'I can't move on from her, Voice,' Lucian muttered as he walked along the road to the next town.
Exercise and a busy schedule was his cure for his heartbreak, and it seemed to be working...on his body, not his heart.
'That's because you refuse to,' Voice said, 'You are just waiting for an excuse to run back to her.'
Lucian stopped, picking up a flower, and played with its petals, 'Is that bad?'
'You dumb kid,' the voice scoffed, 'You are wasting your time on a girl that you can't have. Just earn more money and buy a wife. The slums are full of girls willing to sell their bodies for a few coins, maybe you can find a decent one among them.'
Lucian felt like throwing the flower at the Voice, but it had no body to hit, 'Destiny, Voice. Destiny! I believe in destiny, and I'm destined to find the one. She will appear before me when the time is right.'
A bark startled Lucian from his philosophical moment, making him turn his head to find a dog running toward him.
It was a stray dog, that was obvious from its bony appearance, but it had beautiful, blue eyes. Like Celine's eyes.
It was hungry, similar to the day he had first met Celine. She had also looked hungry for money, and he had offered her a way to earn some.
'Do something you stupid idiot! It's a stray!' the voice warned him, 'It's going to bite you!'
'I can't outrun a dog,' Lucian said, raising his arms up in an attempt to mount a defense, 'But I can tame it.'
'Gods, just die already!' the voice cursed.
Instead of waiting for the dog to jump at him, he ran toward it, startling it. His sudden action was unexpected for the dog, who halted its steps and started to bark in alarm.
"Raaarrrrr!" Lucian made his own sound, rushing at the dog, and when it turned around to flee, he stopped, then resumed his walk as if nothing had happened.
'Whew, that was a close one,' he wiped his forehead and continued on his journey. He didn't want to waste money on food for a dog. Companion or not, he couldn't afford to keep one anymore.
The dog seemed to have other plans, following him. When he stopped, it sat down and watched him. When he moved, it moved with him.
"Go away, I'm going on a dangerous journey," Lucian told it, knowing it wouldn't understand him.
His first dog and it had to be so stubborn, just like Celine.
He picked up a rock and threw it at the dog, not really aiming at it, "Shoo, go away!"
The dog jumped aside to avoid the rock, but didn't run away. Its eyes were following his hand, waiting for him to throw food instead.
Lucian saw a familiar Rochefort emblem on a carriage passing by, and it nearly gave him a heart attack.
Black wood, blue emblem of a bird with its wings spread wide and a shield in its center, decorated with blue gems.
Lucian tugged at his hood and lowered his head.
'Oh no, not her again,' he grumbled and sat beside the dog, acting like a beggar with his hand extended to ask for alms.
The carriage passed by, and he let out a relieved sigh, turning to find the dog with a piece of meat in its mouth.
'Of course, she would rather give food to a dog than a beggar,' Lucian thought and stood up, walking away from the dog again, "You got what you wanted, now leave me alone."
The dog, of course, followed him again after it finished eating the meat.
Lucian stopped walking and crouched in front of the dog, "Alright, listen here, I can die any day now, so follow that carriage and find yourself a better owner," he said, pointing at the carriage that was still within the dog's sight, "She is a rich girl, she will feed you better than I ever could."
The dog continued to stare at him.
"..." Lucian scratched his head, wondering what else he could do to make it leave, "Fine," he stood up, "Let's go. I'm warning you, it's going to be dangerous."
The dog followed him happily, wagging its tail.
'Stupid boy and his stupid dog,' the voice cursed, 'You are going to die in the south.'
'A husband is always willing to die for his wife,' Lucian declared, his lips set in a stubborn line, 'If I die, then I die knowing I tried to fight for her, and that's enough for me.'
'You are the dumbest kid I've ever met,' the voice said.
'I'm the bravest kid you've ever met,' Lucian corrected, walking toward the southern borders.
If he couldn't give up on her, then he might as well die trying.
He would never admit that his drive to keep going, to keep fighting, was crushed by the impossible love he had for a girl that would never be his. And that running to the southern border was a suicide mission, as Voice had stated.
He still had a legacy to carry on, and getting rich fast for the sake of love (no matter how dangerous the job) was his best option to visit his parents in heaven with his head held high.
'Idiot.'
'Romantic.'
'You are a child, what do you know about romance?' Voice taunted.
'I know that it makes you do stupid things and that it's worth it.'
The voice scoffed, 'You are too young to die for love.'
'And you must be too old to understand what it feels like to be loved.'
'...'
'...'
'Loved? You? By whom?'
'Celine loves me too. I know it,' Lucian said with confidence. She liked animals, and saw him as a stray cat in search for home, which was above humans in her hierarchy. She wanted to adobt him home, her behavior couldn't be more obvious.
He would have taken offense if it weren't for the fact that he also adored her, as much as a cat would adore his owner. Cats were the superior species, and he didn't mind being compared to one.
The voice laughed, 'She loves your potential, nothing more. Nobles only care about what they can gain from others.'
'Yeah, well, she is gaining my heart, and I'm gaining hers.'
The voice didn't reply to that. The moment the boy realized his feelings for the duke's daughter, his foolishness also reached its peak. There was nothing more it could do to save him.
The boy was going to get himself killed by trying to gain wealth fast enough to impress her.
He even started to cook dubious concoctions in an attempt to create a wonder medicine that would make him taller and stronger.
Only to get poisoned and end up even smaller than before. Smaller as in throwing up, stomach hurting, bedridden small.
He was taking advantage of both the church and the Voice's presence to make a fast recovery.
If only he would settle for a more realistic goal. He could have a normal life, a wife, and children. But no, he wanted the impossible.
And now he wanted to go to the south, where the temperature was too hot for a boy who was used to the cold climate.
'Didn't you say a man's body needed to go through many obstacles to pass through the knight stages?' Lucian asked as he continued to walk, the dog following him like a shadow. 'I want to become one. A knight.'
'You?' The Voice doubted him, 'Without a sponsor?'
'I'm a natural born salesman. I'll find a way to get the resources needed to become a knight.'
'You are a hay head.'
'My hair is green now.'
The Voice refused to comment further. It had already tried to stop him and failed.
The boy could only learn from his own mistakes at this point, mistakes great enough to wake him up from his delusions.
That or his death.