Chapter 3: Can I really do this?
"I'm expensing this" Cid said, holding his hand out
"What do you mean?" Cid had some strange ideas about what he should be paid for. Some prankster seemed to have convinced him when commoners had to buy things for their job or for their boss they would be compensated. Even as a princess she wasn't so detached from reality.
"I mean you're the one who wanted to get ice cream, I shouldn't have to pay for it".
"Cid you ate one of them. Why would I pay you for that?".
"Okay, I'll just take the money for your's then" his hand moved slightly closer.
Tired of this, she pushed the dregs of her ice cream towards his face. She missed his mouth only because he tried to dodge so the cone was ended up lodged onto his nose. The contrast between his deadpan annoyance and how his nose appeared to have tripled in length made her giggle.
When her laughter died down she was finally able to say "Sorry puppy, but since you've had them both now I don't think I owe you anything". Cid wisely chose to keep silent.
Cid tossed what was left of the ice cream into the trash, cleaned his face with his jacket sleeve and stood over her "Think it's time to get back. Gates'll shut in an hour".
A part of her wanted to argue since she rarely went to the lower city and rather liked this spot. Sitting on a bench in the shaded market square, close enough to the fountain that she could make out the small copper coins at the bottom, it was refreshingly cool. She still wasn't sure if Cid would suddenly spot the coins and dive in after them as if they were drowning.
But he had a point, depending on the tram schedules they could be late if they waited any longer. Not wanting to entirely give in, she held her arm out and waited for Cid to take her hand and pull her up from the bench.
He didn't hesitate at all, and pulled her up with slightly more force than was strictly necessary. The first time he'd blushed and been as gentle as if he was handling a baby, but now after they had been together for a month you would have thought that was all an act.
Has it really been that long already.
Before starting school her mother had advised her to be unambiguous and decisive when dealing with boys, whether or not she was interested. The advice had been worthwhile as it had helped her work through her unreasonably long list of rejections, and had also proven useful with Cid. At the very least he'd stopped throwing swords at her once all the cards were on the table.
After their first disastrous day as a couple they had managed to settle into a routine. They'd share at least one meal each day, their Royal Bushin class and a couple of others (she hadn't noticed they shared a third of their classes until he asked her out), as well as a couple of more specific "dates" each week.
After all this time she had realized why he'd been so difficult to work out, he was simultaneously a genius and an idiot.
During their first week together they'd gone to a local museum as part of their history class and their guide had been showing them a portrait of king Ausaur, who had been the king of Midgar 560 years ago. The guide had just been highlighting his connection to her, and she'd been basking in well-deserved attention when he'd loudly asked if Ausaur was the one who kept a servant specifically to wipe the drool off his chin. The guide had sheepishly answered yes while she had to quickly explain to the class how his line ended with his children and one of his cousins, Alexia's direct ancestor, had taken the throne while ensuring she stepped on Cid's foot as many times as possible as she paced giving her speech to the class.
He genuinely didn't seem to understand what he'd done wrong until she explained it in detail. His grades literally couldn't be any more average if he was trying so it was strange he'd even known this in the first place, but he was apparently interested in "background lowre". She had refused to humiliate herself asking him what that was and she hadn't been able to find out the meaning herself.
On the other hand, sometimes he'd actually do something so genuinely impressive that left Alexia struggling to not compliment him. A restaurant they had gone to had an artefact marked in ancient runes that covered the room in slowly shifting multicoloured light. She had always wanted to learn, but all of her other courses had left her lacking time for the years of study it would take. Cid had not only been able to read the damn thing perfectly, but said (and she would swear he wasn't lying) he'd picked it up in six weeks.
His swordsmanship was also another area he excelled in. In terms of pure sword technique he was probably the best in the class excluding Zenon, and that was only because the old creep had almost a decade on the rest of the class. She'd learned a lot practising with him, from stretching and preparation to moves and strategy. All that changed when magic came into play though. If there was a size between miniscule and non-existent then that's what best described his mana reserve, which explained his position in rank seven.
She was still puzzling out how exactly he'd turned out this way by the time they took their seats on the tram when she remembered she something she had to tell him.
"Iris got back from Velgaltan border yesterday. I know she doesn't officially arrive until tomorrow but she wanted some time alone with the family in private. There's going to be a welcoming party next week and I expect you to stay available."
Cid considered this for a moment "If she's just back, why are you out here with me?".
"It's… complicated. You probably get at least some of it, I mean you've got the exact same problem with Claire".
Cid just looked confused, so she elaborated "Everyone compares me to Iris. I can't even blame them, it's a natural thing to do but I always end up on the lacking side. It's the same sort of thing you have with Claire, she's in the lead for the academy's Bushin festival representative and you're in rank seven" Even if I do think their underrating you a little.
"No that's not my problem with Claire. She just constantly tries to push me into doing things together and training when I just want to have fun with other stuff".
"But your sword style" she said, frustration growing from… somewhere "You came up with it because you couldn't compete with her, because by minimising waste you could use the most of your limited strength and at least try to fight with someone more talented than you, even if you'd never win".
"No, I just liked it because I thought it was the best style in general. I like yours because it's pretty similar actually".
"Don't lie" she spat at him. People had been complimenting her swordsmanship for years, but it wasn't until Iris told her that after her defeat that she realized what should have been obvious the whole time. She was mediocre and everyone was patronizing her because of her position. She'd had to just smile and wave away the false praise for almost a year now anytime someone trotted it out.
"Do you really think I care enough to lie?". This was a decent answer. Even with her friends there was always a certain degree of 'preferential treatment', an unspoken, unchallenged dominance of the group. Not with Cid though. He played a good part in public but when they were alone he just spouted whatever crap came into his mind.
"Why then?" she asked, actually drawing her sword and levelling in at him in fury.
"Because you obviously put a lot of work into it, because you liked doing it".
She had no idea how to respond to that and was saved having to answer that question by an attendant opening the door. Feeling the need to get away from him she sheathed her sword, pushed past the open-mouthed attendant and ran.
She barely heard Cid shouting that this wasn't their stop as the tram began to move again, only sparing a quick glance back to make sure he hadn't gotten off after her. The tram seemed blurry as it moved away.
I'm crying. That idiot actually made me cry without even trying.
She moved towards the academy, trying to keep to the side streets to avoid being seen while she gathered her thoughts. An old, almost forgotten memory flashed through her mind of her an Iris out in the palace gardens working with blunted blades. She already knew her anger wasn't about Iris and the growing distance between them, or about everyone else thinking she was mediocre. She'd already thought all that through months ago.
It's about me. I never realized how much I used to love practicing compared to how much I hate it now, how much I wish I could just stop wasting my time and do anything else.
She felt vaguely horrified at the realization of how much she'd changed without noticing, as if someone had stolen that pure joy she'd felt in the past and she was just now noticing the gaping wound ripping it out it had left behind.
She couldn't figure out where the problem even started. There was Cid, Iris, the rest of the world or even the goddess Beatrix for not giving her the talent to follow through with her dream.
She was so caught up going over and over it she didn't even notice the three masked men blocking the exit of the alley, until she tried to turn back and found three more waiting behind. There wasn't even time to draw her sword before everything faded to black.
Shit.
---
"Finally" Cid muttered watching the scene from the rooftop.
It had been getting close to the point he was considering kidnapping her himself to bait out the cult or shadow garden or whoever was going to kidnap her, and if no one came he would just hold a fundraising ransom.
He had successfully established himself as a character over the last month, now he had to move into the background again. The difference between a side character and a main character was that main characters were always in the spotlight, while side characters came and went like the tide.
Meeting the royal family in this situation would also be a major headache he'd like to avoid. He had just jumped off the tram and set off after her still trying to decide if he should go for it now when the trap had sprung.
The men hadn't identified themselves, but based on shadow garden's reports it was a majority female organization. He wasn't actually sure he'd seen a single man's name in the reports yet, but he couldn't be the only one, right?
He decided to follow as the ambushers packed Alexia into a plain brown sack, brought a carriage near the alley's exit and loaded her up. What happened next was torturous to watch.
It was like those levels in stealth games where you have to follow a slow moving target while absolutely nothing interesting or challenging occurred. It was actually worse since they were constantly circling around themselves and checking for tails.
More than an hour later after the sun had set and the city was truly dark they arrived back at their base and it couldn't have been ten minutes from where they started.
GPS trackers, Eta will be able to do it. Just hang in there. You'll never have to do this again.
Cid stopped repeating this mantra as Alexia was loaded out of the carriage, bound in magic-suppressing restraints and taken inside the building, which appeared to be a long-deserted warehouse from the outside.
Theoretically he could go in right now and save Alexia, but this presented three problems. Firstly he would gain more intel if he rescued her after she had been a prisoner there for a day or two. Secondly if there was going to be a ransom he needed to give it time for the money to come through. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly it wouldn't solve her problem and she would insist on dragging him around in their charade for the rest of the year.
He was proud of the solution he'd come up with for this. It was so simple, yet so creative he was certain no-one would see through his Machiavellian scheme.
He would frame instructor Zenon as one of the kidnappers.
It was perfect. All he'd have to do is go to Zenon's house, plant a few items, forge a couple of documents and he'd be out of the running. He probably wouldn't be convicted on this evidence but Alexia would have an acceptable reason to dismiss him and Cid could exit this stage.
Alexia had shown him Zenon's house on the way to one of their dates, pointing out how extravagant the mansion was while he acted all modest at school. She'd given him a hard kick to the shin when he pointed out she would say he didn't have a home fit for a princess if he had a cheap house, but Alexia just hated him on principle. Her main theory was that having no flaws was a massive flaw.
Insane. Totally insane. It's the same thing with our swordsmanship. She says she hates mine and I just have to take it, but I say I like hers and she goes nuts.
Cid leapt the fence of the mansion and moved swiftly and silently up, scaled up to a second story window, forced it open and crept in. He ended up in a connecting hallway and moved casually through the halls knowing Zenon only stayed here during the weekends or holidays and whatever staff maintained the place would be long gone. He looking through two bedrooms, a bathroom and a supply cupboard until he finally found his study.
As he looked through a few of Zenon's letter's he had to privately admit Alexia may have had a point about him. He had several pictures of her in his drawer, and some of his letters seemed to be from his family trying to push him forward into a royal marriage, talking about how impeccable her bloodline was and that they expected he would be able to easily take her in hand.
Their grammar sucks. That should be take her hand in marriage
Nevertheless it made his job easier. All he had to do was forge another letter saying that they were disappointed in his lack of progress and heard she was interested in another man. Then add a veiled threat about having to take more drastic action and seize the princess themselves soon.
Finally it was time for the crowning jewel, a map of the city with the market he and Alexia visited, the point she was seized, the building she was being held in circled. He circled two other random points just because and folded it up in back cover of Zenon's copy of The lives of five kings, from Alexander II to Artos I left lying on his desk.
With the set perfectly constructed for the detective character to find the evidence, Cid backtracked and headed out of the house. When he cleared the wall and started casually walking back to the academy a thought occurred.
Alexia would be waking up soon. While she wouldn't be seriously hurt she would at least be scared and at worst be experimented on by a demon cult. He could go right now and save her.
Thinking back on all their time together, he wondered if he could really just leave her there and go on ahead with this plan.
Of course I can. The weirder thing is that I even thought of this in the first place.
She'd be fine and he was even graciously solving her problems for her without taking any credit.
Cid walked back to the dormitory and slept like a baby that night, thinking about his generosity.
This is our protagonist.
---
"Cid Kagenou. Princess Alexia has gone missing and we believe you were the last person to see her. We'll need you to come with us and answer some questions". The knight declared.
Something occurred to Cid at that moment, like a minor flaw in a buildings design that brought the whole thing crashing down.
Thinking about the task of kidnapping Alexia from anyone else's perspective, the easiest person to frame would be her new politically irrelevant boyfriend.
Shit.