#rf4 lest x dolce

[thetoonfiend]

Xiao Pai: Did Dolce just tell me they loved me for the first time? Lest: Yeah, they did. Xiao Pai: And did I just do finger guns back? Lest: Yeah, you did.

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 40

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The final chapter is finally here!

Chapter 40 – Gratitude

The right castle door was slammed open as the panicked Earthmate carried his wife in his arms. He ran towards the clinic, shoving anyone in his way with the ghost girl trying to keep up with his speed. While it was still early in the morning, the town square was crowded enough for Lest to shove the people away in panic. Pico followed behind with a quick apologize to the people Lest had pushed, but the fact that she was flying and half transparent had scared the town’s newcomers instead.

As soon as they had arrived, Dolce was taken in by Nancy for the delivery while Lest and Pico waited on the other side of the clinic with Jones. As much as he wanted to help Nancy, his fear of blood could only cause more work for her. The doctor could only watch Lest and Pico pacing around the room restlessly as they were waiting.

The sound of a crying baby in the room had turned the attention of the three in the room. Instead of Nancy coming out with his new bundle of joy, it was only her voice heard from the other side of the clinic partition, “Don’t come in yet! There’s still another one coming!”

“Huh?” Lest and Pico turned to each other, still processing the new information they heard, “Did she say…”

“There’s another one?” Lest and Pico turned to Jones for an explanation.

“This is a rare case of having twins,” Jones explained the confused duo, “Lest having a twin sister isn’t a factor in this case, so this is a rare occurrence.”

The sound of baby crying was heard once more before Nancy moved the partition to reveal the tiny babies Dolce was holding as she was lying in bed. She tiredly turned to her husband with a smile, “Sweetie, aren’t they cute?”

“Yes…” Lest gave a kiss on her forehead, “They’re lovely children.”

“Well,” Nancy’s voice gained the couple’s attention, “Dolly just gave to a pair of twins, just like how you and Frey are! A cute little boy and girl!”

“Sweetie, do you have any good names in mind?” Dolce asked, “For our little boy and little girl?”

“Hm… how about Noel?” Lest suggested, “Noel is our son and Luna is our daughter. Do you like them?”

“Yeah, I like them,” Dolce turned to the two new lives she just risked her life for, “Do you want to hold them?”

“Yes!” Lest answered excitedly before taking the newborns in his arms, “Noel, Luna! I’m your daddy!” Lest showed the newborns to Dolce, “Look! There’s your mommy!”

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting someone?” Pico appeared on top of Lest’s shoulder, taking a peek at the babies as Lest handed them back to Dolce, “Hey! Your good aunt Pico is here!”

“Pico,” Dolce called out with a smile, “Do you want to hold their hands? Just like how you hold mine?”

“I-Is that okay?” Pico asked in excitement, getting a nod from Dolce, “Okay!” Pico held out her hand for the twins to hold, which they did, “Their hands are so warm… just like yours, Dolly…”

The joy of the two new lives born in Selphia soon spread throughout the whole town and eventually, the whole kingdom as well. The king of Norad was smiling as he read the letter Arthur had sent him about the news, which was also one of the few letters from him which wasn’t work-related. The king stayed in his room and wrote a response letter immediately, wishing the new parents good luck and gratitude for the help before.

Halwell had also received the same letter from Arthur and was reading it with his friend and newly-appointed advisor Kane. The old and strict Sechs Empire was no more and it was evident when the emperor suddenly decided on a party to celebrate a birth from another country. After what he had done for Halwell, Kane, and Sechs itself, the emperor had no reason for not being happy for Lest’s new family.

A few seasons had passed since Noel and Luna was born and a thin layer of hair had grown from the twins’ head, making it easier for their parents to tell the difference. Noel had his father’s hazel hair with his mother’s eyes and Luna had her mother’s hair and her father’s eyes. Even after growing up a little, they were still too little for Lest and Dolce to tell which of their behavior each of the twins would take after.

It was already night time, but Dolce spent her night out in the balcony while carrying Noel in her arms and Pico hovering behind her.

“Aren’t you feeling tired yet, my little Noel?” Dolce asked as she slightly rocked her son in her arms, “Or are you waiting for Daddy to finish his bath?”

“Um… Dolly? You’re baby talking again…” Pico reminded, but she was being completely ignored, “Dolly, he’s going to come out anytime now!”

“Maybe next time you can take a bath with Daddy, okay?” Dolce’s attention was completely into Noel, who was laughing at the sight for Lest behind her, “Now be Mommy’s good boy and go to…”

Dolce turned to head for the bedroom, only to see that Lest was standing there with a sleeping Luna in his arms. Lest gave her a smile, “If you’re having trouble putting Noel to sleep, we can switch next time. Luna went to sleep almost immediately after I gave her a bath.”

Dolce didn’t give him a reply, but instead glared at him as a blush appeared on her face, “You… didn’t hear anything, right?”

“Uh… no, not at all!” Lest let out a nervous laugh.

“I know you heard something!” Dolce protested, “I-If you don’t then why are you laughing?”

“Well, I’m just… feeling happy with everything,” Lest answered as he joined his wife on the balcony, “A lot has happened from the past few decades until it comes to this, when Venti is well and you Guardians are back to your lives, even when they’re no longer the same.”

“Yes,” Dolce nodded, “And I didn’t regret my decision to become a Guardian. If it wasn’t for my parents letting me do it, I wouldn’t be here now…” Dolce turned to Lest with a smile before noticing that Lest was looking up at the sky with his eyes closed, “Sweetie, what are you doing?”

“Me?” Lest opened his eyes, “I’m letting your parents know that I’m grateful for them,” Lest turned to look at Dolce, “Grateful to them for letting me meet you and build a family together.”

“O-Oh…” a quiet response came from her mouth as a blush appeared from her face. Noel suddenly pulled the charm hanging on her neck, making her remember of the charm’s original owner, “I suppose I owe someone else too for this time.”

Lest watched as Dolce held her charm, “Yeah… It’s been a year since then, hasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Dolce looked up at the sky with a smile, “If it wasn’t for her, you might not even be here right now…”

Lest smiled sadly, “True…”

“Hey, you lovebirds!” Pico called out suddenly, “It’s getting late already, so don’t you think you should put the twins to bed by now? Even Noel looks sleepy now.”

As if on cue, Noel let out a yawn and made his mother’s shoulder as a pillow. Dolce let out a smile as she gently patted his back, “Yes. The wind is getting colder at this time of the night, especially when winter is only a few days away.”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded in agreement, “Come on, let’s get inside and turn in for the night.”

Lest and Pico went ahead with Dolce following slowly behind, but not before she took another glance at the sky and smiled.

“Dolce,” a familiar voice called out to her, making her stop in her tracks.

The tired Noel moved his hands as if he was pointing at something behind Dolce. She turned around and saw a familiar figure standing at the edge of the balcony. The green-haired figure was smiling at her and so was Noel, who could possibly sense her as well.

“Take care of Lest for me,” the image of Frey said before she waved her hands in goodbye and disappeared.

Dolce smiled once more hugging her son closer to her as a single tear dropped from her face when she walked away.

‘Thank you, Frey. For these happiest moments of my life.’

[imadeablogforart]

AC24′s Secret Santa Present for 2021!

Sometimes a family is you, your possibly immortal wife, the kid you had with said possibly immortal wife, and the ghost lady that haunts that very same wife. Christmas presents from said wife were sweaters that she knitted for everyone. Merry Christmas!

[mermaidsbiann]

Rune Factory Unleash the gays week day 4: Free Day!

Here’s some meme doodles

@rfweeks

[fandomfanficsgalore]

can i request a dolce x lest where lest got a hickey and is now too embarrassed to go into public?

“Erm… Lest?”

Purple eyes met his over the counter, looking up from counting his change.

“Yeah?”

Doug eyed him.

“…You know it’s summer, right?”

Lest blinked, then blushed scarlet red. 

A thick woolly purple scarf was wrapped around his neck despite the sweat beading on his forehead and the sun baring down on the sizzling pavement outside.

“Uh…” Lest tugged a little on the scarf, “…Yeah, I’m… I’m cold.”

Doug stared at him, eyes narrowing. Lest felt like crumbling under his gaze.

“Well, I should go–” Lest started, and moved away from the counter. At the last second Doug reached out and snatched the scarf.

“You didn’t pay, Lest–”

The scarf yanked from Lest’s neck and he gasped. His milky white neck was revealed, along with a purple bruise sitting atop his pulse, unmistakable.

Doug balked and Lest flailed, grabbing the scarf and ripping it from his hands. 

“I’ll see you later!” Lest cried as he threw a wad of change at the counter and bolted through the door.

Doug was left staring after him, change lying across the counter, his eyes wide. Slowly he recovered and scooped up the change, his mind whirling about Lest and the fact that his image of Dolce had been so damn wrong.

[mcalhenwrites]

It honestly amazes me how much they packed into this 3DS cartridge for a single game. There’s the farming aspect, which includes soil value, seasonal fields found in different locations, monster barns There’s fighting with various weapons, bringing along named villagers or monsters to fight alongside you (up to two of them, and it includes your child). You can finally use combos and different magics and such, it’s not basic like it was in earlier games like RFF... :’) You can date, get married, have a kid. You can’t marry the dragon tho :( You have crafting, fishing, cooking, etc. Random events - although getting them to activate can be a bit of a pain, but it just means that the game can still be exciting even hours and hours after you beat it? Depends on how you see it, I guess. You level up so many different skill types, and it really helps you overall Food all has different perks or downsides - depends on what you eat It’ll stop raining in the middle of the day, too You can grow trees! Accessories change your appearance, and in this, you can actually have different outfits to wear You can poison your spouse and child with failed dishes (I might have accidentally done this in battle when throwing one at an enemy after one came out of a chest...) Make outrageous sums of money on growing flowers and raising barn animals that give you eggs and dairy and such, you can even get craft items from enemies like the spiders. Befriend bosses and keep them in your barn! (I want all the dragons, please let me tame them all) Perk up your town for tourists! Set up events which then lead to minigames. (There are also other events/competitions that happen anyway.) Go around sheering wild woolies and using the wool to make scarves to get your accessory making skills up THROW THINGS Decorate all your stupid rooms in your castle chambers, although they fail to give you a TON of items for it...still fun tho. You can buy a giant dragon plushie that’s like twice as tall as the main character! Everything is so, so fucking gay between Forte x Meg, Pico x Dolce, Doug x Dylas, Frey/Lest x Ventuswill You can unlock the ability to change your appearance to any character, so while Lest married Forte in my first game, I was able to later change his appearance to look like Meg! \o/ Best part: you can fight the bone dragon to this amazing music! (Music and dragon all come from RF3, too - lots of stuff from earlier games appears in this one, and you can also change the town/farm soundtrack to one of the earlier games if you please.) I really do love RF4 and it’s such a damn good game, with a lot to do. I can only imagine how much RF5 would’ve improved upon it... :( Too bad there will be no RF5 :(

[randomstarmuffin]

You are???? an absolute gem????? And I'd be happy to talk to you whenever!!! Tell me more about what you liked about rune factory! Who did you marry? Did you marry one person or a collection of people (and if you did marry a collection of people, do you have a favourite??)

Omg????? I am not entirely sure when you sent this but I am so sorry I didnt see this until just now!! Ahhhhhh thank you so much???

Uh ok. Well, you asked and you shall receive - beware of a loooong post incoming lol. I could talk about RF for days and no one I know plays it so you’ve really opened the floodgates here haha

So full disclosure I’ve actually only had one rune factory spouse thus far and it was Doug! I got… a little too attached the first time I played (4 was my first rune factory game!) So I decided to try to complete the shipping list in my first save file (still have not accomplished that…) and played for just. Hours and hours and hours. And never actually got around to a second playthrough. When I first started, I had thought I might marry Vishal bc hes just so sweet but then Doug ended up stealing my heart (what can I say, hotheaded redheads/dwarves with a heart of gold and a tragic backstory are my weakness). So yeah, he’s definitely my favorite bachelor in 4. I also dont think it’s necessary for my enjoyment of a marriage option but I really liked how his whole deal was connected to the plot. I went into the game totally blind on the whole thing aside from having looked up the basic profiles on the bachelors/bachelorettes and I somehow didnt notice on my own so I had no idea that his FP was locked by story events until after the fact, but I loved how the plot was tied to him allowing himself to open up more. In a matter unrelated to the plot, and definitely dumbly cheesy, I found out about how some people had trouble with getting the random events and stuff required for marriage right around when I was getting ready to officially decide who to pick (tho it wasn’t a hard choice for me at that point) and I literally got all of Doug’s events so, so easily. I didn’t have to do any of the dreaded reloading tricks or anything, and even though I was also technically dating Vishnal and Arthur, Doug was the first one I got all the events for and the first marriage event to just happen naturally in-game, so I’d like to think it was just meant to be (lol). I’d love to someday play through as Lest as well and finally romance one of the girls, maybe Forte or Dolce… or Xiao Pai… these games have TOO MANY great characters in them I swear, it makes it hard to pick just one!

I have played a good portion of 3 as well, but I wanted to get everyones events done, esp the wooly reveal events, and I’ve just been so focused on other things, I guess, that I still havent finished it - heck, I havent touched it in like 7 months :( I should really do that actually… Anyways, 3 is going to be hard for me to pick a spouse bc, again, there are so many good characters. I think I’m leaning Raven not necessarily bc she’s my all around favorite but because weirdly I ship her the most with Micah? I’m not sure if that’s how you’re supposed to play these games but one thing I really value with the Rune Factory series in particular over, like, Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, is that the protags get to BE characters, and not just cardboard stand-ins!!! I know they’re mostly written fairly neutrally so you can play how you want, but they all *Definitely* have their own quirks and I absolutely love that. Theres certainly a time and a place for self inserts but honestly I personally tend to find myself more drawn into a game when the protagonists have their own stakes in the world besides I, The Player, Am Playing A Game In A Fantasy World That I Do With As I Please. Even if it’s just in what sort of dialogue choices you’re given or something, which HM/SV also dont really have as much of. (Cough unless the game in question is Animal Crossing. I guess they’ve really got me there. Cough) So, not that I dont like Raven in her own right, but I just really love their whole plotline together? RF3 does a really great job with character growth that, coming from someone seeing the series in reverse, I think RF4’s system of town events kind of mitigated, with the whole randomness factor meaning they couldnt link as many characters to any one overarching series of events. And I really love how Raven and Micah’s events go and i think ending them in romance is just super sweet. It should also be noted that I AM a sucker for a quiet-badass-who’s-sort-of-sassy-in-a-blink-and-you-miss-it-way x literal-sunshine-and-everyone-loves-them-and-they’re-always-in-everyones-business dynamic, for sure. As far as my actual favorite rf3 bachelorette, I think maybe Marian might take the cake? She’s so wacky and out there but her whole insecurity thing really touched me. That might change whichever way the wind is blowing on the day you ask me, though. To be quite honest with you, I fell hard for the whole town of Sharance and I could probably write essays on every single one of the marriage options in 3. Also though, I ended up shipping like all the bachelorettes with each other, sooo… my bad, Micah, my bad, lmao.

I also own Tides of Destiny, but my Wii started freaking out not long after I got it and I usually prefer to play handheld games anyway, so I started it but I never got too far. Someday I’ll play it. (I’m really hoping to get my hands on 2 sometime soon though because the idea of marriage rivals is SO up my alley - I’m sure it’s a pain to program but I wish more dating sims would do that!!! Maybe it’s just bc I’m someone who loves to ship just as much if not sometimes more than to see my own playable character have their romance play out, but I think it’s a super fun idea and makes the whole thing more grounded in the setting, that things can happen and relationships change outside of the protag’s involvement, too.)

So yeah. GREAT questions, my friend. I do love farming sims and non-NSFW dating sims in general and add onto that dungeon crawling and monster taming??? Plus it has a plot (even if it’s an albeit fairly simple one)?? Rune Factory really has it all, man. BUT if I’m being totally honest I think the best part of Rune Factory for me has always been the characters. I dont know how they manage to make the towns feel so alive and balance out all the personalities so well but they’ve really got it down. Maybe they have a secret formula somewhere… I’d love to see it :P

And!! I’d love to hear YOUR favorites as well??? Thanks again for the ask! I dont get a lot so I dont check super frequently and I really hope this hasn’t been sitting in my box for too long. You’re more than welcome to talk to me whenever too! :)

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 31

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The first chapter of the last arc is here!

Chapter 31 – Calm after the Storm

-Lest’s POV-

After the battle, Kane managed to find us in the castle after he had gone to the cave to escort the Guardians out safely. Frey explained everything to us, about how the Guardian’s corruption could affect even Venti, and we also told everyone about our relation to Ethelberd and Halwell. The news was a surprise to them as much as it was a surprise to me. After all, we don’t even look like the Sechs emperors by the outside and inside.

Two weeks have passed since that day. I can’t tell whether the corruption is completely gone or not, but all I can tell is that Venti is doing a lot better than when the corruption was still at large. Frey isn’t staying in the castle with us anymore, but she still visits us at least once every two days. She still has duties to attend back in the capital, so she can’t stay longer than a few hours.

I’m starting to feel that she is a close sister to me, but on the other side I can still tell that she’s not telling us everything. None of the Guardians or Kane actually paid attention to Frey’s wound back then, expect for Dolly and Pico. She looked like she was aware of something about Frey, but for some reason, she’s keeping it from me. I can’t actually force her to talk about it, but the fact that she’s hiding something from me is bothering me somehow. Why can’t you just talk to me about it if it’s actually bothering you?

-Third Person POV-

“Sweetie, will you stop staring at me?” the sound of his wife snapped Lest out of his trains of thought, realizing that Dolce was standing in front of him.

“Oh, sorry,” Lest shook his head to make sure that he was completely awake before putting his hoe over his shoulder, “Well, I’ll be working in the fields for the time being so let Frey know when she drops by to visit.”

“I will,” Dolce nodded before giving him a peck on the cheek, “Work hard, okay?”

Dolce watched as Lest left for the fields before Pico popped in front of her, “Are you sure about this, Dolly? Shouldn’t you say something about it to him?”

“No,” Pico followed Dolce closely as the two of them headed for the kitchen, “I need to be certain about the facts first. What we’re thinking now is just the conclusion we come into after we looked at her wound.”

“You’re scared, aren’t you milady?” Pico’s words made the Guardian stop her activity, “You know how it feels to lose a family… well, both of us do.”

Dolce let out a sigh as she turned to Pico with a frown, “He’ll know the truth sooner or later. I don’t want him to think that I’m hiding everything from him.”

Pico let out a sigh and smiled, “I think you’re worrying too much, Dolly. A bit more than usual, I guess,” Pico watched her friend working in the kitchen, “I guess I can see how much your love for Lest had changed my Dolly!”

A blush appeared on the Guardian’s face as she continued cooking, “S-Shut up!”

Lest let out a tired sigh before he admired his handiwork on the field, which was completely clean of garbage from the storm two weeks earlier. Crop seeds were planted on the tilled field and they had already been watered. His job on the field was finished and it was time for him to do his work in town.

Just as Lest was putting down his tools at the edge of the field, a scroll fell out from his pocket. He picked up the fallen scroll and the emblem of the Sechs Empire was visible on the scroll’s paper. A frown came to his face as he remembered the scroll’s contents when it was first given to him.

-Flashback-

“So…” Lest spoke up to Arthur and Kane as the three of them were in Arthur’s office, “The empire is requesting me to be the acting emperor?”

“Yes,” Kane nodded as he rolled the scroll he was holding and handed it over to Lest, “Lord Halwell still hasn’t awakened after a week of recovery even after getting help from the best doctors.”

Arthur turned to Lest, “It would be sad to see you go, but I will not force you to go if you wish to stay.”

Lest turned back to Kane, but stared at him for a moment before speaking up, “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“No, I understand,” Kane responded with a smile, “The higher ups only requested for you because of your relation to Lord Ethelberd, but they never forced me to take you back.”

“Speaking of which,” Arthur interrupted, getting Kane’s attention, “How is the empire doing currently?”

“Much better than when everyone was corrupted, that’s for sure,” Kane replied with a shrug, “Everyone remembers what happened, but they don’t really know why it happened. Other than that, the corruption in the empire seems to have disappeared without a trace.”

“I see,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “If there is anything else we can do to help, please let us know.”

“Of course,” Kane nodded, “My main purpose for coming here is to deliver the scroll, but I’ll tell the higher ups that you can’t take Lord Halwell’s place.”

“Okay, I’ll see you later,” Lest waved the soldier goodbye as he left the office.

-End of Flashback-

“The acting emperor?” Ventuswill asked as Lest showed her the scroll in the dragon room, “Hey, I guess I’m right about you being royalty after all!”

Lest let out a laugh, “Don’t be too proud on it, Venti. You need to remember who my father was.”

“I know,” Ventuswill paused for a moment as she stared at the wall, “Speaking of Ethelberd, I think I recall hearing something when I was still in the forest. I know that I recognize that voice, now I remember that it was him.”

“Wait,” Lest looked at the dragon god in surprise, “You met him in the Forest of Beginnings?”

“Not exactly meeting in person, though,” Ventuswill put her claw under her jaw as she tried recalling the encounter, “I can only hear his voice saying that he won’t surrender until all Earthmates perish.”

“Can he still be alive in there? And corrupting people into doing things they shouldn’t do?” Lest asked.

“No,  that won’t be possible,” Ventuswill shook her head, “Humans can’t stay and live in there for a long period of time. If a person stays there for longer than they should have, their body will soon break into runes. Even so, the soul would still remain in there forever unless there’s a special case that they’re resurrected.”

“Just like what happened to you,” Lest added, “But if his soul is still there, can he do any harm to the world?”

“Hm…” Ventuswill went back to her thoughts, but nothing came into her mind, “I’m not sure, but I think it’s very unlikely.”

“I hope so…” Lest let out a sigh, “This corruption thing just happens to come and go without a reason and a trace. I just wish that there’s a clue somewhere so that we can prevent it in the future…”

“And then, he ran around the house in panic while yelling that there was a deadly scorpion in the house!” Frey and Pico broke out into laughter while Dolce simply chuckled as she sipped on her tea.

The three girls were hanging around at the castle’s balcony with Frey telling stories about the siblings’ daily lives in the past. Two plates of flan were sitting on the table untouched as the three were busy talking. Pico was completely taken into the conversation, but Dolce had noticed that her guest hadn’t touched either her tea or her flan.

There was a single question she had been meaning to ask Frey and her observation prompted her to pop the question right away, “Before we hear more of those stories, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

“Sure, we can talk while you have your flan,” Frey responded as she simply looked at her share of flan.

“Okay,” Dolce took her share of flan, but the scent of her favorite meal suddenly made her feel weird in the stomach, “Ugh…”

“Are you okay Dolly?” Pico saw as Dolce put a hand on her mouth before shaking her head.

“I’m fine…” Dolce uncovered her mouth before taking a spoonful of flan, only have the weird feeling on her stomach come back, “Not again…”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Frey asked worriedly as she took the flan from Dolce’s hands, “You look kind of pale.”

“I’m… okay… ugh…” Dolce quickly rose from her seat and ran inside, heading straight towards the bathroom.

“Is she sick or something?” Frey turned to Pico.

“That would be my best guess…” Pico turned to the barely touched desserts, “Dolly really loves sweets like flan and cakes, but she’s been avoiding them for the past week for some reason.”

“Hm…” Frey tapped her chin as she was thinking, “I don’t think she’s suddenly become bored of eating her favorite dishes…”

“That’s impossible. There’s no way she’s going to give up on her all-you-can-eat cake routine every-” Pico was silenced with a single talisman landing over her mouth.

“You’re saying too much,” Dolce had just returned from the bathroom, but her face told the other two that she wasn’t feeling that much different than before, “Sorry for that interruption.”

“I don’t mind, but I don’t think you look well at all,” Frey replied worriedly, “I’ll tell Lest about your condition when I see him, so why don’t you two just stay home until he gets back?”

Dolce let out a defeated sigh, “That… might be the best…”

Lest let out a tired sigh as he pushed the castle door open while carrying an extra paper bag with him. With Dolce taking her temporary leave from her evening shift, he decided that it might be best for them to eat dinner at home to let her rest at home. With the ingredients in the paper bag put in the kitchen, Lest left for his room to check on Dolce.

Lest had expected the female Guardian to be asleep with Pico watching over her, the scene he saw was Dolce knitting on the bed with a terrified Pico at the edge of the bed, “I’m… home…?”

“Oh, welcome back Sweetie,” Dolce put her knitting aside and greeted Lest with a smile as she approached her, “How was work today?”

“More or less the usual, I guess…” Lest’s attention was focused on Pico as he let Dolce took his backpack off him, “More importantly, what happened to Pico?”

“Just a simple argument between us,” Dolce replied, completely ignoring the fact that Pico was still in the room, “Are you going to prepare dinner tonight?”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded, “I was planning to make your favorite cake today, so-”

“I want… something else, if that’s okay…” the attention of the other two in the room shifted to her, “I want… some fried veggies…”

The room became completely silent with Pico hovering in front of her with the look of disbelief, “Did I hear that right? Dolly, you never liked eating any kind of vegetables!”

“I’m kind of surprised too,” Lest added, “But if that’s what you want, I guess I need to head out to buy the missing ingredients…”

“Alright,” Dolce nodded, “Sorry for the trouble.”

The two watched as Lest left before Pico turned back to Dolce, “Are you sure you’re fine milady? Do you need Jones to check your condition?”

“I’m perfectly fine,” Dolce let out a sigh before she went back to her knitting, “You’re being a lot more stubborn today. Do you want to be wrapped in talismans again?”

“N-No, please don’t do that again to me!”

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 13

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: Lest’s past is slowly being uncovered and the chapter has a few mentions for the Tales fandom.

Chapter 13 – Our Past

Some rustling sounds were heard coming from the guest bathroom before the hazel-haired Earthmate came out. Dolce, who had started unpacking the extra clothes for their stay had noticed that her husband had emerged from the bathroom and put away the clothes she was holding before turning to the direction where Lest had come from.

Lest was wearing a black tailcoat suit with white patterns on the chest. The suit’s long sleeves were folded at end to reveal the red and white stripes underneath, along with two white lines on each sleeve. Small parts of the white Lest was wearing were hidden by the suit’s long sleeves. A thin red cloth held an empty sword sheath across his back and was secured by the black belt around his waist. A pair of black boots reaching up to his knees covered the white pants he was wearing.

“This set is surprisingly my size,” Lest took a few steps forward and tried moving his arms around, “But the boots aren’t flexible enough for me to run in and the suit is a little too thick for me to move my arms freely.”

“Of course they aren’t. It’s not like it’s made for running and exercising, genius,” Dolce commented flatly.

Pico let out a laugh, “But Dolly thinks it looks good on you.”

A slight blush appeared on both of their faces before Lest gave his wife a smile, “Thanks Dolly.”

“You’re… welcome…” Dolce replied nervously, “Aren’t you going to change back now? I need to try mine too.”

“Oh, right,” Lest took off his gloves and put them in the empty box on the bed, “I’ll be right back-”

A knock on the door was heard before a familiar feminine voice was heard from the other side, “Hey, can I come in?”

“Sure, come on in Frey,” The door opened to reveal the green-haired young woman.

Frey looked at his brother and gave him a smile, “Hey, that looks great on you! You look like a nobleman already!”

Lest let out a laugh before rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, “Come on, we’re not actually nobles, are we?”

The smile on Frey’s face faded for a moment, but Lest noticed the slight changes on the green-haired woman, “What’s wrong?”

“No, it’s okay,” The frown slowly lifted into a smile, “So, shall we start the tour of this castle?”

“Let me change back to my regular clothes first,” Lest let out a laugh, “I’m not used to wearing this kind of stuff.”

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for you two outside,” Frey gave Lest a slight bow, “Your majesty.”

Lest let out an annoyed sigh as he saw Frey running and laughing towards the door, “Geez…”

“It’s hard to believe that Frey is actually Lest’s older twin,” Pico commented, getting Lest’s attention back.

“True,” Dolce nodded in agreement and smiled before turning to Lest, “Sweetie, you should go with her. Pico and I will stay here.”

“Wait, you’re not coming?” Lest questioned his wife’s sudden decision.

“You and Frey have a lot of catching up, don’t you?” Dolce asked with a smile, “Maybe this will help you recover part of your memory.”

“I see,” Lest gave a slight nod and smiled, “Okay, I’ll get changed and go with her.”

Dolce saw as Lest left to the bathroom once more, but was aware of the grinning ghost hovering beside her, “What?”

“You can say it, Dolly,” Pico turned to Dolce with a sly grin, “You just can’t stand watching him being friendly to other girls, correct? Even if that someone is his own sister, you know that you wanted to come along just to make sure there’s nothing between them, correct?”

A shocked look accompanied with a slight blush came to her face before she took out one of her talisman, “That’s enough.”

A few rooms away from the pained ghost and her friend, the young blond prince was still in the audience room with the king and his butler. The king was reading the scroll he was holding before he rolled it back and handed it over to the butler standing next to him. Arthur looked at his father as his butler took the scroll and left the audience room.

“The royal research team will do what they can to decipher that text,” The king spoke up, breaking the silence in the room, “Has there been any reports of oddities in Selphia?”

“No, Father,” Arthur replied firmly, “I shall send a report if there is something unusual once I return to Selphia tomorrow.”

“Very well,” The king rose from his throne and walked down the set of stairs, stopping in front of Arthur to give him a pat on his shoulder, “I shall be relying on you, my son.”

There was silence in the room for a moment as the king walked away before Arthur nodded slightly and whispered, “Yes, Father…”

At the halls outside the room, the twins were taking a walk while Lest learned more about the past he had forgotten. Little did he notice, his sister was telling him more about her life with him rather than the life he had forgotten or their other family members. On the other hand, Lest also told Frey what had happened since he lost his memories, meeting Ventuswill, and eventually got married and invited to the party.

“I see…” Frey nodded in understanding, “It’s been rough without me, hasn’t it?”

“At first, yes…” Lest replied with a nod, “But the people in Selphia all helped me without even knowing who I am or where I’m from.”

“Selphia seems like a nice place,” Frey commented with a smile, “I’ve heard about it from Arthur on his rare visits, but I’ve never been there.”

“You can come and visit any time,” Lest responded with a smile before the smile slowly turned into a frown, “Say… you did mention that our mother had passed on when we were kids, right?” Lest turned to Frey with a sad look on his face, “What happened to her? And what about our father? Where is he now?”

Frey stopped in her tracks with a frown on her face, which made Lest stop walking as well. Frey took a deep breath and turned to Lest with a frown on her face, “I really wish that you wouldn’t ask about him, but I know that you deserve to know,” Frey put her hands on Lest’s shoulder, slightly gripping them, while looking at him with a serious look, “Especially because you have actually met him in person.”

“I’ve met him…?” Lest looked at Frey questioningly, “But who is he?”

Frey closed her eyes as her hands slipped away from Lest’s shoulder before turning away from her brother. The female Earthmate reopened her eyes as she distracted herself by looking at the garden plants, but the anger on her eyes was something that Lest couldn’t simply ignore. She felt a pat on her shoulder and took a deep breath to calm herself down, “That man… the man who bore a great grudge against us Earthmates… he was the cause of her death…”

Lest didn’t need to hear the name of his father, especially if what Frey had said just then was true, “Stop… I… I don’t want to hear it…”

“Sadly it’s true, Lest…” Frey took Lest’s hand off from her shoulder and held it with both of her hands as she turned towards his brother with teary eyes, “I can’t forget it… I can never forget that nightmare!”

-Flashback-

Clanging sounds of metal armor was heard throughout the halls made of pure gold and silver, heading towards the huge red metal doors at the end of the halls. A light blue-haired man slammed his fists to his throne’s arm rests, surprising the guards standing at each side of the throne. Through the strands of his long hair, the soldiers could see the glaring eyes looking at them.

“Kill them all! All servants, mistresses, soldiers alike must be clean from those accursed Earthmates!” Another slam on the arm rests had surprised the soldiers in the throne room, “Find that brown-haired Earthmate alive and kill the rest! This is our vengeance against those who foil my plans!”

“Yes sir!” The soldiers marched out of the room with their weapons swinging in the air.

A few meters away, a woman with long green hair was running while holding the hands of two five-year old children whose hair color was similar to the woman. The three would occasionally stop at the forks with the older woman looking around before taking one of the paths which would be safe for them to pass. Another fork came into view and the three stopped behind one of the walls, looking around for any signs of danger.

“Mom, I’m scared…” One of the children, a boy, pulled on the woman’s clothes while sniffling.

“It’s okay, Lest,” The woman knelt down and gave the boy a comforting hug while rubbing his back, “Everything is going to be okay…”

“Mommy!” The other child, a girl pulled the woman’s clothes in panic, “Metal people are coming!”

The woman noticed the clanging sounds which had got louder and louder, “We have to hurry,” The woman got back to her feet and picked the boy up before offering a hand to the girl, “Hold my hand, Frey.”

The girl did as told as the three of them ran into one of the pathways, only to be stopped by a group of soldiers with their spears pointed forward. The woman turned to the side, protecting the boy from the possible assault from the soldiers as the girl hugged her mother’s leg in fear. One of the soldiers stepped closer with his spear, making the woman step back.

“Lady Sara! Your and your children’s escape ends here!” The soldier extended his hand and let his spear point at the woman’s neck.

“I shall not surrender my children!” The woman, Sara, put the boy down and stood in front of the two children with her arms spread, “They are our future and I shall never hand their lives to the likes of you or Ethelberd!”

The soldier in front saw the unwavering resolve of a mother protecting her children and put his spear back to his side, “Soldiers, ready your weapons!”

The woman, Sara, quickly took the hands of her children and ran to the opposite side of the soldiers, with the soldiers chasing them while carrying swords and spears. The three of them ran through the maze of hallways with the sounds of clanging metal tailing behind them, pushing through the servants who had blocked their way of escape.

“Lady Sara, this way!” A female servant waved her hands while standing in front of a big black door, getting the attention of the running triplet.

Panting, the three came into a stop in front of the servant before Sara let out a tired smile, “Thank you…”

“I will never forget your kindness towards my family, milady,” The servant smiled back before she pushed the door open, “I have broken the window for you and the children to escape. My sister will be waiting for you outside.”

“Yes, please be-AH!” An arrow landed on her left shoulder before she turned around and saw that the marching soldiers had almost reached them.

“Mommy! Mommy, are you okay?” The boy cried out, seeing the red liquid had stained his mother’s pure white clothes.

“Please be okay, Mommy!” The girl was looking at the pained mother in worry.

“Lady Sara, please hold on!” The servant looked at the end of the arrow and gasped in surprise as she saw black liquid dripping from the end, “P-Poison?!”

“Please… take the children…” Sara whispered weakly, “This… is deadly poison… I… cannot survive… for long…”

“Y-Yes… milady…” The servant saw as the woman slowly dropped to her knees weakly and saw the approaching soldiers before she pushed the children into the room.

The two children fell onto the carpet-covered floor and saw their mother’s weak smile as she was lying on the floor while the door was being forced shut from the outside. The boy was about to reach for the door in tears, only to be pulled by the girl.

“No Lest! The metal people will take us too!” The girl pulled her brother’s arm as he struggled before forcing him into a hug.

“But Frey… Mommy is out there! Mommy is hurt!” The boy kept on whining as he struggled to break free from his sister’s hug, although the boy knew himself that his hope of seeing his mother was a waste.

-End of Flashback-

The two Earthmates stood in silence before tears started falling from Frey’s face. Lest looked at Frey sadly before giving her a comforting hug. The male Earthmate patted his crying sister, although the sadness he felt wasn’t the same as his sister felt. He never remembered how sad it was to remember how their mother had died as he was only told the feeling instead of feeling it himself.

Frey slowly pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears, “Hey, Lest?”

“What is it?” Lest asked calmly.

“There’s one more thing that I want to return to you,” Frey spoke up in a whisper before taking out a small black fish-like figure from her pocket, “Here’s our family heirloom from our mother’s side.”

Lest took the figure, which had a thin string hanging on it, “What is this?”

“Mom said it’s a charm to protect relations of the bearers,” Frey took out a similar charm, but it was white in color, “This is a koi fish, a type of fish that’s native to our grandmother’s homeland at the East.”

“A koi fish…” Lest put the charm on his palm and ran a finger on it.

Frey slowly nodded, “It’s supposed to connect families, siblings… and even couples…”

“I… see…” Lest took his charm and put it in his pocket before looking at the charm Frey was wearing, “So the charm is to protect us as siblings?”

“Yeah,” Frey nodded and smiled sadly, “Although you don’t have the charm with you, I think they’re uniting us back together.”

“I guess they did,” Lest returned the smile, “Should we resume the tour?”

“Okay, let me show you the audience room and the dining hall next!” Frey replied with a nod before they continued with their walk.

Back in Dolce’s and Lest’s guestroom, Dolce had just finished changing and came out of the bathroom. Her slow walking had brought a laugh to her ghost friend, who was hovering above the bed.

“This… this too revealing…”

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 15

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The action scene at the end is basically a compilation of what kendo matches usually like, but it’s not entirely the same as the actual matches. For now, I’ve got nothing else to add about that part.

Chapter 15 – Corrupted

It was pitch black all around him. The hazel-haired Earthmate opened his eyes and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Tall leafless trees were the only ones he could see on his left, right and front along with the cloudy night sky above him. He took some steps away from his initial spot and the sound of dried leaves being crushed was the only sound he could hear. He walked as he called out for his friends, but he was surprised that no voice came out. It was as if he couldn’t talk at all.

The atmosphere of the forest of dead trees was starting to make him more uneasy and he quickened his walking pace straight forward. He didn’t know where he was or how he got there in the first place, but he felt that something was wrong in the area. The air was fresh, the forest was quiet, but he couldn’t feel any signs of life coming from the forest at all. He couldn’t feel any signs of rune energy flowing like he used to and the thickening fog was making him feel worse.

Lest stopped in his tracks in the middle of the foggy forest and looked around at his barely visible surroundings. After all those years of battling monsters, his senses were telling him that something was there with him within the foggy area. He stood still as he was trying to pinpoint the other presence as the sound of footsteps was getting louder and louder.

A low growl came from behind him suddenly, making the Earthmate turn around instinctively to look straight at a pair of glowing red eyes. Lest quickly reached for his sword sheath, but it wasn’t on its place. He was completely armless with something or someone trying to attack him in a bad environment. The red glow suddenly disappeared from his sight, which had Lest slightly lower his guard, only to be welcomed by a box-like shape shoved against his stomach.

The impact had knocked Lest towards the tree behind him, but the presence quickly left the area before Lest could have a chance to counter. Lest got back to his feet to be greeted by the blowing wind with the scent of flowers. The scent became stronger as a strong wind blew past him, knocking him several feet back.

Lest had held on to a tree before he could fall from the sudden wind, but he could still hear footsteps getting louder and louder. He turned to hide behind the tree and hoped to see who or what was approaching him at high speed, but the fog had limited his vision down to only a few meters in front of him. He could hear the sound of a screeching horse before the tree he had used to hide broke and he was sent flying from his attacker’s sudden impact.

The Earthmate landed hard on the sea of dried leaves into a small clearing with a single narrow path created by his attacker as broken tree trunks were all over the place. Lest could feel a slight pain coming from his legs as he slowly rose to his feet while looking at the pathway in front of him. The fog had slightly cleared out as some light from the moon had shone on the small clearing, but Lest could only make out blurry silhouettes of his previous attackers.

His attention shifted when a familiar cry was heard. It was the familiar pained roar of his best friend, and the silhouette of her had slowly shown itself to Lest along with the silhouettes of Lest’s previous attackers. Much to his horror, his previous attackers had some familiar shapes which he had never forgotten. It was a silhouette of a butterfly flying around as if it was dancing around the struggling dragon, a silhouette of a horse ramming the dragon’s body, and a silhouette of a coffin box flying near the dragon with a faint red color between the two silhouettes.

Lest knew that he had to run and save his friend once more, but his legs had betrayed him as he couldn’t move them at all. The pained roar had cut through all the quietness in the forest, but Lest couldn’t even move to do anything to help her. He forced himself to move, but stopped as he felt another presence from behind him. He had braced himself for any other attacks which might come, only to be greeted by a soft object falling on his head.

The object fell to Lest’s feet and he saw that a wooly doll was the object which had hit his head. He looked up at the sky and saw more dolls falling on top of him, but all of the dolls were harmless towards him. When the raining dolls had stopped, a tall shadow was cast over him and made Lest turn to look at the source of the shadow. He suddenly felt something grabbing his chest as he turned around, making him unable to take a good look at his attacker.

Lest only caught a glimpse and the only things he could see were the glowing red eyes and the hat he used to seeing daily.

The Earthmate opened his eyes and sat up on the bed quickly while panting, only to realize that everything he had experienced was just a nightmare. He breathed a sigh of relief before noticing and extra weight on his pajamas. A hand was clinging onto his top, coming from his still sleeping wife beside him. He let out a small smile as he watched Dolce’s sleeping figure with Pico on the other side of the bed.

Lest gently held her hand to his chest before stroking the female Guardian’s long wavy hair as he watched her peaceful sleep. The exhaustion from the night’s events had kept her from being awakened by Lest’s sudden movement and he decided that he shouldn’t be waking her up over midnight for his own problems. He laid back on the bed while still holding her hand and drifted back to sleep, completely unaware that his wife had already been awakened earlier. Dolce kept her own position and let Lest hold her hand before going back to sleep with a contented smile on her face.

It was an hour past midnight. The castle was quiet as the guests had either left the kingdom or rested in the guestrooms. The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty halls before the door leading towards the king’s audience chamber opened up and shed some light into the empty halls. The king was sitting on his throne along with Arthur by his side, waiting for the person to approach them with a polite bow.

“Please forgive me for having you present at this hour, Miss Frey,” The king spoke up.

“It is fine, Your Majesty,” Frey looked up at the king with a smile, “I’m grateful for all the things you have done for me in the past and I’m offering my service in order to repay your kindness.”

The king nodded slightly and returned her smile, “Very well,” The king turned to the blond young man beside him, “Arthur, would you please inform Miss Frey of the latest status in Selphia?”

“Certainly, Father,” Arthur turned his eyes from his father and towards the pieces of paper he had been holding before fixing his glasses, “The head of our kingdom’s guard division had sent a report earlier tonight, as I had informed you before during the party. Some of the scouts he had sent reported that dark fog had started forming around four different areas. Those areas are-”

“If I have to guess…” Frey suddenly spoke up, cutting off Arthur’s explanation as his attention turned to her, “They are areas around Yokmir Forest, Water Ruins, Obsidian Mansion, and Leon Karnak, aren’t they?”

Arthur looked back at the report he was holding and nodded, “Yes, those are the areas with rune spots. It seems like the corruption is slowly spreading around Selphia.”

“I see…” Frey turned her attention away from Arthur and looked up at the king, “Your Majesty, if I may-”

“I cannot allow you to go,” The king’s stern voice had silenced the Earthmate, “Given your condition and your abilities as an Earthmate, you are most likely to fall victim to the corrupted runes.”

“Given… her condition?” Arthur turned to his father in confusion, “Father, is Frey currently ill?”

The king didn’t turn to look at the blond merchant and kept looking at Frey, who had lowered her head. The whole room went silent for a moment until Frey went down to her knees, bowing down completely to the king, “I beg of you, Your Majesty…” Frey looked up at the two men with teary eyes, “I can’t… I don’t want to let him get hurt…” Frey’s head fell back to her hands, bowing at the king once more, “It’s my mother’s final wish for me to take care of Lest in her place… I know now I have the strength to keep that promise!”

The king looked down in silence before suddenly rising from his throne, much to Arthur’s surprise, “Father? Is there… is there something between you and Frey in the past?”

“Arthur,” The king spoke up quietly, but it was loud enough for Arthur to hear, “You might not have understood it. A mother truly cares for her children, just like how theirs care for them,” The king turned to look at his son, “I cannot change how you view your mother, however. When the time comes, you will learn how your mother truly feels for you, her son.”

Arthur looked at his father quietly before turning to head for the door, passing through the still-bowing Earthmate, “I shall head for my room to think.”

The blond merchant left the audience chamber before the king went down to Frey’s level as she had slowly risen to her feet. Her eyes still showed the same determination as when she asked for her mission a few minutes before. The king let out a nod and smiled, “I assume that you are aware of the risks and are still determined to complete the mission.”

Frey let out a nod, “Yes, I will complete this mission in place of my former subordinates within the intelligence division in order to atone for my previous failure. That failure is the start of everything happening in Selphia and it is my duty to end it.”

“Yes,” The king nodded in agreement, “You may consider this mission your last mission I give you, the head of the kingdom’s intelligence division.”

Frey saluted confidently, “Yes, sir!”

It was the fourth day of fall and the weather had cooled down enough after the hot summer weather. The restaurant in Selphia hadn’t opened for the day just yet, but the restaurant’s chef famous for eating his customer’s orders had already been busy in the kitchen. The plump chef had paced back and forth between the stoves and the kitchen counter while carrying some cooked dishes, but not without having a bite or two on the dishes.

A finished apple pie was set down on the counter beside a plate of cookies, but the chef’s hand found itself trying to take one of the cookies before it was prevented by having the whole plate taken away just in time, “Hold it! These are for today’s contest, remember?”

The chef let out a disappointed sigh, “But I’m hungry…” As if it was done subconsciously, his hand found itself once again at the apple pie, but the man quickly snagged the plate away and let himself fall in his attempt on saving the food, “Dylas! Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Dylas slowly got up and took the plates with him as he walked towards the kitchen, “I’ll help with the cooking today so it’ll be done faster,” Dylas stopped in his tracks and set the plates at a safe distance from Porcoline’s reach as he looked at him, “Didn’t Margaret say that she’s going to help out as well?”

“Oh, yes!” Porcoline grabbed a bar of chocolate from his pocket and started nibbling on it, “Meg should be here to help delivering the food to the plaza.”

The kitchen door suddenly slammed open, surprising the two men in the room, “I’m sorry I’m late!” The female elf noticed the blue-haired figure standing in front of the counter filled with various cooked food, “Dylas? Are you helping out today too?”

“Well, sort of,” Dylas shortly replied before he snagged another plate before Porcoline could get it, “I have to keep an eye on him in case he eats anything that’s to be served in today’s contest.”

Margaret put her hands on her hips as she let out a sigh, “Porco! You can’t eat the food before the festival started!” The elf turned to look at Dylas, “But are you sure you can help out today? You look a little pale.”

“Huh? D-Do I?” Dylas asked nervously, “No, I’m fine. You should start delivering the food before Porcoline devour everything.”

“You’re not fine, Dylas,” Margaret scolded sternly before she dragged him away from the counter and out of the kitchen, “I’ll keep an eye on Porco so you can get some rest, okay?”

Dylas stood in silence for a moment as Margaret went back into the kitchen, only to hear her scolding the chef once more for eating the dishes. Dylas let out a slight chuckle before pulling a chair for him to sit on, “Fine, I’ll leave him to you.”

Hours had passed and the contest had finally started. The townsfolk had gathered in the plaza with the competing contestants sitting in front of long tables with some fruits and dishes on it. Margaret and Dylas were standing by the table with the rest of the fruits and dishes for when the contestants asked for more. Volkanon acted as both the judge and the commentator, though his latter job couldn’t be performed better with the loud crowd cheering in the background. A very full Forte was walking around the area to make sure the contest went smoothly as she claimed, though she was walking around as she had eaten too much during her participation.

The stack of plates piled up quickly on Porcoline’s side while the other contestants had started falling from the massive amount of food they had. The attention of the crowd was fixed on the final two contestants still eating, which were Porcoline and Doug. Doug’s stack was less than half of Porcoline’s, but his determination had earned the crowd’s attention. As the crowd’s attention was fixed on the contest, nobody had noticed that a single person had emerged from the crowd while walking unsteadily.

Dylas had passed the next plate to Doug and was about to return for more dishes, but a single out-of-place figure behind Porcoline had caught his attention. The figure put his hand on his sword hilt, ready to unsheathe his sword, but the Guardian was fast enough to run towards the other side of the table, “Porcoline! Look out!”

The chef stopped eating and turned to the source of the voice, completely unaware of the situation. Dylas quickly ran towards the plump chef and pushed him off his seat, leaving himself open for any possible attack. He braced himself as the sword was raised above the figure’s head, but the sword was blocked in time before it could hit its intended target.

Forte held her sword tightly before twisting it, exposing the attacker for more attacks and letting him fall helplessly. The knight turned to Dylas, who was still standing on his spot in shock, “I’ll take care of this! Get everyone to safety!”

“R-Right! Sorry!” Dylas helped Porcoline back to his feet before turning to the rest of the crowd watching the whole scene, “Stay out of the plaza! It’s not safe to be hanging around here!”

Forte watched cautiously as the crowd made their way out of the plaza and into the castle before turning back to her opponent. The figure was wearing armor just like she was, but the different style of armor enabled her to recognize that the attacker wasn’t a soldier from the Kingdom of Norad. As the man was slowly trying to get up, Forte pointed her sword at his throat, “State your business in Selphia, soldier!”

“Business…” The man’s stance was wobbly as if he was drunk, but his hand never let go of his sword as he raised it against her single-handedly, “Business here… ya say…?” The wobbly stance suddenly shifted into a much refined one as he held his sword with both of his hands. The man looked at the dragon knight with a pair of glowing red eyes before a dark aura covered his whole body, “To destroy… YOU!”

The soldier charged quickly with his sword pointed forward, but Forte managed to move to her left and had her shield up in defense. She charged in to counter, but the soldier had quickly turned around and clashed her sword with his own. Forte tried moving her sword left and right to find an opening, but their swords kept locked together making her take a big step backwards to find a better opening to strike.

The soldier charged in once more, leaving their swords locked together again. The soldier pushed their locked swords to the side and left Forte out in the open, but she was quick enough to recover and raised her shield on her arm to block the incoming attack. Realizing his attack had failed, the soldier kicked Forte angrily on her stomach, knocking her to the ground. She wasn’t given time to recover as the soldier had pinned her down with his sword down on Forte’s raised shield.

Using every ounce of strength she could gather, Forte pushed to soldier to the side and gave her some time to get back to her feet. After all those relentless attacks from him, the dragon knight was panting in exhaustion as she raised her sword once more. As the soldier was trying to stand up, Forte quickly charged in to strike with her sword. The impact had pushed the soldier back as he walked backwards while trying to keep himself from falling.

Forte gave him another push, which put him in an unbalanced position, before rushing toward him and landed a single slash across his armored abdomen. A single scar was left on the armor, but much to her surprise, more dark aura came pouring out from the scar, which was deep enough to hurt his skin. The soldier let out a loud groaning sound before putting both of his hands on his head.

“S… Stop… no…” The soldier whispered between his pained groans before slowly bringing himself to look at the knight with his eyes, which were no longer glowing, “Hit… hit… me…”

The soldier dropped his sword, leaving the knight to look at him in confusion, “Huh?” Forte lowered her sword in confusion, “What… what do you mean?”

“… can’t… hold it…” The soldier let out another pained groan before his eyes glowed in red once more as he looked at her, “Try and stop me, knight! I am better than the likes of you!”

The soldier picked up his fallen sword to charge at her once more, but Forte quickly moved out of the way. The soldier passed by her and still had his back turned to her, leaving his back exposed to Forte’s sword. A slight, hesitant swing of her sword left a slight scar on the back, but not enough to actually wound him. He pushed himself back to his feet and quickly turned to Forte along with a swing of his sword, but his sword met with hers for a moment as she had pushed the sword to the opposite side.

The push had given her enough momentum to spin her body along with her sword for almost a full circle. Forte put both her hands much closer to her sword’s crossguard, leaving the end of the hilt exposed as she raised her sword to her opponent’s eye level. She brought the blunt side of her sword to the soldier’s helmet hard enough to cause a dent as he felt to her feet.

Forte stood still for a moment, but saw that the soldier had barely moved from the spot where he fell. She cautiously walked to face the soldier, who was trying to reach for her in his shaky arm. She knelt down and saw that the dark aura surrounding him had slowly vanished as he looked at her with his normal eyes.

“I’ll get some help for you,” Forte stood up and was about to leave the scene when the soldier suddenly grabbed her foot, “H-Huh?”

“H-Help… him…”

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 12

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: Another update for the day and the relation between Lest and Frey is finally out!

Chapter 12 – Reunion

The airship carrying the three Selphian had lowered into its dock in front of the king’s castle with a pair of soldiers guarding the castle gate. The soldiers donned identical armor which was made of enhanced steel, colored in bright silver. The identical-colored steel helmets covered most of their faces, leaving an opening for their eyes to see. The two soldiers had their silver spears crossed against each other, blocking any unauthorized people from passing into the castle.

The three got off from the airship with Lest carrying a bigger backpack for his and Dolce’s need to stay while Arthur had brought an old scroll in his hand and walked in front of the couple, heading towards the soldiers on guard.

“Lord Arthur! We have been waiting for your arrival,” The soldier on the left side of the gate spoke up.

“And the two people who have come with you are Sir Lest and Lady Dolce, correct?” The soldier on the right side asked.

“Yes. They have come to attend the party this evening,” Arthur replied firmly.

“You may pass, milord,” The soldiers moved their spears away, unblocking the way towards the gate.

Arthur turned to the couple behind him with a smile, “Come, let me show you to your room.”

The three of them went through the gate and into the gigantic grey building. The first room to greet them was a huge room with dark red paint coloring the walls, which were decorated with various paintings of people dressed in formal clothes. A big chandelier, which was decorated with small but detailed golden bird sculptures, was hanging on the ceiling. The ceiling was also painted in four different color schemes, each representing one of the Native Dragons. On the left and right sides of the room, statues of various monsters were lined up neatly.

Arthur stopped in his tracks and turned to the couple, “This is one of the castle’s art rooms. You can see the royal family’s statue collections as well as their portraits.”

“Wow… this is amazing…” Dolce looked around the room in amazement before walking towards a statue of a wooly near the entrance, “I can see a lot of details in this one as well.”

“Oh, that’s actually a gift from one of my clients,” Arthur started, “Her husband is the one who provided the big woolies for our De-Fluffing Festival every year.”

“I’m not surprised,” Lest let out a laugh, “I think she gave the statue because of the order for woolies.”

Arthur responded with a nod, “I assumed so as well. Now, shall we get going?”

As they went through the room, a few women dressed in maid uniform were pacing through the room from and to the paths on the left and right sides of the room between the statues. Some of them were cleaning the statues, but quickly stopped their work for a moment to bow to Arthur as he went through the room and towards the big black doors across the room. He pushed the doors open, letting the sunlight shone straight into their faces.

“The guest chambers are here, surrounding this garden in the middle of this castle,” Arthur said as he continued ahead, “Your chamber should be up ahead.”

As Lest and Dolce were following behind Arthur, Pico had showed up in front of the two while floating to follow their pace, “Are we there yet…?”

“You shouldn’t show yourself here anytime you like, you know,” Dolce commented, “If people see you here, you might get kicked out as an intruder.”

Pico let out a sigh as her pace slowed down enough for her to be floating behind the two, “I just never know it’ll be this far to reach our room…”

The sound of footsteps was heard coming from behind the group, but they were too occupied in their conversation to notice.

“You’re a ghost. You don’t have to walk,” Dolce replied flatly.

“Yeah… and you don’t need to carry anything with you,” Lest let out a sigh before turning to Dolce while ignoring the fact that the sound of footsteps was getting closer, “Dolly, what did you put in here anyway?”

“I put our clothes in it and I added some food in case we get hungry,” Dolce replied as Lest let out a laugh, “W-What?”

“I think I already expect it coming…” The footsteps were heard coming from behind Lest before the vision in front of him suddenly went dark as a pair of gloved hands covered his eyes, “Hey!”

“Guess who!” A female voice was heard before she giggled.

“I… don’t know…” Lest removed the hands covering his eyes to reveal that the group had stopped walking with their gazes at the figure behind him. Turning around, Lest was greeted by a smiling green-haired young woman in twin tails before she threw her arms around him in excitement.

“It really is you, Lest!” The woman pulled him into a hug, leaving Lest looking at her in confusion.

“Miss Frey, what brings you here today?” Arthur called out to the woman, who had released the confused Earthmate from her hug.

“Lord Arthur!” The woman, Frey, noticed the approaching noble and lowered her head slightly, “I apologize for not recognizing you.”

“You can just call me Arthur,” Arthur gave her a smile, “We’re not speaking in front of other nobles, so you don’t have to be too formal with me.”

“Sorry,” Frey let out an embarrassed laugh before turning to Lest with a sad smile, “I was so excited to have seen Lest again at last…”

“And you are?” Dolce asked bluntly, looking slightly annoyed as she grabbed Lest’s hand tightly.

“Sorry for not introducing myself. I’m Frey, and Lest over there is my little twin brother,” Frey introduced herself politely, getting shocked looks from the three of them.

“Is Lest your brother whom you had mentioned before?” Arthur asked in surprise, getting a nod from Frey before his lips curved into a frown, “Unfortunately, Lest seems to have lost his memory.”

The shocked look turned to Frey as she looked at her long lost brother sadly, “Really…?”

“Sorry… I really can’t remember anything other than my name,” Lest apologized, “I can’t remember anything before the attack on the airship when I first came to Selphia.”

“I see…” Frey forced a smile before pulling a piece of folded paper from her pocket and handed it to Lest, “You might not remember this, but this is yours.”

Lest took the paper and unfolded it, revealing a drawing with notes written on some parts, “Is this some kind of map?”

Frey nodded in response, “Yup, it’s the map of this castle that you drew many years ago when you first came here.”

“Wait,” Dolce interrupted, “Lest had been here before? Shouldn’t anyone here already recognize him when we arrived?”

“That was over fifteen years ago,” Frey shortly replied, “Lest only came here once and it was only at that time.”

“I see,” Arthur started, “Even if there are anyone who had met him, that person would have already either retired or left the castle. Or in another case, they wouldn’t recognize his face now.”

“I guess so,” Lest’s response caught the attention of the others, “But it’s okay, at least I know that I still have a family,” Lest turned to Frey with a smile, “I don’t remember you, but I’m glad to know that I have a twin sister.”

The smile returned to Frey’s face, “You lost your memories, but you’re still the same old Lest to me,” Frey turned to Arthur, “Please excuse me, I should be going. The king requested for an audience with me regarding the party tonight.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded in understanding, “Please let him know that I would be seeing him soon as well.”

“I will,” Frey turned back to the others, “I’ll see you later then. I’ll give you two a tour around the castle once I’m done.”

“Okay, see you,” Lest saw his sister taking off before noticing the stares coming from Arthur and Dolce, “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just need some rest, that’s all.”

Arthur took a few seconds to study Lest’s face before nodding, “Very well. Your room is up ahead.”

The group continued their walk through the same scenery, where the lines of red doors on their left were decorated with gold symbols shaped like a dragon. A brown vase of cherry grasses was placed on the left and right sides of the door. The same scenery came to a stop and Arthur turned to the couple while pointing the door on his right.

“This will be your room during your stay,” Arthur pointed out, “You may rest here while waiting for Miss Frey and I to be done with our meeting. I will see you two later.”

“Okay,” Lest turned to Dolce, “Come on, let’s go in.”

Giving a silent nod, Dolce followed Lest into the room, which was bigger than their room back in the castle in Selphia. The curtains were left wide open, revealing the big windows on the left wall of the room leading to the garden outside the castle walls. A black tall vase was placed in the left corner of the room, but it had autumn grasses instead of cherry grasses. The king-sized bed was placed on a round green carpet and at the center of the wall across the door with a nightstand on the right of the bed.

Lest let out a tired sigh and put the backpack he was carrying on the bed, “Finally!”

Dolce came over to the bed as well, sitting silently next to the backpack with Pico floating in front of Lest, “You wouldn’t believe how much Dolly packed in there…”

Lest let out a laugh before sitting down on the bed as well, “I don’t really mind, though. I don’t go out of town much to fight off monsters lately, so I consider this some kind of training.”

“Sweetie,” Dolce called out and turned to Lest worriedly, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Huh?” Lest looked at Dolce in confusion.

“You didn’t look like you’re feeling comfortable when you saw Frey,” Pico explained.

Dolce nodded in agreement, “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Well…” Lest rubbed the back of his neck, “It feels… kind of strange actually. I never knew where I was from or who my family was and suddenly I have a sister…” Lest let out a sigh, “And I feel bad for not being able to remember her…”

“I see…” Dolce let out a smile, “You could try asking her about how both of you used to live. Maybe that will help you remember.”

“I’m not sure how much that’ll help, though,” Lest put a hand on Dolce’s as he smiled at her, “But thanks for worrying about me, Dolly.”

“She’s not just worried about you,” The couple turned to Pico, who was grinning slyly, “You should’ve seen how Dolly looks so jealous when-”

“No,” Dolce slapped a talisman on Pico’s head, making her wince in pain.

“D-Dolly…”

Lest let out a laugh, “I can tell by the way you’re holding my hand.”

“S-Shut up…” Dolce turned away in embarrassment, only to make Lest laugh even more.

A knock on the door was heard, “Excuse me.”

Lest opened the door, revealing a man in a black suit carrying two boxes in his hands, “Can I help you?”

“Sir Lest, isn’t it?” The man asked, getting a nod from Lest before he handed over the boxes to Lest, “The king had ordered me to give you these clothes and shoes to be worn at the party.”

“The clothes and shoes? Okay, thank you,” Lest took the box from the man, who had bowed slightly before leaving.

Dolce rose from her seat on the bed and saw Lest putting the boxes down by her feet, “Are those the clothes we had to wear tonight?”

“Seems like it,” Lest took a peek at one of the boxes, “Yeah, and the shoes too.”

“Oh,” Dolce replied shortly, letting out a defeated sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Lest asked, noticing the sigh coming from his wife.

“It’s nothing,” Dolce let out a smile, “Let’s take a look at them first.”

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 10

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The final chapter for the first arc, Wishes, is here! The next chapter will start the next arc, so stay tuned and happy reading!

Chapter 10 – The Big Day

That special day had finally arrived, dated on the twenty ninth day of summer. Colorful flowers had decorated the town of Selphia, bathing the streets with the scent of flowers and flower petals. The castle standing in the middle of the town was the place where the lucky groom had come out of, along with his older butler trailing behind him. The way how the butler had been sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes would make people think that the groom would be leaving the castle after spending a long time in it, though it wasn’t the case.

“You can stop crying now, Volkanon,” Lest laughed at the crying butler, who ended up crying even louder, “I-It’s not like I’m leaving you or the others here.”

“Sir Lest…” Volkanon said between his sniffles, “Forgive me, but this is such a beautiful occasion… I cannot express how happy I am to see you marry!”

“Thank you, Volkanon,” Lest smiled and slightly bowed in respect.

“I shall be waiting in the dragon room,” Volkanon wiped his last tears before giving the young prince a big smile, “Now, go on the first day of the rest of your life!”

“Yes, thank you,” Lest saw the butler leaving before walking towards the stairs leading to the east side of the town, where his soon-to-be wife had already been coming from.

“Lest…” Dolce looked at Lest, who had already dressed in his white tuxedo.

Looking at her nervous fiancé, Lest gave her a warm smile, “Your dress suits you well, Dolce. You look amazing.”

“O-Okay…” A shade of pink appeared across her face.

Pico suddenly appeared next to Dolce, looking at the couple while feeling a mix of happiness and jealousy, “You two look so excited that it makes me jealous!”

“Pico…” Dolce turned to the ghost with a low growl, but Pico responded with a laugh.

“Now, now, calm down. I just want to make sure everything is okay, I’m not going to bother you,” Pico gave her a reassuring smile, “Plus, I agree with what he said. You look stunning today, Dolly.”

“Pico…” Dolce’s stern look had softened and her lips curved into a smile, “Thank you.”

“Everything seems okay, so I’ll go on ahead, okay? See you later!” Pico disappeared with a smile, possibly going back to wait with her foster parents.

“Dolce,” Dolce turned to Lest, who was smiling at her while offering her his hand, “Shall we be off now?”

Dolce gave him a warm smile and gently took his offered hand, “Okay.”

The couple started their walk, heading towards the southernmost stairs to reach the east side of the town while holding each other’s hands. Their first stop was in front of the Carnation flower shop where they were greeted and congratulated by Amber and Illuminata.

“Congratulations on your wedding!” Amber extended a hand Lest to shake, before she gave Dolce a hug, which had surprised her.

“Congratulations,” Illuminata gave her hand to shake Lest’s and Dolce’s, “How do you like our flower decorations?”

Lest looked around to see the flower lineup on the streets, giving more color to them before turning back to the two with a smile, “They’re really lovely and they’re giving more color to the streets.”

“I agree,” Dolce nodded in agreement before turning to Amber with a smile, “And thank you for the pretty moondrop bouquet.”

“You’re welcome!” Amber gave her usual smile before she and Illuminata moved aside to give way for the couple to continue.

The elven musician had already been waiting for them at the small set of stairs ahead, along with her harp sitting next to her. Margaret gave her hand to shake, giving her wishes to the couple.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Lest and Dolce,” Margaret gave them a smile.

“Thanks,” Lest returned the handshake with a smile, “Is the entertainment ready?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll sing my best songs,” Margaret gave him a wink, “You can relax and keep your wife accompanied!”

“Thank you, Meg,” Dolce returned the handshake, before noticing a familiar object around the elf’s wrist, “Wait, is that…”

“Yes, it’s the bracelet you gave me on my birthday,” Margaret smiled and looked at the bracelet, which was made of colorful strings with small musical notes hanging on it, “I feel inspired writing music when I look at it.”

“I see. I’m glad you like it,” Dolce gave her another smile before the elf moved from their way, leading to the stairs where the others were waiting.

“Be careful when going up the stairs,” Lest took Dolce’s hand with his right one while putting his right arm around his fiancé to support her as they both started going up the stairs.

“You don’t have to take it this far, you know,” Dolce quietly said as they slowly went through the stairs.

“I won’t let you fall, Dolce,” Lest replied with a smile, “I already promised that I’ll always be by your side and protect you.”

A shade of pink returned to her face as she let out a small laugh, “You’d better be.”

Once they were at the top of the stairs, Lest let his left arm go from Dolce and held her hand once more. A few meters away from the stairs, the owners of the general store had already been waiting to give them their wishes.

“Congrats on your wedding, bro!” Instead of a handshake, the dwarf had held out his fist to meet with Lest’s.

“Congratulations on your wedding, both of you,” Lest and Dolce shook Blossom’s hand with a smile before heading towards the northern side of the town.

Porcoline was standing in front of the restaurant on his own with a frown on his face. The chef noticed the incoming couple and turned to them, although the frown hadn’t left his face, “Oh, Lest…”

“What’s wrong, Porcoline? And where’s Arthur?” Lest asked.

“He left last night saying that he had some urgent matters and couldn’t make it for today,” Despite his disappointment, Porcoline forced a smile as he passionately shook Lest’s hand, “But let me congratulate you two on your wedding. Please forgive Arthur for his absence.”

“Thanks, and don’t worry about him,” Porcoline moved to the side, giving way for the couple to pass.

“You’re too nice, you know,” Dolce commented shortly.

“Well…” Lest put his free hand on the back of his neck while trying to find the right words to respond, “I’m sure he had a good reason for him not to attend our wedding…”

“I know,” Dolce let out a smile, “I understand that he must be busy, unlike you.”

Lest let out a laugh, “Yeah, sure…”

The two reached in front of the airship, where Dylas and Leon had been waiting to give their wishes.

“Hey,” Dylas called out, trying to force a smile, “Sorry I’m not good with words about this, so I’m not quite sure how to say this,” Dylas gave them his hand while letting out a small smile, “Here’s hoping for many happy returns.”

“Thank you,” Lest and Dolce took Dylas’ hand to shake.

“I won’t be teasing you two today, so don’t worry,” Leon gave them his hand, “Congratulations on your marriage.”

Dylas and Leon moved to make way for the couple, leading towards the inn with Xiao Pai and Lin Fa waiting in front of the door. Giving the couple a smile, the younger inn manager gave them her hand, “Congrash! Best witches!”

The mistakes on the wishes she was going to give them had silenced the two before they turned to look at each other in confusion and back towards Xiao Pai.

“I… messed up, yes?” An embarrassed smile came to Xiao Pai’s face.

Dolce let out a sigh, before looking at her with a smile and took her hand, “Thank you, but how is it even possible to fail at saying such a simple statement?”

Lin Fa let out a small laugh before putting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder, “But my little Xiao’s mistake is what makes her cuter!”

“It’s not funny, yes?” Xiao Pai removed her mother’s hand from her shoulder before turning back to the couple with a smile, “You both have such a happy look on your faces, that makes me over-happy!”

“N-No, I…” A slight blush appeared on Dolce’s face.

“I can see it,” Xiao Pai replied before turning to Lest, “Is that right, Lest?”

“I can see that she’s happier than she used to be on this day,” Lest turned to Dolce with a warm smile, making her blush even more.

“C-Come on, let’s get going,” Dolce pulled on Lest’s hand slightly, motioning for him to leave as well, which made him laugh.

“Yes, there are others who want to give you their wishes,” Lin Fa nodded in agreement and smiled, “Congratulations. I wish for your happiness,” The two innkeepers had moved out of the way, letting the couple pass and headed towards the west side of the town with the siblings waiting for them.

Forte let out respectful bow before giving the couple a smile, “Congratulations on your marriage, Lest, Dolce.”

“Congratulations you two,” Unlike his sister, Kiel gave his hand to Lest and Dolce.

“Thank you,” Dolce returned the smile, until she noticed something on the dragon knight, “Are you okay, Forte? You look a little pale.”

“O-Oh, I do?” Forte asked nervously, getting stares coming from the couple.

“It’s kind of an odd story…” Kiel started before Forte lightly gave him an elbow.

“Kiel, no…” Forte whispered in embarrassment, but her warnings were completely ignored as he continued his story.

“You see, Forte was excited when we someone sent us a cake yesterday and took it for her to eat but…” The embarrassed knight quickly covered her brother’s mouth with her gloved hands, stopping him from continuing the story.

“No, it’s nothing,” The embarrassed blush was still on her face as she removed her hands from Kiel’s mouth.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t tell anyone about the rainbow trout cake Leon sent us…” Kiel apologized, not noticing that he had spilled the truth unconsciously.

“Kiel!” Forte scolded in embarrassment.

“Wait, a rainbow trout cake?” Lest repeated the question with a laugh, “Is that the ‘interesting’ that he meant before?”

“Probably so,” Dolce shortly replied before turning to Forte, “You should let Jones check on you later. I hope it’s not that bad.”

“Okay…” Forte bowed once more, “I should apologize for making you worry on your wedding day.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Lest responded with a smile, “We’re just happy to help.”

The knight gave him a nod before she and her brother moved to the sides, letting the couple through only to see the lazy blacksmith chilling on the bench in front of the river. Noticing the passing couple, the blacksmith gave them a wave, “Congrats! Best of luck to you!”

“O-Okay, thank you!” Lest waved back before he and Dolce walked towards the last people on their track.

Jones was standing next to the clinic with Nancy and Pico at his other side. Nancy and Pico were watching the couple walking up to them with tears on their eyes, while Jones gave them a warm smile. The doctor offered his hand to Lest, who took it with a returned smile.

“Congratulations,” Jones turned to Dolce, who was looking at him as if she was about to cry, before he turned back to Lest, “Lest, I leave my daughter in your care.”

Lest gave him a nod, “Thanks.”

“Jones…” Dolce’s voice came out as a whisper.

“Dolce,” Jones turned to his foster daughter, “I wish you have happy life with Lest.”

Tears had started forming at the edge of her eyes as she smiled and nodded, “Thank you… Dad…”

Hearing the words had surprised the doctor, but he was happy to hear it at the same time. Jones turned to his wife on his right and gave her a slight nudge on her arm, “Nancy, is there anything else you wish to say to Dolce?”

Nancy gave him a nod before turning to Dolce with a forced smile on her face, “Dolly, you look gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Dolce shortly replied, aware of the forced smile on Nancy’s face.

The smile soon turned into a stern look as she turned to Lest, “Lest, you have to take good care of Dolly, okay?”

“Yes, you bet!” Lest nodded confidently.

“You know how Dolly isn’t good at expressing her feelings, right?” The stern look on Nancy’s face slowly softened, “Sometimes she is a little blunt, but…” Nancy turned to look at Dolce with a sad smile, “She really is a sweet, cute, and wonderful person… She gets lonely very easily, so…” The nurse wiped the tears which had started coming out, “Please be by her side, I know that you would…”

“Nancy… I…” Dolce took Nancy’s hands in hers as her tears started coming out as well, “I want to thank you… for everything that you’ve done for me…” Dolce gave the older nurse a hug, “Thank you for being a mother to me…”

“Dolly…” Nancy returned the hug for a moment, letting go to have the last family member give her wishes.

“Pico…” Dolce turned to her best friend, who had never left her side.

Pico gave her a smile, but her feeling of emotion was clearly visible, “I’ll always be sticking with you like always, and I’ll always be here for you.”

Dolce nodded and smiled, “Thanks, Pico.”

“But let me ask you a question,” Pico continued, “Are you happy with this?”

“Yes,” A slight blush appeared on her face, “Of course. As happy as when I first met you.”

“I… see…” A single tear slid from her cheek before she turned to Lest, “Promise me that you will take good care of milady from now on!”

“Yes, I will,” Lest held his bride closer, but there was no resistance coming from her this time.

“Dolly…” Pico turned to her best friend with a sad smile as she slowly lost her color, “I wish for you to be happy…”

“Pico! You’re turning transparent!” Dolce knelt down to Pico’s level and grabbed her shoulders, “No, don’t tell me…!” The ghost girl only smiled silently as she slowly turned transparent, prompting Dolce to hold her and prevent her from disappearing, “No, don’t! Don’t go Pico!”

The sudden panic within the group went up and suddenly down when Pico regained their color, leaving Dolce to stare at the ghost she was holding in disbelief, “Did I get you, Dolly? I think my acting was pretty convincing, wasn’t it?”

“Pico…” An angry growl came from the female Guardian, but her attempt of letting out her annoyance was prevented as Lest had pulled her up and slightly pulled her away from the scene.

“Yes, yes, let’s get going…” Lest took Dolce out of the scene and headed towards the town square ahead, which had already been filled with tables covered on white cloth with some chairs.

Some of the tourists who had been in town the past few days were invited to the dinner as they were sitting on their tables. The people gave applause as the couple made it through the town square and got more wishes from the two butlers waiting in front of the door leading to the dragon room. The two of them bowed down in respect once the couple stopped in front of them.

“Congratulations on your marriage, Prince,” Vishnal said with his regular smile before moving to the side.

“Congratulations. May you two have a happy life together,” Clorica got to the side as well, across Vishnal, allowing the couple to enter the dragon room to say their wedding vows.

With Ventuswill leading the ceremony, the two said their wedding vows in front of the wind dragon and Volkanon. Once they had said their vows, the two turned to see each other with their hands still locked on each other to share their wedding kiss, officially becoming husband and wife.

“I promise I’ll make you happy,” Lest looked at his new wife with a loving smile.

“I know you will. And I’ll never let you go, not ever,” Dolce leaned in forward for another kiss, before a familiar voice interrupted the moment.

“DOLLYYY!!!” Pico raced into the room and towards Dolce, who had expected her and took a step back while pulling Lest with her, letting the ghost crash into Ventuswill.

“Whoa!” The dragon didn’t expect the sudden impact, but the comparison between her and Pico’s body made the impact seem to be a slight nudge on her abdomen.

“Hey! Let’s get outside!” Pico had recovered from the crash and approached the couple, “Everyone is waiting for us!”

“Okay, let’s go,” Lest gave her a nod and turned to Dolce, “Come on, let’s meet the others and enjoy the meal.”

The ceremony ended with a dinner party in the town square with the food prepared from the restaurant and the inn. Margaret’s singing voice was heard from the background being the party’s source of entertainment while Dylas, Clorica, and Vishnal was walking back and forth delivering the food the tables.

Lest and Dolce shared their table with Jones, Nancy, and Volkanon as they had their meal with Pico hovering beside Dolce. They had their conversation about various topics from Volkanon explaining about the upgraded bedroom for the newlyweds up to the topic of starting a family, which had greatly embarrassed the couple. It was when Lest was about to start his meal that he noticed something moving around in the middle of the square.

A wooden sign was literally moving around, hovering closer towards the table they were all sharing. A certain ghost girl came into his mind as the first suspect, only to see his new wife being teased by that same suspect as both of them were next to him. Some writings started appearing on the sign, which had the shapes he had already seen before.

Lest patted Dolce on the shoulder, snapping her from her embarrassment, “W-What is it?”

Lest pointed out his finger at the hovering board, which had almost finished writing itself, “That sign… isn’t Pico, right?”

“Huh?” Dolce turned a little to her side to a confused Pico before turning back to the sign as it slowly hovered closer, “Wait, those handwritings…”

“Did you see something, milady?” Pico noticed the surprised look on the bride’s face before turning to the sign which had the couple’s attention, “Hey, I think… I think it’s them!”

“Yes…” Dolce whispered as she let out a sad smile, “They are also here, attending my wedding…”

“They’re your parents, right?” Lest moved closer, wrapping his arm around Dolce’s waist, “Let’s see… your mom said ‘Congratulations, Dolly! I hope you live a happy life with him!’ and your dad wrote on the bottom…”

“He said ‘Take good care of my daughter. I hope my trust is not misplaced.’” Pico finished reading the sign before turning to Dolce with a sad smile, “They have given you two their blessing as well…”

Dolce nodded silently and smiled as she let a single tear slid down from her face, “Yes, I know…” She turned to the hovering sign as she held Lest’s hand firmly and whispered, “Thank you… Mom… Dad…”

The wind blew across the square, but the blowing wind had shocked Lest as he saw the hovering sign. He saw two figures, a man and a woman, with the man holding on to the sign. The man had short red hair slightly covered by a black top hat similar to the ones Dolce usually wore while also wearing white gloves and a purple shirt covered with a long black cape. The woman had long curly pink hair tied to a ponytail and wore a red long dress and was holding a moondrop flower in her hands.

The man and woman were smiling at them, but the unfamiliar faces had Lest confused for a moment until he realized who the figures were. Lest returned their smiles and nodded before more wind blew through the square, wiping clean the figures’ existence along with the sign. Lest saw his new wife turned to him with a smile and teary eyes which made him bring his hand to gently wipe the tears from her eyes.

“The two people I saw… were my parents-in-law, right?” Lest asked with a whisper and got a nod from Dolce.

“I saw them too…” Dolce replied in a whisper, “They gave us their blessing as well…” The two of them shared another look at each other before joining with the other people on the table to eat.

The party ended at the middle of the day with the villagers helping each other with cleaning up the town square afterwards. While the town square was being cleaned up, Lest helped his new wife move into the castle by carrying her stuff from her old room at the clinic. With everything all set in their new bedroom, they had the day off to rest at the home they would share from that day on.

The newlywed had spent their first hour in the room, trying to pick the best pet names for each other. They were sitting by the table in the middle of their bedroom, with Lest watching his blushing wife while laughing along with Pico, who had joined in for her own amusement.

“Come on, Dolly,” Lest teased with a laugh, “You already heard me call you by your new nickname, so it’s your turn now…”

“We’re not here for a day yet but I’m already enjoying it!” Pico commented before pulling on Dolce’s dress, “Say it, Dolly! I want to hear it too!”

“I… I’ll say it, okay?” Dolce took a deep breath before looking at her new husband with a nervous smile, “W-Will you make me the happiest person, s-sweetie?”

“Of course,” Lest took Dolce’s hands in his, “And I know you will do the same for me.”

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 6

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: An extra bonus chapter to catch up with FFN’s update. Please enjoy!    

Chapter 6 – The Guardians’ Feelings

The late summer breeze blew throughout the empty streets of Selphia at night. The hazel-haired Earthmate had been standing in front of the castle for some time, looking up at the castle’s roof. With the next season coming, the temperature had started cooling down and the leaves falling from the trees, blown away by the wind all around town.

Lest caught one of the blown leaves and looked at it for a moment before it was blown away from his fingers. Lest looked around the empty town square before turning towards the east side of the town, “This isn’t the end,” Lest reached for his chest where some green feathers from a charm given by his first friend was, “There must be another way to save Venti. We just have to believe it and try again. I need to check on the Guardians for now.”

Lest headed towards the Carnation where Amber had been staying since she woke up from her long slumber as a Guardian. Judging by the light coming from the side windows of the flower shop, the Earthmate could tell that at least one of the residents hadn’t fallen asleep yet. Lest raised a hand and knocked on the door a few times before the door opened to reveal the self-proclaimed detective of the town.

“Good evening, Illuminata. I’m sorry for bothering you at this hour, but I was wondering if-” Before Lest could finish his sentence, the older elf had cut him off.

“Is there an emergency mystery that needs me to investigate?” Illuminata reached for her monocle.

“N-No, is Amber-” Once again, Lest’s sentence was cut off in the middle.

“Is there something you need from my assistant?” Illuminata asked with a serious look on her face, but softens when she saw Lest sighing and shaking his head, “Hm? That’s not it either?”

“I’m here to check on Amber if she’s okay,” Lest let out a sad smile, “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to help, sadly.”

“I see,” Illuminata looked at Lest confidently, “Worry not, the Great Detective shall uncover the truth behind Amber’s condition! Have a good night!”

With Illuminata’s last words for the knight, she closed the door on Lest's face, “Uh… thanks?”

In the building, Illuminata had walked up the stairs to the second floor and approached her friend’s door. Soft sniffles could still be heard until she knocked on the door, “Amber, are you okay?” There was no answer coming from inside, but the sniffles had stopped, “Let me know if you need me, okay?”

The younger female was lying on her bed in her room with her eyes wide awake. Hearing her elven friend outside her door worrying about her had stopped her from crying even more, just to prevent her from being more worried. The silence she gave her had left Illuminata with nothing else to do other than leave her for the night. The sound of footsteps was heard and was stopped by Amber’s response, “Thanks Ellie…” Illuminata smiled after hearing Amber’s response before continuing her walk towards her own room, finally turning in for the night.

Meanwhile in the restaurant, the male Guardians were sitting together on the table near the counter. It was already past closing hours, making it the best place for the two males to have a chat. A pitcher filled with milk was sitting on the table along with two drinking glasses on each of the Guardians’ sides. The glass on Leon’s side was left untouched, compared to Dylas’ glass which had already been empty.

“Once you stop crying, you fill yourself with milk. Interesting,” Leon let a small laugh while he watched Dylas pouring another glass of milk.

“There’s no way I’m crying, Sir Red-Eye!” Dylas glared at the older Guardian before finishing his glass of milk.

Leon’s smile turned into a smirk, “You’re one to talk, Mister Sniffle-Nose!” Leon let out a sigh before turning serious, “So, what now?”

“We can’t quit, that’s for sure,” Dylas poured another glass for himself and stared at the glass for a moment, “We all want her back while having our own reasons for her return.”

“True,” Leon nodded in agreement, “That and because she’s our friend.”

“Yeah…” Dylas finished another glass and poured more on his glass, “I don’t know how many centuries it has been for her, but I feel like it was just yesterday that Venti and I went fishing together,” Dylas looked at Leon with determination on his face, “We’ll do whatever it takes to take Venti back, even if we have to rip that dumb gate open!”

Leon nodded before fanning himself with his feather fan, “I agree.”

The restaurant door creaked open, getting the attention of the two Guardians in the room before Lest popped his head into the room, “Hey, both of you are here.”

“What are you doing here?” Leon asked as he saw Lest walking towards the table they were sitting on.

The Earthmate took a seat next to Dylas, “I’m checking on you guys. Are you two okay?”

“Hey, that’s what we’re supposed to ask you,” Dylas replied worriedly, “Is your body all right? Feeling better?”

“I’m okay, Mister Sniffle-Nose,” Lest replied with a laugh.

“Y-You heard that?” Dylas asked in embarrassment, getting a laugh from Lest and Leon.

“Since Sir Red-Eye said so,” Leon turned to Lest with an eyebrow raised.

“So you heard that too,” Leon commented before turning to the two, “Well, what should we do for now? You two know that we shouldn’t be giving up on Venti just like that.”

“We’ll wait for what Arthur finds,” Dylas replied, “I asked him to look into this too, so let’s hope that he finds something.”

“Right,” Leon nodded before turning to Lest with a sly smile, “Now you know what to do next, right? We’re doing fine here, but I think there’s someplace you’d better be right now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lest rose from his seat and smiled, “I need to check on Dolce and Pico as well.”

“I wish I can eavesdrop on you lovebirds, but I think I’ll let you off this time,” Leon laughed mockingly before Lest sighed in annoyance.

“It’s better if you don’t eavesdrop at all,” Lest replied, feeling both annoyed and embarrassed.

“You better go now, don’t keep a woman waiting for too long,” Lest completely ignored Leon’s comments before turning to Dylas.

“I’ll get going now. Good night guys,” Lest left the building, leaving the two males on the empty restaurant once more.

“Those two seems happy together, don’t you think?” Leon turned to Dylas, who had finished half of his glass already.

“I thought those things aren’t your interest,” Dylas replied flatly, before his expression turned into worry, “Hey, Leon?”

“What is it?” Leon looked at the other Guardian questioningly.

“Do you feel anything strange lately? Like there’s someone or something calling you?” Dylas asked, but the expression on Leon’s face hadn’t changed at all.

“No, I don’t think so. Have you checked yourself at the clinic?” Leon replied with another question.

“Physically I’m okay, but I hear some voices echoing in my head sometimes ever since I come back from the ruins to get some materials to upgrade my fishing rod,” Dylas’ response started the silence in the room before Leon finally spoke up.

“That’s strange…” Leon put the feather fan he was holding on the table and folded his arms before leaning against the chair, “I heard Amber had been in that similar situation lately after returning from Yokmir Forest…”

“We’ll have to look into this, once we’ve got Venti home,” Dylas responded in a serious tone.

Meanwhile, Lest had made his way from the restaurant towards the clinic to check on the last Guardian, only to find out that Dolce and Pico had already left once more. Getting the vague directions Dolce and Pico had headed from Nancy, Lest excused himself and headed towards the lake where the two was supposed to be heading.

The first thing Lest noticed when he made it to the area was a figure in purple standing by the bridge leading towards the mansion’s back door. As the Earthmate approached, the figure noticed him coming and turned to him, “Lest! You’re here!”

“Pico?” Lest looked around the area, but he found no sign of Pico’s human friend anywhere until he noticed the worried look on the ghost’s face, “What’s wrong? Where’s Dolce?”

Pico turned to face the Obsidian Mansion’s back door, “Dolly is in there, but she wouldn’t let me in…”

Lest turned to the back door, “I should check on her then,” Lest turned his gaze back to Pico, “Come with me. I don’t think she’ll be mad if you come in with me.”

“Uh…” Pico hesitated for a moment, before noticing the smile on Lest’s face that made her feel better, “Okay, let’s go!”

Lest and Pico went across the bridge before Lest pushed the old wooden doors open to reveal the biggest room of the mansion. Two lanterns had candles within them to help with the room’s lighting, although the old chandelier hanging from the ceiling provided most of the room’s lighting. The old tables and chairs were still in their places throughout the room, surrounding the place which seemed to have been a big stage many years in the past.

Colorful runeys were flying around the room, giving the warm atmosphere despite the old, run-down look of the room. The ghost and the Earthmate approached the big stage, where a single familiar figure stood in the middle of it with her back turned to them. Even once the two of them was near the stage, the figure stood still as she didn’t notice the uninvited guests coming for her.

“Dolce,” Lest called out softly and worriedly, “Are you okay?”

Dolce turned around and saw her ghost best friend along with her boyfriend standing just below the stage, “Pico? And Lest?”

“What are you doing here at this hour?” Lest climbed on to the stage to join Dolce, while Pico simply floated to Dolce’s side.

“I…” Dolce opened her mouth to speak, but turned her head to avoid eye contact, “I just want to be alone here, that’s all…”

“Milady felt sad that we still can’t bring Ven back even after everyone worked so hard to find a way,” Pico explained.

Lest turned his attention from Pico and back to Dolce, who had a slight sadness on her face, “I knew it…”

The female Guardian slowly moved from her spot and walked a few steps towards the back of the stage to reveal the floating rune sphere Lest had previously placed, “Have I told you before?” Dolce’s voice turned into a whisper, “That day, when I decided to become a Guardian to save Venti… I only thought of saving her, nothing else…”

“Of course, I was against the idea,” Lest’s attention turned to Pico, “I understand how Ven means to Dolly, but I can’t imagine living so many years without her…”

“Initially, my parents were against it as well,” Dolce continued while looking at the floating sphere, “However, this has always been my choice. By becoming a Guardian I can save Venti, whom I always consider as a precious friend other than Pico. This is the place where I had been sending rune energy to Venti for hundreds of years.”

“Although that choice seems to be a hard one for Pico and your parents…” Lest added before his expression turned into sadness, “Even for Venti…”

“So this is how it feels…” Dolce’s voice turned into a whisper, “To be left alone, knowing that precious friend might never come back…”

“But she will,” Dolce and Pico turned to Lest, whose sadness had turned into seriousness, “We will bring her back, no matter what.”

“Wait, you’re not thinking of doing that again, are you?” Pico asked in a serious tone.

“I can feel that it’ll work next time, I just need to train harder and-”

“No,” Dolce’s short but stern response had cut Lest’s sentence and the two turned to the female Guardian, “We can try other ways, but I cannot allow you to risk yourself like that again,” Dolce’s eyes once again avoid contact with Lest’s, “What if… if things turned out to be worse the next time? I… I don’t want to lose you too, you know…”

Lest noticed a shade of pink across her face before he nodded and smiled at her, “Okay,” Lest walked closer to Dolce and gently grabbed her shoulders while trying to look at her in the eyes, “Rest assured, I’ll always be by your side.”

Dolce looked at Lest in surprise, before she let out a smile, “Yes…”

Pico let out a fake cough, “I’m still right here, you know!”

The two of them turned to the frowning ghost girl, back at each other, and noticed the distance between them before Lest let go of her shoulders in embarrassment, “S-Sorry.”

There was a short pause before Dolce turned her head slightly to look at the embarrassed Earthmate, “You should be, you idiot,” The Guardian’s response had confused Lest while Pico was grinning slyly.

“Huh?” His embarrassment slowly turned into confusion as he saw Dolce’s expressionlessness.

Pico let out mocking chuckle, “Milady is just jealous when Amber happened to hug Lest back in the room.”

“Is this another way of you asking to die again?” Dolce questioned the ghost with a smile, but the smile was terrifying enough for Pico to slowly back away.

“Uh… gotta go now!” Pico quickly flew away before Dolce could grab her and went straight through the mansion’s doors.

“That pervert…” Dolce’s smile had faded, feeling disappointed that she couldn’t catch the ghost before she got away.

“I think I can see that you’re doing okay now,” Lest stated with a chuckle, getting Dolce’s attention, “Shall we head back?”

Dolce nodded and smiled, “Yes.”

Lest easily went down from the stage before offering a hand to the female Guardian, “Now, give me thy hand, milady.”

The pink color returned to her cheeks, “Knock it off, idiot,” Dolce hesitated a bit before she took Lest’s hand and went down the stage. Still having her hand in Lest’s, both of them walked towards the doors to leave the mansion.

“… come… give me…”

The strange voice had surprised the female Guardian, who let out a gasp before stopping her tracks and turned to look at the rune sphere. The loud gasp had gained the attention of the Earthmate, who watched as the female Guardian looked at the rune sphere while clutching her chest. Lest approached Dolce and tapped her shoulder in worry, slightly startling the Guardian.

In response, Dolce turned to look at the worried face of her Earthmate boyfriend, “There’s…” Dolce turned back to the rune sphere, which was still floating normally with colorful runeys flying around in the room, “Nothing. Let’s head back.”

“Okay…” Lest replied while still feeling that something was wrong, but decided that it was best for them to head back.

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 8

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: I’m finally free for now, so here’s an update!

Chapter 8 – Popping the Question

It only took a few minutes for the word about Ventuswill’s return to spread throughout the town. The villagers who had heard about the news would immediately head towards the dragon room and see the dragon god, until the whole room was too crowded. Lest managed to escape the crowd and get out of the room to see the Guardians still waiting outside the castle.

“On behalf of the Guardians and the townsfolk, thanks for bringing Venti back,” Leon spoke up with  smile.

“You don’t have to thank me. You all did your part to help me,” Lest turned to the door leading to the crowded dragon room and smiled, “The townsfolk also helped us in gathering info, especially Kiel and Arthur.”

“Now that it’s over, I need to go back to the restaurant to help Porcoline,” Dylas stated, “We’re cooking a feast to celebrate, so it’s best for me to keep him from eating any of the dishes himself.”

Lest laughed at Dylas’ last comment, “Good luck with that.”

Dylas nodded and smiled before leaving the group, “Okay, later guys.”

“I should be going as well. I’m planning to give Kiel the thanks he deserves,” Leon let out his usual sly grin.

Lest let out a chuckle, “Whatever it is you’re planning, don’t make Forte come to you with her sword aimed at your throat like the last time.”

Leon shrugged in response, “It should be interesting enough for his sister to be interested as well,” Leon started walking away, “See you later.”

“Yay! Lest!” The sudden additional weight on Lest’s back had almost made him fall, “Ven is finally home!”

“Y-You’re right, Amber… Can you get off my back please?” Lest could feel Amber slowly getting off his back, but her usual cheerful smile never left her face.

“Ellie says that she wants to decorate Ven’s room with some flowers. Do you want to come with us?” Amber asked.

“Sounds great! I think I’ll…” Lest turned to see Dolce, who seemed to be looking at him with a slightly annoyed look, “Sorry, I have some other plans today.”

“Okay,” Amber nodded before she started leaving, “I’ll see you later.”

“When should we meet today?” Dolce suddenly ask.

“Oh, right…” Lest let out a nervous laugh, “How about meeting after your shift is over? I need to finish my work for today too, so how about it?”

“Yes, that should be fine. I’ll see you then,” Dolce gave him a smile before leaving Lest standing in front of the crowded room.

Seeing how Ventuswill was happy with the large amount of visitors had put Lest’s mind at ease enough for him to smile. He made his way back to the castle to swap the weapon he was carrying with the farm tools he had kept in the storage box. With the rune energy problem from thousands of years back finally resolved, life should be back to normal for him, Ventuswill, and the Guardians.

The sun was starting to set when Lest had finished tilling his field to prepare for the coming of autumn. He looked at the results of his work in pride before tiredly stretching out his arms and walked back into the castle building. He went into his room and opened his nightstand drawer, taking the precious item inside and into his pocket.

When he was walking towards the observatory tower, he stopped in front of the restaurant for a moment to enjoy the scenery. The orange color was painting the sky with some starting to get darker as it was almost night time. The wind was blowing the new dry leaves away from the streets and from the tree branches. When Lest turned to the direction of the observatory, he saw the familiar figure he was meant to see that afternoon.

Dolce was leaning against the observatory’s railing with her loyal friend hovering beside her as the wind blew her hair back and forth. Her hands were busy with knitting she was doing, completely ignoring the ghost hovering around her. She only stopped her knitting when the ghost stopped in front of her and spoke up something that made her look at the ghost in surprise and embarrassment.

After seeing the two started talking, Lest continued his walk towards the observatory and climbed the stairs leading to the top. His walk came into a stop in front of the door leading out to the top of the observatory when the voices of the two talking were heard. He carefully opened the door and saw that Dolce had put her knitting away and was looking at the sunset while Pico was hovering above the railing next to her, both looking away from the door Lest was using to cover himself.

“I suppose everything should be back to normal now,” Dolce spoke up while her eyes hadn’t moved away from looking at the sunset.

“Yeah, it is,” Pico, who was floating next to her, had also set her eyes on the sunset view, “Selphia is at peace again, Ven is home again… and you’re here too, Dolly.”

Dolce nodded in agreement, “True. And it’s all thanks to that fool.”

“That fool is the man you love the most, right?” Pico’s question had the female Guardian turn red, although her lips curved into a smile.

“After what he had done for us, how could I not?” Dolce looked up at the orange sky, “He made me realize that Mom and Dad have always been with us, waiting…”

“And we have Jones and Nancy in this era too,” Pico let out a laugh, “Aren’t you happy now, Dolly?”

There was a slight pause as Dolce closed her eyes, “Yes I am,” The smile had never left the Guardian’s lips as the two of them were talking.

Lest, who had been listening to the whole conversation, smiled to himself before he accidentally pushed the door which let out a slight creaking sound, “Whoops…”

“Huh?” Pico noticed the light sound and turned to see Lest hiding behind the door. Smiling, she turned back to her friend, “I just remember that I left some food on the stove so… gotta go!”

“Wait, Pico!” The ghost had slipped past her fast enough for her to ask what was going on, until she noticed the person hiding behind the door, “You were eavesdropping.”

“Sorry…” Lest came out from his hiding spot and walked to Dolce’s side, “But your eyes tell me that you’re glad I got to hear it.”

Lest’s comment and his smile had the red color return to her face, “Uh…”

There was silence between them with Lest staring at his embarrassed girlfriend. Dolce turned her head to try hiding her blush, but a slight touch on her face had her sight set on the Earthmate’s purple eyes. Her heart was beating even faster as she took his hand from her face and held it in hers before letting out a smile. This man was the one of the very few people she knew well who wouldn’t leave her even when she shooed him away. It was because he knew that she needed him despite saying that she wanted to be alone.

“Thank you,” Dolce’s voice came out as a whisper, but it was loud enough for Lest to hear it.

“Um… What’s this all about that you thank me for?” Lest looked at Dolce in confusion, making the female Guardian let go of his hand and give him a slightly annoyed look.

“Figure it out yourself, idiot,” Dolce went back to lean on the railing.

Lest saw as she approached the railing once more before he joined her as well, “Nice sunset, huh?”

“It is,” Dolce shortly replied, “The sunset is still nice after all these years.”

Lest responded with a nod, “Yeah…” He stole a quick glance at the Guardian on his right before reaching for the pair of white gloved hands sitting on the railing. The sudden touch had slightly surprised the female Guardian as she let out a small gasp while Lest held her hands gently. Nervousness came as Lest took a deep breath before he turned to look at Dolce in the eyes, “Dolce, there’s something that I want to tell you today,” Lest put his other hand on hers, “This is why I called you out here.”

Dolce saw at the serious look on the Earthmate’s face, “W-What is it?”

“I know that you���re happy to know that you still have a warm family even in this era,” Lest started with a warm smile, “I can say, you’re very lucky to have such a big and loving family you can call your own,” Lest took his hands from hers and had one of them back at the railing while letting the other hanging on his side as he looked up at the sky with a sad smile, “Me, on the other hand… I don’t remember anything but my name. I don’t even know if my parents are still alive or not or where they might be. But here I am, doing my daily life as if I never had a family of my own to find…”

There was a long pause as Lest started leaning on the railing while keep looking at the sky, which was starting to get darker at higher skies. The Earthmate let out a sigh before turning back to Dolce with his sad smile still on his face, “I’m sorry, it’s… something I’ve had in my mind for a while now…”

“That’s fine,” The response coming from the female Guardian had caught Lest in surprise, “I… I can relate to that, after living such a similar life when I first woke up.”

“I see…” Lest’s smile came back before his expression turned back into a serious one, “But if I can… I want to have a family, a real family I can call my own… So…” Lest took a deep breath and calmed himself down before looking at the female Guardian in front of him, “Dolce, will you marry me?”

Dolce looked at Lest in surprise, seeing that his proposal wasn’t a joke. Those were the words she had been hoping to hear for months and she had finally heard it. She held her hands together nervously before turning away from him, “Should I trust your words?” The serious expression on the Earthmate’s face turned into confusion, “They are just words. I can’t tell if your feelings for me are real.”

Lest’s hand went to his pocket, feeling the diamond attached to the ring in it, before he took his hand out from the pocket as he stood firmly behind Dolce, “I love you, Dolce,” The female Guardian stood still, hardly giving him any obvious reaction. Lest took a step forward and wrapped his hands around her slim figure, surprising the Guardian, “With all my heart.”

The pair of gloved hands held Lest’s arms, “You know that Pico will always be with me, right?”

Lest nodded and smiled, “She is an important part of your family, so I don’t mind.”

“Can I still consider Jones and Nancy as my family too?” Her gaze lowered to the floor.

“Yeah,” Lest brought himself even closer, “They even still considered you to be part of them after you keep pushing them away.”

“And what about my real parents?” Dolce’s grip on Lest’s arms tightened, “You never even met them.”

“I don’t mind at all. They’re all part of your family and I’ll be willing to have a big happy family with you,” Lest loosened his hold on Dolce’s waist, “I want to be there with you and protect you. I want to live and grow old with you. Although I know I might not be the best man in the world, I want to the one you choose to be yours.”

“Not the best one?” There was a short pause before Dolce let out a small chuckle, “Then it’s your fault that I choose you,” The female Guardian gently released herself from Lest’s hug while looking at him with a smile and teary eyes as she held on to Lest’s hands, “Please, let me hear those words again…”

Lest gave her a nod and smiled warmly, “Dolce, will you marry me?”

Dolce gave him a slight nod, “Yes.”

Lest lowered both of their hands, “Will you let me be part of your big family?”

Dolce gave him another nod before taking a step closer, “Yes. I will never let you go, not ever.”

The two closed their distance as their lips met in a kiss with the orange-colored sky of the sunset on the background. Once they broke the kiss, Lest took the ring from his pocket and slid it on Dolce’s ring finger before they locked in a tight embrace, enjoying each other’s body warmth.

“So…” Lest gently pulled away from the hug, “When should we hold the wedding ceremony?”

“The sooner the better but…” Dolce’s voice came as a whisper before she turned away in embarrassment, “No, never mind.”

“How about the day after tomorrow?” Lest suggested, getting Dolce’s attention, “That should be enough time to prepare for the ceremony, right?”

“Yes,” Dolce gave him a slight nod, “That should be enough.”

“Okay, should we go and tell Pico, Jones, and Nancy about our engagement?” Lest asked while offering her his hand to hold.

“You know that Pico already know about this, don’t you?” Dolce asked bluntly before turning back to the railing, “I can see that little pervert spying on us from the feet of the tower.”

Lest looked down from the railing and saw the ghost girl waving at him while staying near the restaurant building, “Y-Yeah, I guess…”

“Come, we should tell Jones and Nancy,” Dolce flashed him a small smile before taking his hand and left the observatory with him.

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 4

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Amber, Dylas, Leon Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: The first chapter to contain the actual pairing stuff and definitely the hardest for me to write lol. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 4 – Lunch Date

-First Person POV-

I’m standing in the dragon room again and I feel hurt and sad in my chest. I’m looking up at my dragon friend, whose body is slowly losing its color every passing second. Tears are falling from my eyes, knowing that I might never see Venti anymore. What about my memories? She already did give me a lot of memories here by letting me stay in Selphia. Whether they’re sad or happy memories, they’re all within me. Maybe these memories are much better than my original memories being brought back.

My callings aren’t changing anything. I ask her to stay, but yet she insists that it’s her time to go. Don’t you have a choice to stay, Venti? To stay here, in Selphia, with the other townspeople. Stay with the Guardians. No, stay here with me. For someone I’ve known for only a year, I feel like I’m losing a childhood friend I’ve been spending time with for years.

I feel powerful for defeating Ethelberd and saving Venti, but seeing how she’s slowly losing her existence in front of me makes me feel so powerless. She’s given me a home, a job, and even a title as the prince, but I can’t do a single thing to help her in her case. No, I never even know she has been feeling all this time. Getting weaker and weaker as I release more Guardians… It’s something I’ve never imagined feeling. I only know how to fight them and bring them back for the sake of goodness, only to bring suffering to her.

My hands can only grab the empty air in front of me, missing the dragon god who lives in there. The dragon god who is my friend, my first friend that I remember. Now, that friend is gone. Gone and there’s nothing I can do for her. Nothing to be done to help her. I fall to my knees as I hear footsteps coming into the room from behind me.

-Third Person POV-

“Venti!” The hazel-haired Earthmate suddenly got up from his bed, surprising the purple-haired butler who was going to wake him up.

“Whoa!” The sudden movement had snapped the drowsy butler wide awake, making her almost jump back in surprise and dropping the food tray she was carrying.

“Oh…” Lest noticed the surprised look on his butler’s face, “Sorry about that, Clorica. I’ve just got some bad dreams, that’s all…”

“It’s okay,” Clorica walked towards the nightstand next to Lest’s bed and set the tray on it, “Here’s some apple pie for your breakfast. I hope this is enough to make you feel better.”

“Okay, thanks,” Clorica bowed politely before she left the room with her usual yawn.

Lest saw the purple-haired butler leaving and let out a sigh. The vision of his dream came back, which made him let out another depressed sigh. It wasn’t the first time he dreamt about his missing dragon friend as it was what he had been dreaming since the night Ventuswill left Selphia. He was the only one to witness her passing as the Guardians came after she had left. The Guardians, like Lest, had a bond with the native dragon, strong enough to be able to sense when Ventuswill was leaving.

He turned to the food tray on his nightstand and took it in his hands, staring at the apple pie placed on it. He knew dwelling on the past wouldn’t do him any good, but his heart was still hurting over the loss of his first friend. He slowly finished his meal and got himself ready before heading towards the main room. As he was walking towards the door to head for the town, his steps came into a stop in front of the pathway leading to the dragon room in the center of the castle.

Lest stared at the pathway for a moment before letting out a sad smile, “Maybe I’ll hang out in Venti’s place for a bit,” He turned to walk towards the dragon room instead and found that the room wasn’t empty that morning. A man with light blue hair was standing in front of the spot where Venti used to be, talking as if the original room’s occupant was there.

“… and it seems like Xiao Pai had just broken her own record of the most plates broken in a single day,” The man continued talking to himself before letting out a grin, “And it’s a great morning, you.”

“So you know that I’m here, Leon,” Lest walked up to the Guardian before letting out an annoyed sigh, “I already told you my name, so why are you still calling me ‘you’?”

Leon let out a small laugh, “You’re always fun to tease, aren’t you?” Leon’s smile turned into a frown as he closed the feather fan he was holding, “Hey, do you think it’s possible? For Venti to return here?”

“I… don’t know…” Lest let out a disappointed sigh, “I still don’t understand much about all of this… Earthmate stuff…”

“I see,” Leon turned to Venti’s spot once more, “I think I need some time here,” Leon turned his head to Lest and grinned slyly, “I’ll play with you some other time then.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Lest let out a laugh before heading to the town to gather some information.

Lest’s effort of trying to find some information led him going back to the castle empty handed. He had checked on the other townspeople he hadn’t asked the day before, but none of them seemed to have any idea. He had also tried checking on Kiel and Arthur, who were doing some reading together at the manor. As much as he wanted to ask the two, the serious looks on Kiel’s and Arthur’s face told him that it was best not to bother them.

With barely any new information, the hazel-haired Earthmate decided to head towards his fields and began working. Being used to tending his farm every single day for almost two years in Selphia, Lest managed to tend his crops while thinking about what he had learned the day before. A certain spell name came into his mind as he put his watering can down, stopping him from taking the hoe sitting next to the can.

‘The Omni Gate spell…’ Lest’s thought went back to the time when he was told to release the last Guardian, ‘If my incompetence was the cause at that time, then it should work this time…’

Lest had been training by defeating the monsters around town for a while, thinking that his skill would become more and more useful as he trained more. Comparing his current skill with his skills back then, he felt confident that he had improved his abilities as an Earthmate and as a fighter. Even so, he couldn’t say for certain how far improved he was. Letting out a sigh, Lest knew that doing the spell carelessly wouldn’t do him good.

Lest had finished his work and looked around his field before stretching his arms, “Okay, I think I need a relaxing walk around town now,” The hazel-haired Earthmate left his field and headed back towards the castle’s front door, walking towards the west side of the town.

Meanwhile in one of the buildings on the west side of the town, a certain pink-haired woman had just finished mixing some medicine which a customer had requested. The customer took and paid the medicine before leaving the building. As the customer left, the woman let out a tired sigh and sat down on a nearby chair before her ghost friend popped up in front of her.

“Dolly, are you okay?” The ghost asked while looking worriedly at her tired friend.

“I’m fine. Jones and Nancy should be back soon, don’t worry,” The woman replied before turning to the door as soon as it opened, “Welcome, how can I-”

“Hi again, Dolce,” The hazel-haired Earthmate came into the clinic with a smile, “I’m done with my work today, so I decided to come and visit you again for today.”

“Ah, perfect timing! I think Dolly wants to see you again today!” Pico turned to see her friend with a smile, who glared at her before putting a talisman on her face, “OUCH!”

Lest let out a laugh after seeing the scene, getting Dolce’s attention, “D-Do you need anything?”

“Not really, I’m just visiting after working,” Lest stretched his arms up tiredly, only to have Dolce grab his right arm, “Huh?”

“Where did you get this scar?” Dolce pushed Lest’s arm lower, pointing at the sleeve which had been thorn to reveal a small scar, “Here, this one.”

“Oh, that? I think I accidentally scratched myself against the ironleaves when I was harvesting them today,” Lest rubbed the back of his back of his head in embarrassment, “I forgot to put some more distance when planting the ironleaves.”

“You can’t leave a wound open, big or small,” Dolce gently released Lest’s injured arm, “Wait here.”

The pink-haired Guardian walked towards the other side of the room and opened one of the drawers of the table with medical tools. Pico had recovered from the talisman attack she got earlier and approached the Earthmate who was watching Dolce digging through the drawer.

“I know that she’s happy to see you again today,” Pico told the Earthmate, getting his attention, “And she’s always been worried when she knows that you’re going out of town.”

Lest laughed, “Yeah, I noticed.”

“What are you two talking about?” Dolce had returned while carrying some bandages, cotton, and her own sewing kit in her hands.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” Lest noticed the items that Dolce was holding, “Are you going to treat that scar? I don’t think it’s necessary, though…”

“Just to be safe, I’ll clean and bandage it for you,” Dolce turned to Lest with a smile, “You don’t need to pay me anything.”

“Because a loving hug is… OUCH!” Before Pico could finish her sentence, Dolce had thrown another talisman to land on her head.

“Be quiet!” Dolce told the ghost, but her eyes hadn’t left Lest’s arm as she was bandaging him. With the bandage secured on its place, Dolce took her sewing kit and patched the thorn sleeve.

“Thanks!” Lest moved around his arms comfortably as the bandage didn’t restrict his movements.

“You’re welcome,” Dolce smiled and went to put the rest of the bandages and her sewing kit away.

“I guess… I can’t take you out today, huh?” Lest’s question had the Guardian’s attention, “I mean, you shouldn’t be leaving the clinic when you’re in charge, right?”

“We’re home, Dolly!” The door suddenly opened, revealing the older couple, “Oh, hello again Lest. Are you here to see Dolly?”

“Yeah, I was planning to take her out for lunch, but I can’t if she’s in charge right now,” Lest saw Nancy as she pulled Dolce to his side despite her protests.

“She’s free to go now, isn’t that right Jones?” Nancy turned to her husband with a smile.

Jones looked at Nancy in confusion for a moment until he noticed what his wife meant, “A-Ah, yes. In fact, she’s taking over my shift temporarily while we’re out for lunch.”

“And I think it’s been quite a while since the last time the two of you went on a date, correct?” Nancy looked at the younger couple, getting a nod from Lest but Dolce was looking flustered.

“Come on, Dolly,” Dolce noticed that Pico was at her side, smiling at her, “I know that you wanted to spend some time with him.”

“T-That’s…” A slight blush was visible across her face as she looked at Pico, Nancy, and then Lest, “I… I’ll wait outside,” Dolce ran through the people in the room and headed out of the building.

“Make sure you get her home safely too, okay?” Pico turned to Lest with a smile.

“Wait, you’re not coming?” Pico shook her head in response, “Okay, don’t worry about it.”

“Have fun in your date, you two!” Nancy told the Earthmate with a smile as he was leaving.

As Lest went outside, he noticed that the female Guardian was waiting beside the door, “Dolce, shall we get going?”

“O-Oh…” Dolce was surprised at Lest’s sudden calling before she recovered and smiled, “Yes,” Dolce took Lest’s hanging hand, surprising the Earthmate as he turned to her with a blush on his face. He smiled at her and held her hand while both of the headed for Porcoline’s restaurant.

It was already time for lunch, making the restaurant crowded with hungry people. The couple managed to get a table at the rightmost corner of the restaurant and had their order taken. While waiting for their ordered dish, Lest noticed that the smile she had when they were walking towards the restaurant had turned into a frown and she had started knitting instead of talking to him.

Just as he was about to say something, Dylas had come to their table with their ordered dishes, “Here’s your order.”

Dolce looked up at Dylas, who was looking at her with a serious face. Both of them nodded before the male Guardian left to get more dishes quickly before the chef of the restaurant himself devoured the customers’ orders. Lest saw the female Guardian in front of him had started eating in silence.

“Is everything okay?” Lest asked worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Dolce looked up from her plate and at Lest’s, “You should eat before the food gets cold.”

Lest knew that something wasn’t right when they entered the restaurant. He looked at his plate and an idea to get the Guardian to talk struck him. He took a spoonful of his dish and turned to Dolce, “Dolce,” The female Guardian responded to his call, “Say ahhh…”

“W-What…?” A slight blush returned to her face as Dolce noticed that Lest had a spoonful of food to give her. After a slight pause, Dolce leaned forward a little as Lest put the spoonful of food into her mouth.

“Well, is it good?” Dolce responded with a silent nod, still feeling a bit embarrassed, “I just want to lure you into saying what’s on your mind. But if you don’t want to say it now, I don’t mind waiting.”

“Lest…” Dolce gave him a smile, but it soon turned into a frown, “I’m just… still thinking about Ventuswill… and how to bring her back…”

“So am I,” Lest responded with a smile, “But I don’t think I’ll get anywhere if I let that thought affect my daily life.”

“That’s true,” Dolce nodded in agreement, “The other Guardians are looking into this as well.”

“Yeah, so let’s just take it easy and we’ll find our way to save her,” Lest replied with a smile.

“Thanks…” Dolce took a spoonful of her food, “Here, say ahhh…”

“Ahhh…” Lest leaned forward as Dolce put the spoonful of food into his mouth, “It’s delicious!”

“Isn’t it?” Dolce smiled before getting a spoonful for herself, “Let’s start eating before the food gets cold.”

“Yeah,” Lest nodded before he continued eating as well.

Once they had finished their lunch and paid for the food, the couple walked back towards the clinic with their hands locked. After they had reached the clinic’s door, the female Guardian turned to Lest with a smile, “Thanks for walking me home.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be going now then,” Lest was about to let go of Dolce’s hand, but she was still holding his, “Huh?”

Dolce turned away for a bit in embarrassment before walking closer to him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “Thanks for today.”

Lest, with a blush on his face, was still frozen in his place as he watched Dolce going into the building. Once he had snapped himself out, he let out a smile, ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

[darkgreiga]

Wishes, Dreams, and Memories Chapter 32

Fandom: Rune Factory 4 Rating: T (to be safe) Genre(s): Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lest, Dolce, Pico, Amber, Dylas, Leon, Frey, Arthur, Margaret, Forte Summary:  She had a wish to see him again. He had a dream of her last moments. They had their memories of having only each other. The amnesiac Earthmate never knew that by bringing his best friend back wouldn’t make his daily life go back to normal. Nor did he know she was the key to his and his ancestors’ past. Chapters: list Navigation: <<prev   |   next>> Author’s notes: Sorry for the extra delay, though this chapter could be up a few hours earlier if it wasn’t because of the lights out for the ISP in my area... Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 32 – Bad News, Good News

It was already late at night, but the actual prince of Selphia was still sitting on his desk, holding an unrolled scroll in his hands. The letter was short, but the content it held made the blond prince fix his glasses a few times to make sure that he was reading it correctly. A knock on the door prompted him to put the scroll down and turned his attention to the green-haired Earthmate coming into his office.

“Sorry for the intrusion, Lord… I mean, Arthur…” Frey gave him a slight bow as she walked towards Arthur’s desk, noticing the symbol of the Sechs on the scroll, “I see you’ve got the news already. This should save me some time to explain a few things.”

“I have the feeling you would say that,” Arthur rose from his seat, “You can take all the time you need to explain while we have some tea.”

“I can’t say everything just yet,” Frey added, “I need to confirm a few things and I believe Kiel might have looked up on it before. And I need to tell something to Lest too, because all of this has something to do with our family.”

“That’s quite unfortunate,” Arthur looked at Frey with a frown, “I might be able to call Lest here, but I doubt I can get Kiel at this hour. Forte has been keeping him from staying up too late after he almost collapsed trying to help us previously.”

“I… see…” Frey lowered her head in disappointment, “But… I think I’ll let you know a little about my assumptions. I think it’s the only thing I can do for now.”

“Very well,” Arthur nodded as he and Frey approached the chairs, “Please have a seat.”

It was early in the morning and Lest got his wake up call from the slight shaking on his bed. There was an empty spot beside him where his wife had slept and a barely-awake Pico at the other side of the bed. Judging from how the spot beside him was still warm and the fact that the bedroom door was slightly open, he could tell that Dolce was still nearby and had to go somewhere in a hurry.

“Hey, Pico?” a big yawn was the only answer he got, “Uh… are you okay?”

“I was woken up a few hours ago…” Pico replied with another tired yawn, “Milady had been going in and out of the bathroom for a while… More often than yesterday morning, I think…”

The door creaked open to reveal the woman in question still in her night gown with a pale face, “Dolly, are you doing okay? You don’t look so good…”

“Sweetie, I’m…” Dolce quickly covered her mouth as the nausea came back and quickly ran out the door once more.

Pico let out a sigh, “I don’t think milady is fine with her going back and forth to and out of the bathroom, but I can’t persuade her to see Jones…”

“Don’t worry, I’ll try and talk to her,” Lest turned to Pico, “It was weird enough that yesterday she wanted to eat all kinds of vegetable dishes… salads included…”

The young couple was watching the two medics in the clinic as they did their thing once they had examined Dolce. The female Guardian was looking a bit better after Jones had given her some liquid medicine to drink and was sitting on the examination bed while holding Lest’s hand. The time Jones and Nancy took to discuss the result was long enough for Lest to start worrying over his wife’s condition, which got worse once he saw the seriousness on Jones’ face.

“Listen carefully, you two,” Jones spoke up in a serious tone. Lest and Dolce looked at the doctor nervously until a smile formed on his lips, “Congratulations, parents-to-be!”

“Congratulations, Dolly!” it was Nancy’s turn to smile as she ran over to Dolce, giving her a hug.

“S-So you’re saying…” Lest slowly caught on.

“I… We… are going to have a child…?” Dolce finished Lest’s sentence as Nancy nodded.

“While I’m certain that the two of you are happy with an additional member to your family, I think Nancy is the most excited when we found out after the examination,” Jones added with a smile.

“Of course I am!” Nancy replied excitedly, “Dolly is about to become a mother!” the smile on Nancy’s face turned into a stern look as she looked at Lest, “Being a mother is going to be tough, so I expect you to take a better care of her, okay?”

Lest nodded confidently, “You can count on me!”

“While it might be best for you to take it easy before the baby is born, do you still want to help out here?” Jones asked as Lest helped Dolce off the examination bed.

“Don’t worry, I can still handle it,” Dolce replied with a smile as she put a hand on her stomach, “I can take my day off whenever they needed me to rest.”

“Just let me know if you need to learn anything about being a mother, okay?” Nancy said with a smile, getting a nod from Dolce.

The older couple watched as Lest and Dolce left the clinic before Nancy turned to Jones, “Shouldn’t we tell them about that possibility too?”

“Oh, you mean about the child possibly being twins?” Jones turned his gaze away from Nancy and towards the door, “I would, but I don’t want to give them false hope. Even if Lest and Frey are twins, that isn’t a factor to increase the chance for them to have twins.”

“Oh well, but don’t you think it’s nice to have a mini Dolly and a mini Lest running around in Selphia?” Nancy asked with a smile.

“Er… maybe yes…”

“So our child will have a ghost for an aunt…” Dolce commented as she stared at Pico on the bed after sharing the news with her, “I guess that should be fine…”

“Don’t worry about it, Dolly! I’ll be a great aunt and take good care of them,” Pico responded with a smile, prompting Dolce to do so, though for a different reason.

“Maybe we should keep them away from you until they’re used to your presence. Isn’t that right, Sweetie?” Dolce turned to where she thought Lest was, only to see that he wasn’t there, “Sweetie… Oh!” A pair of arms was wrapped around her waist, catching her off guard, “W-What are you doing?”

“I’m saying my thanks,” Lest replied softly, “Is this okay with you?”

“W-Well…” a slight blush appeared on her face, “Just… don’t leave me alone, okay? I want to raise our child together with you…”

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave you,” Lest slightly tightened his embrace while putting his hand over Dolce’s, which was on her stomach, “This child will grow up with both of their parents right on their side. I promise you, Dolly.”

“Um…” a voice coming from the other side of the door was heard, “Are you still there, Lest?”

“Is… is that you, Frey?” Lest released Dolce from his arms before he went to open the door, “Didn’t you say that you were going back last night?”

“I was going to, but something came up,” Frey looked at her twin with a serious look, “I need to talk to you, but…” Frey looked over his shoulder and at Dolce in worry, “I think it’s best that she doesn’t know about this for now.”

“O-Okay. Let’s head down and talk there instead,” Frey nodded at Lest’s suggestion.

“I’ll go and get Arthur and Kiel too. They had figured something out for us,” Frey left ahead as Lest excused himself out of the room.

“So… what is this all about?” Lest looked around at Frey, Kiel, and Arthur, who looked anxiously at him while sitting around the dining table.

“This letter,” Arthur unrolled a scroll in front of Lest, “was delivered to me last night. For some reason, Emperor Halwell went missing shortly after Kane went back to the empire.”

“W-Wait…” Lest read the letter in disbelief, “I thought that he was still unconscious!”

“He was,” Frey replied shortly, getting Lest’s attention, “He had never actually been conscious for a while, to be exact. Well, for almost a year I think.”

“A year…?” Lest leaned back on his seat, “A year ago… that’s… that’s around the time I fought Ethelberd!”

“Sadly, that’s not the end of it,” Kiel added as he opened a book he had, “I found something disturbing in this book… and what happened that time might be exactly what’s written in this book.”

Lest took the book as Kiel gave him, looking at the opened pages, “Living runes… A soul from the Forest of Beginnings which had fused with the runes…”

“A corrupt soul actually, if it’s actually Ethelberd,” Frey added before she flipped a few pages ahead and pointed a passage on one of the pages, “Here, it says that living runes can only occur because of a few factors and can take over a weak-willed person’s consciousness.”

“I… I thought he was already gone back then but…” Lest was speechless with all the facts given to him, “But what about the factors? Is there a clue somewhere in the book about what might cause Ethelberd’s soul to fuse with the runes?”

“I’ve tried reading it through to the end, but there’s no mention about the factors there,” Kiel replied with a frown, “The book only tells us about what happened with the souls and the runes, but not the reasons for the living runes’ occurrence…”

“I can assume it’s most likely to be greed for power or the fact that he had used the rune spheres himself,” Frey added, “They’re the most possible reasons and I think I might be able to give a solution for this,” Frey pointed at Lest, “You, Lest, and your charm…”

“My… charm…?” Lest looked at Frey in surprise until he remembered that Frey had given him a charm when they first met, “Is it that charm that you gave me before?”

“That was just a replica… and that was actually mine,” Frey pulled the charm she was wearing around her neck, “This one is the real one, which holds the key to solving this once and for all.”

“Frey, are you sure about this?” Arthur asked Frey with a stern look, “If it is as you told me last night, then…”

Frey paused for a moment as her face softened, “To be honest, I don’t know…” Frey looked at Lest once more, “This charm responds to me, but it will respond better to you. It’s the very reason why you’re the one who have to do it, despite how risky it is.”

“You… never told me there was more about those charms…” Lest slowly spoke up as he took the original charm from Frey, “You hardly say anything about our family is supposed to do now, even after Venti is saved.”

“I… I’m sorry,” Frey lowered her head in guilt as her reply came with shaky voice, “We’re twins, yet we’re born with great difference in strength and abilities… We had different roles in our family and I… I don’t want to lose another family…”

“I… I still don’t get it…” Lest turned to Arthur, pleading for more answers.

“I may have heard about your family a long time ago,” Arthur responded, “There was a special family of Earthmates with the power to purify evil. Unfortunately, only a select few could actually purify an evil soul with a big cost.”

“Yes…” Frey added in a whisper, “One can purify a soul, at the cost of that person’s life…”

“H-Huh? Does that mean…?” Kiel came to realization.

“You need me to purify Ethelberd’s soul, at the cost of mine. Is that what you’re saying?” Lest looked at Frey in a serious look, getting a nod from Frey.

“That’s why… I don’t know what to do anymore…” Frey added with a frown, “Especially after what I heard from Nancy a while ago…”

“Is this the only way to save Halwell?” Lest turned to Kiel and Arthur.

“Unfortunately, this is the only solution we found,” Arthur replied sadly, “I shall offer you my deepest apology.”

“Any other books and ancient scrolls I read led me to this point too,” Kiel replied with a frown, “Sorry I can’t be much of help…”

“Lest,” Frey spoke calmly, “I can try and do what I can to help you purify him, but I’m not sure how much I can take your burden for the purification.”

Lest looked around at the people on the table once more before taking a deep breath, “I want to help, to be honest. I don’t know much about the new emperor and I don’t even remember my family’s mission. But I fought Ethelberd once before, so I think I should go and finish the job. It’s… my responsibility.”

“What about Dolce?” Arthur asked, “I hardly know about marriage, but I am quite aware that the wound from a broken bond cannot heal easily.”

“Don’t tell her,” Lest shortly replied, “There should still be a chance of survival, as small as it is, so I don’t want her to worry about the future which might not even come true.”

Arthur paused for a moment before nodding, “Very well, if that is your wish.”

“I won’t tell either,” Kiel added, “I’ll do my best to keep a secret.”

“Thanks you two,” Lest gave them a small smile, knowing that his secret would probably be safe.

Little did he know that there weren’t just four people present in the main room as two other figures had listened in to their whole conversation. Dolce and Pico had been standing around the stairs near the main room, but the distance was close enough for them to hear everything. The female Guardian froze in her place, with her ghost friend worrying over the shock from the sudden news.

“Dolly…? Are you… going to be fine…?”