Louise yawned, leaning on David's arm as he kept a hand on her shoulder to keep her propped up, the exhausted girl blinking as he laughed, the vibration from his movement jiggling Boue as the slime sat atop his head, quietly burbling as it adjusted itself to a more comfortable position.
"You can make it to the carriage, I'm not going to be your pillow the entire way there." he said, and she grumbled, moving a hand to cover her mouth as another yawn escaped through her fingers.
"It's too early, and I used up a lot of willpower yesterday...How do you have the energy to wake up at dawn every day?" she complained as they stepped forward, walking behind Eleonore, who stared forward, quietly walking down the path towards the entrance of the estate where David had arrived by carriage a month prior.
He laughed, shrugging nonchalantly. "Emission doesn't use up that much willpower since it's so small-scale, and Gandalfr keeps me from crashing when I'm using a weapon. You've gotten better at controlling Explosion too, I was watching a couple times while you were training with Centurion."
The girl pouted, puffing her cheek out as she pushed away from him, stumbling before catching her balance. "I tried to copy your Expansion, but I can't do it. All I can do is make my Explosions bigger or faster to cast, I can't seem to make them small and controllable…"
"That's probably hereditary, Karin's the same way." he replied, before his attention was taken by Eleonore pointing her hand at the carriage waiting for them, the door open and Cattleya waving from inside.
"You can talk while we're moving, I have a headache so I want to sleep." she grumbled, raising her other hand to her forehead. "Ugh, Margrave Couture is a pain to deal with. You don't know how frustrating it is listening to that old creep droning on and on. He refuses to believe that there's two void mages under our roof."
Cattleya, who by now was within earshot, smiled at her sister's complaints, shifting farther into the carriage and moving the cane she had next to her to her husband. "Sir Couture is over eighty now, he's seen many generations and still doesn't fully trust that a Maillart can be so strong. Benedict, do you mind?"
The short man nodded, taking the walking stick and sitting up to place it on a railing at the roof of the carriage, giving enough space for the three to shuffle into the available seats. "The masters have already gone ahead with the necessary luggage. Lord Wilson, your 'guitar' and Derflinger are in the mix."
Louise sat towards the door, the rest of the seat taken by Eleonore while David had chosen to take Cattleya's other side, Boue sliding down the side of his head and mantle until the slime sat in his lap. "Thanks, I don't know if I'll be playing any songs but it's good to have it, but is Derf needed? I brought my knife just in case, but I can't imagine someone being stupid enough to stage an attack when so many powerful people are going to be there…" the Gandalfr said, and Cattleya hummed, scratching her chin in thought.
"It's just a precaution. None of us were born yet, but when Queen Marianne was coronated, it was right after the rebellion happened and some dissenters caused trouble. King Henri's went more smoothly, but when there's international politics at play, there's bound to be minor troubles."
Marquis Fontaine laughed, crossing his arms and leaning back in his seat. "Captain Agnes and the elites of the Musketeer Squad will be on standby, and like Lord Wilson said, there will be many upper nobles who can certainly hold their own. Even if there weren't...With Lady Agnes and the Duchess both in the same place, no one would dare bare their teeth."
"The two strongest mages in the country…" Eleonore said, crossing her arms and frowning. "Lady Karin's power, I know very well, but that Chevalier's...I've never seen her fight before. Isn't she incapable of elemental magic, even though she's a descendant of royalty?"
"Why can't you use Chevalier Style, even though you're Mother's daughter?" Louise asked, taking the chance to poke fun at her sister, who glared sideways at her, huffing at the question.
"You don't have grounds to say that when you can't use elemental magic. Even your own familiar has magic you don't. You can't perform Chevalier Style either."
"I haven't tried yet, it's possible I can!" the loli retorted, pointing to Cattleya. "Big Sis can, and she's also good with fire!"
The sickly woman sweatdropped, raising her hands and speaking in a calm voice to defuse the two's arguments. "Eleonore, you shouldn't judge people for their specialties, and Louise, you can do things even now that I never will. I do possess some level of skill with Chevalier Style, but even at my best I can't move without a cane. Besides, my elementless magic is poor, unlike yours. Golemancy is one of the few things I'm good at."
David blinked, turning to the woman in surprise. "I knew you favored golemancy, but you're not good with other magic?" he asked, and she nodded, chuckling at the expression on his face.
"Being unable to walk long distances made me develop an appreciation for things that can. My many pets, my golemancy...It's all stemmed from my own weakness. Personally, I don't see it as a weakness. The way I see it, it's better to be a master at one thing than average at many."
"...Why does everyone quote Ivaldi stories?" Eleonore asked, leaning forward to stare at her younger sister. "I know you like to read, but that one's from the original series, isn't it? It doesn't really apply anymore, the world's different than that Vidar's time period."
Cattleya's smile didn't fade at the blonde's statement. "Books are a window to worlds we can't ever enter, and Ivaldi is a look into the history of our world without the formality of record-keeping. Don't you find the parallels to our time interesting? I know Louise is particularly a fan of the series written at the start of the Blank Period."
"I don't like the ones where he tends to lose." Louise stated, shaking her head. "His losses are written so much more brutally than his victories, it makes him seem like he's weak. The point if Ivaldi is-"
"-an unstoppable hero with unbending will." David finished, and the girl nodded, though he sighed, running his hand along the back of the slime on his lap...Boue was mostly dry to the touch, keeping all its moisture inside its body and giving it somewhat of a form to pat, though it felt more like he was rubbing a balloon than an animal. "I think we've talked about that before, it's boring to have a hero with no faults. If they win all the time, isn't it boring?"
"If they nearly die, it's no fun either! Books are supposed to be for entertainment, who roots for someone who can't face their enemies?"
"...It's more common than you think in reality, why not in fiction too?" he asked, and she blinked, sighing as she leaned back.
"Reality and stories are different. Look, that's just my thoughts. You can like failures if you want, but I've already lived that life. I don't want to see it when I'm reading too."
"Isn't it fun talking about the world of books, Benedict?" Cattleya asked, leaning sideways onto her husband's shoulder and closing her eyes. "And Louise hasn't been this talkative in so long...It's nice that Lord Wilson came, I was hoping to see this side of my sisters again."
"Arguing amongst themselves?" the man asked, and she grinned, nodding in response.
"Mother's presence is enough to keep everyone quiet out of fear and respect, but it's so much better to let loose and be lively. Anger or happiness, it doesn't matter which. Love and hate are the same thing, they are the opposite of apathy."