It had been 2 years since Ivana had seen her father. After that day he had gone to the capital for a month with the duchess and her two sons. Ivana was left alone in the mansion. To pass the time she began to swing around weapons, trying to find one that fit her. In the end, she felt an affinity with dual-wielding the gladius. And she swung them, clearing her mind of all that around her. She stopped talking to those around her. Then almost immediately upon his arrival home, her father broke to her the bad news that by a royal decree(pushed by the other 3 dukes) for him to go to the labyrinth with some soldiers and see if he could find a holy weapon. He told her the truth, how everything was a scheme to gain the 4th dukedom to gain the power to turn the throne into a puppet for them. After settling his affairs, her father headed out and hasn't come back yet. 

The duchess took his absence as an opportunity to take out her jealousy and hatred on Ivana. With the maids, she put Ivana through a hell of pain, loneliness, and suffering. Her life in the mansion was worse than any farmer’s, being treated as badly as someone in the slums. The duchess abused her every day with sometimes Brian joining and Xander watching on the side, never helping. But Ivana didn’t care anymore. They could torment her as much as they like, but her will would never break. She only cared about her goal of protecting her father. She had to grow stronger so her father wouldn’t die.

Then on a rainy day her father returned.

“Father!” Ivana ran to him, the happiest she had been since he had left. In the main hall, he turned around and smiled at her. She then noticed something wrong. Her father’s face was clawed, his eye gone, his leg was replaced with a magic prosthetic and she could tell that he was much weaker than he was before. She gasped in horror, not at his new appearance, but rather what he had gone through.

“Father, what happened? How did you get hurt,” she asked worriedly. She was going to delete the thing that made her father so.

“What happened to calling me Papa?” The duke tried to change the topic, not wanting Ivana to know.

“I’m getting older. It’s embarrassing to keep calling you Papa,” Ivana replied shyly, embarrassed about her past self. Then she realized that her father was changing the topic. “Now answer me, what happened? Whatever did this will pay!” Ivana’s father sighed, knowing he couldn’t dodge this.

“The soldiers they gave me were honest men, but inexperienced. When we began the exploration, I was enough to deal with the monsters in the labyrinth. Then we got lost.” Saying this he lets out a sigh. 

Ivana learned about the labyrinth while he was gone. An ever-changing maze with its own biomes inside. That’s why her father could be gone for two years. He couldn’t find the exit. But she expected him to be gone for longer. It was a miracle to come out within such a short time.

“Before exiting, we managed to run into a boss. I manage to defeat it, but not without damage." He indicates his leg and eye. "That higher dragon was one tough bastard. Luckily I managed to get one of those damn holy weapons they wanted so much and could leave. Now the problem was finding the exit."

"But you didn't tell me how you got weakened?" Ivana said. Her father sighed.

"So you noticed that. I was hoping to hide the fact. Hopefully, I can still fool the sow." She could tell he was worried that if the duchess realized she would find a way to get rid of him. While her father was a selfless man, he would still care about his own life if the adrenaline was lacking.

"Well now you're home, would you like to go eat dinner in my room? You can tell me more about your heroic feats there." She giggled, happy that her father was back.

***

Another two years had passed and in that time Ivana was tutored by her father. Her movements become sharper and stronger, her ability higher than those of a normal soldier.  Her father managed to fool the duchess about his physical shape. Though he did tell the king about his current situation so he didn't receive work to do. Most nights the duchess was gone, going and taking her children to parties of the other nobles. Then one day a messenger from the main palace arrived.

"FATHER! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!" Ivana yelled upon hearing the message. It asked for a member of the Vermillion household to go north and help in the protection of the border against an "inevitable war with the demon empire." This triggered Ivana. Another scheme of those damn dukes. One day she would buy assassins to go after their lives. "The king knows you're in no condition to fight. How could he agree to this? He won't even let you mobilize troops to bring!"

"Ivana, it's not his fault. I bet the other dukes have something like blackmail or a hostage."

"Those damn dukes. Fine then I'll go there to represent the Vermillion household," Ivana said.

"Ivana no. That's final. You're not going to a warzone where so you can die."

"The same goes for you. You'll die there father. I have a better chance of surviving. I'm stronger than your average soldier. You said so yourself."

"It's fine if I go, better than you doing so. I'm a grown man and while I've not lived my whole life, I still haven't to the entirety of it left."

"I don't care! I don't want you to die! Even if I have to run away and participate, then I will. You can't stop me!"

"THEN I'LL LOCK YOU IN YOUR ROOM SO YOU CAN'T GO!" The duke snapped. He was scared that if Ivana went, she'll be going to her mother instead of staying with him. He didn't want to imagine his life without her. If he went there and died, at least Ivana could live. He already wrote his will long before, leaving everything for Ivana to inherit. Hearing this Ivana began crying.

"I do-don't want you to die! Who'll be-be there for me? I'll be al-alone." She felt the same. She learned swordsmanship, for this reason, to keep her father from dying. Why was he so adamant about his death?

The duke understood that it had to be one of them, as the duchess wouldn't allow it to be Brian or Xander. He knew Ivana was adamant about her choice. He had reached a crossroad. Should he let his daughter go to war, with a slim chance of returning with injuries? Or would it be better for her to live and maybe suffer a fate worse than death? He hesitated, unsure of what was better. Then an idea struck him. The messenger never specified if he could bring some men with him if he did decide to go. It just stated he couldn't mobilize troops. What if some of his men followed Ivana willingly and kept her safe?

"Ivana I have an idea."

Carpio

Just saying this story has way too many plot holes. This is not what I originally planned when writing. I was planning to start in the war. Thus I may be trying to fast forward to something I had in mind. So please dont question me about those plot holes. I know a lot of you want answers to your questions but these are a bit hard to answer.