“What’s going on here?!” Shawn finally ran up to the scene, “By the Gods, what did you do to this man?!”

“Heh, we just-” The attackers tried to flaunt their victory, but Shawn wasn’t having it.

“Guards! Cuff them and escort them out of the premises! And everyone else who attacked these two as well! I don’t want to see any of you anywhere near the Palace ever again!”

“Lune? Lune!” Cecily ran up to Lune’s unconscious body, “Meil, don’t let Nelly see this!”

“On it! Someone get a doctor!” I yelled out, still making sure that Nelly’s eyes were covered.

“U-Uncle Meil? What’s happening?” Nelly asked anxiously.

“Don’t worry and just keep calm.”

“B-But Uncle Meil…” She noted, “How can I keep calm if even youw hands awe shaking?”

“…Keep calm.”

Dammit, everything’s gone wrong! I shouldn’t have hesitated! Why did I change plans last second!? Lune, don’t die! I somehow used Materialize in the last moment on something that wasn’t a button, but that was just a fluke. If only… If only I had trained harder back in Oden, then maybe I could’ve saved the both of them! Fuck!

“Doctor!” Cecily ran up to the people that put Lune on a stretcher, “Is he going to be okay?!”

“Ma’am, please let us through. We haven’t got much time to act.”

At these rather grim words, they left the premises, and we weren’t even allowed to follow them. At least the medical staff is taking care of his injuries, but Lune shouldn’t have had that happen to him to begin with. It was because of my stupid faux justice that he got hurt to this degree… No, it wasn’t me! It was…!

“Silvia…” Cecily grinded her teeth.

We both knew what had to be done, so we dropped Nelly off at her and Cecily’s room and ran to find Silvia. That bitch thinks she can do whatever she wants because she’s Shawn’s daughter?! Oh, we’ll teach her a good lesson in taking responsibility for her actions…!

“Oi!” Cecily shouted at the top of her lungs as soon as she saw her, “Get your ass over here, wench!”

“Humu,” Silvia chuckled as if on a pedestal, “What’s got you so mad? I set up a fun little joint activity for you and your dearest, and you come here shouting at me?”

I was expecting a back and forth argument between these two fierce women, so I was only thinking of possible comebacks and retorts to Silvia’s insults, but apparently Cecily was thinking of a more literal case of revenge. It was for only a brief moment, but I had noticed a small pocket knife whizz right past me and head straight into the direction of Silvia.

“Wha-!?” She barely dodged it, “Hah, don’t you remember? Harming me would lead to all of you being banned and kicked out of the Palace immediately!”

“So what?” Cecily said cooly, “I have no more business here.”

“But can you say the same thing for your dearest?” Silvia asked rhetorically, “He’s quite injured, the Palace’s infirmary is his only chance to survive those dastardly injuries.”

“Tch!” Cecily clicked her tongue, “Damn you…!”

“Don’t you get it? I’m untouchabl-!”

Just when Silvia was ready to unleash another one of her annoyingly high pitched laughs, another knife had come flying directly at her face. This one was noticeably harder to dodge, and whilst ducking for her life, Silvia’s long hair that lagged behind her scalp had gotten cleanly chopped into something more closely resembling a bob-cut.

“Certainly, I can’t touch you.” Cecily explained, “But a hairdo isn’t anything malevolent, right?”

I stifled my laughter as much as I could after Silvia glared wholeheartedly at me, but what surprised me was her reaction most of all.

“Waaaah!” She started wailing, “Daddyyy~! They ruined it! They ruined my beautiful hair!”

“Oh, put a lid on it, would ya?” Cecily threw another knife at her face, angling it just right so that the handle hit her square in the face, knocking her out.

“Just how many of those knifes do you have on you?” I dared to ask.

“More where that came from.”

“O-Oh…”

“Now, let’s go visit Lune, okay?”

***

Actually, since Lune’s state was still uncertain and the doctors were still busy doing who knows how many surgeries on him to try and fight for his life, we still weren’t allowed to pay him a visit. Thus, we decided to go and check up on Nelly. This way we wouldn’t be leaving her all on her lonesome, plus when we would be allowed to visit we’ll be able to do so all together.

“Mamaaa~!” Nelly rushed to hug her mom as soon as we unlocked the door, “Awe you gonna disappeaw?!”

“Oh dear,” Cecily chuckled, “Where did that come from? Mommy’s never leaving your side.”

“So whewe’s daddy?” Nelly asked with a teary-eyed expression.

“Dad is…” She tried to think up an excuse, but to no avail. That’s when I stepped in to fill in for her.

“Lune just got lost wandering about the Palace, just like you!”

“Weally?”

“Yeah!” I tried to fake a smile as much as I could, “But he stubbed his toe on a nearby table, so he’s going to the doctor’s to get it treated. Man, he was so funny screaming in pain over such a little injury!”

God, sorry about making your godforsaken injury look like a joke, Lune! Oh no, even Cecily’s giving me a horrified look! I’m not seriously making fun of your lover, woman, I’m just trying to be a good Uncle!

“Hahahaha!” Nelly began laughing, “Is that what I heawd? Daddy’s weally funny!”

“Ha-ha, I know right?” Cecily tried to play along, but failed miserably.

“Mommy, you don’t seem too happy about it as Uncle Meil is?”

Crap, I can’t lie to save my life, Cecily whispered, I need to try my hardest though, for Nelly! “T-That’s because err… Mommy loves your daddy with all her heart, so I’m still worried about him!”

She was blushing with all her might while saying this, which I imagine Lune would certainly enjoy seeing, but now’s not the time for that. Eh, Nelly seems satisfied with that answer, so I’ll give Cecily a passing mark in lying 101 for now. But never mind that, someone’s at the door.

“Miss Cecily?” We opened the door to a doctor with a bloodied coat, “We did as much as we could, but…”

“Can we see him?!” She interrupted him.

“Of course, but do keep in mind that something is… off about him. I don’t mean to sound rude, but I’ve seen how your husband behaves usually from the entrance ceremony debacle, but right now he’s…”

Pushing the doctor aside, she ran as fast as her legs could take her whilst carrying Nelly in her arms. Sprinting through hallway after hallway, she practically ran the entire length of the Palace in one full sprint just to make it to the infirmary.

“Lune!” She kicked open the door.

Following right behind her, I saw an almost empty room that resembled a white purgatory. It was cold, quiet, barren of almost all life. This was it, the infirmary where Lune was being treated. There were a total of twelve beds for potential patients, but only Lune’s was occupied. Looking at him, well, we actually couldn’t see him at all, since his whole head was bandaged up to the point where not even his hair could be seen. He was wearing a hospital gown, but it was all bloody from the surgery. What a terrifying state, the doctors didn’t even have time to change him into something more presentable.

“Shhh…” Lune put his finger to where his mouth would be, “Didn’t you know, Cecily? You’re supposed to be quiet in a hospital.”

“Daddy!” Nelly ran up to her father’s bed crying. “Why awe you so bandaged up? What happened to youw toe?!”

“My toe?” He asked with a raised tone, “Oh, I see what you two did. Right, I stubbed my toe hard. Like, it hurt a butt ton! Your daddy was overreacting so hard to the smallest of injuries, so the doctors had to shut me up by bandaging my head!”

Whoa, now that’s lying! Cecily should take some classes from him. Actually no, lying isn’t good, so I don’t know how to feel about this. In any case, he was quick on the uptake regarding the shallow lie we made up for Nelly, so thankfully she’s not as worried anymore.

“Lune!” I ran to squeeze his hand, “I’m so sorry! I’m sorry for picking Cecily over you!”

“Meil…” Cecily said.

At this, Lune squeezed my hand with his four-fingered one, “You did good. I’ll recover in due time, but if you didn’t Materialize that wall around her, she could never get her maidenhood back. Thank you for making the right choice.”

“But Lune!” I tried to talk, but he put his finger to my lips.

“Let’s leave it at that, Ed.”

…Ed? As in, the guy he traveled with before going to Sibirus? That Ed? Does he think I’m Ed somehow? Was that just a slip of the tongue? Could this be what the doctors meant by “There’s something off about him?”. Oh, but his head did split open when he took that final stomp…

“Haha, dad, you silly billy!” Nelly giggled, “Uncle Ed’s not hewe! You’we talking to Uncle Meil!”

“…” Lune kept quiet, “Carter hated vegetables, right?”

“What?” Cecily raised an eyebrow before answering, “He did, but what does that have anything to do with the current situation?”

“…” He ignored the question, “Aaron was the one that taught me about how babies are made, so really, he’s the one at fault for me cheating on you.”

Cecily couldn’t help but giggle at his jokey defense, but there was still a cloud of doubt over her disabling her from being able to truly laugh with him, “Lune, you’re scaring me. Stop that already.”

“…” Yet again, he ignored her, “Marina’s in Heaven now, though. Y’know, I don’t regret what happened between Marina and I. Not one bit.”

Cecily’s face drooped down completely after hearing this. I could feel her soul being crushed by these words. Lune, what the hell are you saying all of a sudden?! You never told me this! Seriously, now’s not the time.

“She’s the love of my life, she is. We were to have a child together, she was a couple months in, the bump starting to show on her tummy.”

“Daddy?” Nelly questioned her father, but he persisted in his testimony.

“When Ed came to Lichtenstelle, I really couldn’t wait to tell him about it. I was sure he of all people would understand. Did he tell you what happened next, though?”

“…You two got into a fight and he accidentally shot Marina.” She revealed the truth behind Marina’s death, “He cried the whole time while he was telling me that. He said he and Anna met her before when they were in Cardina to find a cure for Arthur’s illness. From the way he said it, it really sounded like she wasn’t a bad person…”

“Arthur's ill? Never mind, we'll talk about that later, just know that she’s not a bad person at all. She’s the love of my life.” Lune continued, “But you know what? You’re the love of my life as well, Cecily.”

“…Dummy, you can’t have two loves in your life.”

“Well, this dummy at least tried…”

At this, his grip loosened and his head fell back onto his pillow, scaring everyone in the room. Because his face was bandaged, we couldn’t tell his facial expression at all, so we all assumed the worst due to the timing of it all.

“Lune? LUNE?!”

“…” He barely mustered up the strength to raise his finger to where his lips would be, “Shh, what did I say about being quiet in a hospital? I’m tired, my head’s freaking killing me, so let me rest a bit…”

After a heavy sigh, we all returned back to our dorms, but not before Cecily made sure to give Lune a slap to the pec for scaring her like that (She originally wanted to slap him on the face, but that’d probably kill him, so she had to make something up on the spot).