Back when things were still alright, sometime during Meil’s jail time, Edward was busy carrying all of the boxes that contained the food for the restaurant.

“Puah!” I finally put down the boxes I’ve been hauling all day, “There! All shipments delivered in full! Damn, my back’s killing me!”

“Good work today.” Anna smiled as she greeted me over the counter, “Here’s the keys to the house, go take a shower and rest.”

Ah, if it wasn’t for her beautiful smile to wait for me at the end of each workday, I don’t think anything else would’ve made working in the restaurant worth it like this! Dammit, Anna’s a girl, and Arthur’s way too old to be carrying boxes around, so that only leaves me as the sole person capable of pulling this off. Even still, I really wish we could employ some workers, but Stringwood is surprisingly closed off. I basically know all of the people here after living here this long.

“Don’t worry, your shift ends soon anyways, so I’ll wait for you.” I sat myself down on an empty table, “That way we can head home together.”

“Geez,” She handed me a glass of lemonade as she sat down across from me, “Does it really mean that much to you for us to go home together?”

“Of course it does!” I said as if it was a matter of course, “The one thing I look forward to most in the day is seeing your smile, so at least let me have this.”

Turning away with her ears turning red, she giggles to herself before continuing the conversation. Heh, she thinks she’s being coy, but anyone would tell that that got to her. That’s my girlfriend right there!

“Well alright then, but you’ll have to wait another fifteen minutes before then.” She said, “I have to close up shop, not to mention count our revenue for the day.”

“Then I’ll count the revenue for you, so you can just focus on…!”

“Ed, calm down!” She had me sit down at once, “Seriously, what’s got you so jittery? Is there a reason why you’re so eager to go back home or something?”

Of course there is, but I can’t tell you that just yet. Heh, actually, I had a ton of money saved up from working here, so I recently visited a jewelry store a couple days ago and got us some engagement rings! That’s right, I’m thinking of popping the question tonight over a lovely candle-lit dinner! It’s gonna be the best moment in her life!

“Just don’t worry about it.” I tried to stifle my smile, “Can’t a guy help out his girlfriend every now and then?”

“Hm…” She seemed a bit dejected, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry about that. Then, if you don’t mind…”

And with that, we were done in no more than five minutes. After asking Arthur if he’s gonna stay behind or go home with us, Anna was met with a surprising response. Well, surprising for her at least, but for the two of us it was all planned.

“No, don’t worry about it.” He turned to me, “You two kids have fun. I’ve still got some business to do here.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, let us help…” Anna said, almost derailing our plan.

“No!” Both Arthur and I jolted, “Erm, w-what I mean is, Arthur’s work here involves a lot of stuff to do with the kitchen, right? So I don’t think we’ll be of any use to him, given we only know a few of his signature dishes.”

“Come on, Ed, didn’t you say you’re willing to help out?” Anna puffed out her cheeks at me adorably.

“Oh don’t give me that look!” I went to turn around, “Arthur, help me out here!”

“He’s right, Annie.” Arthur saved me in the last moment, “There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll head home after I do everything I have to here, so don’t worry about me.”

“But Grampa…” She said anxiously, “What if that illness returns again while you’re alone? Who’ll be there to help you if that happens?”

“If that happens, then so be it!” He tossed us out of the restaurant, “I’ve lived through plenty of summers, so I don’t have any qualms about not living through this one. But you kids have your whole lives ahead of you, so how about you spend it worrying about giving me some great-grandchildren?”

“G-Grampa!” She blushed.

“Arthur!” I tried to say something more, but was met with the restaurant doors slammed in my face.

“…”

“…”

“Geez!” I rolled my eyes as we walked home, “That Arthur, he stepped way out of line with that comment!”

“Hm? O-Oh yeah, totally…” Anna looked a bit distant.

Wait, don’t tell me she agrees with him? Certainly, I love her with all my heart, but I’d make a terrible father! Not only that, but there’s a certain order to these things! I get Lune adopted Nelly way early on, and him and Cecily somehow made it work, but I don’t intend to be as wild as him. Add to all this the single most important factor – money! We’re well-off, but certainly not financially stable enough to start a family!

“Do…” I bit my tongue while thinking of asking the question, “Do you think we should start trying for one? A kid, I mean.”

“I…” She was also quite embarrassed after being asked such a question, “I’d like that… I think.”

“Oh.”

“Mhm.”

The air was really awkward. Neither of us knew how to keep the conversation’s flow going, and we were steadily approaching the house. Not good, with how I phrased it, she’s gonna think I’ll pin her down the moment we pass the front door, but that wasn’t the plan! I wanted to propose to her first and foremost, but if I do it now, she might just think I’m doing it purely because of the kid! Dammit kid, you’re not even conceived and you’re already causing me problems!

***

“Whoa, what was that?” Anna could hear a distant boom, “Sounded like a bomb went off or something.”

“Hm, dunno.” I brushed off the worry, thinking only about how to go about proposing.

“No, this is serious.” She was adamant, “It was a really scary sound, let’s go check it out.”

We don’t have…! No wait, that’s perfect! If we go ahead and check out the source of that sound, it’ll buy me some time to think up a proper plan B! Yes, looks like luck is on my side, after all!

“You guys!” The neighbor ran up to us from the direction of the sound, “Where’s your old man?!”

“Whoa, hey neighbor. Calm down, he’s in the shop.” I replied.

“Crap, what’s happening…” He sounded worried, “Look, did you hear that loud boom? I was outside the city gates when I heard it, so I saw what happened.”

“And?” Anna pressed him for answers.

“And – it’s really bad! Almost a thousand soldiers wearing a blueish uniform were spotted approaching the city at alarming speeds! The vehicles they were using didn’t look like transport wagons either. It was something way more deadly-looking. Warn everyone you can, get your old man, and get out of here!”

Eh? D-Did he say… a thousand men are approaching the city?! Crap, why today of all days… No, what I mean is – why would they attack us at all? And a blueish uniform… The only countries in the world whose armies use a blue uniform are The Kingdom of Carmen and Umoris’ Navy, so logically speaking, it’s gotta be the former, which means…!

“We’re finished.” I resigned my fate as I sighed.

“Not the time to mope, idiot!” Anna snapped me out of it, “Come on, we gotta move! You get our passports, I’ll go get Grampa! Hop to it!”

Shit. Shit, shit, shit! What the hell is going on? Everything was going swell up until that boom, so what’s the deal? Crap, the keys… There we go. Okay, the passports should be in the bedside drawer. Ooh, dammit, what’ll become of this house? Will it… get broken into? Should I waste time in locking the front door? Crap, I can’t think straight!

This bed… Just this morning I woke up to Anna’s face while sleeping in it. And all our clothes in the closet, do I grab any of them? No, we don’t have time, I’ll just grab our savings… Shit! I spent it all on the rings! Damn it all, damn it all!

“I don’t care anymore!” I yelled out as I took some essentials and booked it to the restaurant, “All we need is the passports and some pocket money, right? Screw everything else if it means we die here!”

“Ed!” Anna yelled out, holding her grandfather by the hand, “Ed, did you get everything?”

“Yeah! Come on, we’ll leave through the Western gate, we’ll take the shortcut-!”

Just then, it was as if time itself had stopped. Turning the corner as we made our way to the Western gate, I immediately backtracked as I saw the army in blue standing menacingly in line, blocking off the exit. Telling these two to keep quiet while we made our way to the Southern exit, we noticed just how empty the streets had gotten. It was a bone-chilling sight, but at least it meant everyone is safely in their homes…

“Teacher, what’s going on?” A group of students from the nearby school Uncle Ridge and Graal built could be heard just around the corner.

“Kids, just do as these people say.” The female teacher quietly sobbed as the soldiers held their guns firmly pointed at them.

Wait, what’s going on? Are these soldiers seriously gonna threaten whoever it is that they wanna threaten by taking hostages? No way, we need to…!

Just as I was about to hop into action, Arthur grabbed me by the hand and refused to let go. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Arthur, let go.” I tried to pry his grip off of me, “If I act fast, I can-!”

“Shut the hell up and stay there.” He gave me a serious glare, “This isn’t our fight. There’s nothing we can do for them anymore.”

What does he mean? Of course these soldiers aren’t going to actually shoot a whole class of kids? They’re not even 10 years old, for Gods’ sakes! Dammit, if Grim was here, he’d already have rounded up every soldier in the city, so why is Arthur being so adamant about not letting me…?

“Huh?” I heard a loud bang echo throughout the streets, followed by the cries of the young ones, “No, this isn’t…?!”

“Teacher!” One of the kids yelled out, mere moments before getting shot herself.

“Noo, Mira!” Another boy yelled out for his classmate, before getting filled with lead.

“Mommy, where are yo-?” Other kids could be heard calling out for their parents, before they too were turned into a statistic.

What the hell, w-what the…?! Oh God… No, no! These people didn’t, no, they couldn’t…! I-I’m gonna be sick…

“What the fuck…?” Anna lost her balance as she fell to the floor, “Those kids, those poor kids…”

“…Hmph.” Arthur turned around to head back, “As I said, there’s nothing you can do for them. Just be glad I stopped you, otherwise my granddaughter would’ve become a widow without even marrying yet.”

“Dammit, you asshole!” I lashed out at him, “How the hell do you know I couldn’t have changed anything?! Because of you, those kids are…!”

“Me, you, those rat bastard soldiers – does it matter who is at fault?” He clicked his tongue, “They were caught, so they were eliminated. This tragedy now marks the start of a war.”

“A w-war?” Anna asked as I helped her get up.

“Yes. And if we don’t run out of here in time, Ed will no doubt be drafted into our puny army as he’s of age, leaving Anna and I to fend for ourselves. Now think about our next course of action carefully, boy, seeing as you pride yourself on your smarts so much.”

“…Let’s go back to our home for now.” I had no other choice but to listen to his advice, “The people here don’t seem to be targeting anyone in their houses. This was probably just a demonstration of power, no matter how cruel it was.”

“Good. Now you’re finally starting to use your brain.” He sounded satisfied.