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The Victor’s Inn closed early for Wep Repnet, but one merchant family made their approach to it anyway. George and Karon looked up at the building, surprised at how well the place held up despite having apparently been renovated from a disused location. They knocked on the door, and Raphael Kirsten opened up to allow them entry. The many tables scattered around the floor during open hours had been pushed aside, with a selection of tables pressed together to allow for the family to all eat together. Maya was touching up the place settings, waving politely, while Ignatz was nowhere to be seen.
“How’s our boy doing?” Karon asked.
“He’s really good at the math and everything. Edelgard allowing us to claim the Varley fortune rather than using it in the war effort helped too,” Raphael explained. The four members of the merchant’s party found their seats, looking around at the labels provided by Maya. They weren’t entirely sure why they had been seated where they had, but the answer was probably Bernadetta.
“Where is Bernadetta, anyway?” George asked.
“Still cooking. You’re not going to want to miss this,” Raphael told them.
“I’m not entirely sure I got the better deal here,” Jeff, Ignatz’s older brother, joked. Karon snorted.
“We’re still plenty wealthy, though I’m sure whether it is you or he that is more fortunate could be argued at great length. Regardless, I’m happy Ignatz found his calling if he was to fail his education at Garreg Mach,” George said.
“Hey, he didn’t fail! No one passed, there’s no way Rhea would’ve handed out graduation certificates to even Lysithea,” Raphael called out.
“I think I still failed because I stayed here instead of fighting against Faerghus,” Ignatz said, coming in to the room from the staircase. Karon got to her feet and pulled Ignatz into a massive hug.
“You’re doing a great job here, Ignatz, and I don’t want you to ever feel otherwise. Adrestia’s war doesn’t concern us, you just bring happiness and merriment to the people,” Karon said.
“Thanks… now if you’ll excuse me, I need to…” Ignatz muttered, gesturing towards the kitchen, and ducked behind the heavy curtain between kitchen and dining room. Karon knew that Bernadetta was behind there, cooking freely in what she could imagine was a quiet environment, with only Maya’s directions as waitress telling her to cook the foods the customers ordered. Today, she was probably being comforted by Ignatz, as she was expected to come out.
“Bernadetta wrote and asked if it was OK for her to call herself a Victor. Are the two of them…” Karon asked, looking at Raphael, but it was Maya who answered.
“After the war, I believe. Of course, now, they’re basically married in all other ways, but don’t tell that to their faces. Ignatz is a firm believer in moving things along at Bernadetta’s pace, and Bernadetta’s still scared Ignatz might one day turn on her,” Maya said. She got to her feet, and took the tray carrying the cooked rabbit from Bernadetta’s hands, as Ignatz led her along to the table. She still wore her cooking apron, but underneath was a rather pretty dress for the occasion. The girl, however, very clearly would rather have been somewhere else.
“Are you all right, dear?” Karon asked. Bernadetta let out a scream, darting behind Ignatz.
“You know Mum, Bernie. Don’t worry, she won’t hurt you. Or tie you up. Or-” Ignatz began.
“...She was worried about that?” George asked.
“It’s what my father did. He wanted to make me a proper wife… I don’t suppose I’m enough of one for your standards, am I?” Bernadetta asked. George and Karon’s jaws dropped, and Jeff found himself shivering.
“You run one of the best inns in the world, you cook great food, and you give Ignatz an outlet for his creative energies. You stopped being merely a good wife and became a great- no, an excellent one a long time ago,” Karon said.
“And if you had fallen short, abuse would not have been the way to go. Nothing better than a good sit down and talking things out,” George suggested. On Jeff’s suggestion, the rabbit was carved up and portions doled out for everybody, and the allure of her own cooking worked to overcome her fear and allowed Bernadetta to take her seat at the table between Ignatz and Maya. Although the family had chosen to use the utensils provided, Ignatz, Bernie, Raphael and Maya proved too set in their ways and used their hands.
“Can’t be perfect,” Karon muttered.
“What about you, boy? Find a girl for you yet?” Raphael’s grandfather asked, giving him an elbow. Raphael chuckled, looking around for some more meat to sneak.
“This isn’t really the time for me. With the war going on, girls being scared of calamity striking them if something bad happens, and the chances that Edelgard might just come back and enlist my help, I don’t want to even try looking for a girl until this war is over. Shouldn’t be too hard to find a good girl that’ll feed me and isn’t completely awful as a person, but it’s also important to me that she’s a fighter and that Bernadetta can tolerate her. Me and Ignatz separate for no woman,” Raphael said.
“How responsible and upstanding of you! Your professor was quite the woman, it sounds. When can I meet her?” his grandfather asked. Ignatz, Bernadetta and Raphael all looked in different directions, but Maya had the story.
“She got attacked by some evil cult and disappeared. She’s apparently doomed to wander between dimensions,” Maya said.
“But knowing Beth, she’ll break out of there somehow. Even the death of her own father only broke her down for slightly over a week,” Ignatz added.
“I hope she gets better soon. I still owe her thanks for how you turned out, too,” Karon told him. Ignatz chuckled.
“Who’s up for some nice cake?” Bernadetta asked, to a rousing cheer.