Welcome to chapter 3 of this fic.

I know. I'm sorry for disappearing for the whole half year, but that was probably the busiest time of my life, as I was moving to a different country. So I really apologize if anyone is expecting more chapters to come. But now I am back and have a bunch of ideas ready to be put into words.

Honestly, I really appreciate all the kind reviews and encouragement many of you are sending me. I love it when people find my work enjoyable to them, and that was probably the best thing that I, as a writer, ever want. And I will be working to write more emotional stories from many different perspective for you to enjoy. This chapter is heavily inspired by a Vietnamese short story called 'The Tusked Comb'. I read this story a long time ago, but still got me every time.

So anyway, here's the long awaited chapter 3, and I hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter preview: A soldier taking an absence leave with his best friend to visit his daughter. What can go wrong?

Tonight is truly a beautiful night, one that I have never seen before in my life. Surely there has been some other nights like this, but for some reasons I never bothered to look up at it. Now that the dull monotony of a lonely journey on my beloved horse has worn me down, the boredom intensifies. I should have got a lift on the SDF's…thing when they departed on their mission to the capital. I don't know what it's called, but they have four wheels and is very thick. We fought against some of these back in the days and I can say it is like a ground dragon, only without the flames. Their ride go pass my destination, but because I was only 5 MINUTES late, I missed it. And so I have to take my horse instead. It would take 3 days to get there, while on that 'thing', it would only take only one. It was enough to reflect on my night owl lifestyle, but luckily, countess Myui of Italica was kind enough to provide me with enough food for the trip. Now I look nothing different from a lone white knight, aside from the fact that I am not that heroic, nor I look so.

But to be honest, I dearly want a companion, to laugh with and at each other during these times.

I look to my right as my white horse continues to trot peacefully. There is no one there, but sometimes I feel like there is. A young man, with scars stitching all over the half left of his face, on a brown horse, holstering a black bow and a bunch of arrows. That's what I usually see. You can blame that to my insanity, I don't mind, but that horse, that silhouette, and that scarred face, I can never forget it.

I reach for my small pouch tied neatly on the back of my horse, and took out a beautiful artistically made stone crescent amulet that is tied to a long string like a necklace. The string is a little bit short for an adult size. That is because the maker of this intended to give it to his young, now eleven years old, daughter when the war is over. If only he is holding this now instead of me.

It has been 2 years since, but everytime I remember, the feelings just rush to me as if it just happened moments ago. But before I get to that, I will have to go back a little bit further, and talk a small bit about myself. I was born a total commoner, in a family with the traditions of being slaves, bowing their heads to their masters. But soon after my birth, an accident occured, and I turned from a normal kid to an orphan in just one night. I was 13 years old when that happened, and was the only child in the house, so my master inevitably became my guardian. Guardian my ass, he was a total jerk. I hated that asshole. Because he didn't want to take care of me, he handed me to a mining camp far away from the capital without a single thought. I served there for 14 long years before getting conscripted into the Imperial army for a war against a bunny tribe. The experience at the camp was simply horrifying, as we were forced to work for 20 hours a day, only 4 hours for other activities like eating and sleeping. Many died due to either exhaustion or getting caught and killed for desertion. But thankfully, my natural born giant physique had kept me in check, and I won over everything that hellhole threw at me.

One day, I met Albus, a cavalry officer in the Imperial army visited the mining camp during an excursion. After witnessing my great human strength, he immediately took me in under his wing, and so my life as a miner ended there.

Albus and I soon became great friends. He, with a typical laid back personality, is recognized mainly through the terrible burn scar that covered half of his face, who simply worked because that is what kept him living. His free time was spent almost entirely on staring at beautiful girls, either slaves or just civilians. And, surprisingly, he had a wife and a nine years old daughter!

It would make anyone wonder why a woman chose such a playful guy like him as a husband. I was the same, for a while, but then I knew that despite his unimpressive exterior, he was a simple guy with a heart of gold. All his acts were only limited to looking, he never betrayed his own wife to go flirt with others. Furthermore, he used all his grit and strength to help others, regardless of their social status. That earned the respect of many, me included.

We were close, very close. Everytime either of us had any bad days, we always shared it with each other. And in every battle, we supported each other, covering each other from arrows and blades. We're like two pillars, one relying on the other and vice versa. So close that some of the soldiers there started to fantasize myths about us together, but that is a story for another day.

In one occasion, he invited me back to his house at the countryside and had a stay there with him for 3 days, since there was a break for all of our regiment. He knew I didn't have a family, that for long I hadn't experienced such love, so he wanted to share it, at least for a bit, the feeling that I had missed for nearly 20 years. I was touched to the heart at that, and accepted without any hesitation.

We travelled on horseback, 50 kilometers a day. It took 2 days to go from our post to his house, but I could already see him bouncing with joy at the thought of meeting his beloved daughter again. I could hear him hum and sing from time to time, which I couldn't help but smile in return. At how wonderful a father he was.

Then, after 2 days of travelling, a house came into view, a nice little country house with a large frontyard, planted with all kinds of trees, one that I would be buying once the war is over. Under the huge shades made by the trees, a tiny figure could be seen hopping and crouching from time to time. She appeared a very little girl, with short black hair. I could not figure any further details since I was far away, but I knew, he knew, we both knew, that she was the daughter of my greatest friend ever.

As if something snapped within Albus, he suddenly slashed his horse rein, enabling the horse to go into a full gallop, sending dusts flying into my eyes. I could only hear him shout.

"Livia! My sweetheart!"

He was shouting to the tiny figure. And before I realized it, he was already there, dismounting his horse hastily, and rushed to her, only stopping when he was only a few meters ahead of the girl.

"Livia…Is that really you?"

He called out again, his two hands reaching out for her. I couldn't see very clearly his own face when he did so, but I bet he was very happy and was expecting his daughter to recognize him, so that the father daughter can have a teary-eyed reunion together, hugging and kissing each other. Anyone would have thought of that scenario playing in front of them if they were here.

But it didn't happen…

She merely stood there, tilting her head as her unbeknownst-to-her father tried to call for her. And then, unexpectedly…

"Mama! Mama! Help me!"

She ran away…

In front of the person who loved her the most.

Both of us were taken by complete surprise. I was puzzled, confused and shocked. I didn't know how such a thing could happen. Albus must have felt the same, but most likely more suspensefully. No doubt. Her precious daughter did not recognize him.

I slowly approached him on my horse and slowly dismounted. Poor guy. He was frozen on spot for the entire time. His hands, that were once ready to welcome Livia in him, ready to squeeze her flesh into him, were hanging low. There were no strength in them, as if they were broken. His eyes still peered in the direction his daughter had run.

When I approached him, his only response was to laugh. Yes, laugh…I could perceive. The shock must have been too great on him that he simply could not cry. If he couldn't cry, he had no choice but to laugh. Laugh to shake all those pains away.

His wife soon came out, with Livia hiding behind her legs, looking at her father with hostility. Fortunately, his wife, Natalie, was able to recognize him immediately, as they shared a brief hug and kiss. This seemed to even caused more confusion in the child, as I watched her run into the house in fear. That was when I knew that visit would not end very well for all of us.

His wife, Natalie, welcomed me with all her heart the moment Albus introduced me as his best friend. For the first time since many years, I had experienced this little cozy feeling of being with the one you platonically loved. It was good, just watching the couple chatting with each other, and sometimes inviting me into their conversation. I felt like home. And the food was more or less fantastic. Honestly, I felt so envious of Albus for having such a good wife. However, there was still one thing that derived us of the fun.

Who else…

"Livia. Why didn't you eat your food?"

Her father said, gently and kindly. But she did not respond.

"Come on, the food is cold."

Albus repeated his urge, as he placed a piece of fish onto her plate. Livia did not respond for a while, and when she did, she merely stood up and left the room.

"Livia!" Natalie was furious at her daughter's behavior, as she tried to stop her from leaving. She stopped at the entrance, and replied bluntly and impolitely.

"I'm not hungry."

And she left.

Things did not improve over the night. Albus was a stubborn guy, as he tried to get her to actually said Papa to him. But it didn't work out obviously. Like father like daughter, every attempts he made to approach her, she shoved him away, as if he was some sort of enemies. And she did not utter a single word to him.

The next day, it was the same. Having grown tired of it, Albus merely sat down in the kitchen, as Livia was busy tending the fire nearby. It was at that moment when Natalie's voice could be heard from the outside.

"Livia honey! The water is boiling! Tell Papa to extract the water, or it'll spilt!"

But for a while, Livia did not do anything. Her head sprang back and forth trying to come up with something. It was obvious that she was trying not to call her father…her father. But as the water was about to spill, she didn't have many choices. I watched her struggling to come up with an answer when she simply yelled to Albus, again with her bluntness and rudeness.

"Extract the water!"

To be honest, if my daughter shouted to me like this, I would slap her in the face immediately. Albus did not do anything, as he sat on the chair, pretending that he did not hear it.

"Hurry! Or it will spill!"

Again, he did nothing.

I was trying hard to keep my patience, and I didn't want to create a bad impression to my friend's family, so I simply said to her.

"Livia. You have to say 'Papa, can you extract the water for me?'. How hard is it to actually say the word Papa to your father here."

She was silent for a while, again, trying to come up with a solution. At first, I thought that she was finally going to give up and actually called Papa for him to help, but no. Livia silently grabbed a chair nearby, sat down on it and hastily extended the handle of the spoon she was going to use for extraction, since she was a bit too short for the cooker, by simply tying a wooden stick to the handle using some straws. And then she used the chair to lift herself up to the cooker's level. Then she slowly extracted the water by herself, albeit clumsily.

Albus laughed again, the bitterness returned. Damn, that girl surely was cunning.

I could see it on his face. For the whole two days, his daughter had been treating him like trash, something that was pretty outrageous for a kid this age to their parents. No, not this age, but any age in general. Natalie had to shout so many times that she was also at her limits. And I could see it on Albus's face as well. His patience was being driven to his limit.

That dinner, he tried to approach his daughter again. He noticed she wasn't even touching the food, so he simply took her bowl and her spoon, grabbed a spoonful and gently hovered near her.

"Come on Livia. You gotta eat."

It was then that she crossed the line. She was so frustrated that she hit the spoon with an upward hand swipe, sending the soup on the spoon flying everywhere, onto me, and onto Albus's face, and his scars.

SLAP!

And he finally snapped…

"You stubborn brat!"

The atmosphere was extremely tense. I could feel it in the air. Albus had never reacted like this ever since I met him. He was always calm, composed and patient towards everyone that I could barely imagine him actually getting angry. In Livia's part, I had expected her to make a mess out of this, maybe flip the whole table over and cried out, like many kids would do. But once again, she did not do what I expected her to do. Like the first night, she got up and left. However, she did not go into her room this time, but she left the house altogether, on a horse of her own it seemed.

I was a bit shocked to learn that, but Natalie explained that she was heading for for her grandmother's house. Whenever she got scolded and so on, she would go there for some consolation. That placed me at ease a bit, but still.

Poor Albus. This was his only time in, maybe perhaps, two years or so that he was able to return home to their family on a break like this. And it was only for a few days. And yet her daughter did not recognize him as her father. It was probably the saddest thing a father could experience. I didn't even know why she was so stubborn with it. I mean, Natalie and I all insisted that the man was her father, yet why?

The day after that dinner, it was already farewell time. It was time that people gathered around the house for a huge meal, to say their wishes to both of us, Albus mostly, since they were all his relatives. It was busy time, with people kept bugging around him, asking him questions, talking to him or saying their long wishes and goodbyes to him. While he was paying attention to the guests, I paid my attention to Livia instead.

The girl was standing by the door nearby, her back lay resting against the frame, her hands crossed in front of her torso, with the occasional long sigh, as she stared further into the distance. For a moment, I almost couldn't recognize her as a nine year old child. She looked and acted no different from a mature adult at the time. And I wondered if Albus's slap last night was making her this way.

Attention was again drawn to Albus and I again, even Livia's, as we both began to leave the house and headed out to the horses. I noticed Livia looking at Albus all the time. That was weird, just two days ago, she barely even bothered to look at him, and now she was staring at him non-stop, with her deep and seemingly endless eyes.

I mounted my horse, and waited for Albus to mount his. But he didn't do so immediately. At this time, he was the Albus that I always knew: calm, collected, kind and patient. He turned to look at Livia, his precious stubborn daughter, for a long time, before cracking a small and forgiving smile.

"Honey, Papa's leaving." He said, loud enough for her to hear.

Then, he turned away. Each of his steps felt so heavy and painful.

He probably wanted to hug her and kiss her one last time, but he also didn't want her to wreck things again. So he just left it at that.

At first, I thought that was it. That was the end of the visit. It was fun, but somewhat quite depressing. But so strangely, as if some images ran inside her mind, as if some well-suppressed emotions finally bursted, at the time nobody would expect her to be, she screamed on the top of her lungs

"Papa...Papa...Papa!"

Her scream pierced the silence of the atmosphere. It painfully sliced into our hearts. It felt so tragic, so pale.

That "Papa". Those were the words she buried deep in her sorrowful heart. As if it was suppressed so tightly within her and then suddenly bursting out all of a sudden, she dashed from the door frame. Tears were seen exiting her eyes, as she shoved everybody in her path. In that moment, it was as if nothing could stand in her way. Her beloved Papa was there in front of her.

"Papa! Papa!"

Livia rushed to him quickly, climbed him, as her two arms lashed onto his neck. Her two legs grinded onto his torso. She hugged him tightly. Her nails plugged deeply into his skins. It hurt, but Albus didn't mind it. Her voice was barely audible, soaked in her tears.

"Papa! You have to stay home with me! You have to!"

The girl was surprisingly strong, as she was willing to never let her father out of sight again.

"Livia...Why didn't you say Papa earlier?" The now teary-eyed Albus asked, as he returned her hugs

"Because...Because..." She said, still teary. "...Grandma..."

"Why didn't you recognize your father, Livia?" The old woman asked, her voice slow but kind

"Because that man is not my father." Livia replied.

"Why not?"

"He doesn't look anything like you said."

"Ah...no wonder..." She nodded, her movement quite rusty. "...then let me tell you a story. It's about your Papa...and his heroic rescue..."

"My Papa saved someone?" The girl asked, her eyes round.

"Mhhmm...at the time, there were a bunch of green men who came for an invasion..." The old woman sighed. "Your Papa was sent to deal with them, at Alnus...but his men were soon killed

Her voice suddenly turned hostile, though not towards her young Livia.

"Those barbaric monsters...they casted dark magic on your Papa..." She said. "Everyone was torn, blasted into pieces in seconds..."

"Your Papa saw a man with his legs off...so he came to his side...trying to drag him to safety...that was when..."

"That was when?" Livia asked curiously

"He was hit...by the dark magic. His face burned until it was blackened..." The old woman looked down, looking teary as well. "...the scars on his face still retained the horrors of that day..."

Livia was silent.

"Poor boy...not only he couldn't save the poor soul, he also suffered such a fate..."

"Livia, honey..." Albus hugged his daughter even tighter.

So that was it...

The girl couldn't recognize her father simply because of the scars on his face. The scar that should have been hailed, for everything he had done. For his patriotic service to the empire. And yet...

Livia was still unwilling to let go. She began kissing him. Kissing his right cheek, his forehead, and even the scar that she herself used to be so afraid of.

Suddenly, I could sense something welling up in me. My cheeks were wet. Droplets of water began streaming across my cheeks.

I was crying...

For the poor fate of these two innocent souls. Torn apart because of this war.

The kind father, who had never seen the face of his child for six years, spending his short days at home trying to get her to recognize him

The troublesome but kind and lovely daughter, who stubbornly but desperately tried to defend the image of the father she always knew and loved.

And when they were finally each other, they had to be separated, once again.

"Livia." Natalie, who was also struggling to keep the tears from flowing. "Let your Papa go. He will be back soon."

"No! I don't want Papa to go! He has to stay here with me!"

"Livia..."

"He has a job to do. Livia please..."

She still refused.

I could understand why. Perfectly.

"Hey, honey."

Albus's kind voice finally rang out.

"Didn't grandma tell you about Papa? Then wouldn't you be proud that I am working to save other people's lives.

"..."

"If you let go, I will bring home more stories for you to be proud of..."

Livia was deep in thoughts, before finally answering.

"Only if you give me something in return..."

Only that would she finally let him go.

I could feel my heart being strangled, as the young girl slowly descended back to the ground. It was a hard feeling. I was about to suggest that he should stay with her for a few more days, but halted before I could voice it. He only had a few days of absense. An unnotified extension would easily result in him being expelled, or even being hunted down and executed. The Empire was no joke. Especially for lower class people like the two of us. Those noblemen had almost no sympathy for us. One defiance of their orders, and we're through.

So it was it for us. We had to go...

The conclusion to the story will come in later chapters