Chapter Twenty Four

When Messallina opened her eyes, the first thing that entered her mind was that she was not in her room. The room with a bed that was only ever half used, as well as the bed that once had two people performing both acts of sleeping together even when neither of them actually wanted to touch the other as time progressed.

At the end, impatience led to pain and anger for and from both sides. Even though another lay right beside them, they might as well as be in separate rooms. It would probably have been better if they were in separate rooms.

What would a child be able to change? Could a child have changed anything?

Sitting up, she began to recollect what had happened last night. She had been in shock due to her near death experience. Perhaps it was due to some sympathy, or perhaps it was due to practicability, Vayne actually picked her up and carried her in his arms.

He only let her down when she was in her room.

"You should probably sleep for a while." He said as he stood by the door, his arms crossed. However, he then continued to stand there.

"What do you want?" he finally said, getting a bit impatient.

"Aren't you going to leave my room?" she pointed out.

"I cannot be sure that you would be safe alone."

"You are going to stay here? You can just get a guard."

"They obviously did not do a very good job."

The truth was that she would feel much secure with him in her room, so there was no point in arguing. Therefore, she began to unlace her gown.

"What are you doing?" Vayne said sharply, shocked at this sudden action.

"You cannot expect me to sleep in this dress. Perhaps you can leave me alone for a few minutes to change? Although," she added dryly, recalling the last time she took off her dress for a man, "Your brother once said that there is nothing there to make a man want to look again."

She intended to change and then inform him. However, once she lay on her bed, she actually ended up falling asleep.

Her elaborate ball gown was actually at the end of her bed, causing her to frown. She was obviously very tired if she did not put away her clothes properly, especially this extravagant dress. Reaching over, she picked it up to examine it, as she was quite fond of it.

Luckily, it was not damaged. She must have shown her relief due to the response that it provoked.

"I am happy," the familiar voice said very sarcastically, "That you are so glad at discovering that your dress is safe. Even if you fell down from that height, I think your dress would probably still be safe."

Much to her surprise, her brother-in-law was still in her room, in that same position by the door with his arms crossed. His tone was pleasant despite the heavy sarcasm, which meant that he was actually very angry. However, since they would always circle around what they desired to say all the time, she found herself retorting: "Well, it is a very valuable dress in terms of money, time and result."

"Do you want it to be your funeral attire then?" he rejoinder as he walked to her bedside. "I know that you want to ask, so I will answer. I was not here all night, but I did stay for a while. I am a bit weary of this place, and it seems that I have to be weary on behalf of you as well."

"You think that these insanity is not limited to these two?" she asked, now serious.

"I would never have thought that what happened last night was possible." He said before he hardened his voice, allowing some real emotion to show. "Nor would I have regarded you as being so stupid either. Lady Messallina Solidor, you disappointed me."

"That is certainly something I regret." She bent her head down at this sentence on purpose, although he could hear that she was sincere. "But I was not able to refuse what seemed to be such simple offer. I was a bit foolish to do so, but I did not expect that they would want to kill me. I thought it would merely be some threat or mockery at the very most."

"Then you thought wrong." He said angrily. "Nor was your precaution good because I could not immediately follow you."

"Maybe I was starting to forget how the rest of the world actually sees Messallina Tudur Solidor: a widow who grieves for her loving husband; the woman entrusted with the emperor's youngest and favourite son after the death of the empress; the bride accepted as a daughter." She said with a bitter chuckle. "What the world sees is such a foolish fantasy that I cannot see why anyone would see them as being possible."

"What are you saying?"

"That I forgot." She said simply, "I forgot that I could actually be regarded as valuable. That someone would risk much to hurt me because they would think that my death could make someone sad."

"Larsa…" he began, but was interrupted by a very strange answer from her.

"Oh, of course. Of course you would mention that sweet child."

It was not so much her words, but the way that she said it.

"Should I have left you to die then?" he said harshly due to his irritation.

"I thank you for saving my life, Lord Vayne." She said firmly. "However…"

"However? What do you mean however? This foolishness is not like you."

"Yes, you are the one who sees the truth. But I am not like you."

The talk would have lasted longer if it weren't for the knocking on the door. A maid then come in, announcing that both Ondore and Al-Cid desired to talk to them, no doubt it was about all that had happened.

"Well?" Vayne demanded when the two of them were alone again. Without understanding why, he could tell that his temper was a bit testy.

"I am still recovering from my shock." Messallina said as she closed her eyes. "Anyone but you would believe and expect that."

"I would have thought so too." He admitted.

"So would I." she said with a slight wonder in her voice. "But it is not so."

The result was not unfamiliar. Despite the stories that were spreading and the stories that would spread, people would still link it to him. After all, a Rozarria and Dalmasca's common enemy was Archadia; while Bhujerba was said to have a low crime rate, so this story of a robbery going wrong was rather hard to be believed. In addition, the victims in question were both very skilled, and not the type of men who would have been caught in an ambush.

Therefore, the common assumption was that someone had arranged a secret meeting and attacked the two. That someone was most likely the representative of Archadia, because why else would these two young royalties leave the ball without any guards?

"Lord Vayne, you do understand that if we tell the truth, then it would most likely lead to war." Ondore began. His tone left little room for argument, but he was careful to make sure that it sounded humble.

"I will swear that I will do all that I can to make sure that it would not be linked to Archadia." Al-Cid promised him before he pointed out, "After all, that was why you told me to come along, was it not?"

"What of the final member?" Vayne demanded instead.

Ondore and Al-Cid exchanged a glance before Al-Cid nodded.

"An accident on our way home." The young man said grimly. "Her grief was too powerful for us to stop. After all, they were very close."

"I suppose…" Vayne began but was then interrupted by a younger sister who missed her elder brother. A young sister who has only seen the good side of her family.

"Uncle Ondore, tell me that this is not true!" Ashe yelled out as she threw herself into the other's arm. "Tell me that this is a lie, that my brother is not dead!"

Unfortunately, there were some truths that had to be faced.

"But my brother would never lose to robbers! He is…he was a Dalmascan prince!" Ashe announced proudly before her eyes then fixed onto Vayne. "It must be you! My brother said that all Archadians – "

"I will explain the truth to her." Ondore said even as he silenced the child by placing a hand over her mouth. It was an extreme act, but the situation demanded it. Ashe was only a young child, but she was still a princess. Therefore, her words could easily be an accusation of one country to another. In addition, Ondore was aware that he was asking Vayne to bear more then what he needed to. The only reason that the young man agreed was because he did not wish to fight due to the possibility of Rozarria fighting.

As for Ashe, it was not unreasonable that she would think this. After all, she did know that the two empires were a possible threat to her country, and this brother was clearly pro-Rozarrian and anti-Archadian. Therefore, a child would have regarded those that her heroic brother disliked as villains.

Yet another crime attached to his name, Vayne thought bitterly, his mood getting fouler. However, at least this new crime was one that he would be able to explain, and most would say that he was blameless.

"Lady Messallina is well?" Al-Cid asked. "It must have been an ordeal."

"Yes. Neither her nor I has enjoyed this hospitality." Vayne said cuttingly.

"It is very embarrassing and it should never have happened." The other said grimly. "Therefore, I would like to be able to apologise to her."

"As I have said, both my sister-in-law and I have been overwhelmed by this Rozarrian hospitality that you and your cousins have shown."

"You would deny both Rozarria and I a chance to apologise? Or perhaps you are worryied that I would tarnish the reputation of a widow? I would never dream of this. I do not ask to be alone with her; I merely want to talk to her."

It was clear that Al-Cid wanted to talk to Messallina, but that seemed to be it. Therefore, there was surely no reason for Vayne to refuse.

When the two men entered the room, Messallina was still lying in bed. However, not only was the discarded ball gown put away, her hair was also gathered back with a ribbon.

"If it isn't Lord Al-Cid." Much to Vayne's surprise, she actually greeted the other with a smile. "Are you visiting me as you are so upset that you were not able to dance with me again?"

"That is something I will regret for a very long time, but I am here to talk of a more serious matter." Al-Cid actually walked to kneel by her bedside and once more, he took her hand. "I am afraid that I have much to apologise to you for."

"But you saved me, didn't you?" she pointed out, and her smile was still there. "Twice in one night too."

"The second is my attempt of gaining forgiveness, while the first is simply due to my own selfishness of desiring to dance with you." he said firmly before he kissed her hand. "Unfortunately, it is only one dance. Much to my sorrow, I heard that you and Lord Vayne would be departing soon."

"What reason do we have to stay?" at this, the smile was gone, but it did exist. "I doubt that even you can find a pleasing answer, Lord Al-Cid. This celebration of Bhujerba has been the very opposite."

"I can not come out with a good answer." Al-Cid admitted. "So you and I will say goodbye here. But I am certain that we will meet again, my lady evening star."

"I will look forward to it, the Rozarrian prince who chooses to only see the good instead of the bad." She said with a laugh before she withdrew her hand.

The man smiled at her and it was an honest smile. Then he turned and left, leaving her to face the man who not only did not smile or laugh, but was frowning.

"He is the type of man who any woman and widow could laugh with." Messallina said simply. "He has that rare talent of flattering them without lying. Therefore, no one would accuse me of flirting. I am merely laughing with him, which almost anyone would."

"You seem to enjoy such flippancy." He commented.

"I know what I look like well enough." She said. "Therefore, I can't help but to enjoy the praise of someone who believes what he is saying, especially when he is looking at my real face. He can make me laugh…that is a rare thing."

"Do you need someone to make you laugh?"

"I don't at all. But it is still really pleasant to talk to someone that can do so."

Author's note: first of all, I actually ended up breaking my words, as this is two chapters instead of one, although I am sure that no one would really mind that there is more instead of a less. What happened is that I intended to do one chapter, but the chapter ended up being much too long, that I thought it better be two chapters instead. Is it because I finally get to write Messallina and Vayne being together? I do think that I probably should have edited this chapter a bit longer, but I want to get it done now instead of later, because it might then be a whole week later. Well, if there are severe mistakes, then I'll redo it. I've been listening to "Kiss me goodbye" and I am currently addicted to it. I was probably driving my sister insane though, as I've been listening to that song over and over again when I was writing my story. I like both versions, but today, I was listening to the Japanese version more. I especially like the following part: "Even if I should lose you, my previous memories will be my strength" and "Kiss me goodbye, I won't cry, because I could love you", I could just see Messallina telling this to Vayne.

More of the last days of Messallina and Tudur's marriage is shown, and it got quite bad. However, I want to remind the readers that most of the time, we tend to see things from Messallina's point of view. She is definitely not the complete victim. Messallina is the type of person who would act very docile to Tudur in public so that if he complaint about her, then others would not believe him. Vayne probably summarized it quite well when he said the following: "If Messallina could get away with it, he was sure that she would consider giving the body (Tudur) on the bed beside her some injuries".

Ironically, the two princes probably got some of their wish. Even though the two countries would not be in war, some type of hostility is created. Obviously, the official explanation sucked so both Vayne and Al-Cid would have to explain what really happened. Archadia would naturally say that this is Rozarria's fault, but they are going to be the bigger person and bear it. As for Rozarria, they will probably say the sane thing, even though in their case it is not quite true. However, if Rozarria admit what happened, then that is going to be really bad. Archadia is most likely going to ask them for a huge amount of reparation. Therefore, they will probably tell Al-Cid to just never speak of what really happened.

The rest is not really related to the chapter, just my thoughts on Messallina's.

In my draft, the original chapter two is actually the Meligeni family thinking about what had happened. I didn't use it because at that time, I did not feel that I was able to just have a chapter that does not focus on Vayne and his family. It was a pity, because that chapter actually showed Messallina's character quite well. I will just include it in the author's note here, although I hope that I might one day end up being able to incorporate this somehow.

"Annallina was the favoured child, but Messallina was not without any weapons. Upon realising that Annallina would always win, she'd accept defeat to prevent her sister's victory from being too overwhelming. An apology would be given, preventing any possible accusations of lying. What reparation required would be done too. This resulted in the sisters having a truce as Messallina could then do something on purpose and attributed it as an accident. If Annallina continued to insist that it was not so, her reaction would be hysterical, and her parents would no longer believe her instead of Messallina."

There is also this bit when she talked to her father, having been ordered by him to find out what Annallina think of the marriage. This takes place after her father said that he was angry at Annallina for not wanting to marry Tudur.

"Messallina was actually a bit surprised as she thought that her elder sister was actually immune to this reaction (disappointment). However, it seemed that Annallina was merely better instead of being perfect. Perhaps Annallina had the worse deal since more was expected of her. However, this was all the pity she would allow herself to give. After all, she herself was still dependent on their father, and it was not as if her sister would help her. Therefore, she would continue to spy on her sister."

I quite like these two parts, as it shows us quite a bit of her character.

I haven't actually played the game and it seems that the consequences finally appeared. Someone pointed out that it was a bit strange that Messallina does not use any magic to defend herself and my answer is simple: I did not know that there are such a thing. I thought that Ivalice was at a stage where they were using technology. The truth is because I didn't know. However, it can be because she was not taught in such a way. Her parents did not expect her to fight, they expect her to marry someone and use him to gain power for their family. To be educated and knowledge so that she could entertain and gather support. Perhaps this is a bit sexist, but I personally do not think there is a clear gender equality in the world.

By the way, the above got quite long and when it is so long, I often think that I sound defensive. However, I do not mean to. This is just my view, my reasons. I actually thank that person for raising that issue.