Chapter Text
It was early summer. The sun blazed mercilessly, but a gentle May breeze pleasantly cooled the skin of two students standing on the roof of the Academy. An attractive girl with bronze curls, and an ordinary boy with hair as black as pitch.
"Officially, this case has been closed — but we still have far too many unresolved questions. So for us, this is only the beginning," said the girl.
Cid looked at her and thought that somewhere, dramatic music must be playing right now. Right, this is that scene. After the villain is defeated, the protagonists stand against the backdrop of a sunset — or noon, whatever, same difference — and share a meaningful silence. Just like those old cop movies where they turn in their badges but keep delivering justice anyway. How absurd.
"All in good time…" he replied, keeping his voice as colorless as possible — just as befitting a background character who shouldn't even have a name on screen.
"But you can relax — all charges against you have been dropped. You got dragged into all of this because of me."
"Don't worry about it," Cid muttered. Yeah, dragged is one word for it. The military police interrogated me for five days. Actually, it was excellent practice for leveling up a mob's endurance and acting skills, so I'm almost grateful — but telling her that is obviously out of the question.
A fresh gust of wind lifted her skirt, baring her snow-white legs. She really ought to wear longer skirts. She's a princess, after all.
"It's hot as a sauna up here. Maybe we should go inside?" Cid suggested, feeling sweat trickling down his back. Seriously, when does this dialogue end? I've been melting in the sun for five minutes while she was building up her dramatic pause.
The midday sun beat down relentlessly, and even the breeze had stopped helping. And as if to spite him, there wasn't a single patch of shade on the roof — only their two shadows stretched across the asphalt like giants melted by the heat. Come on, wrap it up already! Mobs can't sustain pauses this long — they pass out from heatstroke!
"Wait. There's something I wanted to tell you."
"Right here?" Cid sighed. Here we go. Now comes the long monologue about friendship, self-discovery, and all the other nonsense straight out of a YA novel. Fine, I'm standing, I'm listening.
"Yes, right here," she said, squinting against the blinding sun and tilting her face toward the blue sky. "First of all, I want to thank you. Do you remember telling me that you liked my swordsmanship? I… I know I'm a little late with the gratitude, but those words really meant a great deal to me."
"Sure, no problem." Glad I could contribute to your character development arc, or whatever it is you're going through. It might come in handy. I should note it in the file: 'Complimented by the princess — plus one to social standing.' Though for a mob, that's more of a minus…
"I've finally accepted myself. Just don't go thinking that's your doing."
"Hm. That last part could have stayed unsaid."
"It's the truth."
They met each other's gaze. A moment of awkward silence.
Cid was the first to look away. God, this pause has lasted an eternity. Why do protagonists always stare at each other like they're deciding the fate of the universe instead of just talking?
"Still, I'm glad you've learned to love your swordsmanship."
"Yes, me too," she smiled.
"And what's the second thing?" Cid was on the verge of simply turning around and leaving. I hope the second item doesn't take another half hour.
"Until now, the two of us were pretending to be a couple — but Instructor Zenon died that night."
"So I'm finally free?" Cid barely suppressed a joyful smile. Yes! Freedom! Goodbye, status of 'the princess's boyfriend' (her lapdog)! Hello, the quiet life of a mob who just wants to make it to retirement without drawing attention!
"Um… I wanted to suggest…"
She went quiet. Oh no. No-no-no. This looks like 'let's turn our fake relationship into a real one.' This is the worst possible plot twist! Are you kidding me?!
"If you don't mind… maybe… we could keep pretending to be a couple."
Cid's eye twitched.
"Sure, over my dead body!" he blurted out, making no attempt to hide his feelings. Being a mob means staying out of love lines with the main characters — not diving headfirst into them!
In response, the girl drew her sword in one fluid motion.
Classic. A firm rejection always leads to a fight. How predictable.
And a little later that night, students discovered a large pool of blood on the Academy rooftop.
But no matter how thoroughly they searched, not a single body was found anywhere nearby. Cid, who by that point was already far away, reflected that bloodstains on asphalt were, of course, a bad omen — but they'd make for a brilliant piece of school legend.
Cid was practically skipping toward the dormitory, barely holding back the urge to shout with joy. The students around him shot him odd looks, and he forced himself to walk normally — one couldn't break the role of a mob, after all — but inside, he was celebrating. He was free! Not only had he gotten rid of Alexia, but he'd left behind a wonderful legend for the school.
Grand plans for the future were already spinning in Cid's head. Now that the title of 'the princess's boyfriend' (her dog) had been lifted, he could focus on the real business of the Eminence in Shadow. For instance… oh! He could stage his own death during some kind of terrorist attack on the school. Attackers burst into the classroom, and he goes — bam! — dies in front of everyone, just like the most ordinary bystander. Yes! Yes! Now that's a scene!
Or maybe he could wait for a vampire invasion? It would be incredible to stand on a rooftop under a blood moon and — pow! — wipe them out with a single strike, saying something like "madness has taken the streets." Even better! — he could travel to a neighboring country and secretly get tangled up in their dirty political games, toppling kings from the shadows. Maybe even become a mysterious mentor with a mysteriously painful past! Now that's cool!
The options were endless, each better than the last, and Cid was practically glowing with anticipation.
He reached the dormitory building, pushed open the heavy wooden door, and stepped into the cool lobby. Sweat was still dripping down his face from the run and the heat, but his mood was through the roof.
Behind the front desk, as always, sat the dorm manager — an elderly woman who knew every student and every one of their transgressions by heart. Spotting Cid, she looked up from her register and fixed him with a stern gaze over her glasses.
"Kagenou, finally. I was starting to think the guard had you marinating somewhere again," she sighed, tapping her finger on the desk.
"Good afternoon. No, I was just… taking a walk," Cid replied, instantly adopting his most harmless, slightly dim expression.
"Taking a walk, sure. Your sister's here — Claire. She's been waiting in your room for about two hours," the dorm manager waved toward the staircase. "Oh, and she asked me for your key. Said she'd wait inside. I gave it to her, so get going — don't keep the girl waiting. She looked rather irritated."
Cid froze, and every last drop of his joy evaporated in an instant.
Claire? In my room? Two hours? Something inside him went cold. Oh no. This is a very bad sign. When Claire shows up unannounced and sits in my room, nothing good ever follows. Usually it means I'm about to get hit, yelled at, or forced to train until I black out.
"Got it, thank you," Cid managed to squeeze out, feeling his perfect evening plans — cheap tea and rest — slowly crumble to dust.
He trudged toward the staircase, no longer skipping but dragging his feet with every step. The light, breezy summer-comedy atmosphere was rapidly shifting into horror, with his own older sister as the main monster.
Cid climbed the dormitory's wooden staircase, and each step groaned ominously beneath him. Time stretched unbearably slow.
So it begins. Pure horror film, Cid thought, moving mechanically. Usually in scenes like this, the protagonist just walks straight toward his doom while ominous music builds in the background. Why am I going in there? Right — because if I run, Claire will find me and make it so much worse.
He reached his door on the third floor. Not a sound from inside. Cid swallowed, carefully reached out, and grabbed the round door handle. Pressed. The door gave with a soft click.
He eased it open just enough to slip through, braced at any moment to dodge a flying chair or pillow.
In the room, by the window with her back to him, stood Claire. Cid froze in the doorway, holding his breath, already steeling himself to hear about what an embarrassment and disgrace to the family he was.
"Claire, I—" he began, trying to switch on his usual bumbling-idiot mode and scramble for an excuse.
He never got to finish. Claire spun around sharply, crossed the room in two strides, and crashed into him, wrapping her arms around him in a fierce embrace.
Cid was stunned. His cheek pressed into her shoulder, and his arms hung helplessly in the air. This was completely off-script. Where are the smacks? Where are the chokehold moves?
"Cid!" Claire said, voice muffled, pressing her nose into the top of his head. She was squeezing him so hard his ribs creaked. "God, Cid…"
"Claire, what are you doing — you're going to strangle me," he wheezed, completely lost. Hold on. What genre shift is this? Did we just jump straight from horror into a heartwarming family reunion drama?
Claire finally pulled back a little, but kept her hands on his shoulders, looking him over from head to toe. Her eyes were slightly red.
"The Knight Orden took you. Five days, Cid! They held you in a cell and interrogated you for five days because of that… that princess!" Her voice trembled — completely unlike her — though by the end, her familiar sharp edge crept back in.
"Well… yeah, that happened," Cid scratched the back of his head. Actually, I spent most of it leveling up my mob acting skills and testing whether I could simulate cardiac arrest for a few minutes — but sure.
"I'm sorry," Claire sniffled and clenched her fists. "I couldn't do anything to help you. You must have been so frightened. Five days in the dark, under interrogation…"
Cid stood with a straight face while his sister continued her inspection, checking that his arms and legs were intact. Okay, her logic makes sense. In her eyes I'm a helpless little brother who got chewed up by a government machine. It's sweet that she cares, but this overprotectiveness is starting to feel suffocating.
"Come on, Claire, I'm fine, see?" Cid tried to smile to ease the tension. "I heal fast. The healers already patched everything up."
"Don't make excuses for them!" Claire shot him a sharp look, the familiar dangerous spark back in her eyes. "Those bastards will answer for laying a hand on my brother. But that's not why I'm here."
She stepped back, and her face went instantly serious. So serious that Cid felt a fresh chill run down his spine.
"I had this whole city in an uproar," Claire crossed her arms and frowned. "Do you know what I did? I barged straight into Princess Iris's office! Demanded they release you. And she starts feeding me lines about state secrets, ongoing investigations, and all that nonsense. As if my little brother could organize a kidnapping!"
Cid nodded silently. Unbelievable. Barging in on Iris? Claire is genuinely insane. Lucky the knights didn't tackle her right there. Though knowing Claire, she'd probably be the one doing the tackling.
"Well, the important thing is it all worked out," Cid replied vaguely, hoping the topic would end there. "Iris is probably just doing her job."
"I couldn't care less about her job," Claire waved it off and stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. "What I want to know is — what exactly is going on between you and this Alexia? Where did all these rumors about dates come from? Dad nearly lost his mind back home when he found out you were romancing the second princess. Start talking. How did you even meet her?"
"It was… by chance," Cid shrugged and looked away. Right, I'm really going to tell you how I lost a bet and went to confess just to get shot down in the most humiliating way possible. Mobs don't reveal their shameful secrets.
"By chance?" Claire clearly wasn't buying it. "Cid, stop dodging. Did she really ask you on a date? Did you kiss? What did you even talk about?"
"We just… walked around. Had some ice cream," Cid muttered, edging back toward his bed. "Nothing special. Normal conversation."
"Ice cream? With a princess?" Claire stamped her foot. "Cid! Stop playing dumb! You were almost killed because of her, I was going out of my mind, and you're sitting there talking about ice cream? Tell me properly! What's she even like? Does she treat you well?"
"She treats me fine," Cid climbed onto his bed, sat cross-legged, and stared at the ceiling, making it clear the conversation was making him uncomfortable. "She's normal. Come on, Claire, let's drop it. This is my personal life."
"What personal life?!" Claire finally snapped. She marched up to the bed, looming over him like a thundercloud, grabbed his face in both hands, and forced him to look directly at her. "You're not getting out of this! I'm your older sister, and I have every right to know what mess my little brother has gotten himself into! Are you two together or not? Answer me clearly!"
Cid realized that if he didn't tell the truth right now, Claire was going to start applying joint locks. There was no point hiding the end of their 'romance' anyway — by tomorrow the whole Academy would be buzzing about it.
"We're not together anymore!" Cid yelped, trying to pry his face out of her grip. "It's over! We broke up today!"
Claire froze. Her fingers loosened, and she stared at Cid with wide, shocked eyes.
"What?…" she repeated, blinking several times. "What do you mean — broke up?"
"Just like that — broke up. Right today, near the school," Cid finally freed his poor cheeks and rubbed them with his palms. Good thing magic means no bruises. Then again, the roughed-up-mob look has its own appeal — but I'd still rather keep the face. "She said it's better if we stay friends, or something along those lines. Anyway, it's over, topic closed."
Cid squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for a fresh wave of shouting. He expected anything: Claire screaming at him for throwing away a chance to marry into the royal family, or raging that the Kagenou name had been humiliated once again.
But the room fell silent.
Cid cautiously opened one eye. There was no anger on Claire's face. On the contrary, her lips were slowly spreading into a wide, satisfied smile. She let out a long, loud breath — as if someone had just lifted an enormous sack of rubble off her shoulders — and triumphantly pumped her fist in the air.
"No way?! Seriously?!" Claire almost jumped. "Oh my God, Cid, this is the best news I've had all week! I'm so happy!"
Cid blinked, staring at his sister. Uh… what? She's happy? This is the wrong trigger. In family drama canon, relatives are supposed to weep over a broken royal engagement — not throw a carnival.
"You're… happy?" Cid asked suspiciously, scooting toward his pillow just in case. "You were just telling me Dad was losing his mind over this."
"Dad's an old fool who doesn't understand anything!" Claire waved her hand and unceremoniously dropped onto the edge of his bed, all her recent thundercloud energy completely gone. "Cid, think about it — that whole relationship was sketchy from the start. The moment I heard about you two, I knew something was off. This Alexia… she was just playing with you!"
"Playing with me?" Cid performed an expression of extreme surprise, though inside he was dying of laughter. If only you knew how right you are, Claire.
"Obviously!" Claire nodded emphatically and began gesturing with both hands. "You're lazy by nature — always skipping training, barely scraping by in your studies, going through life like a half-asleep fly. But I know you have potential! You're my brother — you have Kagenou blood! If you stopped goofing off and actually applied yourself, you could go far. But this princess… she's blind! She's an arrogant, self-absorbed girl who can't see what you're actually worth."
Cid listened and barely suppressed a weary sigh. Oh God, Claire, please stop. What potential? Why are you looking for hidden meaning? I've spent years perfecting the image of a gray, useless nobody, and you think I'm just 'being lazy'? God forbid you ever find out the truth. You'd have me proving that potential at the royal examinations.
"No, she's actually fine…" Cid tried to interject, attempting to nudge the conversation back toward his 'mob' persona.
"Don't defend her!" Claire cut him off, poking him firmly in the shoulder. "She's not genuine. She was just bored and found herself a toy. And when her little 'games' nearly got you tortured in a dungeon, I bet she didn't lift a single finger! So good riddance. Your princess simply doesn't deserve someone like you. You deserve a normal, honest girl who'll value you — not use you for her royal schemes."
She straightened up with a proud look, clearly satisfied with her conclusions. Cid, meanwhile, was slowly sliding down the wall, feeling his brain begin to overheat. The situation had reached peak absurdity. Claire was genuinely convinced that Cid was an unrecognized genius who'd been heartlessly cast aside by a foolish princess.
"Anyway, it's all for the best," Claire concluded, standing up and giving her brother a conspiratorial look. "Now that this royal fool is out of your life, we can get to work on something actually important."
Cid tensed. The Eminence in Shadow's internal radar blared a warning. Hold on. What important things? Please, just say you're going back to your own dormitory.
"Since you're clearly incapable of finding yourself a proper, decent girl — one who'd make a fine daughter-in-law for the family — I'm taking matters into my own hands," Claire planted her hands on her hips with an air of authority. "As the future head and heir of the Kagenou line, it is my obligation to see to your future. We're launching a full-scale search."
At that, Cid actually sat up straight. His inner voice let out a howl of indignation. What daughter-in-law?! What search?! Claire, have you completely lost your mind?
"Claire, wait," Cid waved his hands, trying to sound as helpless and uncertain as possible. "What daughter-in-law? I'm only fifteen! Marriage at this age? Under Midgar's noble law I haven't even come of age yet."
"So what if you're fifteen?" Claire didn't even blink. "Time flies, Cid. If we don't start now, with your personality and your love of doing absolutely nothing, you'll be sitting alone until you're thirty. I need nephews, and the family needs heirs. Age is not an excuse."
"It's not even about age!" Cid hugged his knees to his chest and stared at her like she'd lost her mind. "Claire, look at me. I'm a low-ranking noble from the middle of nowhere. No money, no decent grades, no social standing in the capital. After this whole thing with Alexia, half the Academy is going to see me as either a failure or a walking magnet for disaster. Who in their right mind would want to marry me? Not a single respectable girl would give me a second glance!"
Cid mentally commended himself for this logical maneuver. Yes! The perfect mob defense! You can't argue with hard social facts. I have the status of a gray pebble on the side of the road — nobody's going to want that.
But Claire just gave a dismissive snort and smiled condescendingly, as if Cid had just said the single dumbest thing in the world.
"Cid, are you actually this dense, or are you just pretending?" She walked over to his desk and tapped her finger on the wooden surface. "You are my little brother. That alone is more than enough. Yes, you're nobody right now — but I'm on my way to becoming a famous knight, my reputation grows by the day. Things are going better and better for Mom and Dad, and we are rapidly getting rich. So don't worry. I'll take care of everything."
Cid felt his second eye begin to twitch.
"What do you mean — take care of everything?" he asked carefully.
"Exactly what I said." Claire narrowed her eyes slyly. "I've got plenty of friends at the Academy — girls from good families. Barons' daughters, even a couple of girls from count families I train with. I'll put together a list, speak to their parents, pitch you in the best possible light… I'll embellish a little, say you're just modest and mysterious. Set up a couple of blind dates for you this weekend. All you'll have to do is show up, sit quietly, and not say anything that'll ruin the first impression."
The world inside Cid's head shuddered, and his imaginary Eminence in Shadow's black cloak developed several visible cracks.
Blind dates?! From good families?! Oh God, this is a catastrophe. Cid barely held back a groan of despair. If Claire actually drags in some knight-obsessed girl, my life is finished. She'll be in my room constantly, checking up on me, monitoring my every move… What if she finds my gold stash? Or — God forbid — my slime costume?! I won't just lose my cover as the Eminence in Shadow — I won't be able to sneak out of the dormitory at night! My grand three-hundred-year plan will be buried under a mountain of domestic life!
"Claire, please don't," Cid tried to make the most pitiful face he could manage. "I really don't want this. Can we at least wait until I graduate from the Academy…"
"Objections not accepted!" Claire slapped her hand on the desk, putting a definitive end to the discussion. "This is for your own good, Cid. Now — I'm heading back to my dormitory, I still have things to do. Be ready. And don't even think about running — you know me. I will dig you out from underground and drag you there by force."
She turned, strode to the door with complete confidence, and walked out, slamming it behind her.
The room fell into dead silence. Cid sat on the bed, staring blankly at the closed door while thoughts tore through his head like a hurricane. The atmosphere of peaceful, lazy early summer had been mercilessly annihilated by his own sister.
So that's how you want to play this. His gaze slowly turned heavy and serious. A grim smirk crept onto his lips. You think you can shackle the Eminence in Shadow with marriage and force him into a normal domestic life? Not a chance. If you insist on finding me a bride… then I'll strike first. I'll find my own — one of my own choosing. But the perfect bride for my role. Completely fake. Someone who'll be busy with her own life, won't pry into mine, and will simply play along in front of Claire and my parents so they leave me alone once and for all. I hereby declare the launch of Operation: False Wedding Veil! (I'll come up with a better name later.)