which is "Love and Duty". House Swift is famous throughout Arglohandre for being a family of faithfulness and always putting family first. That tradition has now been destroyed by Frankie's uncle, Lord Baldwin, and his bastards. Another was his younger brother, Jacob, who had been gone for twelve years and had never returned. Even so, ignoring that unfortunate minority, the Swift family has always been used as an image to follow.

"Don't interfere while they're talking, mother," Damiana lowered her face, not daring to look at her out of fear.

"If you still remember, I hope you don't do anything wrong, are you clear?", her voice was still very strong, making Damiana not dare to answer but just nodded silently.

Elena let out a long breath and said:

“Did Beatrice do something bad?”

“I wouldn't call that bad…”, Frankie shook his head, “But Beatrice… she's not ready for lordship yet.”

"We have time to teach our children, don't we?" Elena said.

“But tell me, how can I change her personality?” Frankie shook his head in confusion. "The treasurer just told me about Ubberst's taxes..."

“How did it come out?”

“That with current earnings, plus last year's offset, minus the paycheck, we'll be hard pressed to stand on next year at Ubberst. And it's entirely her responsibility," Frankie said with a heavy heart.

"What?" Elena couldn't believe it, she was amazed. “Why is it Beatrice's responsibility?”

"She's giving them a tax debt," as if a revealing, and the more Frankie spoke, the more annoyed he became. "Not just once, there are houses that don't pay a dime this year."

Frankie is right, there's no way to teach a person's character. His children all got some serious problems. Beatrice was too kind and Damiana was a stubborn girl. Having just been scolded by her mother, the next minute she couldn't help but smirk at Beatrice's story. It's just that this time Elena was too focused on the seriousness of the matter to see it. Elena, like Frankie, couldn't stay calm when she heard the story. This is no longer a simple matter when the budget of the region has such a heavy deficit.

"What did the treasurer say?" Elena asked.

“They need that begging tax immediately, or at least three-quarters of the tax, the rest will be calculated next year.”

"How did you decide?"

"There's no other way," said Frankie, shrugging helplessly, "The money has to go back to the budget, and Beatrice won't be able to collect taxes anymore."

Elena could only sigh, because she couldn't help it. She said:

“She will have to learn how to handle things, we will teach her. This situation cannot be allowed to happen again.”

“I was going to mention it to her a few days ago…” he said, “But let it be, when she is completely healed, we will help her understand.”

"Regarding tax collection, have you made any arrangements?" Elena asked.

“Beatrice can't do that from now on. Maybe for Talbot or…”

“Father, let me replace Beatrice…”

This time, despite her mother's teachings, Damiana decided to interrupt him. Both Elena and Frankie stopped to look at Damiana. The baby now looks different than usual. Suddenly everything childish and impulsive disappeared, only a passionate determination burning in the blue eyes of the still river. Damiana stood up, as if making a very serious statement, it said:

“Father, mother, I can do it. I know I'm not as good as Beatrice, but I can learn, and I can do it. I beg you, give me this chance! I won't let you down."

Damiana looked much more mature than she was at thirteen now. Elena and Frankie looked at each other as if contemplating something. Damiana shivered nervously, she studied the eyes and gestures of her father and mother, focused on the movement of her lips, hoping that would be the way the word "yes" was pronounced. Elena turned to look at Damiana again, then at Frankie, also suspiciously, and said:

“Letting her go is also a good idea.”

“You think so?” Frankie still hesitated. He has two daughters, but one is too kind, the other is stubborn and childish. In fact, he did not know how to arrange it satisfactorily.

“Just let her go, or if not, let Talbot accompany her. Talbot will be back in a few weeks. Besides, you can't keep her here forever, can you?"

Frankie was silent, his skepticism diminished but still there. He looked at Damiana. The child is extremely excited by her mother's words of help. Frankie really didn't want to put out her burning fire, but honestly he still couldn't be reassured.

“It will take you almost a month to go all the way to Ubberst, sometimes three. Can you bear it?"

“I can!” Damiana replied firmly. “I can ride a horse well now, I also practice archery a lot…”

“Riding a horse or archery is not essential”, this makes Frankie even more suspicious.

"But you have to let me try to know how?", Damiana was a little annoyed when she did not receive support from him. "You've never asked Beatrice that much before, look what she's done to our family."

“Damiana! You have to check your way of talking now!”, Elena jumped to her feet to show her intolerance of Damiana's attitude. "Apologise to your father now!"

"I'm sorry!", Damiana said with a displeased face, she sat down, trying not to cry like usual but still showing anger in her breath. “I just want to make you proud…”

Frankie was silent. For a moment, when he looked at her like this, he thought of his younger brother. It's been twelve years, he doesn't know what it's like now. Alive or dead? He didn't know, but from the moment she left this family, he assumed the worst-case scenario, so he could move on. He could not keep dreaming that Jacob was still alive, and then one day what he received was a jar of ashes, at that time, he could not live.

Jacob and he also fought many times over many things, neither of them yielding to anyone. Young Jacob and Frankie both wanted recognition and love, but how could he forget that when he grew up. Evidently, between the two children, he actually felt he was a bit favoritism of Beatrice. As a parent, no one can be completely fair, whether they like it or not. Damiana had never had the courage to voice her opinion like that before. Not compensating for Beatrice, her initiative inadvertently caused him and Elena to forget another child. Now that she had seriously said what she wanted, instead of agreeing, he himself looked suspicious. Is that the right attitude of a father?

The three of them were silent for a long time, no one looked at anyone, not a single word came out. Frankie looked at her youngest daughter, a little moved. She wasn't as quick to shed tears as she used to be, but sadness was evident all over her. Frankie sighed, then cleared his throat as a sign. He said:

"Scholar Alvar's library will have everything you need to know about Taxes, you can go there after dinner and read it."

Damiana was dumbfounded now. He looked up at his father in disbelief and asked again:

"Yes?"

Frankie smiled slightly, said:

“When Talbot comes back, you can start the journey with him. Tomorrow I will teach you the necessary things.”

He still couldn't believe his father had agreed. Now that he is the one who doubts, he turns to his mother and asks:

“So, is it that you have given me permission to go?”

Elena didn't answer, but smiled and nodded instead. At this time, Damiana was overjoyed, she stood up, jumping up and down, not looking like a lady at all. It immediately ran to him, gave him a hug, chirped like a bird finding a seed, thanked him and kissed him on the cheek. After that, she skipped the whole meal and immediately ran away. Elena and Frankie watched her run away and laughed. As usual, if she acted like that, she would be immediately scolded, but somehow the two were just satisfied. Perhaps, that is the moment when children begin to change, and parents begin to understand. Only that parallelism can lead to a harmony.

The couple looked at each other in silence, then smiled affectionately. With just the two of them in the dining room, Frankie and Elena didn't want to turn the room into a crypt of sadness. Elena looked at him with a smile, reached for a strawberry, carefully removed the stem, and gently placed it on his hand.