Lucia Chases After Maria

“Miss Maria!”

“Sacred Maiden!”

The moment she heard His Highness’s words, Miss Maria turned and ran.

“Maria!?”

“The Sacred Maiden!?”

Having heard our yelling, the prince and the Commander called out as well. But we didn’t have time to waste on them. Sir Celes and I chased after Miss Maria.

“Miss Maria, please, wait!”

I didn’t care what His Highness was thinking when he said what he did. Whatever it was, it had ended up hurting Miss Maria, and that meant more to me than anything else. She was my friend, after all. I couldn’t leave her alone when she was hurt. Being alone would just make it worse.

“Sacred Maiden, please wait!” Sir Celes called out to her.

He was faster than I, so he was able to catch up to her first. Though he tried to grab her arm, he must have done it too lightly, because she easily shook him off.

“No! Let go of me!”

“Miss Maria!”

She was crying. And as she cried, her heartrending screams drowned out even the nearby river rumbling nearby.

“What is with you people! Don’t touch me! You’re all so selfish!”

I pushed Sir Celes out of the way and ran up to Miss Maria. He backed off, seemingly leaving things to me.

“First you kidnap me, then, once I’d finally decided to start trying, you come out and say that you don’t need me! I don’t get it! Why did you summon me, then!?”

“Miss Maria, we do need you!” I hugged her slender body close as she kept going.

“That’s not what they said! You heard it, didn’t you!? He can’t use me, so he’ll use you instead! That’s horrible! They said I was the only Sacred Maiden! Told me to do my best because I was the Sacred Maiden!”

“There must be more to it—” Sir Celes tried to step in with a sliver of hope, but Miss Maria just shook her head. Her long black hair twisted, cutting through the wind.

“No, no way! You heard too, Celes! I don’t need your self-serving kindness! Ed said he didn’t need me, that he was gonna switch to Lucia!” Miss Maria’s face warped as she pointed and laughed at him. “He’s throwing me away for you! That’s what your prince decided! Laugh at me! Tell me I’m pitiful! Oh, wait. You can’t laugh at this. You get to be unhappy too. Serves you right!”

“Sacred Maiden!”

“This is so stupid! I hate all of you! I loathe all of you! Do you think I’m here because I want to be!? I’ve had enough of this!” After screaming at Sir Celes, she suddenly turned to look at me, her beautiful face twisted. “You... You...!”

“Miss Maria!”

“Why is it you, huh!? Why? I’m... I’m...”

“Miss Maria, surely this is all a misunderstanding. They wouldn’t say something like that without reason. We only heard a bit of the conversation!”

“NO!” she screamed while shoving me away.

“Ah!”

The moment I hit the ground, it crumbled beneath me.

“Lucia!”

“Nooooo!”

Amidst the darkness, I could see the color drain from Sir Celes’s face, and Miss Maria’s crying face so clearly. And, with the sickening feeling of my stomach being in midair, I fell off the cliff.