Maria Pumps Herself Up

Once we got to Hirsch, the capital of Vatis, we got an amazingly warm welcome. I had been treated well in Arldat, but it always felt bad. Everyone was my enemy, so I was always on edge. I realized now that it was partially my fault. I had been super angry.

In the palace at Hirsch, none of the servants were snappy with me. Wait, was that all because of Ed and Celes!? They didn’t make demands of me like the townspeople on the way had. Because of that, I had an easier time accepting their welcomes. But, they were so long!

Neverending welcoming parties and banquets. All of the wasted time pissed me off. Without Lucia with me, all I could do was play the perfect Sacred Maiden. And that’s why I’d promised myself that I’d do my best in purifying the Cristallo Sacro. Which is why I wanted to leave — ASAP! Honestly, it was far more comfortable in the castle than it was getting requests from the people outside. But I couldn’t stay here forever! I needed to save the world!

Luckily, it seemed like everyone understood how I felt. Ed went to his uncle, the Grand Duke, to stop the endless stream of parties. Both he and Fer had changed drastically after promising to do their best to earn my trust back. They covered for me publicly, shared information as soon as they got it, and discussed things. I couldn’t trust them that easily, though!

Oh, that’s right. I heard something unexpected while we were in the palace in Hirsch. The Sacred Maiden from 1600 years ago went back to her home, and the method by which she went home had been passed down through the temple in Remora. Everyone was happy when they heard that. I myself was overjoyed that I could actually return home. But before, I would have been even more excited.

Things were different now, though. My happiness didn’t last long. After all, there was something I wanted to find much more than the way back home. Also, it turned out that Ed knew about the Sacred Maiden returning home all along. And the reason he’d hidden it was to surprise me... Not. It was because he didn’t trust that he remembered it well enough.

Everything he knew had been told to him as fairy tales as a young child by his mother, who had been the princess of Vatis. So while he might have remembered details of her adventures, he couldn’t remember much about how she went home. He was a little boy, though, so I couldn’t really blame him.

In Banfield, whether by chance or choice, information about the Sacred Maiden was scarce. The Sacred Maiden from 1600 years ago purified the Cristallo Sacro, and that was basically all of what they passed down. It was horrible, and definitely intentional. Whoever controlled the information was unforgivable. The only thing the monarchy knew was how to summon me. Which means it was their fault. 100%.

After apologizing to me for keeping things hidden, Ed had changed a lot. He didn’t always look composed anymore, instead was being gentle and a bit more friendly. He might have always been tensed up because he was the Crown Prince. I kind of felt sorry for him.

I think I’d changed a lot, too. Before, I had dresses and a carriage. I didn’t fight, and I didn’t even watch. I had refused to camp. But now, my hair was in a ponytail, and I’d changed into a dress that was easier to move in. I still wasn’t brave enough to travel in the carriage with Ed, so I traveled by horse — and by that, I meant that I immediately realized why Lucia said it hurt so much, and moved to the coachman’s stand with Reynard! I started agreeing to camp too, since stopping at inns was wasting time.

Ed and Fer were doing their best to get our trust back, but I wasn’t going to lose to them in doing my best. Everyone was working hard for me, so I had to do everything I could. If Lucia could do it, I could do it too! I won’t do anything that’d make it hard to face her anymore. I’m gonna work hard, so that I can be proud to tell her what I did when we finally meet again.