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Lysithea really ought to leave Balthus to rot in prison. Perhaps after he became acutely acquainted with the rats scurrying across the cold, damp dungeon floor, and the growl in his stomach became a ceaseless gurgle he’d learn at least one lesson relating to his many vices. Yet, Lysithea knew that was foolhardy. Repetitive stints in custody had yet to turn his morals around. He still gambled like a complete oath, nearly losing Vajra-Mushti in countless wagers (where only thanks to Lysithea’s quick wit were they able to reacquire the relic). He still drank until every modicum of sense fled from his mind, mumbling ridiculous notions like “he only had eyes for the little lady of House Ordelia.” He still got into such an egregious number of fights that Caspar von Bergliez’s tally seemed tame by comparison. And he still borrowed money with an empty “I owe ya one, pal” before proceeding to squander every last coin in his pocket and every last ounce of generosity in his friends’ hearts.
By all accounts, Balthus von Albrecht was a hopelessly incorrigible and utterly irredeemable lowlife.
No rebuttals. The statement was indisputable fact.
But then why in Fodlan was Lysithea dallying around Gloucester territory to bail him out? Yet again.
Even more vexing, Balthus was making her wait! Could that miscreant not show her one iota of courtesy? Honestly! The guard had scampered off to retrieve him over an hour ago!
Lysithea tapped her foot impatiently and popped the second to last of her fruit-flavored candies into her mouth. She had a full bag when she originally embarked on this retrieval mission, but a day of travel and the last hour of waiting had reduced her provisions to sugary dust. Lolling the hard sphere around her mouth, she scoured the area once more in hopes that Balthus’s towering form would peek out from over a hedge.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of said man. Only roses of every hue and color greeted Lysithea’s eyes. With a groan, she slumped back into a comfortable position on the bench and stared out at the flowers ahead of her, hands cupping her cheeks to prop up her head.
Lorenz had assured her that this particular perch offered the most resplendent view of the Gloucester gardens. Yet, unlike Lorenz, who found eternal enjoyment in the gardens’ tranquility, Lysithea only found them interesting the first half an hour. Now, they had exceedingly lost their luster.
Thank the Goddess this spot was at least shaded.
Which no doubt contributed to why Balthus managed to sneak up behind her without his lengthy shadow first announcing his presence.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!” he exclaimed with good cheer.
At the sound of his booming voice, Lysithea started and nearly swallowed the candy still tucked in her mouth. After a fit of coughs, she snapped around and greeted him with a harsh glare.
To her chagrin, Balthus chose to challenge her aggravation with a pleased smile. He reclined onto the back of the bench, arms criss-crossed over the edge, and pillowed his chin atop them. He even had the gall to let out a content sigh.
Why, didn’t he make himself cozy awfully fast!
Yet, inexplicably, she relaxed ever so slightly as well. Loathe as Lysithea was to admit it, like the candy dissolving in her mouth, his presence was slowly dissolving the anger in her chest.
He looked just a bit handsome with his smug smile and his half-lidded drowsy stare. Sure, his hair was disheveled and he was in desperate need of a shave and he reeked of something awful, but somehow the fact that he always permitted himself to relax—to be vulnerable —around her made her chest feel tight. Despite his happy-go-lucky outward mask, she knew he was always on edge, ever waiting for his stepmother or a debt collector’s goons to strike.
“Nice spot ya found here, pal,” Balthus said, eyes trailing over every bush and hedge in the garden. After a robust inhale, he heaved another sigh. “Ah, feels good to stretch my legs and smell some good ol’ nature. Nothing but the stench of piss and vomit inside that cell.“
At the mention of a cell, Lysithea snapped out of her daydreaming and remembered why she was here— and it definitely wasn’t to enjoy the Goddess’s verdant blessings. Anger bubbling up again, she pushed the candy to her cheek so the full brunt of her words would strike him, uninterrupted by mush-mouthed stutters.
“After all the trouble you’ve caused me, I wouldn’t lightly toss around ‘pal’ if I were you,” sneered Lysithea as she jabbed a finger into his shoulder. “This is the fourth time in the last two moons I’ve had to save your hide. Honestly, I thought you had turned over a new leaf when the war ended, but I see now that your word lasts as long as a coin in your pocket.”
Balthus grinned wryly and rubbed the spot she had just poked. “Yeesh! In a bad mood I see. Really can’t blame you for thinking the worst of me, but this time I’ve got good reasons for doing what I do.”
“Oh, really ?” Lysithea rolled her eyes. “That sounds like a load of hogwash if you ask me.”
He recoiled, feigning offense. “Ah, you’re going to hurt my feelings.”
After casting her a pout which Lysithea took no pity on, he stood up straight and stretched out his back. “You’ll just have to trust me on this, yeah? I got a plan, see. Just having a few stumbles getting started. Not every puzzle piece fits just right the first time. But with some banging and force, it’ll all snap into place.”
He punched the air twice for emphasis.
“If banging and force is your strategy, I don’t perceive much likelihood of success.” Lysithea frowned. “And I’m not sure I want to know what this all is for.”
A cheeky grin stretched across Balthus’s face again. “Aww, here I thought I’d pique your interest. Well, I’ll spill it anyway. It’s got a little something to do with the little lady of House Ordelia.”
Lysithea gaped, the candy no doubt visible on her tongue.
A split second later, she clamped one hand over her mouth. Quickly, she crunched the candy and swallowed the pieces. After a pause, she mumbled delicately, “M-me?”
“Yup,” Balthus chuckled. “But first I gotta square away what I owe your folks.”
He paused and his expression turned oddly pensive. “Though, I guess if you keep helping me out like this, my debt’s just getting bigger and bigger, huh?”
That statement was absolutely inaccurate. Balthus had repaid his perceived debt a thousand times over with countless good deeds and kindnesses to Lysithea’s parents. Any “interest” he might have incurred each time Lysithea rescued him from a prison cell, would be completely and utterly void. If anything, Lysithea owed him a debt.
After all, when Imperial forces lingered in Ordelia territory long after the war’s end, stirring revolts and trouble, Balthus just cracked his knuckles and boasted, “I know some guys. They’re all still itchy for a fight. This’ll give them something to scratch.”
And when the mountains of paperwork to denounce the Ordelia’s noble bloodline and revoke all future inheritance threatened to drive her parents mad, Balthus just slapped her father on the back and boasted, “I know a guy. He’ll fix up those papers in a jiffy. Handled the whole mess for me.”
And when stress finally got the best of her mother’s weary heart and the poor woman lay in bed with a fever, he just ran out the front doors and boasted, “I know a guy. Real deal of a mage. He’ll whip a potion up and everything.”
And when Lysithea fell to her knees, trembling and coughing and scared senseless that her allotted time was nearly spent, Balthus just scooped her up and boasted, “I know a guy. And that guy’s me! Trust me, missie, he’s gonna be six feet under long before your pretty little head ever is.”
Each and every one of those favors had endeared him to her parents, but most profoundly to Lysithea. No words of thanks could ever convey the gratitude she felt to him. Her parents meant everything to her, and someone who would put them foremost touched her in an indescribable way.
Try as Lysithea might to bury her feelings under scorn and slander, Balthus wasn’t a complete lowlife. He’d proven time and time again that his merits included more kindness and more reliability than she initially gave him credit for. But tricking herself into believing the feeling twisting in her chest to be anything but love made matters much easier.
It was so much easier to be angry at him when he was locked in prison due to poor decisions than to stay angry now, with the afternoon sun basking him in a warm hue, highlighting his sharp jaw and every muscle. It was so much easier to be angry at him when she was trotting down a well beaten trail atop an old mare than to stay angry now, with the birds chirping overhead and the sweet fragrance of roses wafting through the air.
It was so much easier to be angry at him than blame herself for falling in love with him.
She shouldn’t. She had promised herself to never fall in love years ago.
She already was living on borrowed time.
Even though she certainly didn’t have time to spare, stupid amorous feelings made her not mind sacrificing her remaining small allotment for Balthus.
And that’s why she came. That’s why she always came to bail him out.
“It only cost me a hefty penny of my time to persuade Lorenz to release you,” Lysithea replied, not quite meeting Balthus’s eye. “In all due honesty, you’ve assisted my family more than enough to repay their initial generosity. As it is now, we’re just unnecessarily revolving in circles, with you returning my every favor as if it was offered with some kind of ulterior motive.”
Lysithea swallowed. Why did it feel like she was a child saying goodbye to a stray cat she took in for a moon? “Consider all your debts cleared. House Ordelia deeply appreciates your kindness, but there’s no need to feel shackled to your nonsensical vows any longer.”
With no debts to repay he’d surely scamper off to horizons unknown, fleeing the price on his head. Then these conflicting feelings could lay to rest.
However, his reaction surprised her.
Balthus’s thick brows scrunched up and he shook his head. “Well, that won’t do. Nope, won’t do at all. See, the way I see it, I still owe you guys for every meal you fed me and every night you put a roof over my head.”
Lysithea’s eyes fell to her hands. Her fingers clutched her skirt, knuckles white. Why was she so bafflingly anxious?
Her voice felt thick as she spoke. “We never intended for you to repay those kindnesses, Balthus.”
“Maybe so, but every one of them put your folks at risk. I’m a liability, simple facts. Lots of guys after my head.” He scratched his temple, that strange pensive expression burdening his face again. “But if you really want us to amend the whole arrangement, I don’t have a problem with that. Makes things a heck of a lot easier for me.”
Something in Lysithea’s chest felt like it cracked. He could have protested at least a little bit! She should have known that only obligation kept him close.
“I see,” she started, and then cleared her throat. “Excellent! I’m relieved you can be sensible sometimes.”
She hopped to her feet, but felt suddenly dizzy. Still, she managed to turn to Balthus with as serious an expression as she could muster. “Well, then, please abandon that plan of yours and strive for a more honest living. I won’t be around to negotiate your release from prison forever.”
Lysithea turned to leave and retrieved her last candy from her bag. Shakily, she placed it under her tongue. Even though she longed for the sweet flavor to raise her spirits, right now it had no taste.
“Who said anything about giving up on the plan?” Balthus questioned with an annoyed lilt.
Lysithea’s eyes widened, dumbfounded. Regaining her composure, she whirled around and snapped, “Not a minute ago you agreed that we were even!”
“I wasn’t saying we sweep the whole thing under the rug, pal.” He rounded the bench and stopped right in front of Lysithea. “I’m thinking that our terms of cooperation change, is all. Move part two of the plan up to the front. Make it so what’s yours is mine and mine is yours, see?”
“What in Fodlan does that—”
In a blink, Balthus hunched down and pressed his lips against Lysithea’s, cutting off all her frustrated questions. Her eyes flew wide and her heart stopped in her chest, but she offered no resistance when he nudged her lips apart. On the contrary, she welcomed the deep kiss, and, even more surprisingly, she fumbled to mimic the perplexing motions.
Granted, it was slightly difficult with a candy lodged between her teeth.
This was never how Lysithea imagined her first kiss. It was scratchier, much smellier, much more awkward, but with his mouth slotted against hers, all her confusing feelings snapped into place like a misaligned puzzle. Bang!
She wasn’t angry about his vices, but rather that every time he landed in a prison cell, it was one less minute, day, week, she had to spend with him.
And she had so little time left.
If he insisted on gambling, then she’d much prefer if he’d wager on a future with her. Because in that moment with his heart under her fingertips and his lips moving in sync with her own, Lysithea knew she’d bet every second she had left to stay by his side for as long as possible.
Balthus pulled her closer, propping her up on her tiptoes. He held her steady, firm and safe. Surprisingly gentle despite his brutish nature and often coarse tongue. But she knew this side; had seen it many times before. This was just the first time she felt it, tasted it, reveled in it.
But of course he ruined the perfect moment. His tongue slipped deep into her mouth, and Lysithea gasped. Before she knew it, he plucked the candy out from her cheek.
He pulled away with a grin and set her down gently. Then, he flashed her the lemon-flavored candy sphere, now clamped between his teeth.
The audacity! That lowlife!
As she vibrated with anger, he popped the candy inside his mouth. After a few purposely performative sucks, he crooned, “Sharing is caring, yeah? And if we share everything as partners then no one’s gotta worry about I-owe-you’s.”
“You—” Lysithea stammered, but then her cheeks flushed crimson as the meaning of his words dawned on her. “Hold on a minute! Partners? Are you insinuating that we—that we join in...union?”
Balthus smacked the candy loudly, but Lysithea swore a blush rose on his cheeks as well.
“Sure am. I don’t beat around the bush, little lady. I wanna marry ya.”
“B-but, you know about my condition,” she demurred, her excitement slowly turning to the shadows. “I...I’m already much more frail than a few years ago.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that and I’ve been thinking that some fresh mountain air might do you good.” A smug grin stretched across his face. “In fact, I’ve been thinking that Kupala might be the perfect spot for you and your folks to relocate to. And I’m more than happy to lead the frontier.”
Yet again, he thought about her parents in that endearing selfless way.
“Kupala? That actually...sounds wonderful. But I highly doubt that a mere location change will add years to my life.”
“Well, I’m a gambling man!” Balthus protested stubbornly. “And I’m willing to bet you’ll live a good deal more. In fact, I’d wager thirty, no fifty years more!”
Lysithea burst into giggles. “That’s not much comfort. You always bet on the losing odds.”
“This time will be different! I can feel it in my bones!”
Balthus placed his hands on either of her shoulders, spurring a shiver down her spine. With one hand, he lifted a lock of her white hair and let it fall slowly through his fingers. It cascaded back down over her chest. “Besides, I’ve got nothing but time on my hands. I’m more than happy to spare you some.”
“That’s not how time works, Balthus!” Lysithea interrupted with a cackle.
Now he blushed profoundly. “Hey, listen! I’m trying to be serious here! Look, I never needed gold or status. But I figured out I need you, Lysithea. So whaddya say? Wanna get hitched? I’ll be better, I promise!”
Lysithea smiled and offered him a flinty stare. “Perhaps I’ll consider it.”
Balthus brightened.
“But I expect a much more romantic second proposal!”
Balthus deflated. “Dang, you’re a hard sell.” He gestured to the gardens. “Look at where we are. Seems pretty lovey-dovey if you ask me.”
“That’s besides the point!” Lysithea challenged. “You look completely unkempt and you reek! You aren’t even prepared with a ring! And on top of that, you took my candy!”
Balthus stuck out his tongue, candy on top— this scoundrel!
“Want it back?” He slouched down, drawing his mouth close to hers again.
Lysithea grimaced. “No thanks!”
With a smack, Balthus tucked the candy back inside his cheek. “Guess it’s time to hit the taverns then! I got bets to place, money to win, and a ring to buy.”
A bit too excitedly, he grabbed Lysithea’s arm, and guided them out of the gardens.
“What about changing your ways?” she asked with a frown.
He cocked his head, grinning with mirth. “Ah, but you gotta say yes first. Once you do then I’m a changed man!”
“Ugh, so now you’re guilting me? You’re incorrigible.”
Lysithea hooked her arm more comfortably around his. “If your victory is even remotely possible then you’ll need my help. Don’t you dare utter a word. I’ll choose what we bet on.”
“Oh-ho! Now you’re speaking my language! The Besotten King of Grappling and Little Lysithea the Wise will be unstoppable! A legendary team!”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” Lysithea chided, but in her heart she couldn’t help but feel that this time together would be the biggest victory earned.
Life wasn’t a perfect puzzle, but completing it together would make it more than satisfactory.