[ it should have been reassuring. and were manuela not already so mired in her guilt, she might have even indulged in it. but instead she can only feel the pit of her stomach cave in, and the yawning emptiness within her only grows. ]

Someone special... Yes. Your "princess."

[ it's been years since that conversation, and yet manuela can still remember it clear as day. truthfully, she should have corrected him then, but she had been so caught up in his attention, his abject adoration... she couldn't bring herself to tell him the truth. and now her misguidance has done him an even greater disservice.

with a soft sigh, manuela lowers her head. the urge to seek out the comfort his gentle hand offers her is strong — but she resists. she has already taken far too much from him. ]

I'm sorry, Ferdinand, but you are mistaken. The woman you think so highly of... she is no longer here. Perhaps she was never really around to begin with.

[ she tries to step back, so she might no longer be tempted by the warmth he so readily offers her, but her back only meets the door. she sags against it a little, looking every bit defeated. ]

Surely... you would have heard it. All that was said about me, back in Garreg Mach. While there were certainly... exaggerations, [ to put it lightly, ] it was my reputation for a reason, Ferdinand.