Sovereign Folly: Part 6
“Mom, I...no, that wasn’t even him! Look I’m sorry for not calling and...and you’re yelling...sigh, look, I can’t talk about it right now...no, I’m not hiding anything!”
“Cassandra!” cried Gilford. “What did I tell you about calling your mom!?”
“...I’ll explain later, gotta go.” she said, hanging up her communicator. “Alright, what is it now, oh great prince? Or is it husband now?”
“Now isn’t the time to tease, babe, we have to get out of here and fix the town. I got a plan but first-”
“Ooooh! Our first fight!” Cassandra teased. “I’m sure this’ll make us stronger, darling~!”
“I get it!” Gilford snapped. “Just...ugh, look, do you have anyone that you can call that can fix this whole situation within, say, two weeks at least?”
“Oh sure I do.”
“No time for sarcasm, Cass, I need to-” he paused. “...Wait, you do?”
“Yes. In fact, they’re right outside the kingdom walls not too far from here. I don’t even have to speed dial ‘em.”
“What the hell, that’s brilliant! Kaiyo!” called Gilford. “Get the lovebirds in here! We leave now!”
The guild quickly reunited with each other amidst the flames and riots before making a mad dash for the front gate. They didn’t even say goodbye to the king, for trying to could jeopardize the entire plan.
“Brave citizens of Carus!” yelled Gilford through a large magitech megaphone. “Your beloved prince has an important announcement!”
The citizens suddenly stopped fighting to hear him out. At least three of them had a slingshot pointed at him while two had guns with their sights aimed at Gilford’s head.
“I, Prince Desmond, have received word that four great citizens have been trapped amidst the outer gates, fighting a ferocious beast! They do not have much time left, but my friends and I will personally mount a rescue mission! Mark my words! We shall return with their lives saved, and celebrate our return with a grand feast!”
Gilford’s speech proved rather divisive, given that the prince’s reputation has now been tarnished. About half of the onlooking crowd cheered, the other half remained silent. At least one person has shouted “Just leave already!” in the moments of silence that ensued after the half-hearted applause ceased.
“...Right, off we go!”
The guild quickly marched into a tall field of grass two miles away from the kingdom walls. The area was isolated, save for the guild members and a single traveling Dark Elf merchant trying to set up a tent for a shop.
Kaiyo began to look around for anyone that seemed important. “Cass, you said a liaison would be here to help them out. Where are they?”
“Shh!” Cassandra whispered. “Just stay with me. I gotta buy something really quick while we’re here.” She calmly walked up to the tent being set up by the merchant, which was completely open for business by the time she arrived at the “counter”.
“I’m a little surprised, though.” said Natalie. “How did this man manage to get this far without a scratch? There was a massive fight not too far from here about thirty minutes ago. And just look at what he’s wearing, guys. Is that sapphire jewelry? You’d think that necklace or that ring of his would be stolen in the chaos by now.”
The merchant’s face began to glow with excitement as potential customers walked up to them. “Ah, customers right when I set up shop! What a lucky opportunity! Especially considering what’s been going on over there, hahaha!” The merchant turned around to reach for another box. “My name is Alexander Drakori! Which of my wares would you like to-”
“Hello, Morgan."
Cassandra’s words stopped the Dark Elf dead in his tracks. After being frozen for a solid five seconds, he slowly turned around to look at the party. “Cass, you never cease to amaze me. What is it this time?”
With the sudden change in attitude, everyone but Cassandra herself began to drop their jaws. “Huh!? You two know each other!?” they screamed collectively.
“Yes, he’s been an associate of mine for important matters for quite some time now. In fact, we buy things from them much more often than you would know.” said Cassandra calmly.
“Well look what we have here, princess.” said the merchant, apparently named Morgan. “You and your friends seem to have gotten yourselves into a real mess here. Ruining an entire independent kingdom, huh? I wonder what all of Sagrea would think if they heard the princess of Lunaria, paragon of her people, was associated with a group of anarchists?”
“Hmm, yes, I wonder.” she said, completely unfazed. “And I wonder what every nation in Sagrea that you’ve scammed would do if they found out all the identities you’ve used to con them?”
Morgan said nothing for one moment, but then gave a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I wonder. So what do you want me to do?”
It was in this moment that the rest of the Windwell guild began to repaint their internal image of Cassandra and royalty in general, knowing that even she has someone she’s willing to blackmail.
“I need you to disguise yourself as the prince of that kingdom and do whatever it takes to clear his name and restore a proper sense of order to its society.”
“...That’s it? Huh. You usually ask much more of me.”
“Hang on,” Natalie interrupted. “This is considered an easy job?”
“Well, Cass, before I go, you could at least buy something.” Morgan said, ignoring Natalie’s inquiry. “I did set up the tent and all.”
Suddenly, Gilford stepped in and tossed a bag of coins at Morgan. “I’m the one who caused all this, let me give you this. Will that suffice as proper payment?”
Morgan peered into the bag. It was the very same sack of coins given by the king! “Woah-ho-ho! This can have me eating well for the next few weeks. Looks like someone’s trying to grow as a person.”
“Well,” said Gilford. “Giving someone a sack of money to fix my own mistakes doesn’t exactly make me any better than before. But hey, it’s a start…?”
“Your words, not mine, kid.”
“Kid? I’m twenty!”
“Yeah, well I’m...uh, actually, I kinda forgot at this point. Thanks for the gift, I’ll have this done before you know it.
Later, Cass. And good luck with your allies back there.”
With those parting words, Morgan suddenly vanished and went on his way to Carus.
“...Better man, huh, dickweed?” said Leon with a begrudging stare.
“Baby steps, baby steps.”
With the long day behind them, the party set up camp a little further from the city, not too far from the wrecked carriage that they found days ago. As soon as everyone sat down by the campfire, they all began to stare daggers into Gilford’s soul.
“...I take it I’m gonna be grounded from adventuring in the fun stuff for a while, aren’t I?”
“Oh big time.” everyone said in unison.
“I’m still keeping the royal clothes and armor, though. They fit me pretty well.”
The sound of a piano suddenly broke the chirping of the crickets around them. It was Cassandra’s phone, which she picked up immediately.
“Hey there mom. Yeah, I can talk now...no, I’m not getting married, again, that wasn’t even the real prince!”
Silence didn’t even have time to fill the air once more, as the queen’s yelling from Cassandra’s communicator could be heard clearly even on the lowest volume setting.
“You want me to explain what happened? Ohoho, strap yourself in, mom, we’re gonna be here all night.”
The fields of grass whistle with the evening winds, the crickets are wide awake from their daytime slumber, and a group of adventurers relentlessly chastise their regally dressed teammate for almost destroying an entire kingdom.
Just another day for the Windwell guild.
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Author's Notes
A story based on my Etrian Odyssey party that I wrote to vent out steam. Not much framework was used here, I just decided to flow with whatever I thought of first. I hope you enjoy the stupidity as much as I had fun writing it!