After her conspiratorial date with Tegan, Alto's schedule does not really change on the surface. Yet, her days are infused with a hidden anticipation over what's to come, making everything more enjoyable than the months before. Or, more interesting, at the very least.
Her "dates" with Tegan continue, and true to her request, though she technically made it optional, he becomes much more lively company. They chat more freely, mainly about him and the girl he's in love with, and he quits insisting on the awkward restaurant settings. Inevitably, they become a bit closer.
Though she wouldn't go so far as to call him a friend, she can confidently say that the dates can be moved from the low point of her weeks, to the only time she feels any sort of satisfaction.
Approximately three weeks after their fateful bargain, Tegan informs her that he's arranged for all of her requests to be fulfilled. He notes that, per their agreement, they'll continue their 'dates' for exactly another two weeks. Then, the day after the final one, Tegan's father will officially send written notice of the Stone family's refusal to Master Silver, which will take approximately half a day to arrive by bird. Sunrise the following morning, an unmarked carriage will be waiting just inside the Tsige western gate for her, equipped with the information she needs to access her stored books and gold in Oppidum.
Eventually, those two weeks pass, and her final date with Tegan comes and goes. That night, when she arrives home and makes her way to her room, she dismisses her maids for the night...and begins to prepare.
*****
The following day, Alto goes about the morning as usual, right up until her midday break between tutoring blocks. It's a time span just long enough for her to eat lunch, then digest in peace for roughly thirty minutes. That is, if her father doesn't cram some other random obligation into that extra half hour.
Coincidentally, today happens to be just such a day.
When she returned from her 'bargaining' date with Tegan all those weeks ago – the first one since her father urged her to progress things with him – her father was ready and waiting for an update from her on whether she was successful. Naturally, and according to her plans, she told him that things with Tegan had really turned a corner, and he seemed to be warming up to her.
Enthused, her father had asked how long she thought it might be before she could secure his hand in marriage. In response, she'd merely said that it was too early to say, and offered to meet with her father for regular updates on the subject once per week. To be specific, during her midday break, the day after the second date of each week. Her father was all too eager to accept, thinking nothing of her sudden, excessive obedience. After all, it's just what one expects from a tool.
Why should her father assume that it was merely part of her plan? That it was intended to make it so he summons her of his own accord, asks her the right questions at the right times, so she can give answers that set what she wants into motion? All while making her actions look natural, reactionary...less suspicious or premeditated.
In the weeks since they started, during these 'update' meetings with her father, she's made sure to allude to a very specific narrative. One that perfectly balances Tegan's growing interest in her that her father desires, with the rising tension and plausible deniability that she needs. One where Tegan, spurred on by her inviting charm that first date after her father's 'encouragement', has been slowly pushing the boundaries of intimacy with her.
First, it was him sitting closer during meals. Then, it was holding hands. Most recently, Tegan has been stealing kisses from her with increasing fervor. Of course, with each of these decidedly fake steps forward in their 'relationship', she made sure to express to her father her increasing discomfort with the pace and scope of these actions. And naturally, her father dismissed these complaints with increasing sternness, urging her to continue encouraging Tegan's affection however she could.
And today...today will be the final chapter in her performance.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
"Enter." (Master Silver)
Alto steps into the office, her demeanor its usual mask of quiet obedience, her expression blank. Her father glances up from his work, a small, expectant smile coming to his face.
"So? Any developments?" (Master Silver)
Alto nods, speaking hesitantly.
"Yesterday he...kissed me again. It was...more...than usual." (Alto)
Her father raises his eyebrows.
"More how?" (Master Silver)
She lowers her head, shifting her feet repeatedly, and hopes she's conveying discomfort to her father convincingly. Her acting skills are certainly lackluster enough that, under normal circumstances, she'd never rely on them. In this case, though, she has some confidence she appears convincing because...well, she actually is uncomfortable. The very thought of saying what she's about to say, to her father of all people...
Noting her prolonged silence, her father frowns, his voice turning more stern.
"I said, more how?" (Master Silver)
She finally speaks, her voice softer than normal, almost unwilling in its release of words from her mouth.
"Well, it was...long, and I was...in his lap. And him...he...his hands...moved u-under my dress..." (Alto)
Her voice trails off, an extremely rare shade of pink coming to her cheeks. Perhaps present day Alto could comment on such things with clinical indifference, but the her of a mere fifteen years is mildly embarrassed at both the thought and verbalization of such an intimate scenario. Fortunately, it only seems to work in her favor.
Her father smiles, nodding encouragingly, and rises from his desk in excitement.
"That's good! Don't worry, it means he's quite taken with you. His hands, did they reach anywhere especially intimate? That would be good for us...it's leverage for him to take responsibility." (Master Silver)
Fighting the growing revulsion she feels for her father, she shakes her head adamantly.
"No...I...struck him before he could." (Alto)
Hearing the first part of her response, her father immediately sighs regretfully, his expression disappointed.
"That's too bad, but no matter. Next time you can-..." (Master Silver)
He trails off suddenly, his expression blanking, and he turns to face her seriously.
"What did you say...the second part? Did you say that you STRUCK him?" (Master Silver)
She nods hesitantly, not trusting herself to speak convincingly under such intense scrutiny. Her father's eyes widen in shock.
"You...the Stone Construction heir...you..." (Master Silver)
Her father's expression suddenly turns furious, his voice rising to an unrestrained roar.
"YOU FUCKING STRUCK HIM!? ARE YOU COMPLETELY FUCKING INCOMPETENT!?" (Master Silver)
She winces at the sudden, hostile outburst, instinctively taking a step back. One that requires zero acting chops on her part...she's never seen her father so angry in her entire life, after all.
Her father continues to stare at her, his face red, his hands squeezing papers on his desk in a barely contained rage. Eventually, he looks away from her, muttering swears, and lets out several slow, shaky breaths. He closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in silence for several moments. Eventually, he speaks, his voice soft but no less unnerving.
"When you hit him...how did he react?" (Master Silver)
Alto considers her words carefully, opting to be as short and concise as possible.
"He was quiet...he didn't talk much afterwards." (Alto)
BANG!
Her father slams one of his hands down on his desk in frustration.
"Dammit!" (Master Silver)
He lets out a deep sigh, then cuts an irritated look at her.
"Return to your studies for now...I need time to consider how you can fix this. Just be prepared to do whatever I tell you, because you will make amends for this screwup of yours, whatever it takes." (Master Silver)
Not commenting on his statement, Alto just nods in quiet acknowledgement and exits the office. But as she walks down the hall, preparing to return the last half of her studies, she can't seem to calm her racing heart. Her heart that's pounding out of her chest, not from fear, but from anticipation.
Because soon, she's finally going to be free...whatever that means for her.
*****
A few hours later, Alto is walking back to her room, her long afternoon of studies finally over. By this point, the mix of excitement and anxiety she felt earlier has almost fully distilled into anxiety. She chews her lower lip nervously.
'Did I miscalculate? Was Tegan wrong? Or, did something unexpected happen with Father? I'm almost at the end of my estimated window, and there's been no sign that the Stone patriarch's refusal letter has arrived.'
Based on what Tegan told her about when his father should write the letter, she estimated that the message should arrive in the Silver family's private aviary at noon at the earliest, and nightfall at the latest. So, she's spent her afternoon increasingly on edge, expecting her father to summon her in anger at any moment. Now, though, it's sunset, and there's been no word.
She arrives at her room, throwing herself onto her plush bed. A shaky breath escapes her lips as she stares up at the ceiling absentmindedly, her mind turning over worst-case scenarios.
What if her father doesn't receive the letter in time, and she doesn't get summoned tonight for the final, key confrontation with him that she planned for? If she just flees in the middle of the night without that initiating event, even if she leaves a letter weaving some tale of why and woe, her departure will seem suspicious, especially when her father eventually receives the refusal letter. More importantly, her leaving will come off as being primarily initiated by her, which could lead to her father resisting her departure more strongly than anticipated, maybe even trying to have her returned home.
Worse, what if her father has actually already received the letter, but he's become suspicious of her for some reason? It sounds ridiculous, given all the meticulous preparations she feels she's made, but that doesn't stop her from worrying. After all, the more preparations, the more potentially anomalous moves she had to make that could have been noticed.
However, her worries soon prove unfounded. A short while later, as she lies there excruciating over every move she's made in the past two months...
"FUUUUCCCKKKKKKK!" (Master Silver)
Her father's enraged voice echoes through the halls of the Silver family manor. After the initial frightened jolt, her lips slowly twist into a small, nervous smile.
'I guess he got the letter...'