Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 22 - Heartsworn

Two weeks had already passed since the imperial siblings had arrived.

Two weeks since Medrauta had been wrenched from Viviane's side.

'If there is something that you want, then you must seize it with your own hands.' Viviane sighed as she ran Amelia's words through her head again. She'd spent every day since her conversation with the older girl mulling over what exactly it was that she could do to stand next to Medrauta again, but she just couldn't come up with a single idea.

Of course, the easy solution was to simply challenge the princess. As a member of the imperial family, Princess Gwenhwyfar had no right to refuse a challenge. However, a challenge required that she have a knight in her employ, and given her status at the academy, that was a hurdle she would never be able to overcome as she was now.

Viviane sighed yet again as she walked through the academy gardens. Ever since she started going back to class, daily walks in the garden gradually became a habit. It helped her keep her mind off things and stave off the desire to hole up in her room. It was the least she could do to emulate the perseverance that Amelia spoke of.

Yet, no matter how hard she racked her brains, there was no solution that she could come up with.

"Hey, hey! Did you hear!? Those students from Higashi are here!"

"Really!? How many of them came? I wanna see! I've never seen anyone from Higashi before!"

Higashi...? That's the country to the east. Then... those must be the foreign students that Dame Trista was talking about back when we were in the archives!

Higashi was a country with a storied history that predated even that of the Avalyne Empire. It was said that they were one of the greatest contributors to the witch hunts of old and were once humanity's sole bastion against the machinations of the Witch Queen and her many covens.

In fact, some historical treatises mention that Emperor Soleil actually trained under the legendary swordsmen of Higashi for several years before the final showdown that freed the world from the Witch Queen's tyranny.

Viviane adjusted her route, moving closer to the chatting students. Though she knew that eavesdropping was terribly rude, she couldn't help herself. She was curious about these mysterious students from Higashi. More than that, Viviane couldn't help but think that perhaps meeting them might be able to open up a new perspective when it came to solving her problem.

After all, it wasn't as if she had all the time in the world. Once the foreign students left, so too would the princess. And as her knight, Medrauta would be bound to follow.

"Apparently, they're having a match with the princess and her new knight right off that bat!"

Viviane froze.

Medrauta's okay...? Thank Aluvsha...

"What? No way! Didn't Dame Medrauta just recover from those terrifying injuries? I watched her match against the prince, you know. There's no way anyone can recover that fast!"

The other student shrugged. "The match is getting set up right now, so we'll be able to see if it's the truth or not. Besides, I heard it was the princess' idea. Apparently, she wanted to give them an 'Avalyne welcome', but I bet she just wanted to show off. She's pretty spoiled, don'tcha think?"

"Shh! You can't talk about the princess like that! A-Anyway, let's go watch!"

Viviane tailed the two ladies as they continued to speak excitedly about the foreign students as well as Medrauta's impromptu match. She still hadn't figured out what she should do to get her knight back, but at the very least, seeing Medrauta would be a good first step.