33. In Person
Spring came around, and winter ended. Arganan was relieved to finally get out of winter clothes and into lighter, more breathable, spring clothing.
With that relief, however, came two realizations – the first one being that it was now one year since he left Lazulis and started living in Selphia. He was more than sure that Lazulis had significantly changed since his departure, given the peace treaty between Lazulis and the Gurak, and the consequential opening of more trade routes. Despite the lack of letters from Calista during the winter, he was sure that she was doing a fine job of leading Lazulis back to the glory it once had.
The second realization was that the Spring Harvest Festival was approaching. Which meant, according to the letter Leon gave him from Calista, that she would come visit.
Which meant he'd see her in person.
Which also meant that they'd have to talk. Arganan dreaded talking to her. He had no idea how this conversation between him and Calista would go. Instead of worrying about it, however, he knew he couldn't do much but just wait for her to come to Selphia. Burying himself in the task of paying back his debt (which was more than half-paid at this point, having paid off 18,000 G out of the 30,000 required), he threw himself into work, as well as spending more time with Frey and the rest of Selphia's citizens whenever he could.
He knew it probably wasn't the best thing to do. He did send Calista one or two letters, asking her how she was. She only sent one back, mainly responding that she was busy, but doing fine in Lazulis Island. He wondered if Calista was dealing with people from the Empire's mainland, at this point. After all, due to Lazulis being a separate physical location from the rest of the Empire, Lazulis had a little more flexibility in doing what it wanted, despite it being a 'sword arm' of the Empire.
He just hoped she was okay, navigating that terrain. He was glad he didn't have to be the one dealing with the post-war outcome of the Gurak and Lazulis being at peace with each other, but what would the rest of the Empire think, as a whole? Who knows?
"Arganan?" Arganan looked up to see Illuminata, who had spoken up. "Just wanted to remind you and Amber that we're closing at ten-thirty this morning, so we can get ready for the Harvest Festival. Are you participating?"
Arganan shook his head. "I'm not much of a farmer, so no."
"You have been doing a decent job of keeping the other plants alive." The self-proclaimed detective pointed out, gesturing towards the flowers Arganan had watered earlier. "I'm surprise you haven't started growing your own plants!"
"Since I eat with Nancy, Jones, Dolce and Pico often enough at breakfast and dinner, Nancy, Dolce and I usually take turns cooking and getting groceries from the general store for all of us." He explained. He did know, after practically a year of living with Nancy and Jones, that Nancy did have a small herb garden, and did try to grow tomatoes and other handy vegetables, but it wasn't like a farm like Frey had. "Frey will probably win again, anyway, so there's no point in me competing."
"Well, this year I'm gonna dethrone her!" Illuminata held up a tomato in one hand. "With this tomato, I'm gonna crush the competition!"
He stared at the tomato in her hand, then looked her in the eye, unsure of what to say at first. "Er…good luck."
"Thanks!"
"I'm participating, too!" Amber hopped a little, beaming as she held out a pot of Cherry Grass. "And this is going to be my entry."
Arganan couldn't help but offer her a soft smile, seeing her eyes glittering with excitement. "I wish you good luck, as well. I'm sure one of you will at least place in the top three, if not win."
"Hey!" Illuminata pouted. "Give us a bit more faith than that!"
"I have to cheer for Frey, too." The former Count protested. "I am her friend, after all!"
"She's practically befriended the whole town as is." Illuminata chuckled a bit at that, shaking her head. "But I guess you were one of her first friends, right? You and her showed up in town around the same time."
"True." Arganan knew Illuminata had a point. He then recalled Calista's letter from earlier, frowning slightly. "I wonder if she's met my niece, by now. Calista did say, in one of her previous letters to me, that she would be coming today for the Festival…"
"Your niece? As in…Countess Calista Arganan?" Illuminata's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!? This is the perfect chance for you two to talk about things!"
"Your niece?" Amber asked, looking up at Arganan.
Arganan nodded, his gaze darting towards the former Guardian. He'd told Illuminata and Amber some details of his and Calista's complicated relationship, but he hadn't told them everything (he left out mentioning his past abuse of his niece, not wanting to scare off Amber at the time as Amber was still getting used to the town at the time). "Yes. My niece. I don't know how she'll react, seeing me."
"She did tell you beforehand that she wanted to talk to you, given that you mentioned she said that in her past letter." Illuminata pointed out. "Maybe she really misses you."
Arganan shook his head. "She may want to reconcile with me, but I doubt she misses me. She's better off–"
That was when the shop's bell rang, a signal that someone entered. Arganan turned on his heel, ready to greet who it was that entered, and then he faltered, realizing who it was.
"Calista." That was all he could manage. He nearly dropped the formulas he was about to put them on the shelf, but he hastily did so, before turning to fully face her. "You're here."
Calista Arganan, the new Countess of Lazulis, stared right back of him, faltering where she stood in the shop's doorway. "Uncle."
Calista didn't look like she'd changed much, at least physically. Her height and blue eyes were still the same, for starters. Her silver hair was still shoulder-length, like always, and down. The dress she wore reflected her new status, given the detailed ribbonwork of her deep blue dress going down her back, as well as patterned-gold ribbon at the hemlines in the skirt area of the dress, and it was clear she wore heeled boots to match as well, but it wasn't anything outside of her usual fashion style otherwise. However, she held a regal air about her, authoritative, but also approachable at the same time. If anything, she was nothing like the person he used to hurt and abuse all the past years he'd been Count. She was confident. Better now.
Better off without him.
He swallowed, wondering what she must think of seeing him now. He still retained some of the outfits he'd worn as Count, back when he first arrived in Selphia, but due to his work at Illuminata's shop, as well as the couple of varied adventures with Frey, he did end up purchasing some plainer-looking, but useful clothing once Frey managed to get a clothing merchant to set up permanent shop outside of town, and also before he went into the 30,000 G debt. There were no frills on his shirt, and the coat he wore was pretty plain, with no special lining or anything. He supposed the only thing he hadn't changed, about his appearance, was the scars on his body that would always remain, the large eyepatch that covered them, and the metal prosthetic limbs that he'd always use.
"You did get my letter, I hope." Calista managed, after a moment. "About my coming here today?"
"I did." He confirmed. He paused, unsure of what else to say, before managing, "Please, come in."
As Calista closed the door behind her, Arganan realized that Calista was…alone.
"Zael isn't with you?" Arganan asked.
Calista shook her head. "I think he's still getting settled into the Bell Hotel. He said he'd catch up with me at the Town Square, and Frey promised to give him a tour."
"And you're not with her, because…?" Illuminata started, but Calista finished it, looking Arganan in the eye.
"I wanted to find you." Calista managed. "Nancy was nice to direct me to this shop."
"That does sound like Nancy to do that." Arganan paused, thinking of her, Jones, Dolce and Pico. "Well, you found me. So what now?"
Illuminata looked between the two awkwardly, before managing, "You know what, Arganan? How about you take the rest of today off starting now? Me and Amber can manage things from here."
"Are you sure?" He asked, looking towards her.
The self-proclaimed detective offered him a smile. "I'm sure you and your niece want to catch up with each other."
Arganan and Calista left the shop, heading towards Town Square. Both were silent, at first, but then Arganan figured he should say something.
"To be honest, I thought you didn't care much for me anymore. Not like you cared much for me in the first place, but still."
"What?" Calista raised a brow. "Why did you think that?"
"You barely sent any letters during the past winter and this whole season, too." He frowned slightly. "And when you first sent letters, I thought you were just being polite."
"I was." She admitted. "Being polite, that is. The reason I hadn't sent a lot of letters, during this spring and past winter, however, was because I was dealing with the Empire's mainland."
He froze upon hearing the last part. "The…Empire?" He knew that the rest of the Empire, compared to Lazulis, likely didn't approve well of the Gurak and Lazulis being at peace with each other. "How is that going?"
"Slowly. It's not like they've made any demands for us to undo the peace treaty with the Gurak, but the last time I held a ball in Lazulis for those from the mainland to come in, it seems that most were unimpressed." A sigh escaped Calista at that, and she shook her head. "Of course, the fact that the Gurak are still trying to decide a new ruler is not helping things either."
"They're still trying to decide?"
"Yes." She swallowed. "It turns out that one of Zangurak's right-hand men, Zesha, survived the final battle we had against the Gurak. He was one of the ones that helped push the peace treaty forwards in the first place, but the fact that he was a former enemy of ours and also closely tied to Zangurak has many of the Gurak feeling betrayed by him, because of those actions. Despite that, he's one of the strongest candidates to be the Gurak's next King."
"I see. How soon will they make a decision?"
"At the end of this spring." Calista answered.
Arganan wonderd how that election of a new King would go. How did the Gurak end up having the now-late-Zangurak as their King, in the first place? He did know that the Gurak were once a bunch of scattered tribes that came together after Zangurak used the Outsider's power, but he must have used more than just that. Zangurak, despite being Lazulis' enemy, was an effective leader – Arganan knew the first King knew what he was doing, at the time. He had to respect that man's intelligence, at least.
No matter who was chosen as King, Arganan knew that they would be compared to Zangurak. Always would be. And he was sure Calista was being compared to Arganan himself, especially given that she was his niece and replaced him shortly after the war with the Gurak.
"Whatever happens," Arganan finally managed, "I just hope that it works out peacefully."
Calista could only nod. "I hope so, too."
Before Arganan or Calista could speak, the two heard screams from up ahead in the town square. "What…?" Calista started, but Arganan gritted his teeth, rushing ahead.
What was going on? Did some wild monsters come into town from outside, by accident? Was it just purely an accident going on?
Just as Arganan entered town square, he noticed Arthur nearby, rushing over to him. "What's going on?" He asked.
"It's the Sechs Empire." Arthur swallowed, pointing up ahead. "A Sechs soldier is here."
The Sechs are cruel to play with people's lives… Ventuswill's words echoed in Arganan's mind as he stared down the obvious intruder in the town square. Forte was there, as well as Doug, both of them staring down a soldier in armor that Arganan didn't recognize. It must be the soldier Arthur was referring to.
"No." Arganan heard Calista whisper. "Now?"
What do we do? Arganan looked towards Forte, Doug, and the Sechs soldier, and then briefly at Arthur and Calista, both of them clearly unsure of how to handle the matter. Frey wasn't even here, either – Arganan betted that she was still giving Zael the tour of the town, but hopefully they would make it here…right?
Whatever happened next, Arganan had a bad feeling that things were about to get worse.