"I refuse." (Alto)
Alto's voice rings out, clear and unapologetic. Her posture, previously cowed and deferential, straightens into something more defiant...more dignified. Her eyes, previously avoiding her father's, meet his with a cold, steely resolve.
Silence descends over the room, her father's and mother's expressions briefly stunned. Then, her father's eyes narrow.
"It wasn't a request. You have an obligation to this family, both as the heiress, and because of your failings in this particular situation." (Master Silver)
She doesn't falter in the slightest.
"I won't give my body to someone I don't love, for people who clearly don't love me, all in the name of a family position I'm told I'll never deserve. My answer...is no." (Alto)
After a moment of silence, her father rises slowly from his seat, leaning over the desk in front of him. His voice turns low and threatening, his expression one of cold fury.
"You are an entitled brat, whining about what's being asked of you by your family, and ignoring what your family first gave you without complaint. If you want to refuse, now that it's finally your turn to pay your dues to this family, then don't expect this family to continue looking after you. You contribute, or you're not a Silver." (Master Silver)
She responds without hesitation, her tone unnervingly calm.
"So be it. If I have a family that would disown me over this, then it's a family I'm better off without." (Alto)
Her father scoffs, a rare and unexpected trace of amusement invading his expression. He stares at her in disbelief, shaking his head.
"You only say that because you've grown up privileged...spoiled. Those are the words of someone who doesn't truly know what it means to be on their own. Someone who feels so entitled to the basic comforts of life that the thought of them being taken never crosses their mind. So, maybe it's time I taught you..." (Master Silver)
He trails off, looking away from her to the door.
"MAID!" (Master Silver)
The door to office opens mere seconds after her father's call, and the same black-haired maid that came to retrieve her steps inside, her demeanor nervous.
"Yes, Master Silver?" (maid)
Her father's voice booms, full of authority, as he glances between her and the maid coldly.
"Assemble all the house staff you need and vacate Alto's room. Every possession, every piece of furniture, everything not attached to the walls or floor...I want the room completely bare in twenty minutes, every removed item locked away in storage. After that, assign two staff outside her room, and instruct them to make sure she neither leaves nor speaks to anyone until morning." (Master Silver)
Leaving the maid in wide-eyed silence, her father returns his gaze to her.
"I'll give you until morning to learn and reflect on the gravity of your decision. Understand what it means to truly have nothing but the clothes on your back. Sleep in the embrace of the hard floor, with only the cold night air to keep you company.
"In the morning, I will visit your room. Then, you can either accept the terms of this family and contribute as you've been asked, or you can make your situation permanent, be stripped of your Silver name, and immediately depart the estate as a stranger, exactly as you are. I look forward to your decision." (Master Silver)
*****
Several hours later, Alto is lying on the cold, hardwood floor of her room, staring up at its vaulted ceilings with a faraway gaze. Surprisingly, despite the events of the day and the heavy feeling in her heart, there's a small smile on her face.
'Commanding me to actually sleep with Tegan, casually condemning me to the life of a concubine, stripping my room bare like this...it's even more insane of a response than I expected.'
Truthfully, all she was truly counting on for her plan was for her father to insist that she try and make amends with Tegan through an uncomfortable and desperate – but not so absolute – level of intimacy. Then, she'd be able to refuse him, with her track record of discomfort over the prior requests. At that point, she expected him to threaten her with disownment, which she'd hold her ground against, and he'd give her at least the night to reconsider. In that time, she could leave a note detailing her decision and sneak away before morning, putting a clear end to her Silver family ties.
However, her father's response was even more cruel and decisive than she imagined possible. Be that as it may, though, she can't help but be a bit happy for it. After all, she's always believed he'd disown her over something like this, but it's not like she ever tested it...ever truly defied him. What if, after all she'd already resolved to do and set in motion, she'd been wrong? If he'd responded to her with more empathy, or backed down from the disowning threat once he realized she was serious? She's not sure if she would have carried through on her plans, and potentially regretted it later.
Instead, with the way things have gone, she'd be happy to never waste another thought on the Silver family after tonight.
She turns her head to look out her bedroom window. Soft moonlight filters in, illuminating the room's barren state, as if emphasizing the fact that there's nothing left for her here. She sighs, slowly rising to her feet.
'It should be a little after midnight now...I guess it's time.'
Without further delay, she turns her attention to one of the walls of her room, her eyes trailing up to a lateral support beam below the arched ceiling. She mutters an incantation quietly, summoning a simple gust of wind, and a piece of white parchment flutters off the support beam, falling towards her. She snatches the piece of folded paper out of the air deftly, then eyes it in annoyance.
It's the letter she pre-prepared for her departure. However, now that her father has removed her desk, paper, and quill, she can't leave it behind without implicitly alerting him that her departure was premeditated.
'Ridiculous problems require absurd solutions, I suppose.'
Without hesitation, she casts a fire spell, turning the letter to ash. Then, using a water spell, she mixes it into a kind of rudimentary ink, and...begins to smear it across the wall of her room. After a minute, she steps back, admiring her eerie final message.
Setti Silver, I stand by my decision. Without love, Alto...just Alto.
With her response to her father's ultimatum taken care of, she walks to the large window in her room, quietly opening it, and she stares out into the chilly, moonlit night. Far below her room on the second floor, she studies the large field of grass that surrounds their private estate near the center of Tsige, considering her next move.
One may assume that a spell being basic-tier means it can't be particularly useful, but they'd be wrong. All that classification means is that the spell is extremely simple, and quite limited in scale. However, that does not mean, for example, that the spell cannot be made more powerful through sheer mana investment, or clever implementation. Case and point...
Without a shred of hesitation, Alto steps out of her bedroom window, dropping towards the ground nearly seven meters below. However, as soon as she begins to fall, an intense stream of air erupts upward from just below her feet, slowing her descent. It's not much, not nearly enough to float, and it takes a huge chunk of her considerable mana, but it works well enough.
She lands on the grass with a surprisingly soft thud, immediately cancelling her spell. Confirming that there are no signs of her fall being detected, she rises to her feet and begins walking. Not west, towards her rendezvous point with the carriage Tegan supposedly arranged, but north.
A few minutes later, she arrives at their small family garden, stopping near a row of dense shrubbery. She reaches inside carefully, feeling around, and pulls out a small travel pack, inspecting its contents.
'Good...all here.'
Last night, part of her preparations were dropping this travel pack off here as a contingency, in case her father immediately banished her from the house with nothing but what she was wearing. It has a little food and water for her trip, several changes of clothes, and...money. About eight gold worth that she's managed to secretly siphon off during payments for her enrichment activities. Of course, she should have twenty gold waiting for her in Oppidum, and she thinks she can trust Tegan to deliver, but...she feels more comfortable with this safeguard in place.
Satisfied that everything is in order, she pulls a travel cloak from the pack and dons it over her existing clothes, then sets off towards Tsige's north gate.
It takes her several hours to traverse Tsige, and the further she gets from Silver manor, the more at ease she feels. Despite what one might think based on human experiences, she doesn't feel the slightest bit concerned about her safety walking through the city alone at night as a young woman. There's no patrolling guards, no crowds offering safety in numbers, and Tsige is average in terms of the Kingdom's crime.
However, while the elves are not without their fair share of criminals or otherwise distasteful characters, like her father, they do differ from humans in one major way...violent crime. It's incredibly rare, and almost antithetical to their nature to physically, maliciously harm one another. Fear for her life or well-being is simply not something that crosses her mind...not at this age, at least.
Eventually, about an hour before sunrise, she makes it to Tsige's western gate. She sticks to a nearby alley, observing the surrounding area behind the cowl of her hood. Parked just down the street towards the gate, she spots only a single carriage, carrying no markings.
'The rendezvous time is just before sunrise, but I guess it's unlikely to be a coincidentally present carriage, this early in the morning. Mine must simply be early.'
She approaches the carriage cautiously, wondering if she'll need to try and wake a sleeping driver inside, or how she'll prove her identity. However, her concerns prove unnecessary. Just as she nears the carriage, she spots the driver already sitting at the reins, very much alert to his surroundings. They lock eyes, and he gives her a cursory glance.
"Name?" (driver)
She blinks, a little stunned, then responds in a soft but hesitant voice.
"Altera...of Oppidum." (Alto)
The driver nods politely, then climbs down and opens the door to the carriage for her without further questions. At the same time, he hands her a small key, which she accepts with relief.
'Must be for my stuff that Tegan stashed in Oppidum...guess he's true to his word after all.'
The driver's voice interrupts her thoughts.
"We can depart as soon as Miss is ready. Ah, and Sir told me that Miss would know what that was for." (driver)
She nods at the driver and steps into the carriage, then turns to face him as she sits down inside.
"Thank you...we can depart immediately." (Alto)
Several minutes later, just like that, Alto disappears from Tsige before her family even learns of her decision.