Chapter 405 Changes in the Family

"How could this happen, Tirio? What did you do?" Kalandra asked with a sob.

Fording closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and his mind became calm: "I had a fight with an orc before, and there is a detail I didn't tell you. At that time, the orc saved my life, dear. If it weren't for her, I would have been crushed to death by the collapsed building. In order to repay him, I used my honor to guarantee him to keep the secret."

Kalandra covered her mouth, not darling what she heard. But Fording continued to speak.

"Dathrohan ordered me to lead them to hunt down the orc, but when he was caught, my conscience weighed on me. It asked me to defend my honor, so I stood up to save him, but I was arrested on the spot and then taken to Stratholme for trial. And then, it's now."

After a long silence, Kalandra cursed the orcs and Fording's stupidity. After she vented her frustration, she gently asked Fording, with great loss in her voice.

"So what will happen to us now? Fording, did you consider these when you made your choice?"

"You can still stay in this city without any impact. I have been exiled."

"Exile?" Tears suddenly came to Kalandra's eyes. "Tirio! Your honor has destroyed our home after all!"

Fording's voice suddenly rose: "Without honor, everything we have is meaningless!"

The hostess angrily broke away the host's arm, looked at the rich furniture around her and said with gritted teeth: "Can your honor allow us to have enough food and let our son have a decent life? Now that something has happened, you don't try to figure out how to get out of the predicament, but when facing the accident, you still have such stupid thoughts?"

Fording would never allow others to tarnish his honor, not even his own wife. Fording glared at his wife: "I have always been like this! Honor is everything to me! You know this, don't act like it's a surprise! Don't you understand that marrying a paladin requires certain sacrifices?"

Fording regretted what he said and wanted to apologize to his wife, but his wife had already burst into tears.

"But I've made many sacrifices. Willingly! Every time you rode off to fight, I kept my mouth shut. I sat here, alone, spending countless hours waiting to hear whether you were alive or dead. Have you ever wondered what it was like for me? I never complained about the days you left us for bureaucratic duties. I knew you had a job to do. I knew people were counting on you. But I counted on you, too, damn it! I kept the words to myself so that you could do your job with honor. I understand sacrifice, Tirio. But the price was too high this time."

Calandra wiped her tears, feeling After calming down a little, she continued with a much colder voice: "Our child is not an adult yet, I can't take him to wander with you. He must get the education that his peers deserve. Although the Hearth Castle is not big, the education level is good. But if we stay here, we will all endure the ridicule and mockery of others, and it will even accompany

us for the rest of our lives. This is not what our child deserves, nor is it what I deserve." Fording wanted to say something, but Kalandra sighed and said, "Okay, stop talking, go pursue your honor. Taran and I must have a normal life."

"Kalandra! Wait!" When Fording just shouted, Kalandra had already run back to her room. Fording heard the sound of the door bolt and her crying.

Fording gently placed one hand on his wife's door and wanted to knock, but how to comfort her? This seemed like a dead end. Fording sighed and slowly walked to the window of the living room. He put his head against the cold glass of the window. He stared at the raindrops splashing on the glass without moving. After being together for so many years, he knew that she would not change her mind. The tricks of fate on him made Fording a little disheartened. He almost lost everything he cared about in the past. Now the only thing he had left in this world was his honor and pride.

After lying on the windowsill for a long time, Fording finally cheered up a little. Fording walked into his study and sat in front of his large and shiny oak desk. He lit a few candles, found a piece of parchment, ink, and a new quill. He wanted to write, but he didn't know what to write. Fording rubbed his temples, and finally wrote whatever came to his mind, filling the parchment with Fording's thoughts. His hands shook as he wrote, and he smeared the ink many times. He poured out all his thoughts and wrote them on the parchment, expressing everything he felt and explaining everything he did. He sat at the desk and wrote until late at night.

Fording looked at the clock. It was still an hour before morning, so Fording sneaked into Taeran's room. Calandra had been crying all the time and fell asleep a few hours ago, so Tirion knew that no one would disturb him. He walked over to where his son was lying, and the child was sleeping peacefully. Curled up comfortably in his blanket, the boy breathed steadily. Fording looked at him lovingly as he slept for a while. He loved the child's innocence and purity. He knew that his son did not deserve a life of being forced to wander. He deserved all the good things that life could offer.

Fording reached into his coat pocket and took out the rolled parchment he had written. When he wanted to put it in, his hands trembled uncontrollably. Fording's emotions began to fluctuate. When he carefully placed the letter under his son's pillow, tears filled his eyes. Maybe one day, the child will understand what he did. Maybe in some way, he will remember me and feel proud, or maybe he will hate him. Tirio patted the child's head and kissed him goodbye on the cheek.

"Goodbye, my son," Fording tried to hold back his tears, "Be a good man."

After that, Fording quietly left there. The moment Fording went out, his wife came out with her hands crossed and prayed for him. Although his wife quarreled with him, she was still worried about her husband.

Hearth Castle was quiet in the early morning, without a single pedestrian. Fording rode his own horse on the street, and only Alton was waiting for him at the city gate.

"I ask one thing of you, take good care of them."

Alton nodded: "I guarantee it with my honor, don't worry."

"Thank you." Fording continued to move forward. This road leads to Stratholme. He decided to defend his honor.