The Beloved One!

Extra 06: The Talk

After their discussion had finished, Anzor and Tazanna Morley had asked Nanny Ophelia to summon Kalila.

Ophelia opened the door for Kalila, quietly closing it after the little girl had walked inside.

Once entering the child's pace quickened towards Anzor once she saw him. She threw her arms around him, embracing him. "Daddy!!!"

"Kalila." Anzor said, softly stroking her silver hair.

The gaze of her azure blue eyes directed towards Anzor, the seven year old inquired, drawing away from him while holding her father's hands, "does this mean that daddy is back?!" She questioned with excitement then it slowly vanished as she asked in a low voice. "Where are..." Kalila thought about what the servants had been whispering about, about her father bringing in his mistress as a concubine and his illegitimate daughter with him once he returned. She had thought about it and once her mother was fine with it, then she would be too. She would try to be the best sibling towards her sister so everyone could get along and be content.

It took a few seconds for her start, "Lila, your daddy and I have something to talk to you about."

Reading the atmosphere in the room and with the statement her mother had just made, she got a terrible feeling. Slowly releasing her father's hands, she glanced between the Archduke and Archduchess, her parents.

"Your mommy and I are getting a .... divorce." Anzor said.

The word 'divorce' boomed inside of Kalila's mind. He was not replacing them; he was abandoning them for his other family.

"It is not what you think, Kalila. With this divorce, I am not abandoning you or your mommy. I will still be there for you too, but not precisely in the way like in the past. I will still be there, to see you-"

Tears spilled from her eyes, "-Noo!!! You are abandoning us for your mistress and illegitimate child!!!"

He tried to wipe her tears, but she pushed his hand with the handkerchief away.

"Kalila!" Tazanna said. "The woman who you call a mistress is also your daddy's main wife and the daughter between them is legitimate." She informed.

Kalila's eyes widened, her tears coming to a halt. She knew what 'main' wife meant. "Wh-what? ..... But how?"

Anzor explained, "I married her before I married your mommy. Since we and the kingdom had thought she was no longer here, but with Brahma along with the baby in her stomach, your mommy and I married."

'Daddy had a wife and baby before he married mommy?' She did not know. This came as a great astonishment to her. 'Does that not mean mommy and I stole daddy away from them?'

The mother continued. "Because of his first wife, Ellen-san not actually being with Brahma, he has two main wives. And a male of this kingdom cannot legally have two main wives."

Kalila nodded her head. She knew about that law. Her teacher had taught her that just recently. A male of Emphraim Kingdom could only have one main wife and numerous of concubines. But in this day and age only a small amount took a concubine or concubines. The royal family had unknowingly influenced that.

She went onto release. "Before your daddy and I married, we agreed to and signed off on to not have a 'typical' marriage. It was a political one, where both sides benefited from it. That being your daddy helping the Morley Family until a certain time limit, depending on the current state of the Family; that was the benefit for me. And the benefit for your daddy is being able to have a clean divorce."

'So mommy and daddy did not marry .... for love?' Kalila thought. She had heard from many other kids who had spoken about their parents being involved in an arranged marriage where they did not love each other. She was a little bit happy and proud since she had thought her parents had married out of love. But it was not out of love. Then she brought this question up, "does this mean I was not born out of love?"

"Oh, Lila." Tazanna said softly.

Anzor spoke, "Kalila, you were born out of love. It is not the love that you think, but it is familial love."

Hearing those words helped Kalila feel somewhat better. But she was tired, very tired mentally. "Mommy, daddy, can I rest please?"

"Of course you can." Anzor said.

"Yes." Tazanna said at the same time.

Then the girl left.

••••

After one week of thinking about everything she had learnt, Kalila went to her mother to make the deciding factor. "Mommy, even though you and daddy married politically, do you romantically love daddy?" She asked.

Tazanna answered. "Yes, I do Lila, but it is only one-sided on your mommy's side. But I decided on starting to let my feelings go for him. I want him to be happy. And maybe, just maybe I will be able to find the happiness that your daddy and Ellen-san has."

"I want daddy to be happy too! And I am sure you will be able to, mommy!! You are the best mommy after all!!" She said. Her father had said even with the divorce he would be there for them. He was not abandoning them. Even though she was sad about her parents planning to divorce, she had thought about Ellen-san and her sister. Her father's feelings. She thought she had been selfish not to. She was not the only one being effected with her only thinking about her happiness. There was everyone else to consider as well. Remembering what Anzor had and what her mother had just said, she decided to say. "Mommy, I am sorry about earlier. I will not be against you and daddy getting a divorce."

••••

And a few days later, in the afternoon news about the Archduke had spread about his divorce, the terms of his contract marriage, his first wife, his blessed child, his separation from the Morley Family and the bestowal of the hereditary Archduke title along with land onto him.

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Now  that I think about it, I should've just made this extra a flashback chapter but ... eh