1. Huh? Looks like Bern's talking to someone.
  2. You seem to be in a good mood, Bern.
  3. Augh! D-Dorothea! You scared me!
  4. Hehe! Sorry about that. It just looked like you [cdb]were enjoying your conversation.
  5. That was a man you were talking to, right? He walked away before I could see who it was.
  6. Y-yeah, but it's not like that...
  7. Oh no? It sure looked like you were getting along [cdb]well. Who was he, hmm? Is spring finally springing in [cdb]the heart of my dear Bern?
  8. No, it's not like that! Um, do you remember the [cdb]commoner friend I had once?
  9. You mean the one who vanished from your estate [cdb]half-dead?
  10. Yep. Well, it turns out he's actually alive! And in [cdb]our army!
  11. That's great, Bern.
  12. A childhood friend thought passed reunites with his [cdb]treasured companion amidst the fires of war...
  13. A noble daughter and a common lad! A love that [cdb]knows no social boundaries! Ah, this is the perfect [cdb]plot for an opera...
  14. Yeah, that sounds impressi— Wait! No! It's not love!
  15. Yes, but if they made it into an opera, that's how it [cdb]would be portrayed.
  16. For example, there's a series of operas known as the Empire of Love, and their latest could be the Bernadetta Saga.
  17. Absolutely not! If that happens, I'll lock myself in my [cdb]room and melt down the key!
  18. Then I'll have to keep it secret. A shame though— [cdb]it's such a lovely story to waste...
  19. It's not a waste! I'm taking it to my grave!
  20. I'm sure you are. Still, I'm glad your friend is all right.
  21. Perhaps your father wasn't as cruel to him as wagging [cdb]tongues would have us believe.
  22. Actually, he says my father was protecting me.
  23. I guess someone was trying to kill me, so he had no [cdb]choice but to kick out my friend.
  24. Um, but if that's the case, doesn't it mean you can [cdb]patch things up with your father?
  25. No... My problems with him go way beyond this one [cdb]incident.
  26. I mean, yeah, it seems like there was a bit of a [cdb]misunderstanding around this one thing...
  27. But even if he was protecting me, it wasn't for...love. It's more like how a smith protects a valuable tool.
  28. That sounds very much like my father.
  29. It does?
  30. Yes. He tossed my mother aside like some worn-out [cdb]tool because their child—me—didn't have a Crest.
  31. That's why your situation feels so personal.
  32. I really want you to overcome your struggles with [cdb]everything that happened with your father and find [cdb]a way to be happy.
  33. Um...
  34. But I'm already happy—really, I am! And it's all [cdb]because I have friends like you, Dorothea!
  35. Then I can be happy, too. Because I have friends like [cdb]you, Bern.