Once everyone gave us all of their blessings, our wedding reception ended. After watching everyone else leave the room, Sir Celes and I, who were staying in the castle that night, were alone. Not for long, though. The main reception seemed to have ended as well, because Miss Maria and His Majesty came, dressed up gorgeously.
“Luciaaaa! I’m tiredddddd, comfort me!” she cried.
“You did well. It was hard, wasn’t it?”
“I’m sick of shaking old guys’ hands! And my face is all stiff!”
“I’m sorry, Maria.”
“It’s not your fault, Ed. And I need to get used to it, or it’ll suck when I get back. That’s what it means to be Queen, right? I gotta keep it together if I’m your queen! And I’m good at putting up appearances.”
“...Oh, Maria!” Moved by her words, King Edoardo clung to her. How was she so cool?
“And... I’m going back home tomorrow, right? I want to do things properly,” she said, lowering her tone.
We all went silent. Indeed, she was going home to her original world tomorrow. It was a good thing, but it also made me very lonely. Her existence had become that important to all of us.
“I’m sorry for making you wait this long.”
“I waited because I wanted to wait. Hey, don’t cry! You need to see me off with a smile tomorrow!” She pinched my cheeks, pulling them up into a smile. It actually hurt, but I held back. “Smiiiiile! You’ve gotta smile, Lucia! Women need their charm!”
“...Hm, that smell. Um, is Mari drunk?” I asked, looking at His Majesty.
He nodded, muttering a quiet “Slightly... Very.”
As we spoke, Miss Maria went off to bother Sir Celes, red-faced. “Celes! You! You’d better treat her well! If you make her cry, I swear, I’ll come hunt you down wherever you are — other world or not!”
“I won’t make her cry,” he replied coolly.
“Liar! Lucia always cries when she’s with you! Why won’t she cry with me!? It’s! Not! Fair! Why is it all you!?” She grabbed him by the collar, shaking him. It seemed everyone had a bone to pick with Sir Celes today. “Give Lucia baaaaack! She’s my best friend! I’m taking her with me, so give her baaaaackkkk!”
“You can’t! I couldn’t take it if you took her away!”
“I’m taking Lucia and Shiro and going home! I can’t bring Ed, since he’s a king, but Lucia is fine, right!?” Miss Maria started crying, pushing Sir Celes away before lunging towards me. “Luciaaaaa! Don’t forget about me! Absolutely do not forget about me, okay!?”
“I’ll never forget you. I’ll remember everything you did for us, and everything we’ve ever talked about. They’re all my treasures,” I said, hugging her as she sobbed. “I was happy that you believed I was still alive.”
“Yeah...”
“And do you have any idea how moved I was to see that you’d cut your hair for me?”
“Noooo...”
“And we’ve talked a lot since I’ve come back to Arldat.”
“I wanted to talk more...”
“I love you. No matter when or where, I’ll always love you, Mari. I love how you’re so straightforward, crying or getting mad for other people. It bothers me that there’s not more that I can do for you, after you did so much for our world, even though you were afraid.” I brushed the tears from her obsidian eyes, before giving her a smile. “I know you’ll definitely be back, so I’ll believe and wait. Just like you believed I’d come back, and waited for me. I’ll keep waiting, no matter how long it takes.”
As we took each other’s hands, I saw Sir Celes and His Majesty smile from behind us. Seeing them made Miss Maria smile, too.
“Wait for me, okay?”
“I’ll wait as long as it takes.”
And that was how my last night with Miss Maria ended.
✦ ✦ ✦
The next day’s weather was beautiful. As I looked up at the cloudless blue sky through the window, I was filled with both happiness and sadness. Today, Miss Maria would leave our world. I was happy that she’d finally be going home, but the fact that I was parting from someone I loved made me equally lonely. But it wasn’t going to be an eternal goodbye. I wanted to see her home with a smile. As I thought of her, I felt embarrassed for nearly crying.
Miss Maria would be greeting the citizens as the Sacred Maiden before returning from the same room she was summoned to. Since there was a chance she’d be sent somewhere completely different if she activated the magic circle from anywhere but the originating room, she wouldn’t be leaving in front of everyone.
We’d be saying goodbye to her in the exact same place she came, at the exact same time she arrived. She would go home at the last instant of the morning, so we only had a few hours left.
After knocking on the door three times, Sir Celes popped his head in. “Are you done getting dressed?”
The moment I saw his handsome face, my cheeks started burning. T-This is kind of embarrassing! We’d seen each other every day, but now that our relationship had changed, I was slightly, no, very self-conscious!
Possibly because I was blushing, Sir Celes went red too. We blushed as we stuttered out a conversation.
“Y-Yeah, I just finished...”
“Y-Y-You look nice! Mhm! I’m not used to seeing you wear make-up! It’s kinda... Um... This is embarrassing! Ah, but your gown looks really cute! Pink suits you!”
The dress he praised was one I picked out with Miss Maria. Thanks to her, she had more gowns made for me along with my wedding dress, and this was the one we had decided I’d wear to see her off. I wasn’t used to wearing a gown, so I felt uncomfortable, and I knew I’d be awkward in front of other people.
“Let’s get going, then.”
“Okay,” I replied, taking Sir Celes’s offered arm as we headed towards the room where everyone else was waiting.
“Lucia!” Miss Maria called out to me as soon as we entered the room. Though she usually wore gowns, today she was in an outfit from her original world. Her legs, I can see her legs!
She didn’t seem to care about what she was wearing, but all of the men in the room were looking away from her. Of course they were! Her thighs were on display! Even I didn’t know where to look!
“Look at my uniform! Isn’t it cute?”
“Miss Maria... Your legs...”
“Oh, not you too! What’s wrong with showing my legs? Don’t worry about it! And, ahem, my name!”
She spread her pleated checkered skirt and gave me her usual bright smile. She said not to worry about it, but... I couldn’t not worry about it!
“I told you that even Lucia would be shocked, so you should at least cover your...”
“Why should I? I’m me! I thought so with the hair thing, but this world is way too strict on women. Shouldn’t we be more free? If no one does it, I will. And it’d be nice if someone copied me. If there was a cultural reason for covering your legs, that’d be fine, but if it’s just to hold people back, wouldn’t it be good to try to change it?”
She flipped her shortened black hair as she laughed confidently. She really was always so true to herself. It made me smile.
“You look great, Mari.”
“Of course I do! See, girls really do get fashion! I say it’s fine, so look! Look, look, look at me!”
“Mari, I don’t think you should do that...” As I tried to hold Miss Maria back, I finally exchanged looks with His Majesty. Of course he wouldn’t want other men to see his wife’s legs.
“I’d prefer if you hid them just for me,” he said.
“Oh, geez, I guess I will, then.” She smiled happily as King Edoardo put his own cloak over her shoulders. “But you’re looking hot today, Lucia! You’re so loved. You’re a married woman now!”
Everyone seemed relieved when her legs were hidden behind His Majesty’s cloak. Miss Maria didn’t seem to notice though, and kept poking my cheeks and nudging me in the stomach with her elbow.
“Mari, are you still drunk?”
“Of course not. That wore off ages ago. I only drank because I mistook it for juice, so it didn’t last long.”
I realized something was off with her high spirits. While she was usually lively, she was never this off-the-walls.
“You don’t have to force yourself, Mari. I love you for being true to yourself. You don’t have to act all cheerful in front of us,” I whispered quietly to her. She stopped completely as her beautiful eyebrows drooped sadly.
“But I’ll cry otherwise,” she whimpered.
“You’re allowed to cry. You don’t have to smile and put on the Sacred Maiden or Queen act in front of all of us. We want to see your normal self.”
“Luciaaaaa...”
She cried, hugging me tightly. But at the same moment, four knocks on the door from an official told us that it was time to go.
“...Let’s get going.”
“Okay.” When she raised her head, there were still small teardrops clinging to her long eyelashes. But she still smiled, stretching herself out. “Let’s go!”