Lucia Has A Broken Heart

According to the map that Missus Romina drew for us, Sherezo was farther west than Shnoh Mountain. We were closer to Dal Canto than we were to Banfield.

“Should we use the town past Shnoh Mountain as a reference? How far is it from here?”

“Shnoh is about a week’s walk away, maybe faster for ye youngins,” Missus Romina said. “And then past that is, Rathay? Or was it Majido?”

Sir Celes stared at the map as he mumbled, “Once they climbed over the mountains, which village would they head to...”

Rathay and Majido were to the east and west once you were over the mountain. We wouldn’t know which one they went to.

“Lady Romina, which village is closer to Hirsch?”

“Beats me. I’ve never been to the capital. Might be about the same distance.”

“Would anyone in this village have a map?”

“Never heard anyone talk about havin’ one. But yer best bet is the family I was tellin’ ye about before. Even if they do have one, it wouldn’t be recent.”

Sir Celes paled at her answer and said, “We would really like a map for our journey, but... Even just a compass.”

“They’d be the ones with a compass, too. Their boy was a peddler, so he must have one. No one else here ever leaves, so they’d be the only option.”

So it would be difficult for us to get back to the others without stopping by the problem house.

“Ye’d better be prepared before ye get to Dario’s. They might help you if the Captain does a night’s worth of work.”

“No way!” he immediately exclaimed. “I couldn’t do that with someone I didn’t love!”

“Ahaha! You’re purer than I thought! Ye probably have ’em lined up with your face. Lella takes after her mother, so she’s a beauty. Havin’ a go would be a treat to most men. Yer a disappointment!”

“Can we drop this, please...” Sir Celes was at a loss, and the sight made Missus Romina cackle happily.

She turned to me. “Girlie, you’ve gotta do your best, too, for the poor Captain’s sake.”

“Alright, but what can I do...”

“Ye just gotta get the newlywed act perfect. They’d go right for the Sacred Maiden bit, so ye’d better hide that, no matter how effective it’d be. Hehe, don’t look so miserable. Can’t ye work for the man ye love?”

“Lo...!” My cheeks went bright red. The person I love... Wait, I can’t let him know! It’d make it worse for him! “Um, I—”

“What, I’m wrong?” Missus Romina looked like she was having fun watching me panic, but I just had my heart broken! And just a few minutes before, too! Please, be gentle!

“Y-You’re wrong...” I managed to mumble out.

“Lucia.” Sir Celes gave me a serious look. “Do you really hate the idea of us being together that much?”

“No, it’s just... Um, I’d feel bad for your lover, so, um... Ah, but if we don’t, you’ll end up married, right? It’d be best for me to be your breakwater, huh...”

“Lady Romina, let’s go with your plan,” he said, turning back to her. “We need to regroup as soon as possible, so we don’t have time to think of something else.”

“Well, do ye best, Captain. It’d still be easiest for ye to just do it. Keep that in mind when ye get turned down.”

“I’m already about to get turned down, so I’ll try my best.”

After their exchange, the two of them started ironing out the details. All I could do was wrestle with my feelings as I looked at Sir Celes. Even if he’s about to get turned down, he’ll work that hard for his lover... I felt my heart creaking in my chest. It hurt so much. My stomach was also churning.

No, I shouldn’t be thinking about this. I should be focusing on how to get back to Miss Maria. I couldn’t think about Sir Celes. I needed to make sure she knew we were alright as soon as possible.

“I’ll do my best for Miss Maria.”

“Ah... I knew it... You would say that...”

Sir Celes was visibly distressed.

◆ ◆ ◆

The setting that Missus Romina and Sir Celes thought up was this: He and I were a newlywed couple, on a knowingly dangerous journey to see his mother on her deathbed. We were attacked by monsters, and when we scrambled to escape, we fell into the river, where Missus Romina found us.

We’d be going to Mister Dario’s home looking for a map to copy in order to get to his mother in Hirsch as soon as possible. But would they really believe it?

“The clothes yer wearin’ don’t match up with the girlie’s, so wear some of my late husband’s clothes. We can say that your clothes were in tatters. Girlie, mine might be old, but ye get changed, too.”

Missus Romina grabbed some clothes from her drawers and tossed them to us.

“Thank you for all your help.”

“Oh, nothin’s too much for the heroes purifyin’ the Cristallo Sacro. Everything’ll change once the monsters are gone.”

I’m so glad we met Missus Romina first. I changed into the clothing she lent me as I thanked our luck. Now I just needed to try my best at acting. Even if it hurt, I had to do it.