Rs:

Catherine, Richard, Leonardo, and I were sitting at a table right after Catherine just said something unbelievable. Leonardo looked like a ghost with all the life drained out of him while Richard looked more worried than surprised. Catherine looked indifferent to all of this. I couldn't believe it at first but once the shock left me, it became plausible.

"So why are we sitting here?"

Catherine asked while looking at everyone. Richard looked at Leonardo before talking to Catherine.

"Look Catherine… you to Rosaline. The fact that Leonardo has a crest, has to be kept between us four."

Richard didn't speak with his usual confidence or his care-free attitude. This is the first time I have ever seen him so shaken. He really wasn't asking me for confirmation but rather at Catherine. She looked at him and then at Leonardo.

"But why?"

"Catherine, please."

Richard looked at Catherine with such helplessness that I just remained quiet.

"You know I have to report this to Lady Rhea since no one else in the school knows about his crest."

"She doesn't have to know about this."

Catherine slammed her hand down on the table so hard that I thought the table would have broken. She lost the calmness on her face.

"Richard, choose your next words carefully."

Her voice was dead serious. I was confused by her words. I assumed that they were friends but now she is threatening him. What's going on here?

"Catherine, listen. What will Lady Rhea gain from knowing that Leo has a crest. Nothing. The only thing that will happen is that it will create more problems for Leo and the Alliance. It hasn't created any problems since Leo got here and it's going to stay that way unless you tell Lady Rhea."

Richard's words almost had no effect on Catherine. She still had an angry expression on her face but I could tell she calmed down slightly. She still didn't look convinced. Leonardo finally spoke since sitting down with us.

"Catherine. Do you know what will happen if you tell Lady Rhea that I have the crest of Daphnel?"

Catherine didn't reply but kept her eyes on him. Leonardo continued.

"Originally House Daphnel was one of the great five lord of the Alliance. There was a feud over inheritance so the family split into two. One half stayed in the Alliance while the other side defecting to the Holy Kingdom. The family that defected became known as House Galatea, which is Ingrid's house. For some odd reason, no one from house Daphnel had been born with a crest for generations. Except me."

Catherine's face relaxed while she maintained eye contact with Leonardo. I knew most of what he said but I didn't know about the original House Daphnel not having anyone born with crests. No wonder Ingrid's family pressures her so much with marriage. The crest of Daphnel is a rare dying crest. I finally speak as I have a question for Leonardo.

"If that's true, then how come no one has heard about your crest? I would imagine you would be famous in the Alliance"

Richard and Leonardo looked at each other. Richard had a worried expression on his face but Leonardo just nodded his head at him. Leonardo returned his eyes towards Catherine.

"I was raised as a commoner. I never knew my mother was a noble until I got here. Once I found out I had a crest, I assumed my mother knew this but she must have a reason as to why she didn't tell me. So I'm asking you Catherine, please keep this to yourself. If Lady Rhea asks you for some reason then you can tell her the truth. I'm just asking you to hold on to the truth. Please."

Leonardo had a weak smile when he begged Catherine. She closed her eyes and was in deep thought, she didn't open them when she answered.

"Fine but I want you two to understand something. If it wasn't your connection to Captain Veltus I wouldn't even have considered listening to your plea."

Catherine stood up but before she left she looked at me and gave me a smile.

"Sorry about that. You probably heard and saw some things that you probably shouldn't have. Sorry for dragging you into this."

I shook my head while speaking.

"No it's fine."

Catherine smirked to my answer and left without another word. Richard sighed in relief while Leonardo slumped into his seat. Richard looked at me before looking at Leonardo.

"Since she already knows about the crest should we tell her the rest?"

"Yeah I trust her."

Leonardo told me everything about his past. I also realized that they lied to Catherine.

"I wouldn't call it lying per say. More like withholding the truth."

Richard spoke with his usual tone which made me feel slightly better. It somehow made me more nervous that the usual cool and calm Richard who was scared. I smiled at Richard's answer.

"I wish I wasn't the only one that got to see scaredy cat Richard. I bet everyone would have been shocked."

"I was not scared. I was just playing it up so she could feel in control but once we hit her with that sad Leo face, we would have gotten her in the palm of our hands."

Leonardo covered his mouth which was forming a big grin.

"Richard. I've seen lost kids who were less scared than you. I thought you were going to cry."

"I wasn't going to cry!"

Leonardo and I laughed at Richard while he looked away from us. It felt like a regular afternoon now. After we calmed down, I had another question for Leonardo.

"So why do you want to keep it a secret?"

Leonardo looked at me while Richard looked at Leonardo with his eyebrows raised. Leonardo sighed and answered.

"What I said to Catherine wasn't wrong. My mom obviously knew since my father knew about it. There must be a reason why she didn't tell me so I will keep it a secret for her sake. Also, if everyone finds out that I have a crest of Daphnel, I would be forced into House Daphnel and probably become the next lord or automatically be forced to marry some noble. I don't want to be forced into that world. I'm not made for it. I was raised as a commoner and that's what I am. I wouldn't survive the noble world. I would probably be manipulated into doing something crazy or maybe even killed. I don't know and I would rather keep it that way. That's why I couldn't tell Claude. I like him and everything but I don't know if he would use that info for some scheme. I would rather just become a knight and help my father. Then return to mother and continue to live as a family again."

His final sentence made my heart sting but I was surprised by his words. I have never met anyone that would choose a simply normal life over becoming a noble. He has a golden path made for him into nobility yet he would rather live in peace. With his family. I smiled at Leonardo.

"That's a good enough reason for me and don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

Leonardo gave me a smile as well.

"Thanks Rosaline."

"Well since Leo just told us his life story I feel like sharing as well."

Leonardo and I looked at Richard waiting for him to continue. Richard had a weak smile on his face when he spoke.

"Sadly my story isn't as wild as Leo's but it's still my story. I'm a commoner who was raised by both my parents. I was a normal kid who lived in the capital of the empire. I actually met Dorothea when we were kids. I always played with her when I could and she became the first friend I had. Then… let's say that some very unfortunate events happened and my parents died when I was 10. Captain Veltus took me in as I trained under her wing. I was left with a choice. Keep training to become a knight or join a mercenary group that was in town. I chose to join the mercenary and I traveled around Fodlan doing countless missions. I learned how to defend myself. I became the man you see before yourselves."

He posed for us which lightened the mood after hearing about his parents. I tried to hold a giggle while Leonardo smirked at his pose. After he finished his pose he closed his eyes and continued to speak.

"I still trained with Captain Veltus throughout the years. I still believe that I owed her a huge debt but she never used that as leverage for making me a knight. However she was dead set on making me a knight but I was just as stubborn about it as her. Instead of guilt tripping me she used her second best weapon, her connections. She tried to use Catherine once but that made me want to only beat her in a fight not join her. She tried to use fear as a way to make me join. She told me about sometimes mercenaries had to do unpleasant things. My rebuttal was always that knights have to do the same thing except they use law as their reasoning."

As Richard was talking I saw his face slowly turn into a frown. For a second I thought I saw him get upset but just as fast as I thought I saw it, his face returned back to normal.

"Then her craziest plan actually worked. She sent the future emperor of the Empire to personally recruit me. In the end Captain Veltus got the last laugh. Damn her."

Richard started to laugh. It made sense to me now. The way he fought and the way he handled himself were nothing like a child of a knight would be like. His confidence when he fights is because of the years he has traveled across Fodlan. I don't know what he has seen or even experienced. He probably has been through much worse than I ever had yet he can still laugh like he is now. I already forgot that he was scared by Catherine just a few minutes ago. Leonardo as well. He had also been through so much and to carry such a heavy burden on his shoulders alone for so long must have been hard. I don't pity them. I respect them. I wish I could be like them.

"Well that's why I'm here. Obviously don't tell anyone that I'm not the adopted son of Captain Veltus. I learned it's pretty easy to lie about these kinds of things but it's probably just as easy for everything to crumble down."

Leonardo just nodded his head while I spoke.

"Of course Richard. Your secret is safe with me."

"Nice! By the way Rosaline, you can call me Ric if you want. You too Leo."

My eyes widened by his words. Leo shook his head.

"I'm afraid I have to decline. I would rather use your real name."

Richard laughed at Leonardo's answer. I took a breath before speaking.

"If it's fine with you guys, then you two can call me Rosa if you like."

I tried not to be embarrassed by what I said but sadly my cheeks betrayed me. I instinctively looked away from them.

"That's fine with me Rosa. You can call me Leo if that makes it easier for you."

I nodded at Leo's words and Ric was staring at me.

"Man Sylvain was totally right. You are pretty cute when you want to be, Rose."

I shot him a hard glare after he spoke which made him jump.

"I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that Richard. Also it's Rosa not Rose."

"You already gave up on using Ric!"

Ric held his heart like I just shot him with an arrow and Leo laughed. I sighed and shook my head at his actions.

"Since everyone else shared why they were here, I might as well join you two."

To my surprise Ric placed his hand up and shook his head.

"No need Rose. I feel terrible if I made you think about your family like that. It's obvious why you're here so no need to force yourself to tell us."

Leo nodded his head to Ric's words. If they would have said that to me yesterday I would have punched them but I saw Ric and Leo's eyes. Ric was genuine with his words. They were trying to be considerate of me. They didn't feel pity for me. They both thought that I've been through worse than both of them.

"Shut up. It's not fair that you two get to spill your guts out while I just get to watch. We are in this together right? So let me speak."

Ric and Leo's eyes widened until they looked at each other and smiled.

"Well go on head Rose."

I felt my eyebrow twitch at Ric's words.

"I'm going to let today be a free day but next time I hear that name I'm going to make you regret it."

Ric just smiled at my threat. Great now I have two Sylvains.

"Well just in case you two were not aware, my entire family was killed. A monster somehow got into the castle and killed everyone there. I was the only one left. I remembered that I hid away but then I somehow blacked out after a while. When I woke up, I was already at the capital of the Kingdom. Dimitri's family took care of me until the king remarried and I decided that I didn't want to be a burden to them anymore. I left and trained to become a strong knight. I didn't want to let my family's death hold me back. I was alive for a reason so I wanted to keep it that way. I trained under a knight and once I heard that most of my childhood friends were joining the Officer's Academy, I joined as well."

Ric and Leo listened to me with their full attention. Once I finished my story Ric closed his eyes and remained silent.

"I've only heard about some of what happened to your family. I'm sorry for your loss. I don't know if I had the strength to do what you did after your family's death."

I shook my head. Maybe it was stupid of me to think that someone had a worse experience than me or vise versa. Everyone's life is different.

"I think there's no point in thinking about a situation where you had to face what I did or what Ric did. Just know that I think all of you are strong for being here and no matter what I will have your backs."

Leo smiled at the words but Ric didn't move. Leo placed his hand in the center of the table.

"How about we do this? Let's promise that no matter what, we hold our secrets until everyone is ready to talk about it to the rest of the students here. We will have each other's back even though we are from different nations. How about it?"

I looked at Leo's hand for a second before I put my hand on top of his.

"Even though I technically didn't have a secret like you two do, I'm in. It's nice to have friends outside of our own house, you know?"

I smiled at the two of them which Leo returned kindly. We both looked at Ric and were surprised by the fact that he still hasn't moved. After a few seconds he placed his hand on top of mine.

"I couldn't think of a cool name for our secret group."

Leo burst out laughing and I giggled to his reason for his silence. I spoke while Leo was still laughing.

"Don't worry we have time to figure out a name later."

We all shared a laugh and we raised our hands into the sky. I felt happy with my newly established friends.

R:

I'm sorry Rosaline. I hope you can forgive me for holding onto the truth a little longer.

AN:

Yahello! Back again with a another chapter. Sorry about the short length but I thought this was enough content for one chapter. Also this is everyone's back story so hopefully this isn't too much. After this, we are going to blast through this moon since I'm not a big fan of having so many chapters per moon. I realized that I'm only on the third chapter of the game and I still have a lot left to go. I might do another before mission chapter or just go straight to the mission part. The next chapter probably won't come out so quickly so don't expect that again. I don't really have much else to say so thank you for reading and have a great day.-Omas125