Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 44 - Their First Dance

"He still has six months left of his tour..." Viviane said. "We might have a truce with Kaslavna right now, but the situation at the border has always been... dangerous."

Medrauta didn't quite have a response for that. She'd never been to the north, nor had she actually seen what the situation was like. Instead, she simply pulled Viviane closer to herself, offering comfort with intimacy.

By the time the two of them managed to negotiate their way through the crowd and up the staircase, Gwenhwyfar and Duke Castellia had already sequestered themselves inside of a separate room guarded by two imperial knights.

The knights eyed Medrauta and Viviane with a measure of caution as they approached, though one of them recognized the duo.

"Good evening, Lady Viviane. Dame Medrauta. Your victory against Princess Gwenhwyfar and Prince Galahad has been circulating amongst the imperial knights already. How may we assist you?"

Viviane wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but Medrauta's grimace told her that it definitely wasn't.

"I'm here to see my father," Viviane said. "May we enter?"

The imperial knight shook his head, replying in a tone that was cordial but tense. "My apologies, Lady Viviane. The princess has ordered that no one be allowed into the room without exception. Not even we imperial knights were permitted to attend to the princess. Which..."

"Leaves you pretty nervous?" Medrauta asked.

The knight nodded in response, and Medrauta returned the nod knowingly.

She had spotted a saber hanging by the duke's hip during his speech, and apart from the imperial knights, he was the only person who was armed in the entire venue. Seeing as none of the knights were holding on to the saber, it was safe to assume that the duke was still carrying it.

As knights sworn to protect the imperial family, allowing the unarmed princess to be alone with an armed man—even a duke—was tantamount to dereliction of duty. Medrauta could more than understand how the man was feeling. After all, she'd never leave Viviane alone with an armed individual if she could help it, and she doubted that their presence was doing the knights any favors.

If anything, the two of them were just more factors that the already anxious knights would have to deal with. Even though Viviane was the duke's daughter and hardly a suspicious individual, the knights would still have to be alert regardless. Medrauta knew this well and pulled Viviane to the side.

"Perhaps we should come back later? Besides, it looks like the first song is about to begin," Medrauta gestured to the far side of the room where a piano and its pianist sat.

"Ah!" Viviane's eyes lit up for a second, only to fade after a moment. Of course, she wanted to enjoy the moment with her knight, but she simply couldn't stop her thoughts from being dominated by the possibility of something having happened to her father. Or worse, to Castellia fief. "But... I'm worried, Medrauta. What if father—"

"Shh." Medrauta silenced Viviane, pressing a finger against the noblewoman's dainty lips. "I imagine the princess and your father are having an important discussion, but it shouldn't last longer than the first dance. So until that ends..."

Medrauta paused, removing her finger from Viviane's lips and then bringing it to her own. Viviane's lipstick had stained her finger, but she didn't mind. In fact, she kissed the scarlet smear lovingly as if it were Viviane's own lips.

"...I want you to think only of me."

"O-Okay..." Viviane replied meekly. It was all she could manage without collapsing into an incoherent mess as she lowered her gaze to the floor in an ill-fated attempt to hide her rapidly blushing face.