Lucia Hears Edoardo’s Confession

Once we were finished setting up the camp, we all gathered around the fire pit. Miss Maria was still clinging to me, and Shiro was on her lap. On my other side was Sir Celes. Beside Miss Maria were the Canalis brothers. Eric sat beside Sir Celes. And across from all of us, both His Highness and the Commander sat.

“Please allow me to apologize first.” The first to speak was Commander Agliardi. He bowed his head low, staying like that for a moment. “Miss Lucia, I’m sorry for getting you involved. Celestino, you did a good job of protecting her. I’d also like to apologize to the Sacred Maiden once again. I’m so very sorry for hurting you.”

Looking into the Commander’s golden eyes, I had mixed feelings. I didn’t know what I should ask.

While I was thinking, his Highness, still sitting beside the Commander, started speaking, “I’d also like to apologize. I’m sorry, Lucia. And I’m sorry for deceiving you like that all along, Maria.”

I couldn’t say anything to his unexpected apology. I never imagined that anyone in the royal family would ever apologize to me.

“It’s okay, Ed. I’m okay with it now. Although I still wish you would have said something,” Miss Maria responded. There wasn’t even a hint of any grudge or sadness in her voice. Although she wasn’t as soft on him anymore, she wasn’t hostile, either.

“I’ve already explained everything to the others, but...where should I start?” Touching his lips with his hand, the prince sighed. The sound of the crackling fire echoed loudly. “At the beginning of our journey, Fernando and I were given two orders by my father. One was to purify the Cristallo Sacro — that was the public order — but beneath that, was watching and observing the Sacred Maiden, Maria.”

Watching and observing? I tilted my head in confusion, unable to understand what he meant.

“If the ‘Sacred Maiden’ was useful, she would be made my bride on our return. ‘Her position, light magic, and bloodline would be a great boon for our country,’ he said. He thought that once the trees were purified, the whole world would know her as the ‘Sacred Maiden of Salvation,’ and all countries would unite under us. Also, any children of hers would inherit at least half of her light magic powers. Of course, some of them could be much stronger. Strong mages have a better chance of being born from parents with strong magic. Maria’s magic has no equal. If her power could be passed down, we needed to keep it for ourselves.”

His Highness’s lips drew into a thin smile as he spoke.

“If she was useful, I would be used to keep her under control, take away her freedom, and expend her powers to their fullest for our benefit. That was his plan. So, in order to gain her trust, I spoiled her and won her over.”

Silence hung in the air for a while. Miss Maria, who was still clinging to my arm, tensed up slightly at his words. Shiro squeaked at her, almost as if to comfort her. He must have gotten very attached to her. She lightly petted him as he flapped his little wings.

“But her behavior back in the palace was unfit for a future queen. Even if she was useful as a ‘Sacred Maiden,’ if she wouldn’t work as a ‘queen,’ we were to eliminate her once our journey was over. Then, we were to tell the world that she had gone back to her own world after purifying the Cristallo Sacro.”

“That’s—”

“In order to do that, we needed as few witnesses as possible. So when Maria had a tantrum, I took advantage of it and sent the soldiers home. I knew that it would be dangerous traveling with less fighting power, but I also knew that I couldn’t have her become my queen. At that point, ‘sending her home’ was almost set in stone.”

So that means that when I first met Miss Maria, His Highness and the Commander were already thinking about killing her? My mind went blank from the shock. These people had really been planning on doing something so awful!?

“Father had decided that if he couldn’t use her, he couldn’t let her exist in our world, and ordered her death. But I had memories from my childhood of stories about the Sacred Maiden of Vatis. As you may know, my mother was originally from Vatis. She told me all kinds of things about the Sacred Maiden that weren’t passed down in Banfield. Their Sacred Maiden was summoned from another world, purified the trees, and went back to her own world. Yes, she was ‘sent home.’ The option of not killing her, and just sending her back to her own world was there. Though the Kingdom of Banfield knew how to summon her, the method to return her had been lost. So, unbeknownst to my father, I had decided to search for that method while in Vatis, and if it was true, I would send her home. I’d told this to Fernando, too. This is what we had planned back when we sent the soldiers and servants back.”

“Which means, Miss Maria...”

“Was never in danger, from the beginning. Maria may do what she likes, but she’s a good girl deep down. She’s also not one of our citizens. We couldn’t reward her for saving our world with death.”

I was so relieved when the prince denied it. Thank goodness. I didn’t know how I would have faced either His Highness or the Commander if they had planned on killing Miss Maria.

“Lucia, do you remember the letter that Gaius delivered when you joined us? There was another order from the King there. Maria’s light magic is the power of the Sacred Maiden. But no one had ever heard of a power like yours. Maria’s destroys, while yours does something akin to purifying. And neither of you use crystals. My father set his sights on you. He had already decided that Maria would be killed because of her conduct at the castle. So, his plan was to have her killed as soon as the trees were purified, and use you instead. It would be said that ‘The Sacred Maiden of Salvation’ may have returned home, but she had entrusted her powers to her servant, a ‘second Sacred Maiden,’ who would devote herself to the country. As long as my bride was a ‘Sacred Maiden,’ it didn’t matter which. That was the part that you all heard.”

Telling us all of that, the prince dropped his shoulders, as if he was exhausted.

“I didn’t want to kill Maria. But I also didn’t want to use you as a replacement. The position of the queen would be too much for a normal citizen. I thought the same for Maria. Neither of you are nobles. You’re both too pure to handle the position I’m always in. You have no freedom, and you always have to worry about how you’re seen. It’s just like spending your entire life in jail. Birds should fly in the blue sky, not be imprisoned in gilded cages.”

As His Highness finished his explanation, all we could hear for a while was the crackling of the fire.

It was true. I wouldn’t be able to handle living in the monarchy. Behavior, education, political tactics — I could never manage those kinds of things. Just the thought of being bound like that sent a cold shiver down my spine. But His Highness had always lived like that. When I thought about it, his calling it ‘jail’ sounded much heavier. Being born the Crown Prince, that position and power must have always weighed down on him.

“Your Highness. I’d like to ask. Did you find out how to send the Sacred Maiden home?” Sir Celes broke the silence. “When we inquired at the temple in Remora, we were told it was top secret, and nothing else.”

Hearing his question, the prince looked up again. “That’s right. Details on the summoning of the Sacred Maiden are secret. We couldn’t let the public know how we connected our world to another.”

I looked over to Miss Maria. She wasn’t crying, but she wasn’t cheerful either. All she did was stare silently at the prince as he spoke.

“We did learn about how to send her back. But...we don’t know if we can do it. Everything depends on purifying the Cristallo Sacro.”

“What do you mean?”

“Specific details weren’t passed down to the temple. Just one verse of the legend was left. ‘When the Drop of the Cristallo Sacro is brought together with the hidden stone in the place of beginnings, the Sacred Maiden will return to her world.’”

“The Drop...of the Cristallo Sacro?”

Unfamiliar with the term, Sir Celes and I looked at each other.