"Even when she was bullied, she never spoke against you. She never said anything, not even to me."
Her shoulders shook as she struggled to continue.
"For what?" she whispered, her voice breaking. "Because she was afraid I would blame you, and that you would never visit her again."
Kaelith's face trembled violently as he stared at his daughter, horror and disbelief twisting his heart into something unbearable.
"A-Aria," he whispered, his voice shaking beyond control. "My child."
A single tear slid down his cheek, his lips trembling as he tried to speak, but no words came that could ever soothe the pain she had endured.
Kaelith had never thought of it this way.
He truly believed everything was fine whenever he saw her smiling face.
He thought the world moved smoothly even without him.
If he had known.
If he had truly known.
He would never have left them alone?
Maelona's eyes hardened again, fire returning beneath the grief, burning brighter than before.
