Lissa ❧ Cleric of the Halidom of Ylisse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
didntaxyou) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
synergetic2023-08-23 05:32 am
didntaxyou) wrote in synergetic2023-08-23 05:32 am
Entry tags:
Prince of Fire Emblem: Three-Ring Circus
So, not how she expected to spend her day.
"We have to get this done by mid-afternoon if we're going to have time to eat afterward, and for me to still have tea with Maribelle..."
She's walking, but she stops short at the remembrance of her friend.
"Ooh, someone's gonna have to tell her, huh? She should hear it from me."
She glances back at Bunta, expecting him to be following her as she navigates the castle town. Several people recognize their princess and raise their hands or hats, which she acknowledges with cheerful return waves or personal calls as she goes, but plenty of others see no significance in the presence of a girl in a plain cleric's habit, walking down the street.
"Wait, what should she hear from me?" She gives him an almost pleading look. "Should I... be honest with Maribelle? Or not?"
"We have to get this done by mid-afternoon if we're going to have time to eat afterward, and for me to still have tea with Maribelle..."
She's walking, but she stops short at the remembrance of her friend.
"Ooh, someone's gonna have to tell her, huh? She should hear it from me."
She glances back at Bunta, expecting him to be following her as she navigates the castle town. Several people recognize their princess and raise their hands or hats, which she acknowledges with cheerful return waves or personal calls as she goes, but plenty of others see no significance in the presence of a girl in a plain cleric's habit, walking down the street.
"Wait, what should she hear from me?" She gives him an almost pleading look. "Should I... be honest with Maribelle? Or not?"
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But this was going to be their reality for... well, a while at least. Up until she found someone else. However... however long that might take.
The thing she really wanted was for the king to go back to being her brother, the serious but indulgent man he'd been before falling ill.
"I guess I want to look pretty in new jewelry," she said, but still a little half-hearted.
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"Well, let's go shake things up then," he says as he releases her hand and flashes a wild grin before walking for the transaction desk. "Ishimitsu! We're ready. Nice seeing ya again."
"Yes, you as well! Thank you for stopping by and supporting our business. Please send my regards to King Yukimura."
"Yep yep." A couple of minutes of signing papers, sharing the king's seal for the invoice, and the clerk hands Bunta one claim form for the custom order to be filled as well as two ring boxes, both of which go into his pocket. One of them, of course, is empty.
"Ready?" He asks Lissa.
1/2
Because jokes aside, it was... going to be real. Or not real. Everyone would think it was real, except Seiichi's friends. She didn't know what he'd say about Maribelle.
But she smiles at Bunta as they exit. She feels weird about the whole thing, but knowing he's going to be going through it with her-- that's reassuring in a lot of ways!
2/2
"Bun!" she exclaimed. "A fond farewell is all you were going to give me? I had to hear from Jackie that you were back in town."
She immediately turns to smile at Lissa. The royal family is a great patron of the Rikkai National Opera House, and the princess' down-to-earth cuteness was enough of a charm point that she wasn't going to spoil any fun she was having as a normal girl.
"I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet," she said, smilingly, and technically accurate. She knew Bunta had that good job from the king, and all the attendant security-- it wasn't a surprise to see him being a discreet bodyguard for the princess.
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That blissful lack of awareness is about to come to a screeching halt. He smiles at Dorothea and holds a casual hand up in greeting, then takes the prompt as the mutual contact when Dorothea calls attention to the needed introduction.
"You're right... Lissa, this is Dorothea. She's a friend of mine. She has an amazing voice! You may have heard her at the opera. Dorothea: Lissa Yukimura, princess of Rikkai."
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Lissa's hands clap over her mouth in delighted surprise, as Dorothea laughs politely.
She immediately notices the gemstone on Lissa's ring, however. Their princess is usually so adorably modest that it seems incongruous.
"It's just how I earn my living," she said lightly, although she could feel the time slowly ticking away on her ability to do so. "Meanwhile, Princess!" She winked. "What a lovely ring you have there... gift from our most magnanimous sovereign lord?"
Had it been a diamond, she might have thought differently, but...
1/IDK
Well. She does need to know about it, because-- oh.
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But then, so does Lissa.
So none of this tragic little epiphany distorts his own expression save for the flicker of comprehension when it struck him. He realizes now, he's going to have to be all in on this arrangement, and they both need to see that he is.
"Well, you could say that."
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Lissa immediately shoves her hand into her pocket, and Dorothea's suspicions raise. The fact that Bun is the one answering when it was the princess she asked...
But the princess is blushing heavily, and not from delight.
"I'm sorry for drawing attention to it," she said, voice lowering decorously. She very deliberately doesn't look at Bunta. She isn't sure she wants to see just yet.
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Well, she needn't concern herself with it. This was his cue.
"You did nothing wrong," he assures Dorothea with a relaxed smile, hands in his pockets. "Things happened suddenly. It's a big change to adjust to-- for both of us."
He checks Lissa's expression, just monitoring, before continuing with no falter in his confidence. "That reminds me... sorry, but I don't think I'll be able to make your next show."
He trusts she understands the code message.
1/2
2/2
"I'm sure I can console myself," she answered, and if he read a double-meaning into that, that was his problem, and not hers. She was tempted to add If someone else doesn't beat me to it, but that would be a double entendre, and unkind-- to the princess, at least. She might not be ready to know about the things her intended intended to do when his nights off aligned with Dorothea's.
It was too early for congratulations, she could tell. The look she had for Bunta was almost pitying. He was doing well for himself, wasn't he? Instead of picking the prince's pocket, he'd made a place for himself in there.
Not all that different from the plans she made for her own future, but don't we all want our friends to be better than us? And the princess could actually afford to marry by her own choice, if her brother hadn't made the choice for her.
Still, it was understandable. The princess wasn't merely wealthy-- she was positively adorable, delicately-made, and fragile-looking. Any overprotective brother could be excused for wanting to hide her away somewhere he knew she would be safe, but she was disappointed in Bunta for wanting to be a part of that.
At least he was taking it seriously.
"There will be bigger and better shows coming up," she answered, no hint of a second meaning. "I hope you'll both come. Our production of The Immaculate One is going to be a big hit, I'm sure."
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In any case, it sounds like she understands, and has graciously both spared Lissa the humiliation of learning about their history together and offered her a natural transition back into the conversation. Bunta jumps on it.
"Oh, that would be nice. What do you think, Lissa? Shall we go together?" He deliberately sidesteps the word date.
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Dorothea's smile makes her hope she got it right.
"The royal box is already the best seats in the house, so I can't do much for you there, but let me know if you wouldn't mind a visit afterward. Or even beforehand, Princess-- I'd love to help you decide what to wear."
Thankfully, she doesn't require an answer from Lissa, but she does wink at Bunta, before heading on her way.
It makes Lissa unusually contemplative, as they head back through the Heart.