Leonard was orphaned when he was between nine and ten years old. Those who found him on Edmund's land didn't know who his parents were or how he ended up there. He said he had been wandering for a long time without remembering when or where he had lost his family.
Little did it matter since that used to happen with commoners. Charitably, Margrave Edmund made the boy one of his servants. Despite how small and puny he was, the boy had an unimaginable talent for calculating figures, remembering lists of products, and some contracts that used to be helpful in businesses that this man could do.
In this way, Leonard could live for a long time in his master's house, using a small and humble room near the employer's house. He read a lot from some of the books his lord offered him, or he used to walk around the patio and other neighboring places. Three to four years passed like this when Leonard suddenly saw a new face in the home: Marianne.
She had been newly adopted under unclear circumstances. From what he understood, she came from a noble family with a distant affiliation with the Edmunds. Those things were not of much interest to Leonard. What caught his attention was that that girl didn't interact with anyone. She maintained a downcast and gloomy attitude. She was always obedient to her adoptive father, who treated her kindly but was sometimes rigid and distant.
When he went to the yard, Leonard would see Marianne, always guarding her loneliness. At times she saw the plants and the foliage; at other times, she looked at the sky, immersed. What surprised him the most was that Marianne only enjoyed talking to the birds, the dogs, and the horses in the stables.
Leonard used to look at insects and animals, pick them up and even dissect them out of a purely knowledge-oriented interest. The latter was because he thought that the vitality of animals resided in their stomach. Then they clarified that it should be in his heart, although he was not very convinced.
On the other hand, that young woman approached the animals to share. When he did, that gloomy expression he showed with others would change completely: She would offer a spontaneous smile, and her eyes seemed to shine. That boy had never seen a smile as beautiful as Marianne's when she shared it with the animals. Or maybe he had seen another beautiful smile but couldn't remember whose it could be.
Leonard tried in any way he could to get closer to her. First, he sought to trap birds in cages he made out of twigs, though these often broke before he could deliver them to Marianne. When he achieved his goal, she would take the bird out of the cage and, without even looking at the boy, she would comfort them and set them free. At other times, Leonard would arrive riding the horse that Marianne had approached; the only thing that caused this was a marked anxiety in the girl, who dedicated herself to comforting the animal until Leonard got bored and got off.
When he gave up trying so hard, only one last thing occurred: accompanying Marianne while she looked at the sky with her hands held together. Leonard approached slowly, and before she knew it, he got into the same position as the girl. She fidgeted a little but kept on with it. After a while, he got tired and asked:
"What are you doing?" Leonard said.
"I am praying to the Goddess."
"This is the first time you've spoken directly to me."
"I just... I didn't know what to say before."
"The Goddess is in heaven," Leonard commented, scratching his head. "I thought it was on earth."
"Yes... there it is," Marianne answered timidly.
"And how do you know it's the Goddess you're talking to? As will be? How do you know if it's in the shape of a person or the shape of a monster or a considerable dragon high up in the sky?" an anxious Leonard bombarded the poor girl with questions.
"... I better go. Goodbye," she replied, with a low but sharp voice and an angry look that Leonard could perceive.
As Marianne left, Leonard realized his mistake: no one wants to think or hear that the Goddess could have a hideous monster form or is a Dragon. However, he would have loved it to be so.
After realizing his mistake, he searched everywhere for the girl. Finally, he reviewed the complete stables. Marianne was behind some bales of straw in one of the corners. She was sitting up, covering her head and resting it close to her knees. He took a clean cloth from his pocket and passed it to her.
"Excuse me; I shouldn't have said the Goddess was a monster."
"Okay..." she replied, still sobbing.
"Why are you still crying? What can I do to help you?"
"I am a nuisance to everyone; You don't need to help me," she replied, afflicted.
"Hey, I can be much more annoying than you, is what Master Edmund sometimes tells me," Leonard replied, making a proud posture, paradoxical as it may seem.
"But you're not..." Marianne couldn't finish her sentence, which the boy continued.
"You are a monster or something like that?" Leonard says, in a giggly mood.
"Yeah. Please never talk to me again; I don't want to hurt you."
"Don't worry; monsters don't scare me. I survived one."
"How... You did it?" Marianne asked, reacting strangely.
"You told me a secret, so I'll tell you this: Some monsters attacked my parents and me. We all flew away, but I was saved. When the monster approached me, I "woosh" it with my arm, and it freaked out and ran away. I swear."
"I don't understand..." she answered, thinking it was all a bad joke.
"I think I should have a Crests," Leonard commented, making a gesture of silence. "Only people with Crests can stand up to monsters, after all. Of course, Master Edmund and no one else can perhaps know what would happen to me.
"I...have one too," she replied fearfully.
"We are equal!" He exclaimed happily.
"Shh!" Marianne made to silence the boy. "My father told me never to tell anyone about this."
"Don't worry; I'll keep your secret until the end of everything."
"Ha... That sounded weird," Marianne replied, giggling a little, showing that smile that Leonard had wanted so much to see a long time ago.
"Did you know? It doesn't matter if we're weird; I liked making you laugh today," he said, resting his hands on the back of his neck. "If you want to tell me anything or feel lonely, I'll be there. I don't know how to talk to animals, but you can speak to me about everything you can think of."
"Won't you feel...uncomfortable?" he asked, returning to her shyness.
"Never!" he replied, pointing to nothing. "Anything you want to tell me, I will listen. And you will listen to me because I have read many crazy books by the master and indeed, he will make you read them, which is very dull. I can also tell you what's inside a frog or a lizard without you opening it yourself."
"That last one...I wouldn't say I like it very much," Marianne replied, looking up and making eye contact with him. "I would rather talk about books and the things you like and want to do. If you want... I can ask the Goddess for those things in your place."
"Well, that's enough."
"Yeah," she replied, getting up. "I think it's time to go inside... my father must be looking for me out there."
"Okay, I'll go practice to get along better with the horses here."
"Well, bye."
And so, Marianne withdrew. Leonard, after waiting for her to get far enough away, jumped up, yelled, laughed, and celebrated. He couldn't believe those beautiful eyes were looking at him. He almost got hit by one of the horses because of the unrest he made.
"Leonard, answer, please!" cried Marianne as he seemed to wake up.
"Oh yes," he replied, getting up.
It was already night, and the girl made a rudimentary bonfire. He was covered with some blankets and cloth that the bandits had. The wound had become infected, so the healing spells couldn't work well, despite closing the wound.
"Those memories of yesteryear are beautiful. I don't know why I didn't go back to them until now,» Marianne thought as she looked at her former friend in terrible condition. «What did he have to live to end up like this? He tried to give me his best smile, but his gaze was dull. It had nothing to do like when we met. Oh Goddess, please make me recover that look that so much ..." Marianne interrupted those thoughts. A bit out of embarrassment and because Leonard was waking up.
"I applied a poultice to control the infection," she said, looking worriedly at her old friend.
"Thank you, I think it's already taking effect."
"That's good... Thank the Goddess."
Leonard glanced at Marianne. She had worn a light-colored dress that was probably part of her luggage. It was somewhat dirty, probably due to the mud that abounded in that forest sector. Despite the innocence on her face, the dress she wore showed how her body had changed in those years without seeing each other, making Leonard very nervous and curious.
Then he looked around and saw that Marianne had made soup in a small cauldron that bandits had probably left behind. The soup looked weird. Although what mattered most to him at this point was eating something cooked.
"And what is that?"
"It's a bit of food... I made it for you," Marianne replied, her voice weak and shaky.
"Great! I haven't eaten anything for two days."
"It can't be... That's not right," she said, as she served him soup on a wooden plate with some awkwardness.
Leonard ate quickly. He looked like a savage. «I don't remember seeing him eat in the past. But really, it's like he's never done it... Does that mean he likes it? » Marianne thought as she watched the boy eat at full speed. She would also help herself. When she was at it, he heard Leonard say:
"More, please!"
"Uhm... There's just a little more left, okay?" she replied timidly. "I hope you liked it... At the Academy, I wasn't the best cook."
"I loved it, really," he said, with a smile that finally reflected a little sparkle in his eyes. "So, you were at the Academy... I was around there before this incident. He had been unable to find out how hostilities with the Empire ended. I imagine you had a terrible time."
"That's right," Marianne replied, with some sadness on her face. "Lots of people died... Several students, like me, were included. My closest companions from the Golden Deer Class survived, fortunately."
"Ah," Leonard limited himself to vocalizing as he finished his second plate. "Is that the class for the people from the Leicester Alliance?"
"Yes, it is."
Marianne ate in silence. He was a little tired of talking. Even though she spoke much more that year at the Academy than she intended, speaking for such a long time exhausted her. However, she couldn't deny that she wanted to stay with Leonard. The memories they had together weren't too many, but those moments were a beam of light in the middle of her solitary and monotonous stay at the estate of Margrave Edmund, her adoptive father.
"Hey," said the young man."
"Tell me, Leonard."
"I missed you a lot; You don't know how much," Leonard said, with a severe look directed her way.
"Oh..." she replied, embarrassed. "It would be best if you didn't miss me."
"Because you would be a bother to me, right?" Leonard replied, even more severe. "I left your home because my so-called birth father came looking for me. It is assumed that he had left me with some uncles, who preferred to consider me their natural son. The Crest I have come from this guy, who went looking for me without letting me know how he found out where I was, and he didn't even tell me where he was taking me."
"What did you do all this time? Marianne asked, concerned."
"Train; train like crazy. I almost died a thousand and one times. I almost broke all my bones and spilled all my blood. That probably weakened my body, as you see."
"And that has to do with the heroes' relics s you used too."
"Yes, I can't hide it from you since it's become evident to you," Leonard replied, smirking. "That's why I can't leave anyone alive when I use them. Hence the violence of my attack."
"But where do you have the weapons? Did you steal them?" she asked, confused.
"No, It's not necessary," he said, sitting up and revealing his other arm. "When we were younger, we said we would have no secrets. Well, This mark I have here keeps the codex of the heroes."
Suddenly, from that mark, a light sprouted. After that, a book appeared attached to Leonard's left arm before the girl's astonished look. «What terrible magic... How much he must have suffered to receive this in his body,» she thought, pitying her former friend. Leonard continued:
"This strange grimoire can materialize any of the Heroes' Relics for a short time and be able to use conveniently. This thing, you understand, spends an awful lot of energy, and now that I hardly eat anything, an infection can affect me."
Marianne looked at the codex. It was some hardcover book, purple. On its lid was a kind of golden magic circle with complex inscriptions. It carried a symbology that the girl could not interpret.
"You had to learn to use all kinds of weapons," Marianne inferred, looking at the codex. "Now I understand why you have so many wounds and scars. It must have been so hard preparing you to use this."
"Yes, that's how it is. For your safety, this is all I can tell you. Now I am feeling a nuisance to you."
"I don't care about that," she said, staring at Leonard. "I hope you can trust me, even if we haven't seen each other for a long time."
Those eyes were staring back at him. Leonard had gone through an ordeal these almost five years, but he had been able to see them. He felt paid. But not; there was still much to do. And the man wanted to be with her a little more.
"I think we should wait until daylight to move," Leonard said, sitting up. "Please sleep. I'll stay on guard."
"Sure?" she asked sheepishly.
"Totally," he said, shaking his head.
Marianne was sleepy, but she couldn't stop thinking. «I noticed a slight glint in his eyes when we chatted. Hopefully, I can... help him, Goddess,» the girl said to herself. After a while, she fell asleep. She had been through a lot in a single day. Meanwhile, Leonard watched her sleep. He once saw her like this while she fell asleep under a tree in the yard. Since he was good at climbing trees, he would sit among the branches, looking at her for a long time.
"I would love to go back in time to those years before I left your side," Leonard said quietly as he continued to see her face. "Right now, I would even give this book to make this reunion eternal."