(This is the kind of courtyard house a.k.a "Siheyuan" in chinese that Dara is currently staying at, that her Father bought for her)

Ho ho ho

Speak of the devil and he'll appear. 

She was eating with her father a while ago; her ignoring the fact that her own plate is being stuffed to the brim by all the nutritious stuff courtesy of her Father dearest, enthusiastically doing it "You should also eat a lot of these squash, it's good for your eyesight" He said, looking at her with hope.

She sigh.

Father is too cute.

(This is Sujin's father, The Mighty General, y'all)

She lifted her jade chopsticks, got a piece of squash too and placed it on top of her Father's rice. She look at him and smiled like a cute little harmless rabbit "Father should also eat these, you've been in your study looking at those scrolls all night you'll get blind," She said and grab the whole plate of Squash soup and placed it beside him "Thus, Father should also look out for his health," she added and gave a toothy grin. The manservant looked at their Young Miss in distress, they just know that she's up to some mischievous stuff again. They then look at their General who was too engrossed to his daughter's attempt to care about him.

There was a fluffy feeling in her heart. So, this is how it feels like having a father. 

Her Father nearly cried tears of joy from this little care of his little Sujin. In the past, she's often cold to him every time he comes home once every year. Because he's always at the border, guarding it, their relationship was strained until his little Sujin is not running towards him anymore when he goes home. He felt guilty about the distance between the two of them, and the only thing he knows to get back at her is too indulge her to everything and dote on her a lot. Giving her the best of the best and everything she wants.

Dara knows the General too much because of the biography of Empress Sujin. She felt a pang of guilt on her heart, because that innocent doting and indulgence brought them to their own downfall. Empress Sujin became uncontrollable as the time goes, demanding a marriage between her and that pretentious scoundrel. It was supposed to be still in the range of acceptable, but then as the time goes by, that bastard showed signs of wanting that damned throne. And Sujin, being the lovesick blind puppy that she is, encouraged her Father to support the Ninth Prince, a.k.a that scoundrel son of a , to the throne. Not knowing she's also pushing her Father to the mouth of the tigers who were eyeing hungrily and waiting for the trusted General to make a mistake to bring him down.

According to the biography, his black hair that year had turned white almost instantly. He needed to fend off the covert and not covert attack of those ministers to drive a wedge between him and the Monarch. He was too mentally and physically exhausted that he doesn't look like the healthy and mighty general of the past years, almost remained a shadow of his past glory.

What made him collapsed was when he found out that there were spies on the Military soldiers that he single handedly train with his blood sweat and tears for years! And because he loved his daughter too much, he never complained to her about his struggles. Sujin only realized that something was wrong when her family was already framed for Treason and banished to a faraway place, not knowing if they're still alive or not. 

That following year, she then found out about her sister and her beloved Emperor's covert shenanigans.

Dara was too preoccupied that a lone tear unconsciously escaped her eye. 

"Sujin-ah? My daughter, what's wrong? Is something painful? Where? Tell Father" The General was startled when he saw the lone tear cascade down his precious daughter's face.

Dara looked at him, her eyes were full of remorse. For some unknown reason, her heart just unconsciously and painfully squeezed "F-father, Please d-don't indulge me t-too much. I-in the f-future..." She stopped herself, she felt an invisible rock clogging "Y-you don't need to be guilty about me. Know that I understand all your sacrifices for our country. Know that I understand why you can't come home as often as every Father's does. So, just please..." her voice was trembling when the General stood up from his seat and hugged his daughter.

This is supposed to be the part when Sujin finally told what happened to her on that snowy mountain, adding to her Father's guilt.

But Dara instead changed her dialogue unconsciously. She was feeling guilty and remorseful. her emotions going haywire and it was too late for her to realize that the castor has been alerted of the error. But she didn't regret a thing about it, If only she has parents such as this then she'll protect them with all of her heart. She can't blame Empress Sujin, for she didn't know the consequences of her actions earlier on. She was too naive, and too stupid...like she was.

The fact that she realized it later on was already too late.  

The menservants and Dara's little servant, waiting at the back of their master awaiting any orders was bawling their eyes out too, for what horror that had happened to their Young Miss. 

"Don't worry, Father is here! I will keep you safe! I'll make those people pay!" The General roared in justice for his precious baby girl.

Back to the present, a manservant came rushing to the inner court bearing the news of a certain scoundrel's worry and visit. Dara nearly gagged of how the manservant of the dickhead of a Prince exaggerated his owner's worry an