"What- Hey."
Estelle winced a little. She had been dreading this for the last week, ever since that moment in Aurnion when Flynn, uncharacteristically insistent for such a normally-amiable man, had made her promise. On some level, she supposed she had even been hoping that Yuri wouldn't discover it until he was alone - or possibly at all.
They were the only ones still awake at the campsite, so she had almost gotten her wish, but now he was stomping over to her, his irritation and confusion lit by the the flames and the full moon overhead.
"Estelle." Even as agitated as he was, he somehow managed to keep his voice low. "What is this." He brandished the neatly-folded uniform at her like a weapon.
She should have rehearsed this more in her head, Estelle decided. Then she could have been like the prince in that play, bold and defiant as she stuck up for what was right. Instead, she offered up a tiny hopeful smile as she told him, "Flynn... wanted you to have it."
Yuri made a dismissive noise, folding his arms under his chest. "And I said thanks but no thanks. So why is it here."
"Well..." Estelle hesitated, then got to her feet. Yuri was still quite a bit taller than her, but at least he no longer towered over her like an ogre. Standing made her feel more - sure of herself. "After you said 'thanks but no thanks', he made me promise to put it in your bag anyway."
"He-" Yuri cut himself off, and stared down at the uniform in his hands. There was an odd expression on his face, and with his head lowered it was thrown into shadow, but she thought she might have called it... sulky. "That jerk."
Estelle frowned. She wasn't completely sure she understood why Flynn had been so firm on this point. There were many, many wonderful stories about heroes disguising themselves before they did their great deeds, and she had always thought of Yuri as one of those heroes. It didn't matter what he looked like or whether anyone ever knew about it; he was still a hero, a true knight, the kind of person the Empire should have been proud to have among their number. But she did know that whatever Flynn's reasons had been, they weren't spiteful or mean-spirited.
So she protested, "He isn't a - jerk. He just wanted to honor you." Because that much, she did understand.
"Yeah, well." Yuri's eyes were still on the uniform. "Maybe I don't want to be honored." Then he turned away, striding toward-
-oh, no, striding toward the campfire-
Estelle took quick steps to get between him and it, throwing her arms out protectively. "Yuri, no!"
He met her eyes, and his held no surprise. He had really meant to do it, she saw. He had really been about to throw the uniform on the fire.
"He gave it to me," Yuri said, shrugging one shoulder casually. "So it's mine. I can do what I want with it."
Estelle just stared at him, dismayed. "Yuri..."
Maybe it was important, after all.
He took a sideways step and she realized he was going to walk around her and finish what he'd started. What would the prince have done, she wondered, panicking. What would a real prince, like Ioder-
"Wear it once!" she blurted.
Yuri paused and turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow. "Or I could wear it never," he suggested. "I think never would work better for my schedule."
"No," Estelle pleaded. "I mean - wear it just once. Then you can throw it away or - or burn it, if you really want. You don't have to wear it somewhere he can see!" she added, on inspiration. "It could even be - right here. But I promised him I would get you to put it on. Just once, Yuri. Please."
He seemed so immovable, standing there before her with the uniform - its many layers still crisply folded - dangling from one hand. With the fire behind her and the moon at his back, his expression was mostly unreadable. It wasn't, she reminded herself grimly, as if he couldn't have easily thrown it over her head or around her. Would she be able to move in time to catch it, or jump high enough to reach it? She wasn't sure. It all depended on him.
Then Yuri relaxed, one hand going to his hip. When he shook his head, the moon caught his face and she could see his smile. "...It means that much to you, huh?"
It means that much to Flynn, she thought, but did not quite say. She knew Yuri already knew that, and she knew he sometimes had difficulty admitting to his feelings. When Flynn was involved, "sometimes" seemed to become "always". So, maybe it was the better part of valor to be... discreet about it.
"It really does," she said instead. "You could - go behind those trees and change right now! Everyone else is asleep, so..."
"Yeah, yeah." But he was folding the uniform under his arm and even turning in the direction of the copse. "I'll be right back. If I don't drown under all these layers, I mean."
Estelle smiled. She doubted the uniform Flynn had given him would really be that much more complicated than any other uniform he'd worn in his life, but... discretion. If it made him feel better about putting it on to pretend it was an impossible puzzle of buttons and laces and layers, then so be it.
The fire crackled, and she knelt down in front of it to wait, watching the flames dance. Listening to the sound of Karol snoring, across the fire - Raven snoring even louder next to him - Rita's gentler breathing, closer to her... It was lucky that they were all pretty sound sleepers, she thought, and then wondered where Judith had gone off to - but not for very long, because she knew the older woman could take care of herself.
Soft trotting footsteps behind her alerted her to Repede's presence, and she turned to scratch him behind the ear - haltingly still, because there were still times when he turned his nose up at her affection - but this time she was brought up short by the man standing behind him.
Oh.
Estelle stood again and surprised herself by flushing a tiny bit. This uniform was - nothing like what he had worn in Heliord. It had obviously been tailored to him precisely and it followed all the lines in his body very closely. With the bolero jacket and the chainmail and the high collar - he looked so... elegant.
It was a startling difference and she could not quite stop her mouth from falling open in possibly-unflattering disbelief.
"Yuri," she said softly.
His lips twisted up and he looked away, pushing his hair out of his face. "You can laugh if you want. I'm pretty much used to it."
Estelle gaped at him, then covered her mouth with her hands hastily. "No! No, no, no. Yuri, you look - wonderful. It really suits you!"
Repede barked his agreement, but Yuri only raised an eyebrow, plainly skeptical. "...No, really," he said. "If you want to laugh, you can go right ahead."
Estelle frowned. Was this why he hadn't wanted to put it on...? He really thought he would look so ridiculous? She pursed her lips and shook her head, as firmly as she could. "I don't want to laugh, Yuri, and I won't. Flynn wouldn't either," she added, more riskily.
He was quick to snort and wave that thought away, but not quite quick enough; she had seen his eyes widen, even if only a little bit. "How can this suit me. It's a knight uniform."
"No," Estelle said slowly, because now that she thought about it, she recognized the clothes. "It isn't. It's the uniform of a free paladin." Reflexively, she closed her eyes, visualizing the words she had once read. "A free paladin is a man or woman entrusted by the Empire with the sacred duty of upholding the values of truth and justice even beyond its borders. These rare individuals are not members of the Imperial Knights but are given the authority to act on the advice of their own consciences. They answer to no one but the Emperor or Empress themselves."
It was... perfect, really.
When she opened her eyes, Yuri had raised both eyebrows.
"...Right," he said, and started back for the copse of trees. "Well, I wore it once."
Estelle reached out for him, then let her hand fall to her side and watched him go. Even if Yuri burned it now, it... wasn't her place to stop him. No one else could make a decision this momentous for him. But it was so frustrating. If she remembered the laws correctly, a free paladin could even still be a member of Brave Vesperia - and it wasn't as if he would have to wear the uniform all the time. Free paladins could dress as they pleased... The uniform was only a symbol.
A symbol of something wonderful that Flynn and Ioder must have discussed thoroughly and devoted a great deal of thought to.
Throwing it away seemed so...
But Yuri did not come back to the campsite that night, and when he returned in the morning he only packed up his share of the supplies and suggested they all move out. With everything else that happened over the following month, challenging Duke and destroying the Adephagos and realizing she now had the opportunity to do with her life whatever she wanted, Estelle never had another chance to ask him about the uniform.
So to call it a surprise when he arrived at Ioder's coronation dressed in black, with gold trim and chainmail and his hair now swept back in a high ponytail, would have been something of an understatement. The smirk on his face challenged anyone present to react.
It would have been rude to squeak at a coronation, so Estelle covered her mouth with her hands instead. Stealing a glance at Flynn's face, she could tell he was every bit as shocked - and maybe, she thought, even more pleased.