Rena's party and Simon's party returned to Lelvern at the sa ti, both having completed their quests. There was a tension in the air between the two parties and Lucius was at the center. The focus himself was either ignorant of the situation or was purposefully ignoring it.
He went about the return to the city completely uncaring of the glares and stares he received. However, at camp ti during the return trip, he did make sure to disappear into the woods and then returned when they were about to leave.
If she were not slightly concerned about potential negative interactions, she would probably have laughed at the boy's behavior because it very much reminded her of a cat again.
She was sowhat down because she could not heal his injury completely. Lucius' eyes and ears were on the nd, but the neck and chest wound left a nasty scar. Of course, she knew that it would when she was healing it, but it still weighed heavily on her heart.
Rena wanted nothing more than to cuddle and apologize to her lover, but he made a comnt about not doing too much around Simon. Simon did not appear to care one way or another, in fact he seed rather supportive when they first t, but she also trusted Lucius' instincts.
Thankfully, Simon and his party mbers did not say or do anything suspicious during their travels. When they arrived inside the gates of Lelvern and then the guild, the groups finally prepared to part ways.
There seed to be no love lost between the parting because the tension never really died down. Rena was worried about it at first, but according to Jen, it was not uncommon for different parties to have conflict and disagreents.
Jen also made the point that if they had gotten along famously, they would have probably just blended the parties. Typically, you only party with people you like, so it actually worked out that they did not get along.
While they approached the reception desk, Rena noticed sothing strange. The guild hall was emptier than usual and by a significant amount. Eyes of various people were concentrated on their party and a lot of them focused on Lucius specifically.
"Welco, how may we help you?" The receptionist took their group next and began to work on the paperwork. When she confird their group roster, she paused after saying Lucius' na.
"Lucius, you are the one with the inverse mark, yes? Celestia and Abyss?" she asked in an even tone.
"That is correct."
"Please wait a mont."
The receptionist walked away from the desk and disappeared into a back room. At this point, Rena's heart was beating in her chest; her hearing was taken over by a dull roar that only she could hear. Her breathing beca rapid as she started to panic.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth surround her, gently caressing the back of her head. A finger slowly traced the middle of her back and she felt the panic attack threatening to overtake her begin to settle down.
"Rena… I love you and everything will be okay." Lucius whispered before kissing her on the forehead.
He then released her from his embrace and stepped back. She tried to reach out to him, but he sidestepped her grasp. Jen seed to understand what was happening as well because she placed a firm hand on Rena's shoulder, holding her in place.
That was when the receptionist returned to the desk, followed by two large n in full-plate armor. The breastplate on both n was emblazoned with the symbol of the kingdom of Arcadios. They were knights.
"You are the Marked One known as Lucius?" one said in a near shout.
"Yes."
"By command of King Aleksander of Arcadios, you are to co with us to perform your duties to the kingdom as is your duty by right of birth."
"No!" Rena shouted unintentionally. Her hands were balled into a fist, her fingernails digging into her palms and drawing blood. "You can't! We still have the Grand Raid!"
"You must be Lady Rena von Petra. My lady, by decree of the king and the Five Kings Union, all Marked Ones are to suspend other activities and report to duty. War has co, and it is their duty to protect our people."
Her face went pale as all the blood seed to drain from it. Were it not for Jen's hand firmly holding her back, she might have done sothing terribly stupid. Rena looked to Lucius for comfort, support, anything!
All she received however was a warm smile, which was then replaced by an apathetic expression as he resud a persona she had never wanted to see again; the one of her bodyguard and servant, not the one of the friend and lover she had grown accustod to.
Lucius bowed to her and was escorted away by the two knights. For so reason, the energy required to allow her to scream or cry was absent. All that was left was the hollow feeling of emptiness and abject loss.
Every person in the guild hall was silent as Lucius was escorted away. Based on the looks on their faces, this had been happening all morning, if not the last few days. Many faces were solemn, likely from having lost valuable mbers of their respective parties.
Unlike the rest of the world, the Adventurer's Guild had built a culture of acceptance and comradery between Marked Ones and normal people. By sharing blood, sweat, and tears on their jobs, they beca brothers and sisters with one another. Based so of the other tearful looks, there may have been a few instances where that developed into sothing more, like it had for Rena.
Simon approached the group and stood in silence for a few monts. The look on his face was conflicted and hard to read, but after a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke.
"It seems war has finally co Rena. I advise you return to the family estate. I don't know if Lucius will return from war. I don't know if Marked Ones will be allowed to return to the guild. So in the anti, if you want to ensure that you can be with him… try to beco heir to the house.
"If Marked Ones cannot return to the guilds, and are required once more to serve as only soldiers, only has the head of a noble house can you pry him from that fate as a retainer. Do your best, cousin."
Rena felt a rage swell up within her. She did not know if it was at Simon, the kingdom, the world, fate… it did not matter. All that mattered was she was furious and there was nothing she could do. At the mont, she was helpless.
This day was always ant to co, she knew that, but it did not make it easier on her. She thought she had more ti; that maybe the Grand Raid would be their final send off, but now she no longer has that.
Instead, all she earned was the scene of the love of her life being taken away by knights of the kingdom, without even being able to return Lucius' heartfelt goodbye.
He had known what was happening. He probably understood the mont they entered the building. Tears welled up in her eyes and her vision beca blurry. Jen pulled her into a tight hug and patted the back of her head, allowing Rena to simply be there and cry.
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