Rena's party and Simon's party returned to Lelvern at the same time, both having completed their quests. There was a tension in the air between the two parties and Lucius was at the center. The focus himself was either ignorant of the situation or was purposefully ignoring it.
He went about the return to the city completely uncaring of the glares and stares he received. However, at camp time during the return trip, he did make sure to disappear into the woods and then returned when they were about to leave.
If she were not slightly concerned about potential negative interactions, she would probably have laughed at the boy's behavior because it very much reminded her of a cat again.
She was somewhat down because she could not heal his injury completely. Lucius' eyes and ears were on the mend, but the neck and chest wound left a nasty scar. Of course, she knew that it would when she was healing it, but it still weighed heavily on her heart.
Rena wanted nothing more than to cuddle and apologize to her lover, but he made a comment about not doing too much around Simon. Simon did not appear to care one way or another, in fact he seemed rather supportive when they first met, but she also trusted Lucius' instincts.
Thankfully, Simon and his party members did not say or do anything suspicious during their travels. When they arrived inside the gates of Lelvern and then the guild, the groups finally prepared to part ways.
There seemed to be no love lost between the parting because the tension never really died down. Rena was worried about it at first, but according to Jen, it was not uncommon for different parties to have conflict and disagreements.
Jen also made the point that if they had gotten along famously, they would have probably just blended the parties. Typically, you only party with people you like, so it actually worked out that they did not get along.
While they approached the reception desk, Rena noticed something strange. The guild hall was emptier than usual and by a significant amount. Eyes of various people were concentrated on their party and a lot of them focused on Lucius specifically.
"Welcome, how may we help you?" The receptionist took their group next and began to work on the paperwork. When she confirmed their group roster, she paused after saying Lucius' name.
"Lucius, you are the one with the inverse mark, yes? Celestia and Abyss?" she asked in an even tone.
Her face went pale as all the blood seemed to drain from it. Were it not for Jen's hand firmly holding her back, she might have done something terribly stupid. Rena looked to Lucius for comfort, support, anything!
All she received however was a warm smile, which was then replaced by an apathetic expression as he resumed a persona she had never wanted to see again; the one of her bodyguard and servant, not the one of the friend and lover she had grown accustomed to.
Lucius bowed to her and was escorted away by the two knights. For some reason, the energy required to allow her to scream or cry was absent. All that was left was the hollow feeling of emptiness and abject loss.
Every person in the guild hall was silent as Lucius was escorted away. Based on the looks on their faces, this had been happening all morning, if not the last few days. Many faces were solemn, likely from having lost valuable members of their respective parties.
Unlike the rest of the world, the Adventurer's Guild had built a culture of acceptance and comradery between Marked Ones and normal people. By sharing blood, sweat, and tears on their jobs, they became brothers and sisters with one another. Based some of the other tearful looks, there may have been a few instances where that developed into something more, like it had for Rena.
Simon approached the group and stood in silence for a few moments. The look on his face was conflicted and hard to read, but after a few minutes of silence, he finally spoke.
"It seems war has finally come Rena. I advise you return to the family estate. I don't know if Lucius will return from war. I don't know if Marked Ones will be allowed to return to the guild. So in the meantime, if you want to ensure that you can be with him... try to become heir to the house.
"If Marked Ones cannot return to the guilds, and are required once more to serve as only soldiers, only has the head of a noble house can you pry him from that fate as a retainer. Do your best, cousin."
Rena felt a rage swell up within her. She did not know if it was at Simon, the kingdom, the world, fate... it did not matter. All that mattered was she was furious and there was nothing she could do. At the moment, she was helpless.
This day was always meant to come, she knew that, but it did not make it easier on her. She thought she had more time; that maybe the Grand Raid would be their final send off, but now she no longer has that.
Instead, all she earned was the scene of the love of her life being taken away by knights of the kingdom, without even being able to return Lucius' heartfelt goodbye.
He had known what was happening. He probably understood the moment they entered the building. Tears welled up in her eyes and her vision became blurry. Jen pulled her into a tight hug and patted the back of her head, allowing Rena to simply be there and cry.