Lucia Goes to Dario’s House

“Let’s get somethin’ in our bellies first. I can’t make much, but I’m hungry. I’ll make something for you too.”

“I can help, if you’d like,” I said.

“Alrighty. Then I’m gonna work ye. Peel that turnip for me. I’ll make some porridge.”

Once we finished planning, Missus Romina headed towards the kitchen. The small kitchen, just big enough for the two of us, reminded me of the home I had lived in with my mother, and I got a bit choked up.

“Oh, you’re pretty good.”

“I did it every day back at home...”

“Yer parents did a good job raising ye. The Captain’d be happy to have a wife like ye.”

I nearly cried when she complimented my mother, but my tears went back in when she mentioned Sir Celes. I wouldn’t be his wife... I was only acting like it, so I wouldn’t do anything like cook for him... No, I had already cooked for him. But that was just cooking food while we camped. It wasn’t cooking for him.

“Sir Celes will definitely find a wife that suits him.”

“Oh, how cold. Kids like ye should be honest. Ye should only get crabby when yer an old lady like me.”

It seemed that Missus Romina saw right through me.

After checking that Sir Celes was far away, I whispered to her, “...Well, having feelings for someone who has someone already is useless.”

“Ye think that? You’re still young, girlie, so ye don’t see it. Or is that you’re too afraid to look?”

Afraid to look? I looked at her, with the knife still in my hand. It was true that I hadn’t wanted to see my feelings for him, but was she telling me that I was still looking away from something?

“Everyone is afraid to be hurt. That’s why they all wanna look away to protect themselves. But there are some things ye won’t get if ye don’t act. Happiness won’t just drop into your lap. If ye really want something, ye’ve gotta go for it yourself,” she said, smiling while she stirred the pot. “I could say the same thing to the Captain.”

◆ ◆ ◆

Mister Dario’s home was a bit of a ways away from Missus Romina’s house.

“I’m comin’ in.” Missus Romina walked in on her own, with Sir Celes and I walking nervously behind her.

“Well if it isn’t Granny Romina. What do you need this ea... What’s with this guy! Did he come for our Lella...!?” The moment the man saw Sir Celes, his eyes sparkled.

Inside the house, there was a middle-aged man with whiskers talking to an older lady with her hair cut short, just like Missus Romina. The house itself was much larger than hers, since she lived alone.

As he leaned in, Missus Romina put out a hand to stop him. “Unfortunately for you, Dario, he’s married. His lovely newlywed bride is with us.”

At her words, Mister Dario was visibly disappointed. “Romina, what’s happening? Who are they?”

“They’re travelers, Irma. Found ’em when I went to get water this mornin’. Anyways, you folks got a map? We wanna copy it.”

“A map...huh. Dario, you had one. Go get it for them.” The older woman with Mister Dario nodded good-naturedly. “You’re a traveler without a map?”

“I apologize,” Sir Celes said. “We were attacked by monsters and fell into the river. Everything we had got washed away.”

“Pathetic!” Though Mister Dario seemed reluctant, it looked as if he was going to let us copy his map. Pulling the map out of a bag on the side of the hearth’s shelf, he tossed it carelessly towards Sir Celes. “D’you even have any paper?”

“Get some for them, Dario. You should be kind to those in need.” He grabbed us some paper and a pen at Missus Irma’s prodding. Thank goodness. “Oh, what a lovely wife he has.”

“They’re newlyweds, apparently. They’re too hot for widows like us to even see.”

“Romina, you’re so mean. We were like that, once upon a time.”

“That’s true!”

The older ladies seemed to be close. I had been ready to get glares acting as Sir Celes’s wife, but the atmosphere was much lighter than I expected.

“But he’s a handsome one. I wish someone like that’d come here for our Lella... Hey, you. Do you have anyone you know? My granddaughter is a beautiful girl, but we’ve got no young men around here. We’re too afraid to let her go across the mountains because of the monsters.”

“I know of a single man in Hirsch, but...” Sir Celes answered Missus Irma’s question. Impressive! He even had friends in other countries! “But he’s a Knight, so it might be hard for him to marry into your family here. Good guy, though.”

“You know a Knight!?”

“Yes...I met him when my mother moved to the capital.”

Oh, right. We were supposed to be going to Hirsch to visit his ailing mother. I need to remember, or I’ll make a mistake somewhere!

“We’re on our way to Hirsch anyway, so I’ll talk to him when we see him.”

“Really?” Missus Irma looked like she could dance, she was so happy.

But Mister Dario didn’t look pleased one bit. “Wait, Mom, I’m not letting Lella go anywhere. We’re not gonna send her to the capital to get married!”

“But think about it, Dario. It would be wonderful to be the wife of a Knight!”

“While it might be nice, we’re far from Hirsch. With the monsters, it’d be hard to ever go see her.”

“But you moved to Setti to marry Flavia, didn’t you?” she said, tilting her head.

“But I moved back, didn’t I!” he shot back.

Oh dear. It seemed that we’d started a fight. As we worriedly watched Mister Dario and Missus Irma go back and forth, the door opened.

“We’re home... Oh, my!”

“Daddy, who’s that!?”

Two women walked in, clearly mother and daughter. The younger one must be Miss Lella. Missus Romina was right, she was beautiful enough that she could be a servant in the castle.

“Did he come for Lella...!?”

“Welcome home, Flavia, Lella. These two are travelers that Granny Romina took in. Unfortunately, Flavia, he’s already married.”

They had been so excited when they saw Sir Celes, but they wilted at Mister Dario’s words. But Miss Lella still looked quite taken with Sir Celes. She roughly tossed the basket she was carrying on the table, and came rushing over to him. The green peas and fava beans that were in it fell on the floor, but she paid them no mind.

“Oh, he’s so handsome! Um, my name is Lella. What’s yours...?”

“My name is Celestino. This is my wife, Lucia.” Introducing himself, he didn’t forget to introduce me too as a bulwark against her.

“Nice to meet you.” I introduced myself, too, but she was so stuck on Sir Celes that she barely paid me a passing glance.

“Mister Celestino. What a wonderful name!”

With red cheeks, she looked up into his eyes, spellbound. Though the shade was different, she also had blue eyes. I recognized this look. Jeanne had the same one when she talked about her lover, and the ladies who always talked about “the Dragonslayer” in the dining hall all had it too.

Sir Celes just smiled at her praise, and pulled me close by the waist. I was surprised by the sudden touch, but I was supposed to be his wife. I smiled, though it might have looked a bit forced. My heart was pounding.

“Flavia, Celestino says he’s going to introduce our Lella to a Knight in Hirsch!”

“Mom! I told you, we don’t want that! I’m not letting her go to Hirsch!” he hissed.

“Honey, is it true that he said he’d introduce her to a Knight?”

“A Knight wouldn’t marry into our family, Flavia. Are you gonna send our only daughter away?”

When Missus Irma brought up the Knight option to Flavia, Mister Dario didn’t wait to shoot it down. It looked like the women were all for introducing Miss Lella to his friend. Even Miss Lella herself looked interested, even though she was still hypnotized by Sir Celes.

“Can you really say he would go for it?” I whispered to him quietly, and he nodded back.

“Of course. Boccardo was already looking for someone to marry. Last time I saw him, he told me to introduce him to a girl once everything was over. So it’s probably fine.”

It looked like he was all for hoisting Miss Lella onto his friend instead. I wonder if it’s really okay? Though I was worried that he’d trouble his friend, I was more worried about the conversation continuing further.

“Mister Celestino, what’s this Sir Boccardo like?” Miss Lella spoke up.

“He’s a good guy.”

“I mean, what does he look like... That kind of thing.”

She seemed interested in Mister Boccardo’s appearance. Of course she would be, after seeing Sir Celes. He’s too handsome, after all!

“He’s a super nice guy. More considerate than most anyone I know, and he’s great at cooking, too. Miss Lella, don’t you think that what’s inside is most important when being with someone?” Sir Celes continued, giving Miss Lella a perfect smile. It seemed he really didn’t want to talk about what Mister Boccardo looked like...

“T-That’s true!”

Entranced by Sir Celes’s smile, Miss Lella was easily tricked. Knowingly using his smile as his best weapon against women... He was kind of scary.

“Isn’t that right, Lucia?”

“Yes, you’re right!”

Sir Celes didn’t let me go, even while they were talking. He must have really wanted to show how close we are to keep her away. I needed to do my best, too... I just didn’t know how.

If we’re a close couple, it would be weird for me to call him “Sir Celes,” wouldn’t it? I thought. What should I call him? Just by his name? Ugh, I don’t think I could do it. I’ll just stay back for now. That would be for the best.

“So, your name is Celestino, yes? Have you just stopped into the village, or are you staying the night?”

Sir Celes’s face soured at Missus Flavia’s question. We had nothing. We’d need at least some food and water to go anywhere. We couldn’t leave without making any travel preparations.

“We’re...”

“We’ve got trouble!”

Just as Sir Celes was about to explain, we all heard a man’s voice screaming outside. It definitely wasn’t normal, so starting with Mister Dario, we all turned towards outside.

“Hey, what happened!?” Mister Dario opened the door, asking the person outside.

“A monster got Giotto!”

“A what!?”