Guardian Moon-The Hard Truth

Shiro examined his pupil. "Good work today, Mary. You're getting better."

Mary took a deep breath. "That was really intense. I don't think I'll ever be ready for the front lines."

"Maybe spears aren't a good fit for you. Ask Dimitri to instruct you in swords. For brute strength, he's the most powerful fighter."

"Dimitri?"

"Yeah. Blond, wears blue, the new proxy for Faerghus after it was discovered he's still alive."

"That man is Prince Dimitri?"

"Yeah. He's a lot more mellow than he was before after Edelgard was revealed to be the Flame Emperor."

"Oh. Alright. Will do." She walked through the monastery's lush gardens, taking in the sunshine. When she saw the man in question, she pretended like he was one of her brothers. "Hey! I'm Mary. You're Prince Dimitri, right? Shiro said you could help me with my sword fighting."

Dimitri looked up. "I'd be happy to. Shall we begin right now?"

She dragged her foot across the grass. "I just finished for the day. Tomorrow?"

Dimitri confirmed, "It's a date. See you at the training grounds."

Back in the gazebo, Dorothea studied the rose in her hand intently. "What happens when he finds out my secret? Honestly, is it even really something that would bother him? I think so, but it's possible he'll still love me. Can an emperor be with a woman who has done the things I've done?"

As if summoned, Ferdinand found Dorothea. "Hello! Wait, what is wrong? You look so sad. You can confide in me."

Dorothea gave her boyfriend a long, hard look. "I don't know if I can."

Ferdinand hugged her. "Of course you can. What is it?"

Dorothea stared at the rose. Its petals wilted slightly, like it knew the tremendous risk she was undertaking and pitied her. "It has to do with our conversation earlier. About Garreg Mach being expensive."

Ferdinand raised his hand slightly, as if waving her concern away. "Worry not. I know that you must owe the monastery a lot of gold for your tuition. I will take care of your past financial debts."

Dorothea balled her fist in order to relieve the excess stress. "Actually, I don't owe them anything. My tuition was fully paid for."

Ferdinand frowned. "Then what was that about Garreg Mach being expensive?"

Dorothea blinked away the tears forming. "Like I said from before, I had to do bad things in order to get by. I had to do something degrading in order to get my education paid for."

Ferdinand's eyes nearly popped out of head. "What do you mean?"

Dorothea tossed the poor rose on the ground. "I'm sorry-I can't." She ran away from the garden to her old room and sobbed.

Bernadetta heard the tears through the walls and quietly went in. "You can talk to me if you want. I'm a great listener."

Dorothea explained all that she told Ferdinand, and then flopped down on her bed, defeated. "It's probably over between us. Bernie, I love Ferdie. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. He'll throw me away like a piece of leftover meat just like how the other noblemen will once I become old! But . . . I suppose I did make it worse for myself by panicking and fleeing. He probably thinks it's a lot worse than what it is."

Bernadetta perched on a chair. "Um, you never exactly told me what you did either. Don't worry. I won't judge you no matter what you did. Promise. You're so nice to me. I want to be that nice to you."

Dorothea winced. "I was an escort to a nobleman old enough to be my father. He wanted me to be his date to various events. In return, he would pay my tuition in full. That's nowhere near as bad as it could've, but it was still disgusting. He wanted to flaunt me to all his friends and use me as a trophy. I couldn't wait until I got to the Opera House and away from him."

Bernadetta hugged her. "Ew. I'm sorry you had to go through that to get a good education. Look, I'll talk to Ferdinand if you're too upset too. If he dumps you because of that, I'll push him into the fishing pond."

Dorothea burst out laughing at the mental image. "Thanks Bernie. That's very sweet." The two girls hugged, and Bernadetta set out to find the emperor.

She found him sitting at the rose garden, looking completely horrified. Bernadetta crossed her arms. "Dorothea was a gross nobleman's date to a bunch of balls so he would get her to Garreg Mach. That's what the secret is. If you break up with Dorothea over this, you'll be the dumbest dummy I've ever met!"

Ferdinand blinked in shock. "I am not going to. To be honest, that was a lot better than I feared."

Bernadetta narrowed her eyes in an attempt to look threatening. "So, you don't think any less of Dorothea? You don't think she's bad or anything?"

Ferdinand defended, "How could you possibly think I would? Where is she? I need to talk to her."

Bernadetta pointed in the direction of Dorothea's chamber. "In her room. But if you hurt her, I will throw you into the fishing pond."

Ferdinand stared at her quizzically. "O-okay. I will remember that." He galloped across the grounds to his beloved's room. "Dorothea, can we talk?"

Dorothea sat up, hoping that she still looked good with red eyes and messed up hair. "Yes."

Ferdinand began, "Bernadetta explained everything. I do not think less of you. I am sorry that you felt you had to hold on to that secret. Dorothea, you are so much braver than me. I do not think I could have made it through all the hardships you went through. If you'll still have me, I would still consider it my honor to be your boyfriend."

Dorothea wrapped her arms around him. "Of course! I was so afraid you'd think that I wasn't worthy to be an empress!" With that, the lovebirds became even closer than ever before.

Across the monastery, in the reception hall, Inigo, Azura, Shigure, and Soleil were chatting happily when Rhea went up to them. "Excuse me, but may I ask a favor of you?"

Inigo winked. "Why, of course Lady Rhea! How may we assist?"

Rhea explained, "Do you know Brady Themis and Morgan Plegia? They have taken up arms with us. They expressed wanting you to show them the ropes here."

Inigo grinned from ear to ear. "My old friends! We'd love to help them out!"

Soleil sat up. "You know, I don't know much about your old friends, since we spent most of our time in Rosanne getting to know our grandparents. These are the people you fought Grima with?"

Inigo affirmed, "Some of them, yes. They were all my very first friends. I can't wait for you to meet them properly and get a chance to know them." He walked out of the room, ready to welcome his old comrades with open arms.