Could you please write a Headcannon of celica getting cat called/vulgar comments/racist comments or just mean comments in general from intacian that definitely don’t want peace but castins men got her back 😮💨😎
Oooo, Anon, you're COOKING RIGHT NOW! I love the trope where a bunch of people defend a character that can actually hold well on their own. It leads to such sawft moments!
So let's give this a shot!
The Baroness is currently in town, not because of pleasure but for business. One of her contacts from the Empire's underworld arrived at these shores and needed to catch up with her. Unfortunately, their meeting can't be in the manor because her contact and Ezekiel would kill each other if they ever meet again (a story for another time). So here they are! Hidden behind booths in some unknown, quiet cafe. Crowding around a table behind them are Castin's men whom he picked as Celica's guards today - Rex, Dolion and the female warrior who has a not-so-secret crush on the Baroness the moment Castin introduces her during their training, Elena.
Unlike the Dolion and Rex, she's practically shaking with excitement when Castin picked her to accompany his wife on a lowkey trip into town. Dressed in plain clothes instead of their usual uniforms and the Baroness usual set of red dresses and jewellery, this is the first time Elena gone an undercover mission with the Baroness!
"Please calm your ass down before the waiter kicks us out." Captain Dolion hisses under his breath. The Baroness and this mysterious contact is talking shop. As much as he enjoys giving her shit, he knows better than to disturb her right now.
Elena promptly freezes. Rex sighs and pushes an untouched glass of lemonade to her.
"Even though there's an empty booth between our table and the Baroness', we still have to give them an illusion of privacy. Remember what we're here for."
Dolion just rolls his eyes at that while Elena vigorously nods her head.
Sitting close to the window, Rex and Elena silently scan the world outside of the cafe. The morning market's liveliness dies as the sun hits the afternoon sky. Children play indoors due to the heat, while the awnings of street vendors act as shelters for merchants and traders who are working hard to sell their wares. Meanwhile, Dolion keeps track of every customer who walks through the cafe's doors. A pair of couples out on a date perch on high stools near the bar.
Everything is quiet. Everything is peaceful.
"... the letters that I delivered were explicitly written, Shaw. And yet you still couldn't follow it just as instructed. Tell me, what use are you to me now other than a target practice for Eaton?" The Baroness sounds perfectly composed, but there is ire behind her words.
Well... mostly peaceful. Unfortunately, though, it seems the Conquerer is bored today and the Goddess isn't around to temper his mood because trouble first emerges in the form of whispers from the bar.
" - definitely an Imp. Even the commoners over there look as snobbish as her."
"Ooooh, someone's jelly~ You know you're my one and only, right? So what if she's hot?"
"Oh? So you admit she's hotter than me!? Why? Just because she has a bigger rack than me?"
"What!? No! Goddess, you always do this. This is why I can't take you anywhere!"
"Why? So you can ogle bitches like her!? Is it that easy for you to turn into a traitor? Any Imp's pussy would do, right?"
"Babe, come on! It's not like that! Can you please keep it down before - "
"Before what? Hmm? You were staring at her tits earlier. Why don't you go over there and shove your head into them! I heard it's pretty easy to bag them. Of course, you're not as good-looking as Castin so you're out of luck." The woman sneers, but her venomous spew chokes her throat when she feels cold, and sticky lemonade drips down her hair. It drenched through her clothes.
Standing behind her, Captain Rex looks positively thunderous. "You were getting a little too heated, miss. Perhaps cooling off might be appropriate." How rude of her. Envy or not, it's no excuse to slander the commander and the Baroness in one breath! She has no idea how fortunate she is that it's Rex who confronted her and not Castin himself.
The woman gapes. Shock, embarrassment, and humiliation couldn't even begin to describe what she was going through. Perhaps she was heartbroken because her lover refused to even look at her the moment he realised that the man who poured his drink on his girlfriend was bigger than him.
Amid the chaos, Elena darted outside. She immediately confronted a group of men who were snickering and leering at the Baroness from the water fountain. Dolion at least was considerate enough to stop to shrug at Rex and say, "They kept pointing and were doing that jerk-off hand gestures in the Baroness' direction. Elena put two and two together."
Rex turns around just in time to see Elena deliver a mean punch to a man twice her size, effectively silencing the laughing group. The punch was so brutal and precise that the man landed his ass in the water fountain.
"Say that again about Her Grace, you piece of shit!" Elena shrieks.
"And are you planning to stop her or join in the fray?" Rex absentmindedly asks. He snatches the napkin on the bar to wipe his hands before tossing it on the drenched and still frozen shocked woman's lap. The other couple that knew how to keep their mouths shut giggled.
"Elena can handle herself. I'll step in if she draws that sword of hers. Pay for our table, won't you?" And with that, Dolion swaggers outside. Eager to throw more fuel into the fire just because he can.
This time, it was Rex's turn to roll his eyes, but he did as he was told.
In the middle of her conversation, Celica is suddenly distracted by a loud commotion outside. She blinks once... and then twice... at the sight of Elena and Captain Dolion beating up a group of men in the middle of the town square. She subtly leans to her left, where a woman in wet clothes is screeching at her boyfriend and throwing a tantrum while Captain Rex is as stoic as ever at the table where she last seen him. Unbothered by everything.
"Something tells me I don't want to know what is happening right now..."
