“We’re here.” I said as I helped everyone get off the ship, “Thanks again for the sudden ride, Captain. I’m forever grateful.”

“Eh, no worries.” The Captain accepted the payment of five gold coins, “I was headin’ to Cardina anyways, so it really dun’ matter.”

“We’ll then, everyone, let’s go.” Harper took the moment to thank the Captain as well before turning around, “Hm? Edward?”

“Eh? A-Ah! Sorry!” I was spaced out for a second, “It’s nothing to fuss about, really! I’m just a bit…”

“Lingering memories?” Arthur snuck in a glare, “These things happen when you visit the place you ruined a good kid’s life.”

“Grampa!” Anna carefully hit him on the shoulder, “That’s enough of you for now. Another word to Ed about this and I won’t ever speak to you again!”

“Grrr… Hmph!” He turned away with a peevish attitude, “I’m gonna go check the prison out. We might be able to make some shelter out of it.”

Damn, I’m really not feeling good right now. First it was the week long grueling ship ride over to here, add to that Arthur’s recent behavior when it comes to Grim, and now I have to deal with repressed PTSD? This certainly wasn’t how I was expecting Anna and I would be spending our Honeymoon phase… Well, Anna’s supporting me, but in doing so she’s actually drifting further and further away from her Grandfather. I really don’t like that, especially because Arthur is kind of right in a way. I know I messed up, but for him to suddenly act so aggressively around me is really making me feel hurt.

“Geez, Grampa’s really being a pain…” Anna muttered.

“Hey now, don’t say that.” I gave her an awkward smile, “He’s family. These types of arguments happen all the time, right? That being said, if we don’t learn to apologize and let bygones be bygones, we might come to regret it later.”

“Ed, it’s alright to get mad here. Grampa’s the one who’s in the wrong, so don’t worry about it.”

“No, I think…” I paused for a moment, “I think I wouldn’t get mad at him no matter what he said. Arthur’s done so much for me and Grim, so I know that he’s just worried about him is all. Actually, should I send him a letter telling him and Cecily to come visit us here? That way everyone can make amends!”

“No, I don’t think that’d work.” She nodded her head from side to side, “When Cecily left to go find Lune, she was pretty pissed. He’s probably got his hands full with trying to find a way to apologize to her right about now, not to mention the obvious.”

“The obvious?”

“She said her trip should only take about a month or two, but it’s been way longer since then. Frankly, I was worried, so I sent countless letters addressed to her, but she hasn’t replied to a single one.”

I know you sent those letters, silly. I helped you write out half of them after all, since you’re pretty bad with eloquence. Even still, she’s completely right. Lune isn’t exactly known for returning his letters, but Cecily is a completely different case. If she’s not replying, then that means that something is seriously wrong. In any case, this basically makes it impossible for us to let them know the situation back home, not to mention where we are right now.

“Then I think I should…” I wanted to suggest a rather out there idea, but was cut off by Vivia shouting from the distance.

“Hey guys!” She called out to the two of us, “What’ll we do about the food here? I’m really getting hungry!”

“Cra~p…” I put my hand on my head as I realized, “She’s right. This place doesn’t have any food sources, so we’ll have to sail to Cardina for necessities and the like.”

“No worries then.” Anna smiled back, “In that case, we’ll take turns going for food hauls. Since we have enough money from the restaurant’s earnings, not to mention a couple of our restaurant chains in Cardina, going there shouldn’t at all be an issue.”

Wow, talk about positive! Anna’s really trying to keep my morale high, but I’m still pretty worried about Lune and Cecily. Of course, this includes Nelly too, since (I assume) she’s with at least one of them. But the people I’m most worried about aren’t those three, but rather…

“Mine and Grim’s families…” I muttered, “They’re still in Whitehood, so I’m worried if the soldiers are attacking that place as well...”

“Hm? Oh right.” Anna recalled, “That’s also near Stringwood, just a couple kilometers to the West actually. Ooh, now I feel bad. Should we have stopped by them, then?”

Thinking about it a bit more, I finally knew what had to be done. Without a doubt, neither my parents nor my sister would survive if the troops arrived in Whitehood. If I sit here and wait for the war to end, then it’s obvious what the outcome will be. If Grim was here, he’d immediately spring to action, no holds barred, and run to the battlefield without thinking twice. If there’s any way for me to atone for ruining one of his families, then I should do so by saving the family he has left.

“I’m going back.” I said resolutely.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“What?!” She jumped back, “No you’re not! I-Is this about what Grampa said, because if so, just ignore him completely!”

“No, it’s not… Well, it kind of is, but it’s not about his words mainly that I’m returning.” I replied, “I think… I think I need to do this. Oh, but you guys can stay, of course.”

“I don’t care!” She shot back, “What’s the point of me staying here if I’m not together with you?! Listen, if you’re going, then I’m going too!”

“What? No, I can’t have that! You stay, I go. Got it?”

“No!”

We bickered a bit more before a sudden scream of absolute horror filled our ears, prompting us to run to its source. Thankfully, it was just Vivia doing her usual thing, so there wasn’t any real danger to worry about, like we had first suspected. Actually, it seems she found Marina’s resting place, and got scared after opening the casket. Talk about inappropriate.

“Close that this instant!” I shoved her away, “Must you open every container you see? God, this damned idiot princess…”

“Ed, this is…?” Arthur approached.

“Yeah, this is her.” I replied, “This is Grim’s wife.”

***

“B-B-B-B-But… She’s not buried!” Vivia cuddled up to Harper as she refused to take responsibility for opening the casket, “I knew it! That Lune guy’s a real sicko! To not even bury his wife…!”

“Hold it right there.” I stopped her as I showed everyone the engraving on the casket, “See here? He engraved her last words on this plate.”

Brushing off the thin outer layer of dirt on the engraving showed the words “Don’t bury me”, clearing Grim’s name in the eyes of Vivia. Of course, she was still a bit fuzzy as she refused to apologize, but at least the others got the gist of why he put her to rest in such a peculiar way.

“He just did as he was told.” I defended him, ”Although, even if he didn’t write this down, I still would’ve explained it to you, given I heard her say it too.”

“Tch, of course you did…” Arthur clicked his tongue.

“Lune…” Anna put her hand on the casket before remembering, “Mariabelle, no. Marina…!”

As the tears slowly trickled down her cheeks, she tried her best to remain calm before finally letting everything out, falling to the ground as her crying gradually morphed into wailing. Of course, in a way, Marina was also Anna’s friend, even if she was posing as Mariabelle Pandora. The others didn’t know who Marina was, but they knew that she meant a lot to all three of us. Even in his rage, Arthur still put his hand on my shoulder as we stood there to mourn.

“She was avid, her figure gravid…” Vivia’s melancholic voice once again rung out, but we let her finish despite her breaking the moment of silence, “He was tasteful, however wasteful.”

“She met a fool, a fool oh so cruel,

Acted all cool, with his words made her drool.

He said, ”I’ll do it for you, and for you too”

Gave her the world, then bid her Adieu!

Let this be a lesson,

To get is to give,

And give he did not,

Yet the world he still got.

Now still he is greedy, takes all he can,

Hides the mask of a devil behind one of a man.

Devouring the world, hoping for petty change,

Yet the world is unforgiving, it will call him nothing but strange.

And now she sits atop the clouds,

Hugging her child and making frowns.

“Why, oh why did I marry that man?!”

That isn’t a man, my dear. That is a flan.”

...Hm?

“A flan?” I questioned the final word.

“Mmm, hungry…” The edge of her mouth drooled, “Sorry, call me a wagon, because I can’t operate without fuel. If you wish to hear the rest of the song, gimme food!”

“Ah, no.” Anna stammered, “You’ve said enough.”

Really, that songstress… She’s constantly painting Lune in a negative light here. Or wait, that demon dressed as a man, is she talking about me, y’know, seeing as I was the one that shot her? Then again, knowing how spontaneous she is, there’s a high possibility that she didn’t mean anything when singing this song. It is catchy though, despite the rather grim lyrics.

“Vivia, thank you for the performance.” Harper approached her, “Although I don’t appreciate you badmouthing Lune so much in your songs.”

“Right?” I agreed, “You haven’t ever met him before, so why assume he’s such a bad person?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” She grit her teeth, “He had everything, yet he threw it all away. He had a home and a family who he abandoned, a friend who he tossed away, a lover who he cheated on, then a wife he couldn’t protect.”

“Well, that last part really wasn’t his fault…” I gave a weak argument.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m saying that him losing his wife and child is obviously some sort of divine karma for being so greedy. Yet what I don’t like at all is how you all romanticize such a disgusting person.”

“Romanticize?” Arthur raised his voice, “How about you stop jumping to conclusions if you have no brain to jump with? Lune is certainly transient in his way of life, but that is no reason to assume him to be some sort of demon.”

“Eh, who cares?” She shrugged back, “Ow! This damned Willow tree! A branch just fell on my head!”

“Heh, guess Marina heard you talking smack.” I teased her a bit, “Now come on. The Sun’s setting, so let’s head inside and sleep.”

“But the food!” Vivia whined.

“It’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Some pretty nasty wind is blowing, so sailing out to Cardina now would be a death wish.”

Dejected, she slumped forward as she followed along the path to the prison. Entering the prison, we were greeted by quite the surprise, as it seems Grim had a whole little area set up to live in. How lucky!

“Hm hm, hm hm hm hm hm, hm hm~!” Anna could be heard humming the song Vivia previously sang.

“Catchy, isn’t it?” Vivia donned a smug grin.

“Eh?” Anna’s cheeks lit up, “N-No! Well, maybe just the melody…”

It was kind of cute, Anna’s humming I mean. I knew that if I had teased her though, she’d stop doing it, so I silently sat back and hoped no one would point it out. Too bad Vivia’s smug aura proved itself too strong, otherwise I’d get to listen to my fiancée’s beautiful serenade for hours…