While her friends arrested Duke Albarea, Laura took Rean back to the entrance of the fortress. Well, she took him less than half of the way through, after which the adrenaline in her subsided and she gave in to Rean's insistence that he wasn't so badly hurt he couldn't walk by himself. And that was true, he was walking perfectly fine and she may have gone overboard with concern but she also had never seen him that hurt before. Her going back to their comrades and leaving him was out of question however.
On their way they had found Instructor Sara along with some RMP officers and five dead Northern Jaegers, the other two being attended to by medics. Among the casualties was the woman bearing the battle ax, her hand still clutching to her weapon.
"A real fighter that one," said the bracer, sounding sadder than they had ever heard her and with shoulders that sagged like she was carrying all the weight of the world. "Didn't give me much choice."
"We know what you mean, instructor," Laura said in response, knowing her sword was still wet with Scarlet's blood.
The RMP medics attended to Rean and thankfully his wounds looked worse than they actually were. They still needed dressing to avoid infection for the moment but he would be fine; and after they returned to the Courageous they'd have Emma's magical ointment that had healed an equally nasty wound of his months back, so there was no reason to worry.
But how could she not worry? She had dashed all the way back through the corridors of Aurochs Fort wondering what sort of enemies Rean might be facing, what trap laid in waiting for him and once she got there she had heard Scarlet's yelling echoing although at first she couldn't discern most of what she had said.
"You'll end up dead!" Was what she caught of the mad woman's rant once she arrived at the scene, followed by Rean screaming and the same fear Laura had felt that day back in Trista surged at her at full force. But this time Scarlet was not inside a soldat.
"If you can't kill me, I'll just find someone who can," Scarlet was about to say before Laura fulfilled her wish. She had quickly understood the woman's intentions of pushing Rean to kill her, just like Vulcan had done, and it disgusted and enraged her to see someone trying to once again burden Rean that way, so she took on that burden herself without thinking twice.
A stab in the back before Scarlet even knew who it was, not the most honorable action to take but Laura did not care, protecting Rean was far more important than any notion of chivalry and even hours later she could not find fault with her actions. What truly weighed on her mind after they had retired to the Courageous at the end of the day was the fight between the two of them.
Rean should have been able to defeat Scarlet, shouldn't he?
Yes, the woman was skilled, Laura recalled how expertly she had fought back in Garrelia Fortress but Rean had grown much stronger since then and he should've been able to overpower her. But then, as she had learned later, Scarlet had been trained in Arteria as part of the Church's armed forces and had that unique weapon of hers and that might have thrown Rean off. Captain Claire reasoned that Scarlet had avoided using her templar sword in their previous encounters to not alert Arteria that one of theirs was hopping around Erebonia committing acts of terrorism and give them an excuse to get involved. She also mentioned that the Intelligence Division had their suspicions but of course they wouldn't share intel with another country.
It was a fascinating weapon, Laura thought when Rean described it, and she herself had no doubt it would have troubled her during combat as well. But was that enough? Enough for the terrorist to get the upper hand on him? She wasn't sure.
But if it was, why didn't Rean use his ogre power then? She had almost asked him just that before stopping herself. It was a stupid and insensitive question. Rean didn't like his power, he only used it when strictly necessary, so interrogating him on why he didn't use it wasn't the best course of action. But what had been that if not a last case scenario? He could've been killed!
That line of thought led her back to that same dark corner of her mind from before, that annoying prickling that she couldn't shake off. That damned delusion once again rearing its ugly head. It had actually started when Rean had pushed her away from the trap and threw himself in its way. Looking back, had she even been in danger or did he just recklessly threw himself into danger for nothing? She had some words to give him but then she heard him scream and whatever she had had to say died there.
She was angry at Rean but also concerned for him and she didn't know how to approach it and she was also still furious at Scarlet and the war and everything was so exhausting and-
"Hey, Laura. You okay?" Rean asked, sitting across from her at a table in the Courageous' mess hall.
Minutes ago they had sat down for a late dinner before retiring to their quarters. Apparently she had been spacing out as she still hadn't touched her food. The swordswoman blinked and shook her head to shake off her current state of mind.
"Yes, I'm fine, just reflecting on today's events," she said before putting a spoonful of chicken soup in her mouth.
"Are you really fine?" He reached out for her free hand, holding it and stroking it with a look filled with concern. "Things didn't go as smoothly as we hoped."
"I am the one who should be asking if you are okay. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, the pain's subsided and I can almost feel Emma's ointment fixing me up," Rean made sure to roll his shoulder and stretch his left arm. "Honestly, I'm more pissed that Scarlet ruined my jacket, I hope Rosine manages to fix it."
He tried to shrug it off with an uncaring grin but Laura wasn't buying it and she told him to not force himself. When Rean tried to say he wasn't struggling to move she cut him off. "I mean your demeanor. It's okay, Rean, you don't need to sound in higher spirits than what you're feeling right now."
Rean looked a little stunned and he lowered his gaze. "Right, sorry, we talked about that."
"I'm at peace with my actions, Rean, and I'd do it all over again if it meant protecting you," there was just the slightest blush on his face but Rean went all in on his own bowl of soup to try to hide it. "I am not lessened for what I've done, so you shouldn't blame yourself for what happened."
Rean nodded and Laura hoped it meant he was internalizing her words properly.
After a few more minutes they finished their dinner and both got up to retire for the day, as tomorrow they would be assisting the RMP in patrolling Bareahard, just like they had done in Roer. They chatted on the way and Laura paid close attention to Rean, just to be sure he wasn't putting up a strong front. He was a little down on himself, she noticed, but he seemed to be fine overall.
Well, his wounds weren't crippling and Laura had not seen how the fight had gone. Maybe she had just arrived at a bad moment and Rean could've managed to turn the tables on Scarlet. That was how Laura chose to rationalize it because clearly she was just overthinking things and worrying too much again.
As distasteful as it was to take a life, Rean had done so to protect others, so if pushed so far that he had no other recourse, he would do it to defend himself as well, right?
Ugh, what a mess, was Sara's first thought in the morning.
Just as she was about to tell Rean, Laura and everyone else about her previous life as a Northern Jaeger, her past decided to catch up to her in one of the worst ways possible (not the worst, the worst would have been if someone like Commander Glark Grommash himself showing up there somehow). Bad enough what transpired in Ymir, now after Celdic, how could she just tell them that she used to be part of the same group that burned down a town like that?
She was being stupid, she knew that. A damn moron like always. Nobody at the Guild ever judged for her past when she joined and now it had been years since she left the corps, those goody two-shoes kids wouldn't lash out against her, hell, they had already gone through that with Fie. But Sara was older and an adult and their teacher and she should've been more upfront because they trusted her.
And they weren't stupid, they knew something was up as soon as she ordered them to leave her alone to fight the jaegers.
And now it looks like I was trying to hide evidence
The bracer rolled in her bunk bed and covered her face with her pillow to muffle her groan to not wake up the girls still sleeping in their bunk beds. So, so stupid. It wasn't even about her, it was about Rean and hoping that if he understood where she came from he would feel less shitty about himself but now it felt like it could do more harm than good to drop something like this on him and everyone else.
After the war. I can't risk breaking morale right now but once the war is over and we're back in Thors I'll tell them and they can decide if they still want me as a teacher or not.
As the noble capital of Erebonia, Bareahard took the news of Duke Albarea's arrest in a worse manner than Roer did of Marquis Rogner's surrender. Even more skirmishes between the RMP and a few remaining loyalists happened throughout the city, although some were more like tantrums rather than real attempts to drive back the Imperial forces and were easy to deal with.
Meanwhile, the nobility that resided at the Verdant City, the vast majority of which were not soldiers and could not fight, watched in horror from the windows of their homes as Imperial soldiers and police officers marched across town, patrolling in search of any remaining resistance but not doing anything much of anything else, being under order to not antagonize the populace. The bolder ones actually left their homes to sneer at the "invaders" and even provoke them, for what good that did. On that front there were very few incidents and the soldiers and police officers that did lose their temper were harshly disciplined by their superiors.
With heavy security around her person, including Sara and Neidhart, Princess Alfin was visiting the most affluent families within the city, hoping that her words and presence would help calm things down.
Jusis was up to his nostrils with work, his first order of business: setting up relief work for the survivors of Celdic and doing preliminary research on what it would take to rebuild the town. Thankfully, he counted with the help of the staff of House Albarea, who welcomed him back with open arms, as well as Machias and Alisa and he took it heartily as this was about helping people in need after all, he couldn't let his pride stand in the way. Despite the incredibly heavy act of arresting his own father for such a barbaric crime, Jusis was looking absolutely refreshed that day, almost cheerful one might say. That speech he gave had been an absolutely cathartic experience for him.
The rest of Class VII was on support duty throughout all of this, instructed to solely patrol the city and first report anything suspicious and only intervening when strictly necessary. It was the RMP and Army's show now and they had already done enough the previous day.
Rean and Laura were patrolling together at first but once she got a call from her ARCUS from the Courageous they went their separate ways. It was a message from Emily, the captain of the lacrosse club back in Thors, asking for the swordswoman's help with her girlfriend, Theresia. From what she learned later, once they met up, both girls had fled Thors when the war started to stay in Bareahard for safety. Baron Caroline, Theresia's father and a staunch supporter of the nobility, had welcomed them both at first, although they hid the status of their real relationship under the guise of simply being friends. Things were fine until Duke Albarea's arrest by the Crimson Wings, when Theresia voiced her desire to join the Courageous, which led Baron Caroline to put his daughter under house arrest and kick Emily out for "contaminating his daughter with untowards ideas" solely due to her social status.
Lucky for them, the baron was an admirer of the Arseid family and the viscount's opposition to the coup had him highly conflicted. So with that, it fell to Laura to try and convince Theresia's father to let the girl decide her own fate, which would probably be an easy task if the baron respected the Radiant Blademaster as much as Emily said.
"And maybe, could you help Theresia and I, you know, come out to him?" Emily asked shyly.
Well, that one might be more difficult but Laura accepted it all the same.
So Rean was by himself for the moment, which was fine as well, he needed the space to think some things over. He kept a watchful eye on things and mostly resisted his urge to step in on any problems that arose, which was mostly nobles arguing with RMP officers about something inane. One was hilariously brandishing a petition demanding the immediate release of Duke Albarea while loudly denouncing his unlawful imprisonment to police officers who couldn't care less.
Another was cursing up a storm because an RMP truck had accidentally bumped on and put a dent on his orbal car, and further down the street a man was harassing army officers, calling them traitors of the nation and making wild accusations about how "It starts with you arresting Duke Albarea for these supposed crimes he's committed. Next thing we know, any noble who dares disagree with reformist policies will suddenly be arrested for some crime or another, just a made up excuse to justify silencing them!"
Rean rolled his eyes when he heard that one. So what? Should no noble ever be arrested despite what they do?
The pettiest thing he heard however was an elderly couple trying to argue that as nobles they had sovereignty over their land and the troops were invading it. Their "land" being the sidewalk in front of their mansion, which according to them, RMP officers were walking on with their dirty boots with the purpose of spreading mud on.
It was surprising how mouthy some nobles could get. Get some real problems, you two, Rean thought as he walked by.
"Now, Mr. and Mrs. Schultz, please be reasonable," one of the police officers said and upon hearing that name Rean froze, not paying attention to how the man demanded to be referred to properly as Baron Schultz.
Rean stood in the street like a statue and whatever was being said turned into white noise as his gaze locked on the elderly couple. He ran their names over and over on his head, mouthing it to himself as if to be sure. He looked at the woman, who seemed to be around her fifties, maybe a little older, and she was the perfect picture of the stereotypical noble lady, wearing expensive and extravagant clothes that showed off her status with a haughty look of contempt in her eyes as she berated the police officer.
The baron, her husband, was much the same, the kind of man Machias would have a field day calling out. But it was on the woman that Rean focused, specially her hair. It was graying but it still held some of its natural color: a shade of dark blue he very much recognized.
Schultz…
The arguing between the noble couple and RMP officers went on for a few minutes, both sides remaining unaware of the young swordsman watching them with a dumbfounded expression, and it only ended when one of the policemen had enough and decided to simply walk away, leaving the elderly huffing in anger.
He should just run away, get out of there and away from those people before he did something he'd regret. It wasn't his business, it couldn't be his business and there was no way anything he did would be beneficial to anyone, least of all himself. But Rean couldn't contain himself, for whatever reason he felt like he owed them.
"Lucia is okay," he blurted out, voice cracking and eyes widening as he realized what he had done. The couple was visibly scared by him as only now they became aware of his presence and thus it was too late to turn back. "Your niece, I mean, she's fine. Ymir is still safe, Baron Schwarzer and his wife are-"
"What did you say? What do you know about Lucia? Who are you?" Lady Schultz exclaimed with surprise but also irritation that this stranger was even speaking to her. Both her and her husband strode towards Rean with inquisitive looks, almost getting too close for comfort before he took a shaky step back.
"We asked you a question, young man. Explain yourself. What is your name?" The baron demanded of him, eyes running over Rean up and down as if he could measure his worth just by staring at him.
Suddenly, Rean's throat felt tight and no sound came out as much as he tried to speak and he just felt diminished under the gaze of his mother's aunt and her husband. Why in Aidios' name did he do this?
After a tense minute he was saved, if that was the right word considering what came after, by Gaius calling out his name as both him and Fie approached, asking if he needed help.
Lady Schultz, who was already upset, was visibly taken aback, putting a hand to her chest to go with her appalled expression.
"Rean? Did you just say his name is Rean?" Her husband asked from his confused friends, who nodded in affirmation.
"It's you!" The woman said with a shrill voice, pointing an accusatory finger at Rean. "You're the street urchin Baron Schwarzer brought into his home!"
"Is that true? Are you the boy Schwarzer adopted?" Baron Schultz demanded from him.
"Y-yes," Rean replied meekly, to the distaste of the noble couple.
"I used to believe the baron of Ymir had a good head on his shoulders, to this day I can't believe he would willingly sully his house in such a manner," the man looked Rean over with contempt while his wife shook her head, muttering how "Baron Schwarzer only made that girl worse."
"And what about you, huh? Are you still pretending you're their son? You must be, if you know about Lucia's current status which you deigned to inform us for some unfathomable reason. Do you believe we will reward you?"
"N-no, I just-"
"Aren't you ashamed of yourself to still be pretending to be their son? You're already old enough to know that is not your place, are you not?" The elderly man talked as if reprimanding a small child while his wife jab a finger at Rean's chest and he could only recoil in response.
"Are you planning on marrying poor little Elise and taking the barony for yourself? Did you touch that innocent girl you reprobate?"
That one almost made Rean throw up on the spot and it took all of his training to regain a measure of composure.
Both Fie and Gaius were completely lost about what was going on and shocked that someone would talk like this to their friend, berating him and his family for seemingly no reason.
"Hey, back off you two!" Fie yelled, putting herself between Rean and the two nobles, who promptly obeyed as she threateningly placed her hands in the gunblades strapped to her hips.
"It's okay, Fie," Rean simply said, putting a hand on her shoulder, his voice softly wavering.
"Yeah, you tell 'em- Wait, what?"
"Rean?"
Both turned to him, the surprise in their faces clear as day.
"It's alright. I was just leaving. Sorry for bothering you two," then Rean did the most shocking thing his friends ever saw him do, hebowed.
Rean Schwarzer had just had a bunch of crap thrown at him by a couple of nobles and he freaking bowed and apologized to them then left in a hurry. And the worst of all was the mask of a placid smile and vacant eyes with which he said those words. Not in a million years they expected their friend to behave that way.
The couple wasn't through with Rean yet and they continued to yell, demanding he give them answers and trying to go after him but Fie would not let them have their way anymore.
"I told you two to back off right now!" Absolutely fed up with them, the former jaeger pulled out one of her weapons with one hand while picking up her ARCUS with the other. The baron and his wife both let out indignant huffs but still clamped their mouths shut.
"Gaius, you deal with them, I'm calling Laura."
Around 6 in the afternoon, mass began at the Bareahard Cathedral, which would include a special segment to pay homage to the people of Celdic and Princess Alfin made sure to attend it. To avoid her presence from distracting from the subject, Alfin disguised herself, foregoing her usual outfit in the colors of House Arnor for more civilian looking ones, tying in her hair into a bun and hiding it under a hat and wearing a pair of glasses and scarf that went up to her chin.
Sara, Jusis and Alisa accompanied her as well as four disguised RMP officers just for safety. Meanwhile, Machias decided to return to the Courageous. Not because he lacked sympathy for the victims or because he didn't believe in Aidios, he just figured he shouldn't be out in a public event where a bunch of nobles would probably gather.
And it was a good decision that Machias had abstained from going because before they even had entered the cathedral, the group had already heard some not-so-kind whispers about Celdic at the entrance. Jusis glared at some of the gossipers as they passed by, who promptly shut their mouths but he could feel they went back to their disparaging remarks as soon as he looked away. Sara and Alisa gritted their teeth but kept quiet to not cause a scene while Alfin simply stared down and fidgeted with her hands.
Due to this set up, Celdic wasn't the only point of gossip either, as many eyes fixated on the Reinford heiress accompanying Jusis and certainly rumors about their relationship would have started to float were it not for the presence of the other women accompanying him.
The mass proceeded as normal for the most part, with a couple of hushed whispers being squashed by the sisters assisting Archbishop Amon in conducting the usual rites. Then, when the closing ceremony was about to begin, the archbishop began to speak of the tragedy of Celdic, extolling the value of human life and the importance of mutual respect between the subjects of Aidios.
"Now let us pray so that the souls of our brethren are safely guided to the embrace of She Who Dwells Above," said Archbishop Amon.
And so the congregation got up from their seats and prayed… Most of it, at least. The union of voices was much quieter than the other instances when they were called on to pray, Alfin noticed. She looked around and noticed that the people behind them, while they had their hands raised, were simply mouthing the words.
On the row of seats to her right, some worshipers stood up, but kept their arms lowered and mouths shut.
On the back, a man stayed sitting down and looked at his wristwatch with an annoyed expression. "This is taking too long," she could imagine him thinking to himself.
The princess turned her head forward again, squeezed her eyes shut and focused on her prayer instead. She could not cause a commotion there.
The prayer ended and Archbishop Amon offered more words of condolences to the people of Celdic. "Now, before we leave, I would like to inform you that the church is accepting donations for those who wish to contribute to assist the town of Celdic. Those interested to make a contribution, please talk to Sister Maria at the room to the left of the entrance. We're accepting donations in mira, food, clothes and medicine. Any contribution, no matter how small, is appreciated."
As the archbishop continued to talk about the donations, people started to filter out, some more hurriedly than others.
On the row behind Alfin, a man let out a loud "hmph!" as he got up from his seat and adjusted his duvet. "Donations," he blew air out of mouth. "For traitors?"
Sara looked like she was trying to set the man on fire with her eyes while Alisa and Jusis shook their heads. Alfin pursed her lips to a thin slit as they started to leave as well.
I can't make a scene.
"They rebel against their lord and then think they deserve recompense when disciplined?" Another noble said.
"I just hope they learned their lesson," a noble lady said.
I can't make a scene.
"I'm more concerned about what will happen to us."
"Duke Albarea has made a downright mess of things, I will say. It'll be months until we can financially recover from the loss of our main trading hub."
To Gehenna with not making a scene.
"How dare you!?"
Alfin's high pitched voice echoed through the cathedral, drawing the full attention to her and her companions. Jusis and Alisa were surprised by the outburst and mentally planning how to deal with the situation, while Sara just seemed amused. Oh this is going to be good.
"How dare you!?" The princess repeated, stomping her way up to the man who had called the people of Celdic traitors to stare daggers at him. "How can you be so cold to people who are suffering?"
The nobleman was beside himself that some child was yelling at him. He hadn't even paid attention to the content of her words, just the fact that a complete nobody dared raise their voice against him made his blood boil.
"How dare you speak to me in such a manner?" He looked around, searching for the girl's guardians to come take responsibility for her behavior but nobody seemed to be coming. "Haven't your parents taught you manners, child?"
"Yes, they did. But they also also taught me to be kind, to treat my fellow countrymen with respect and, most of all, to have sympathy for those in need."
To Alfin's words filled with emotion, the noble simply scoffed and turned his back to her, strutting away. "I don't have time for this."
"Yes, you do. For I order you to stay and answer my question."
"I don't have to-" The man's words were interrupted by a series of gasps and whispers around him. Confused, he turned around back to the girl and saw that she had removed her glasses, scarf and hat, letting her golden locks flow freely. His face went pale once he realized who she was.
"I-it's Princess Alfin!" A very unhelpful onlooker whispered.
The nobleman's lips quivered and he made an attempt to stutter a "Your Highness" but he was speechless as Alfin slowly walked up to him with a fire in her eyes. Looking around, he realized he had become the focus of attention at the church and only now he noticed the presence of Jusis Albarea, directing a gaze of contempt at him.
"I ask you once more, how can you be so callous towards innocent people who had their lives ruined by Duke Albarea?" The nobleman tried to stammer an apology that only made Alfin cut him off. "Is it because they are commoners, is that simply it? Do you see them beneath you because of the condition of their birth?"
The princess then took a step back and turned around, her furious gaze sweeping over the onlookers. "The same question applies to all of you, who sneer at your fellow countrymen, who dare blame them for their misfortune, who somehow managed to make this tragedy about yourselves."
There was a deafening silence among the crowd as no-one dared even breathe lest they draw the attention of the princess to them.
"I ask of you to exercise some empathy and put yourselves in the situation of the people of Celdic. What would you do if it was your home and all your belongings that had been burned to the ground, like I saw a poor family crying over a pile of ashes?"
Alfin turned around and pointed to the woman who had said she hoped the people of Celdic had learned their lesson and she almost fainted on the spot.
"How would you feel, if it was your husband lying dead on the floor and all you could do was cry and cry and cry over his corpse?"
The princess looked around once again, wiping the corner of her eye with the back of her hand, scanning the people and was glad that at least some of them seemed to be looking down in shame. Taking a deep breath, she was thankful for once that her status made people too scared to interrupt her because she was coming down from her anger-fuelled high and becoming conscious of how she hadn't prepared at all for an actual speech.
Well, at least Instructor Sara, Jusis and Alisa seem to be finding this amusing and Olivert will certainly find it entertaining once he hears about it.
Amidst the silence in the church, there was the sharp sound of someone intaking air and all eyes fell to a woman, her fine dress indicating she was a noble as well, whose gaze was directed at the floor while she fidgeted with her hands. "I-I… My father, he passed away last year and it was devastating for our entire family, I didn't leave my room for weeks. Still, despite enduring that, despite still finding myself missing him, I didn't think twice before casting my judgment on the people of Celdic, who are going through the same thing."
She spoke meekly as her face grew red in shame and a man, her husband, put a comforting arm across her shoulders.
Thankful for the time that bought her, Alfin finally spoke once again, her voice much more controlled but tone still severe.
"Noble, commoner, none of that matters. At the end of the day, we are all just people and we hurt all the same. We all cry the same tears when the things that matter the most to us get taken from us and we all bleed the same when we are hurt.
"So I beg all of you to exercise some self-reflection and think about your words and attitudes. I'm not asking that you completely change your stances about social class right at this moment, I only need you to think about the people suffering due to this war, not just in Celdic but all of our fellow Erebonians out there who are struggling to survive."
It was Jusis who approached the princess, followed by Alisa and Sara, once it was clear she had finished saying her piece. "Very well said, Your Highness. And as much as I'd like to add to your words, there are other places we must go."
Alfin nodded and turned to leave, the others following behind her, when the first nobleman, the one who had caused her outburst, finally managed to stutter an apology to her just to receive a sharp glare from the princess instead.
"It is not to me who you owe an apology to."
Not long after she was done helping Emily and Theresia, Laura had received Fie's call, which sent her into an hour-long search for Rean through the Verdant City. "Some assholes were talking a bunch of crap to Rean," her silver-haired friend tried to recall what she had heard and the passage about Rean pretending to be the Schwarzer's son was particularly infuriating to Laura. "Then he just bolted out of there."
Just like that time with his parents.
She called the Courageous but he hadn't returned to the airship and her other friends hadn't seen him either nor could anyone reach him through his ARCUS. When she finally came across him, at a bridge that overlooked the river, she did not expect to find Rean fishing.
Disconcerting as the scene may be considering what he had just gone through, it was a relieving sight. Calming herself down, Laura approached Rean as casually as she could without calling his attention and simply settled herself to his right, leaning over the balustrade to look down at the river.
"Have you caught anything yet?"
Rean tilted his head to the left, towards the ice box at his feet. "Two carps."
He didn't sound upset and a small, but genuine, smile adorned his lips. That was good, it seemed fishing was a more relaxing activity for him than she thought. And while he seemed calm and focused on his current task, Laura knew his eyes weren't looking anywhere close to the water and that his mind was elsewhere entirely.
"Fie told me what happened. That couple was…"
"My mom's aunt and her husband, Baron Schultz," Rean said with a sigh. Fishing time was over by the looks of it so he settled the rod down next to the ice box. "They took her in when her parents died in an accident when she was 12."
So that was what he meant back then about Lady Schwarzer's family shunning her. That information allowed Laura to quickly put the pieces together and she didn't like what she saw.
"They said some horrible things to you."
"They're just worried about their niece," he replied with a shrug.
He isn't even angry about it.
"My dad's parents died a little after Elise was born, so I never got to know them, but my mom still had her extended family out there and whenever I asked if I would ever meet them, my parents would just say that they couldn't travel to Ymir. A couple of years back, I was cleaning the attic at home one day and found a box filled with letters from them," Rean rubbed his face, letting out a tired sigh. "I shouldn't have read them, even when I was 13 I knew it was an invasion of privacy, but I was so damn curious and… They were filled with stuff about me. They kept hassling my parents about the barony's succession, Elise's rights, her future prospects, the usual. From what I read, they were genuinely worried about her, well, at least I think they were. They even brought up that I could be dangerous."
Rean laughed at that. Laura didn't.
"It got pretty bad by the last letter though, they called my dad crazy and suggested that divorce was an option."
Laura grew pale upon hearing that. Divorce. Something that carried a profound stigma in society, even among commoners. Laura herself didn't understand the why of it, just like how many other social norms eluded her, but she knew that to be divorced carried a terrible stain for a noble woman, which was why cases of divorce were practically unheard of. And Lady Schwarzer's aunt thought that was a better alternative than to have Rean as her son.
"When I took too long in the attic, my mom showed up and saw me holding up those letters and…" Rean gestured with his hands. "She rushed to burn those and then me, her and my dad talked about it, you can imagine how it went. That last letter was the last time they had any contact."
How awful of Lady Schwarzer's family, to isolate her for an act that only deserved praise. And how thoughtless, to not recognize that, being an orphan herself, their niece would be inclined to help another child in a similar situation.
Laura put her arm across Rean's shoulders, holding him tightly. "It's not your fault, Rean."
"I know," he said without hesitation and Laura was glad that it felt sincere. "I knew they lived in Bareahard but I never expected to meet them, but then I was passing by and heard their name so I thought they'd want to know if she was okay. I think they were worried in their own way, they still took my mom in and treated her well from what she told me, so they can't be all bad."
And your kindness was repaid with derision.
Part of Laura wanted to hunt down these people and let them hear a piece of her mind. To call out their prejudice and hateful behavior, to let them know how much of an amazing person Rean was and what they were missing by turning their backs on him. To yell and berate them until they felt small and worthless as they did to Rean.
"I got pretty upset there earlier and I'm thankful that you're here, Laura, really, but I'm over it. Honestly, that wasn't even on my mind right now," Rean said, diverting Laura away from her negative thoughts.
"What is it then?"
"I've been thinking about what I'm supposed to do about Crow. I know what I said before but after everything, after Vulcan and Scarlet… He's on the same boat as them, I'm sure of it, and I don't know what I should do anymore."
Of course, there were much more immediate concerns that they should worry about. Those people weren't worth dedicating even a second of her time to, Rean was.
"We will find a way, Rean," she said, her hand going up to his head and gently pushing so Rean would rest it on her shoulder.
Rean let out a soft hum when Laura ran her fingers through his hair, for a moment letting go of his worries and appreciating her presence as they watched the river continuing its course.
"Didn't you want to say something to me back on the mission? Kinda forgot about it with everything that happened."
"It doesn't matter anymore."
Author's notes: In the games, the Schwarzer family becoming isolated was relegated to nameless nobles and while that would obviously still give Rean a complex about his situation, this new addition brings things closer to home. "My mom doesn't speak to her family anymore because of me," is one hell of a thing to process, even if that side of the family is a bunch of assholes. Originally they were going to be Lucia's parents but then if she was raised by people like that, she wouldn't have turned into the caring person that she is.
While Alfin isn't a character I have much of an affinity for, the scene at the church was too good to pass on, especially since she has been out of the picture for too long and hasn't done much of anything besides hang out in the ship (just like in the games!)
Also, there will certainly be a new chapter next week, albeit a short one.