Caroline decided to tour the city. The Capital of the Golden Empire was, as expected, huge! There were tons of monuments, historical sites, and entertainment to see and do. But right then, she was hungry. Walking around the Division’s Headquarters was surprisingly tiring.

After some thought, she decided to head to a high end shopping district. Apparently they had a really chick cafe along the main drag. Since coming to this country, she’d never eaten at a place that could even remotely be considered stylish.

As expected of the Capital, they took “high end” to a new level. All the buildings used huge white bricks, giving the city a clean, bright feeling. Instead of dirt roads, it was all cobble stone. And ten story buildings with actual elevators were common too. Indoor plumbing was everywhere and they even had toilets instead of outhouses. She almost cried when she saw the toilets. Not only did she remember their names, she also got to use one!

After asking for directions several times, she made it to the Cafe. The “Blue Bird Cafe” it was called, with the entire interior design revolving around it’s name sake. Pastel blues and little bird designs were hidden everywhere. Even the stirring spoons had little birds on their handles.

She was fortunate that it wasn’t busy that day and got a window seat. Watching people from all over the Empire and beyond walk by was excellent entertainment. Hillsdale got it’s fair share of travelers too, but they were almost always from the Southern areas of the Empire. The Capital got people from every corner, plus quite a few foreigners. Ever since she arrived, she’d been doing double takes at people, unsure if who she was seeing was human or not. Now she’d have a chance to have a proper sit down and stare directly without feeling impolite.

“…oh, is that the Princess of Oreland?” A woman from a table just across from her commented to her companion while pointing.

“It is, it is! What’s she doing out without a guard!” The other lady responded excitedly.

Caroline had never seen a princess before, and leaned forward eagerly in her seat to get a better view.

She froze.

“Who’s that man with her?”

“It’s someone from the Mage Division isn’t it?”

Yes, it was. Even with his hair grown out and tied loosely behind him, Caroline recognized the face. It was Thio.

“Is that her guard, maybe?”

“Pff, I hope not. How foolish would it be to have one Mage guard a Princess? That’s just ASKING for a kidnapping!”

Caroline frowned, her stomach was twisting uncomfortably.

“Oooh,” Squealed the first woman. “What if it’s a forbidden romance!”

The other giggled. “How exciting! Can you imagine?”

The twist turned into a sharp stab, causing Caroline to hold her stomach painfully.

There’s no way he’s dating a Princess, she thought, temper rising. He’d tell me first, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t just… date someone on the sly? No, no… he wouldn’t do that. We’re friends at least. And we promised Father Richard… Wait… that’s besides the point. He must be her guard, right? There’s no way he could attract the attention of a Princess. Ha ha ha. That’s right. He’s just on official business! Sure, he’s got those ridiculous eyes, perfect face, and flowing locks of hair—”

Caroline peeked at Thio and saw him reach out and clasp the Princess’ hand, and then laugh. Something inside her snapped.

She sat up suddenly, chair clattering behind her, still holding her gut. The gossiping women were startled by her sudden movement, but she didn’t notice. Staggering to the register, she paid for her drink and food in a daze. Getting out of their was her top priority.

Her mind kept repeating the image of the Princess and Thio laughing. A fractured memory of another man laughing and reaching out his hand to her overlapped with Thio’s. A feeling of intense love raced through her like an electric current, followed immediately by a fury so powerful it overwhelmed any sense of rational thought.

How dare he? Who did he think he is? Just because she wasn’t there. He’d promised, HE’D PROMISED. How could he? Traitor… traitor… TRAITOR.

Like a broken clock, she repeated the same thing over and over to herself. Her anger poured out of her as she walked, startling pedestrians into taking the long way around her.

Then, suddenly and without any warning, the overlapping images shattered into a thousand pieces and were gone. It was like a dial had been turned down and all the love and rage suddenly turned into a low simmer.

She stumbled to a stop, emotionally dazed by what had just happened and not really understanding it. What was that? How long had she been wandering around? Huh, where was she??? She had no idea!

Caroline’s confusion was replaced with a prickling sense of unease. The buildings in this area were falling apart, and there was a smell of urine and garbage. Periodic screaming and crying could be heard around her. She’d walked right into the slums, like an idiot.

As she was chastising herself for not paying attention, a group of men approached her.

They were clearly hooligans.

“What’s a nice lady like you doing in this part of town?” Their leader sneered.

“Just a little lost.” Caroline admitted, more annoyed with herself than scared.

“Oooooh, is that so?” The leader glanced at his partners, giving them a signal. “Why don’t you come with us? We’ll show you the way.”

Rubbing her temples, she exhaled. “Look, I’m not in the mood to deal with you guys.”

“That’s ok,” The leader leaned forward threateningly. “We’re in the mood to deal with you.”

——

Caroline patted herself off and cracked her knuckles, examining the hooligan bodies scattered on the ground around her. It was a lot easier to beat up a person than a monster. Even though these guys had knives, they were slow. Just on speed alone, they were an easy hit. And since these men were up to no good, she’d only held back enough so she wouldn’t kill them.

She felt a little better. Whenever she got stressed or confused, the act of boxing helped clear her mind. There was just something about physical exercise that stabilized her.

Kicking the leader viciously on his side causing him to groan, she smiled cheekily in response.

“Well, that should keep you guys off the street for a while. Now how to find my way back to the inn…”

——

She didn’t get to the Inn until quite a bit later at night, and only because she found a City Guard to help her (she’d also informed him of the attempted mugging). Once in her room, she collapsed on the bed exhausted.

Tomorrow she was suppose to visit Thio.

She really didn’t want to. She was feeling very emotionally unstable. It’d been so bad she’d walked to other side of the city without even realizing it. She couldn’t even remember exactly what she’d been thinking, just that she’d been really upset.

“Why am I even jealous, much less angry?” She whispered into her empty room, trying to be rational. “It’s not like we’re really married. At best we’re just penpal friends, right? I only lived with him for a week. He was like a room mate, a really crabby roommate…”

She tossed in bed for a bit and finally admitted with a sniffle, “Ah… what the hell! I guess I liked him more than I thought. Why am I so stupid? Falling in love with a guy I know from letters. That doesn’t even make any sense. I must be the stupidest girl in the world right now.”

“And… and… Even if I like him, it doesn’t mean he likes me. I mean, why would he? He’s got a Princess…” She bit her thumb nail, feeling both anxious and cross. “How can I compete with a Princess? Even if it’s business, she was so pretty! She really fit the role! In the Capital I bet he sees girls like that all the time! And me? I’m just a… a…”

She felt big tears form in her eyes and start to drop on the pillow. “…I’m just a burden! An annoying burden he got stuck with…” She felt a sob rise up. “I might as well be a sack of rocks tying him down.”

“What am I suppose to do?” She covered her face with her hands and cried into them, “If I go tomorrow, he’ll know something is wrong. He’ll know. He doesn’t like me, he’s never shown even the slightest interest. Being forced to marry me and then being put on the spot like that… no… he’ll hate me for sure. He’ll hate me and then I won’t even get to be his friend anymore.”

She whimpered into the dark, “I don’t want to be hated, I don’t want to lose him. He can’t know. I can’t let him know, but I’m a terribly liar. How can I—?”

A very stupid, immature plan formed in her mind: “If… If I don’t meet up with him tomorrow… then he won’t know… so maybe… maybe I just… won’t. See. Him. At all.” She suddenly sat up at her revelation, eyes swollen and hair a mess. “Avoid it! That’s the answer! What he doesn’t know, can’t hurt me—er, him. Yes! I will simply avoid him! AH HA! Hahahahahaha!”

After laughing manically for a few minutes, she settled down. She wasn’t thinking or feeling clearly, but having a plan of action calmed her a bit.

With that (poor) plan in place, Caroline was finally able to get to sleep. If she had dreams of running away from things that night, she didn’t remember them.

——

The next morning, she took everything really slow. From getting dressed, to taking a bath, eating breakfast, she went as slow as humanly possible. When she finally heading out to the Division Headquarters, she took the long way and even got a little lost.

By the time she made it to Headquarters, it was past noon. She entered on the East Entrance, which was on the complete opposite side from LDF. By the time she arrived, it was almost 1pm, well past her meet up time.

As expected, Thio was not there. The man she met yesterday was, and ran up to her when she entered.

“What happened?” He asked anxiously. “We waited for hours but you never showed up.”

She made an apologetic hand motion. “Sorry, sorry, I woke up late and got lost getting here.”

This was technically, TECHNICALLY, the truth.

The Senior Mage sighed in relief. “Oh thank God! We thought you might have gotten mugged.”

“Nay, that happened last night.”

“WHAT?!”

“Eh, it was nothing.”

“No… I’m pretty sure that’s something...”

“Don’t worry about it!” She smacked him on the arm over enthusiastically. “I barely touched them and they surrendered! Anyway,” She rushed to continue. “I’ve got things to do today, so I’ll be going. Just thought I should stop by since I said I would yesterday.”

“Oh, right… do you want to leave a message?”

She made a show of thinking, while backing away. “Naw. I’ll just pop by when I have the time.”

“What? But——”

Before he could finished, she’d turned and made a run for it.

The Senior Mage watched her sprint away, stunned.

“What on earth does Thio like about this girl?”

——

Caroline felt guilty about standing Thio up. But the guilt didn’t quite out weigh the intense fear she felt. Rather than spend four more days in the Capital and risk bumping into Thio again (a real possibility considering what happened her first day), she decided to head to the Adventurer’s Guild and take on some Requests.

Without anyone there to stop her, she could take on any Request she wanted. Desperately needing a distraction, Caroline pushed herself, taking on riskier and riskier missions in a very short period of time.

She’d figured out some time ago that her Excellent Health stat allowed her to gain strength at a faster rate than normal. Her physical strength and defense increased dramatically when she succeeded at difficult tasks. It reminded her of something from her past, a funny drawing of someone with yellow spiky hair surrounded by energy. She once again regretted that no one got the joke.

After four days of reckless behavior, she’d gotten significantly stronger. She’d also acquired a Handle by the Guildmaster in the Capital: “The Berserker Bear Claw”.

She almost cried. She’d at least been hoping for something elegant. But no, this made her sound like a rabid animal. Worse, it reinforced in her own mind that she couldn’t compete with “that Princess”. The Guild didn’t see a shred of ladylike behavior in her, apparently, so obviously no one else would.

When she’d tried to get it changed, the Capital Guildmaster had simply laughed. He insisted it “fit her style” (boxing with knuckle spikes) and had real pizazz. It was the kind of name that Adventurers around the world could respect, he’d said. Everyone else had agreed with him, so by the end of the week that’s what they all called her.

Caroline quietly admitted defeat and went home.

She didn’t visit Thio once.

———

When she got home, she was chagrin to discover that somehow the Hillsdale Guild knew about her Handle. She complained bitterly to Mariel, who unsympathetically pointed out that if she’d behaved herself it would have never happened. And anyway, what was she doing taking Requests during her vacation with her husband?

When Thio was mentioned, her mood would go very dark. Her crankiness was not lost on her fellow Guild mates. They all knew something must have gone wrong, but when they tried to ask she just got snippy and told them to mind their own business. Even Mariel could not weasel any information out of her. After she cracked a table in two, angry at the pestering, everyone came to a tactful agreement not to bring the subject up again.

She did not write a letter to Thio that month.

———

“Dear Caroline,

I have written you twice before, and now I am sending this letter expedited with confirmation and return delivery as well. I am seriously worried over here. Did you make it home safely? Please respond to this letter as soon as you receive it.

Worried,

Thio”

Caroline sighed. She’d left the first two letters unopened and stuffed in a bag on the wall. Her guilt and fear had only compounded over time, preventing her from even seeing what he’d had to say.

The current letter she was reading had been forced on her by the mail deliver boy. He had said he had to witness it read with his own two eyes before he could count it as “confirmed”.

She sat at the small desk, a blank piece of paper in front of her. After hemming and haying, she finally managed to write:

“Acanthio,

I have arrived safely at Hillsdale.

My sincerest apologies about not getting back to you in a timely manner. When I arrived home, I ended up much busier than I anticipated.

I’m also sorry we did not get to meet while I was in the Capital. I was doing Guild work there, you see, and was busy most of the time. When I tried to get to the Division’s Headquarters, I got lost. For such a giant building, it’s certain difficult to find. That or I’ve got a horrible head for directions.”

Caroline paused, twirling her pen in her hand and biting her lip. Should she ask, or shouldn’t she? After debating for a bit, she finally jotted down:

“While I was in town, I heard there was a Princess from some place called Oreland visiting as well. Apparently she’s very well known, as people in the city were talking about her. Have you heard of her?

Regards,

Caroline”

She writhed about whether to send the letter as written. The first half came off overly polite, to the point of coldness, and the last half was completely nonsensical. In the end, she determined to wait until tomorrow to make her decision.

To her surprise, the delivery boy was back the next day, bright and early. He informed her that he would keep on knocking on her door every day until she got a letter sent out. Return delivery turned out to be a form of mail delivery harassment!

Annoyed and the guilt weighing heavily on her, she stuffed the already written letter into the delivery boy’s hands. When he gave her a starry eyed star, she was forced to tip him as well.

A few days later, Thio responded:

“Caroline,

Have I offended you in some way?

Truly,

Thio

PS: There was a Princess. I was charged with escorting her.”

Naturally, Caroline dithered over the letter and it took a week before she could think of a decent response.

“Dear Thio,

No, I’m not offended. I’m sorry if I sounded short in my last letter. Everything is well. I’ve just been busy since returning home.

Sincerely,

Caroline

PS: Do Mages usually escort Princesses?”

It was a lame lie and she wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t believe it. His reply came back seven days later, to her surprise. He was spending a lot of money on a speedy delivery…

“Dear Caroline,

I hope you really are being sincere about not being offended. There are no relationships in the world where people do not offend each other, at least on occasion. However, if a person is offended, but doesn’t tell the offender what they did wrong so they can repair the damage, that would be very cruel. Don’t you think?

As to the Division’s Headquarters being tricky to find… I do understand. It’s not near any government buildings and on the other side of town from the Army and Navy Divisions. I was lucky that the dorms I stayed in the first few months were located across the street. Otherwise I would have gotten lost too.

Mages don’t usually escort Princesses. Apparently this Princess didn’t want to be followed around by a bunch of “sweaty, burly guards” (her words, not mine). It was decided a strong Mage would be a good alternative. The Senior Mages then drew lots to see who would be forced to babysit her, and I drew the short end.

By the time I was done, my face was sore from forced smiling. Evans jokingly told me that I was scowling twice as darkly to make up for being forced to smile all day.

Evans was the man you met at Division Headquarters. He’s a friend of mine.

Truly,

Thio”

If she’d felt guilty before, she was choking on the guilt after reading that. It’s obvious she’d upset him, and for her own selfish reasons too. But now she was trapped in her own lies. She needed a way to apologize without actually apologizing and thus exposing herself.

The solution came by way of Mariel. She had sown a new shirt for her husband and was spending her spare time at work embroidering the shirt with family designs. Caroline had discovered that it was customary for families to have something like a crest, which they embroider on their clothes and bedding and pretty much anything made of cloth. Everyone woman participated, even the Empress.

What was interesting about this tradition is that it was started by women and women persisted in it’s value. It was considered THE way to show love, honor, and loyalty to one’s husband, father, or family. The more magnificent the embroidery job, the bigger the impact of that proclamation. There was a unspoken contest between all women of all ages to one up each other with their embroidery skills because of that.

However, this put men without mother, aunt, wife, or daughter in very awkward positions. They didn’t dare make elaborate designs on their shirts (turning the entire female population against them) but on the other hand no design at all was a shameful embarrassment. They compromised with very simple, non-threatening designs.

Thio was still embroidering his own shirts in those simple patterns. While he wore his uniform, no one would know. But the moment he was in his regular clothes, she suspected he got a lot of startled looks. People would start to wonder if he’d suffered a tragedy or if something was wrong with him. The gossip must be really annoying to deal with…

While Caroline was a rough and tumble gal, Mariel had forced her to practice her sewing and embroidery.

Mariel’s logic being: “A married woman who can’t sew and can’t embroider is a shame to the entire family. And since the Guild and Church is taking care of you in place of your family, it’s a shame to the entire community. I won’t allow it. So sit down, shut up, and learn.”

Caroline couldn’t really argue with that logic, so she’d done as Mariel commanded. That woman could be scary when she wanted to be. Now, two years later, she’d greatly improved her domestic skills. She could now embroider with the best of them!

Going to the general goods store, Caroline bought some of the best fabric they had, and several beautiful shades of green yarn (which reminded her of Thio’s eyes). She put together a sturdy shirt, long sleeved since the Capital had harsher winters, and began embroidering like she was possessed.

Now that she’d seen many different types of crests, she understood that Thio’s family crest was mountains and stars. She built upon the simple design she remembered seeing two years ago and incorporated styles she remembered from her own world, layering the colors into a green rainbow.

She worked on it for one week straight, even skipping out on Guild Requests and meals to make time for it. Once it was done, she very carefully wrapped it up, deep circles under her bloodshot eyes, and attached a simple note: “Mariel has pounded embroidery into my head for almost 2 years now. I thought it was time to repay you for that shirt you made me so long ago. If anyone asks, say family made it for you. It’s true after all! - Caroline"