The dead prince opens his mouth but no sound comes out of it.
It's an innocent question, but one that Fourier certainly hadn't expected. The blond had spent entire nights wondering, worrying about what had happened to his lady friend. He hoped she had an easy death, less torturous than his. And most of all, he prayed that she hadn't died alone.
Taking a deep breath, Fourier focuses on the beautiful things that remind him of his former life—the tea, the light—instead of the annoying calmness in his knight's voice. Ferris' eyes remain soaked with tears. There is nothing wrong in asking who Crusch is, but the way the question was phrased makes Fourier feel a little uneasy.
Fourier frowns—a conscious decision, because his face no longer does what a face should do unless he commands it—and studies the disturbed demi-human in front of him.
Talking about Crusch had always been one of Fourier's favorite hobbies. And his family, were they alive, would gladly remind him of the great amount of times they begged him to shut up about her and their many adventures.
Nonetheless, the situation at hand is completely different. For once, Fourier isn't exactly sure what to say about her, for Ferris is the only person that could probably describe Crusch even better than him.
Fourier tilts his head as he remembers her green-forest hair and her honey-like eyes. He wonders if he will ever get to see them again.
"I know that I said that Meckart wasn't necessarily fighting for you, but…" for once Fourier finds himself at a loss for words. "Crusch, I don't believe she ever spent a day not thinking of you as her priority, she…" he stops mid-sentence, once he notices his friend's confusion does not dim in the slightest. Ferris is arching an eyebrow and looking at him like he has grown three heads. "…Ferris?"
"Ferris thinks you meowsunderstood him, your Highness," Ferris starts, voice wary, "I truly do not understand who you are talking about… was Crusch the name of the maid that burned my father's corpse? I thought you nyever found out her story."
Fourier blinks twice.
"Well, Crusch is Crusch," he answers nonplused. At first, Ferris remark doesn't really help Fourier understand what he meant by that question. And that annoys the prince; as he can't do much to make his friend get better unless the knight cooperates.
But then his dead-brain catches up with his bubble-like-mind and Fourier realizes what the fuck Ferris just said.
Back when Fourier was alive, the idea of Ferris pretending he didn't know who Crusch was would have made him livid. But he is dead now, and his nonexistent emotions aren't nearly as volatile as they used to be.
Instead of exploding and scolding Ferris, Fourier considers the situation.
Even if the small, chilling voice in his head is telling him he should be furious, that Ferris pretending such a thing and asking such a question is outrageous and an insult to Crusch's memory…
…more outrageous is to say that Ferris would ever do something like that.
Even after all this time, he remains loyal to Crusch over all things. The sky is blue, Od Laguna created the world, and Ferris follows Crusch: those three are the most definitive laws of nature.
While trying to make him feel better, Fourier had allowed Ferris to lead all conversations, mostly because he didn't want to accidentally bring a topic capable of breaking the poor-attempt-of-sanity his friend had finally achieved.
But the possibility of Ferris not knowing Crusch's whereabouts is inconceivable.
Had he done wrong by avoiding the topic?
"Crusch. Crusch Karsten," he continues doubtfully. The demi-human's ears rise in confusion, not understanding his liege's puzzled expression. Fourier has waited for four tortuous days to finally hear about Crusch—about the lady they both cherished so much—and Ferris just pretended he didn't know her? "Uh….your best friend? Duke Karsten's only daughter," he adds baffled.
For a moment, neither of them utters a single word.
Fourier's entire world turns upside down as he considers the possibility he got summoned to another world where Crusch didn't exist.
He instantly dismisses the thought. He is willing to accept undeads, but the idea of travelling to another world is preposterous.
"After everything she did for you. Don't you think pretending she doesn't exist is a little cruel?" Fourier jabs, testing the waters in front of him. "I understand. I mean…she only brought you to the Duchy and got you the best magic teachers in the world, no big thing," he doesn't stop talking even when Ferris starts trembling.
The pitiful picture in front of him is enough for Fourier to understand that indeed, the whale's mist had affected Ferris more than he expected.
"…Ferris doesn't have a friend called Crusch," the knight refutes, mouth thin, "…nor does the Duke have a daughter." While his tone is sure, his gaze tells a different story.
…today, just like the day Fourier was summoned, Ferris' eyes are a stormy picture of longing, despair, and denial.
But who does Ferris long for, truly? At first, he thought it was Crusch. Because while he doesn't doubt that Ferris loves Fourier, he knows she always comes first.
But maybe, just maybe, it isn't the case anymore. During the year Fourier was gone, something happened and changed Ferris' very nature. Maybe the person Ferris longs for so madly is just Ferris: the person he used to be before the whale ruined him. "Ferris does indeed have a best friend called Crusch," Fourier states again, "or he did, I'm not sure now," he adds thoughtlessly. He instantly regrets it; he must to have more tact when talking to Ferris.
"He did not." Ferris repeats once again, face devoid of any emotion.
The prince has no qualm in assuring his knight that he isn't the only stubborn person in the room. "Crusch is the one that found you locked up at your fa- biological father's manor. She told—"
But Ferris disagrees "—that was his Highness," the demi-human's ears remain so low they almost hide behind his hair, "Hi—His Highnyes is wrong! The ones who saved Ferris were his Highness and Meckart! There—" his tone is both flat and anxious.
"—what? No, that was Crusch—" wrong thing to say, his mind remarks as he watches Ferris' expression crumble and turn into one of panic.
"Ferris was saved by his Highnyess!" Ferris jumps at him pushing the table and making both their teacups fall to the floor alongside them "Ferris is sorry, Ferris really is," the knight says as he hides his face behind his small, delicate hands. "Ferris will be good, Ferris will be nice but dyon't reject him like that, Ferris will—"
"It was Crusch," Fourier hisses, he is glad he doesn't feel the pain from the fall but he doesn't like being thrown around, "she called her father while he was drinking tea with—"
"Nyo! It was you! You found mye inside the dungeowns chained—" his knight is openly sobbing now. Fourier can see the gloomy memories dancing through Ferris' eyes. "Y—you were with Meckart."
"That doesn't make any sense," Fourier says, confused. "Why would I even be with Meckart?" Ferris stares at him. And Fourier thinks he might have broken his friend for real this time. His body shakes as he grips Fourier's hands harder. The prince hadn't even realized his friend had taken his hands. Little by little, Fourier tries to control his anger; being furious would solve nothing; finding out what happened to Crusch is what matters. "I met Meckart thanks to Crusch, she is the sole reason I met the Duke."
"That's not true!"
"I think the whale messed up with your brain." He finally admits, making Ferris flinch as if he had been hit.
"No…no…his Highness—" Fourier feels guilty the instant he sees the raw pain in Ferris' face. "Not you. Please nyot you too—" he has never seen such a devastated expression on his friend's face. "Ferris is sorry, Ferris is so sorry, Ferris loves his Highnyess, don't leave Ferris alone, don't give up on Ferris, Ferris will—"
Ferris' pleads sound like a broken record across the quiet room.
"—I'd never leave you alone." Fourier interrupts, as he puts a hand on Ferris' head.
His new state made him physically incapable of actually loving Ferris, but he remembers his feelings for his knight. He doesn't need to feel the warmth in his heart to know. He remembers each smile, each laugh, each hug. "Never," he repeats, once again as he pets his friend.
"Because I love you too much for that," Ferris' eyes remain huge, as he takes in all of Fourier words, "Because I love both, you and Crusch so much it hurts," it hurts because he left them behind. It hurts because Crusch probably died alone. It hurts because Ferris still can't understand what letting go means. "—and you love her, too, more than anything in the world."
Ferris grips his hands hard, once again. "There is no one I love more than I love his Highness."
"That's fine, loving us both is not mutually exclusive," Fourier smiles. If Ferris disagrees (and it looks like he does), he doesn't voice it.
But Fourier is beginning to get worried, because the more hears, the less he likes.
Because if the whale had made Ferris go nuts, Meckart wouldn't leave Ferris alone, would he? And he would notice something as obvious as Ferris forgetting his daughter, unless of course—
"…have you and Meckart... talked about it?"
"I tried but...he is not…okay..." Ferris admits between choked breaths, "he is..."
"he is…?," Fourier whispers, filled with dread.
It is as if time had stopped.
Fourier assures—tries to assure himself that although The Witch had many powers, brainwashing wasn't one of them.
Not even Satella could make a father forget his daughter.
Unless the Witch did have such a power and no one ever discovered it because they forgot. They didn't know what kind of powers most of the archbishops have. What if—
Something grips Fourier's bubble, making every second maddening. The only plausible reason Meckart didn't correct Ferris' memories had to be that the Duke himself didn't remember her. "...off?" Fourier asks unsure, begging for a better explanation than the one his mind just reached.
"...off," Ferris says, making Fourier's mind race even faster "...it's all wrong. Everything feels wrong, there is—Ferri...There is...There was...Something? Ferri had something to do. There was something, but Ferris can nyot remember, he cannot remewmber," Ferris' voice is strained and coated with tears.
Still, between the cracks of Fourier's worries and fears grows hope. It's bright, blinding and exactly what Fourier needed to keep going. Ferris isn't despairing because Crusch is dead, he just doesn't know who she is. They don't know whether she is dead or not, she is just missing from their memories. As long as they don't know what became of her, there is a chance she is alive.
They both stay quiet.
Fourier doesn't have many expectations, but if there is a chance, he must cling to it.
"I think," Fourier starts, "that I know now why the day you summoned me, you kept repeating that everything was wrong," not all hope is lost yet, "I will make it better, Ferris, all of it." Ferris is holding his head and watching him with big, brown eyes.
There are many discrepancies in Ferris' memories; so many that Fourier is surprised he didn't realize what was wrong days ago.
Once again, sitting next to each other, they start talking. Fourier retelling the many memories he has about Crusch while Ferris explains how differently he remembers those events. "Tell me Ferris, if you don't know who Crusch is, who met with Biehn Argyle when he asked you to bring your Mother back to life?"
"...His Highnyess did."
"No, His Highness was bringing support. He called Julius, remember?" To make Ferris forget about Crusch, they had to change basically all of Ferris' memories. Were the duke and Ferris the only two that forgot about Crusch? It still wouldn't make any sense. People would note it.
…he knew the Whale's mist often left people confused, but making the whole world forget a person altogether?
…did they fight something other than the whale?
The possibility of another enemy, a new one, capable of brainwashing the entire world at will, makes his motionless heart feel even duller.
"...Julius came on his own." Ferris voice cracks, showing how unsure of his own words he is.
"How would Julius know where we were? If I had warned him before hand, I'd have brought him with me from the start."
Ferris doesn't answer, but Fourier wasn't expecting a reasonable explanation anyway. "We were having a ball at the manor the day Meckart fought the rabbits. It was Crusch's 17ths birthday party, what do you remember about that night?"
"It was to celebrate the ending of my training—"
"Ferris," Fourier sighs, an unnerving sound when he cannot hear the whisper from his own breath, "you hate High Society as much as Meckart does… which is a lot," he clarifies.
"But Meckart asked me several times and I—"
"Why did we keep postponing the party then? You were right there."
Ferris greets him with silence, "…I was waiting for the Duke."
"That's not a valid reason to delay a party." Ferris doesn't answer, and Fourier knows it means he agrees with him.
Ferris' eyes shine like the brightest stars as they talk about the mysterious Lady who loved him but he doesn't remember. To see Ferris' delighted expression is enough for Fourier to understand that even if Ferris' memories are wrong, not all traces of her were erased. If they were, Ferris wouldn't accept so eagerly that literally half his memories were wrong, that he has an older sister and that the Witch messed up with his head, "Crusch is Meckart's blood daughter," Fourier starts. "She is your best friend, sister, and most precious person."
"His Highness is my most precious person," Ferris corrects him, again. Only then Fourier realizes that even if Ferris looks like he is willing to accept his stories, he is not ready to accept the fact that he is devoted to someone other than him.
Fourier forces a tired smile, "and his Highness is honored you feel that way about him, but there was someone else you used to love just as much."
Ferris looks like he disagrees but remains silent. He can accept the existence of Crusch, but to put her as high as Fourier was a bit too much.
"She looks exactly like Helena used to, green hair and honey brown eyes. But that is as far as their similarities go, Crusch isn't the perfect little Lady, she is a tomboy from head to toe, fierce and serious. Always carrying her sword everywhere." He closes his eyes as he remembers the first time he saw his Lady.
"Back when I first met Crusch you were already a part of their lives—we were all eleven, and you hated me with a passion," Ferris frowns but Fourier continues before his knight can interrupt him. "You weren't sure whether I was worthy of Crusch's friendship. I thought it was very cute, but Crusch was so oblivious she didn't even realize we were in the middle of a battle of wits. By the end of it, I passed and we somehow became friends with each other. It was hilarious, and once I went back to the Castle I laughed for like three hours straight." Fourier doesn't clarify that the battle actually took years. Ferris would be even more bewildered if he did.
"She used to be right beside you every time your Magic Teacher came to test you, and she waited for you at the main hall of the Royal Hospital the first time you were sent there to assist the troops. She is just like that, the kind of girl that is by your side in all the most important moments of your life, cheering."
Fourier hesitates, unsure if he is handling the conversation properly, but the moment he raises his eyes and catches sight of Ferris, he grins. His friend is looking at him, visibly enamored by the girl he's recounting. "She has terrible taste in tea, her favorite is green."
Yes, talking about Crusch is the one thing Fourier can do well, even in death.
After a healing session and a thousand stories, the night passes. The world doesn't stop turning just because theirs does.
Ferris mourns and weeps for a Lady his brain doesn't remember, even when his heart does. Fourier plans and comforts his friend as he schemes their next course of action. First, he needs to go over the hundred and one archives within the main office, because, deep within those documents might be the clue that leads to Crusch.
Even when the morning arrives and Fourier forces Ferris to get changed and leave for work, the picture inside Karsten's manor remains mostly the same. The dead prince reads and reads the papers in front of him time and time again.
But he doesn't find anything special there, only reports about knights, crops and taxes, all written by Meckart and Ferris.
…and that's exactly the most off putting part.
Some time before the Royal family died, Crusch was given the title of duchess. Therefore, most of the papers within the last fourteen months should have been written by her. But not only that wasn't the case, it also happened that there were almost no papers about the current year. Instead, inside of that unassuming wood box in the office, he had found an entire stack of blank papers.
Fourier isn't sure exactly what that means, but he knows a witch cultist has to be the one behind it.
Even after Ferris returns, his mind is still racing over it. Where had all the papers gone? How had The Cult gotten inside the Manor?
"Start from the beginning— Did you ask Reinhard about Crusch?" he commands.
And the knight talks. He tells Fourier everything he saw from the moment he put a foot inside the garrison, from his conversation with Marcos to his altercation with Reinhard and Julius.
Fourier frowns at the last part. They already have their hands full with Crusch's disappearance, the last thing they need is the Sword Saint and the Greatest Knight learning Ferris has an undead inside his home.
"Ferris asked them about a Crusch Karstein, neither knew a person called like that, nya," Ferris starts, "both had their memories modified by The Witch Cult." Ferris and Fourier understand what that means.
Not even the Sword Saint was safe from Satella's clutches. For a moment, Fourier is glad he is dead, for it seems rotten corpses are the only thing not part of the Witch's domain—ironically.
Ferris then proceeds to explain that he hid his question by telling Julius he was asking about one of the many other Cruschs inside the Karsten's family tree.
The knight declares, proudly, that he knows Crusch is a traditional Karsten name from the time Lugunica was first founded. He also informs him that's literally all he knows about the Karsten's naming tradition.
They both smile knowingly. Even if Ferris forgot about Crusch, he hasn't forgotten all the things he learnt by her side. The smallest things were now the biggest testament of her existence. "And what is this thing I hear about you fighting your friends?" Fourier presses on when Ferris doesn't explain what the hell he meant by altercation.
The knight fidgets. "It was nyothing," Ferris says, waving his hands hastily in front of him. "They were a bit worried about Ferris' many questions— Ferris got a bit overwhelmed." He blushes.
The prince sighs but nods, he had expected that much. "I prepared fish," he tells his knight off hand while standing up and walking towards the kitchen. Ferris, surprised, follows him suit. "You won't help anyone if you starve. Eat."
Ferris pretends to pout, but they both know the knight is overjoyed to eat Fourier's food.
That's fine by Fourier, his friend had become too thin since Crusch died.
The afternoon proceeds and Ferris leaves to have dinner with Meckart. Fourier is glad to hear Ferris wants to spend more time with his adopted father. As they both lost the most important person in their life, it is only logical they help each other get over it.
Meckart's relationship with his daughter used to be quite complicated. The truth is that even after she became Duchess, the man didn't approve of how feisty she was: he despised watching her run into the battlefield, fight, and wear a military uniform.
But Ferris, a boy who owns more dresses than pants, never talked back to Meckart. Even when the father-daughter duo fought tooth and nail over whether Crusch would wear a dress for her coming of age celebration (Crush despised the idea of wearing a gown when she could wear a uniform), Ferris didn't side with either of them.
It was only after Fourier learnt about the horrible relationship between Ferris and his biological dad that he finally grasped how Ferris felt about Meckart.
Ferris knew The Duke loved his daughter more than anything in the world. He scolded Crusch not because he hated what she represented, but because he loathed watching Crusch be in danger.
That small, little detail did all the difference in Ferris' eyes.
The hours fly by, Ferris returns, and Fourier gets ready for another long night alone. As long as he remains by Ferris' side he can almost pretend things are normal. But every time he fails to sleep, every time Ferris needs to heal his body to stop it from rotting, he is reminded of how unnatural the situation is.
With every night alone, he crawls farther away from the person he used to be and closer to what an impostor is.
His grim thoughts are interrupted by his knight's voice. "Ferris checked the family tapestry over dinner," Ferris comments off hand, making Fourier's eyes widen. The prince had completely forgotten the Karsten had such a thing. "Nyot only was Crusch's name not in it, but it looked perfectly blank. It was spotless—almost like no name was ever written there."
Fourier doesn't say a word, mouth thin. If even after so many hours talking about Crusch, the knight still held doubts—
But Ferris ignores Fourier's sour expression and continues talking instead "…Ferris thinks his Highness was right when he said we might have faced something other than the whale." He continues, surprising his liege. "Ferris doesn't think a mabeast could be capable of erasing someone's existence to the point of changing even a piece of cloth. Taking into consideration that The Witch Cult's attacks have been linked to the Whale's mist for some time, the idea that an archbishop intercepted us might have some merit," the knight finishes.
Ferris' speech brings a smile to Fourier's face. He is glad the knight doesn't doubt Crusch's existence even when there is overwhelming evidence against them. His happiness doesn't last long though, because he suddenly realizes that a being capable of changing a tapestry from miles away…
…could be capable of turning all of Crusch's reports blank.
Back when he informed Ferris of his findings, the knight admitted it was only thanks to Fourier's tip that he realized how out of place those blank papers were. Those papers had been spotless too, almost as if nothing had ever been written there. Maybe they couldn't change the content, therefore, the only other option was erasing everything altogether.
He is about to voice his theory when his knight starts talking again, "Ferris wants to tell Meckart about Crusch."
Fourier drops the papers he is holding.
The dead prince stares at his friend in disbelief. He knows Ferris means well, but Meckart couldn't learn about his daughter, not until they found out what happened to her. As happy as he is to hear Ferris admit how much he cares about Meckart, they have no proof of Crusch's existence other than Fourier's memori—
"Absolutely not," Fourier cuts in, eyes bright red, "we are not telling the Duke you have a undead Royal living under your —technically his— roof." If the Duke's memories matched Ferris', he probably thought of Fourier Lugunica as his own child: Crusch's replacement—not by blood, but in every other sense.
Fourier would like to say that the reason he doesn't want to meet Meckart is that he cannot bear the idea of being seen as a substitute for his Lady, but the truth is just that he does not want to deal with the aftermath of telling the Duke he is nothing but Crusch's father to him, and that all his memories together were a lie… a pitiful picture painted by either the Witch herself or one of her minions.
Nonetheless, he made a grave mistake by underestimating Ferris' devotion towards his adopted father. With him appointed as the sole heir of the dukedom, it's only logical he would want the Duke to know about his late daughter—missing daughter.
To Fourier's surprise, Ferris just grimaces, nods and doesn't even try to change the prince's mind.
It startles the prince, and after some seconds of silence, it becomes obvious Ferris does not intend to raise the topic again.
…the realization that Ferris won't voice any disapproval at Fourier's blatant betrayal against Meckart displaces him, even if he is grateful they won't have to waste yet another hour going down the memory lane. He knows his knight wouldn't have brought the idea up if it wasn't extremely important to him, but one word from Fourier was all it took for him to dismiss himself and his request.
He might be dead, but he still frowns at the concept of blind loyalty: Lugunica isn't a dictatorship, nor is he Vincent Vollachia, his subjects are allowed to voice their opinions and disagree with him. Or they did… when he was alive… Details.
Fourier would have to fix Ferris' attitude before he left… it seemed the list of things to do only got longer and longer.
The prince is about to start talking again when a new thought crosses his mind. Maybe Ferris' request did have some merit, because if Meckart were to find out Ferris revived Fourier, the Duke would be forced to detain his adopted son…unless, of course, he convinced him of letting Fourier go.
It seems unlikely, especially considering how easily Ferris dismissed his loyalty towards Meckart in order to please a dead man, but it's a possibility nonetheless. "You shouldn't just mindlessly accept everything I tell you, if you feel like the correct thing to do is to tell your father, you should tell me so."
Ferris flinches visibly and lowers his ears. "Ferris is a Royal Knight—a good and loyal knight follows its liege's orders without hesitation," the demi-human declares with a shaky voice.
His reply does not please the prince in the slightest, "First, you are my friend, and only second you are my subject. You shouldn't let anyone tell you otherwise… and that's an order," he jokes.
Ferris doesn't laugh, and instead hides his ears even lower. Fourier doesn't know why his friend is so different from the bright and opinionated individual he remembers, but he blames it on Crusch's disappearance. "From now on I hope you actually tell me what you believe," the blond prince remains silent for another moment, and only continues after Ferris nods in answer. "So?" he asks.
Ferris is still trembling, but after some seconds gathering courage, he finally speaks without spluttering, "Ferris believes it's Ferris' duty to tell Meckart about his daughter," Fourier smiles softly, and nods.
If Fourier had fewer things in his mind, he would have noticed Ferris' slip of the tongue. Ferris thought it was his duty to tell the Duke, for he thought himself as the one at fault. In his mind, Crusch had only died because he failed to do his job as a knight…just like he failed Fourier and his family.
Fourier doesn't notice how close Ferris is to throwing up, either.
"Ferris," the knight's head instantly rises, recognizing Fourier's commanding tone, "…we have to go study the place where you fought the Whale, see whether we find a lead. We will tell Duke Meckart afterwards."
Fourier knows telling someone else is a bargain, and a huge one, but he would rather tell Meckart than stay undead for an indefinite period of time.
His knight stiffens, unable to hide the twinge of pain from his face, but moments later his expression turns into one of determination and relief. "Ferris understands—we need to bring Crusch home first, meow."
Fourier forces a smile. Hopefully his plan wouldn't backfire.
Now, they only had to convince Marcos and Meckart that Ferris' state was good enough for him to travel on his own…but as Fourier studies his friend; he doesn't see that happening anytime soon. Knight or not, Ferris isn't combat-orientated, and the Duke has always been overprotective of those he considered his own. "Ideally it will be just the two of us, but we might have to bring another knight with us if the Duke disagrees."
Ferris stiffens. Considering how huge his eyes became, Fourier believes it's safe to say he hadn't taken that possibility into account. "Uhm… maybe we shouldn't—" Ferris begins, uncertain.
"—we will take one of Meckart's men, one who wouldn't just tell the Sage Council," Ferris' lips remain thin as paper, but Fourier already has one man in mind "I noticed Sir Wilhelm wasn't listed as one of the soldiers that went after the whale. I found it weird, considering how much he wanted to avenge his wife, but Crusch was never one to promote revenge."
Ferris frowns but doesn't really react much at Fourier's words, "Sir Wilhelm…was he married to one of the people Theresia commanded during the Great expedition?"
Ferris only asked a question, yet suddenly the air in the room becomes much more uncomfortable.
The knight gulps, and Fourier guesses he finally got the hint he should know who Wilhelm is, already.
Fourier opens his mouth but doesn't confirm anything. Instead, he just closes his eyes and picks up the papers he had dropped some minutes ago. "I should have noticed something was amiss; Wilhelm wouldn't accept not joining a new expedi—" he cuts himself as a new theory forms in his mind.
Ferris fidgets when he notices his Highness isn't going to continue. "Is his Highness—?"
Fourier ignores his friend and asks his own question instead, "does the name Wilhelm van Astrea mean anything to you?" he needs to hear it from Ferris.
Fourier watches his knight's expression go from curiosity to disbelief, "Van Astrea? Is he related to—" the knights eyes widen as he realizes what Fourier just said. "Nya?! Theresia van Astrea had a husband?!"
The prince doesn't know whether he should laugh or cry. His friend just learnt a member of the Astrea family got erased by the Witch, yet the most surprising part was that Theresia got married.
Fourier just blinks and nods—a mechanic reaction by now. "Who do you think Reinhard's grandfather is?" If Reinhard existed while Wilhelm did not, it proved Crusch could exist. It wasn't enough to prove her existence, but to have a clear proof people could disappear from everyone's memories was useful enough.
"Reinhard has no grandfather—Theresia never told a soul who her son's father was." Fourier nods, once again.
There was no doubt now that Crusch went missing the day they fought the whale. "Yeah, you are completely wrong about both things," he also now knows she isn't the only one who disappeared. Suddenly, a hundred new possibilities were brought to life.
"I'll need to check who else I remember served your father, see how many people are missing from the files. For now, go to sleep and focus on how to convince Commander Marcos to let you go back to the where you fought the whale. I'll take care of the rest."
Some alternative titles are: 'let's see how many bombs i can drop in a single chapter' and 'these two idiots keep talking, please make them shut up.'
Please, do remember Fourier is an unreliable narrator.
As always please tell me if you catch any grammar mistake or whatever.