There is no mistaking the chocolate brown hair and lilac eyes, despite the hairstyle and clothing being completely different from Adrestian. It looks quite jarring on her, and the vibe she evokes further gives the impression that she is not comfortable in it and will never be.
“Anselma…?”
The way Anselma snorts is so scathing, and the thin smile to gaze her pale features seem sadder than if she had burst into tears.
“I have not been called that for a long time,” she remarks without the practised poise, something that drew Rhea to her when they first met. Melancholia flickers in her lilac eyes, as if beseeching her to rescue her from this prison. “Do you know what it is like taking on a name that isn’t yours, yet acting like it has always been?”
I do. It takes all of Rhea’s willpower to not slouch or admit that very fact. “…Then I presume you go by a different name to protect your identity.” Another thing that Rhea is so intimately familiar with.
“Patricia,” Anselma answers, the name sounding as if she’s addressed herself that since birth. “I could have been called worse.”
“You do not like the name, or—” Rhea pauses upon recalling that Anselma’s sense of humour has always been… dry.
But she isn’t upset with her gaffe, for the toothy grin to appear on Anselma’s face screams of her having not smiled in such a way in a very long time. “You’re still not the best in socialising with others, I see.”
“Forgive me for being the Archbishop, then.”
'As Good as it Gets'
archiveofourown.org/works/71828536
FE3H 30+ Weekend, Day 2: Politics.
Rhea/Anselma (Patricia)
Upon coming to Fhrdiad castle to conduct her duties, Rhea finds an 'abandoned' tower and enters to be alone. She did not expect to meet her old flame, Anselma.
#FE3H30weekend
