"Roseblade? You set Nicks up with a Roseblade?" Jenna asked with a bit of alarm. She, Nicks, and I were back in my tea room talking about the Tea Party I managed to set up between him and Deirdre.

Nicks had graduated in the same ceremony as Clarice and was now working under our father officially to help manage all the new growth in our family's territory. He was given time off from his work when my mom found out that I might have found him a match. Dad was annoyed but could not overrule his loving wife if he wanted her to stay loving to him. Thus, Nicks found his way back to the Academy.

"What do you have against Deirdre?" I narrowed my eyes, feeling a bit defensive of my friend. My older sister just rolled her eyes and waved off my concern.

"Her, I don't really have an issue with. However, I've heard rumors about her older sister. Dorothea Fou Roseblade, the Academy's Golden Girl of her year." Huh, Deirdre never mentioned that she had a sister. Then again, I never really told her about my siblings either until I brought up Nicks. Jenna then turned to the man in question. "You were there before she graduated, right?"

"Miss Dorothea? Yeah, I was in my first year when she was already in her third year." He confirmed with a nod. That would make her two years older than Nicks and three years older than Deirdre.

I filed away that piece of information and spoke up. "So what's the big deal about Deirdre's sister?"

"She was at the top of her year her entire time at the Academy. Three years and no one could come close to her academic and practical scores. She was perfect in everything." Jenna was surprisingly knowledgeable about an alumnus that was already out of the school by the time she would have started. Was she an admirer or something?

"Not really seeing anything wrong with her so far, Jenna. She sounds awesome, actually." I pointed out. Nicks just opted to stay out of it and let the two of us talk amongst ourselves.

"The problem with Dorothea is that she never managed to secure an engagement her entire stay in the Academy. In fact, she's still unmarried to this day." I blinked at Jenna's explanation. What? That was crazy! If she was the best of the best of her year, the guys in her generation should have been tripping over themselves trying to secure an engagement with her!

"That does sound pretty weird. Do you know anything about it?" Nicks looked at me with wide eyes as he sipped his tea. C'mon man! This could be our new sister-in-law we're talking about here! You could be more involved, you know?

"I'm in General Studies. Everything I know about Miss Dorothea is from what I heard from others during that time. At most, I saw her every now and then around campus from a distance." Nicks told us before narrowing his eyes in recollection. "I can't say that I ever heard her be involved with anyone from that time though."

"See? If she is unmarriable, who's to say that her younger sister is any different?" Jenna scolded me while pointing at Nicks. "You're really useless when it comes to this stuff."

"At least I'm actually trying to do something to help Nicks. You've been too busy scaring off some of the new first year girls who were just trying to ask Daniel for directions." The look on her face when I shot back with that made Nicks and I laugh.

"He told you that?!" She actually looked pretty hurt so I decided to give her a break.

"No, Raymond did." Jenna's expression immediately changed to a far colder one as she muttered to herself about teaching my other friend a lesson. "Don't harm our friend, Jenna. I'll tell Daniel."

"How dare you use my fiancé against me." She mumbled unhappily and just decided to chomp on some snacks.

After a few minutes of more small talk and Nicks telling us how Finley and Colin were doing, he finally broached the subject of the Tea Party. "So, anything I should know about Miss Deirdre so I don't embarrass myself in front of her?"

Jenna also looked at me in curiosity as I thought about the question. Livia knew Deirdre better than I did as a girl, all I really understood about her was that she really liked Black Getter.

"Honestly, just treat her with respect." I told him the most obvious, yet important thing he could do. "She's pretty friendly and doesn't put people down like some of the other girls. She really likes Black Getter so I guess you can use that as a conversation starter."

"Easy for you to say, you have like three girls all over you." It was actually three girls, a ghost, and a very full-grown woman. I wasn't going to correct Nicks' misconception though.

"Nicks, you're a grown man. Act like it." Jenna told him with a sigh.

"Just relax and talk about anything. I'll set everything up beforehand so you don't have to worry about the drinks and snacks." I said more supportively. Once I was done, all Nicks really had to do was break the ice and make a good impression. I was totally not ignoring how unconvinced he still looked by the time we finished talking to him.

I was sure that it was going to work out.

…

Nicks Fou Bartfort sat across from the third-year girl that Leon set him up to have a Tea Party with. He had heard of the younger Roseblade sister before but this was the first time he had actually seen her personally. She was pretty different from her older sister in terms of her style. The long curls of her hair made a very striking impression. When he followed Leon's advice to talk about his Black Getter Armor, Deirdre immediately went on and on about how much she loved the intimidating machine. It was pretty startling to watch a girl be so invested in something that was predominantly male oriented.

Deirdre Fou Roseblade's first impression of Leon's older brother was that he was much more reserved than her friend. He had told her that he was an alumnus from the General Studies section of the Academy but not much else. She jumped at the chance to speak about Black Getter when he brought up the subject. Of course he would know about it, his brother was the Armor's pilot. Nicks looked like he was listening intently to her stories about her training in the simulator but she could tell that he wasn't really that interested in it.

When she asked about what he was doing after he graduated, Nicks started speaking about his experience in helping his father manage the family lands. They both quickly realized that they really didn't have anything in common with each other. Deirdre thought it was a shame as Leon went through all the trouble to set them both up with each other and she did genuinely think that Nicks was a good man. Though it didn't mean that they couldn't be friends. Nicks thought that Leon was right and she was a great girl, she was just a bit too intense for him and she didn't seem interested in the things that he did.

Nicks was about to thank her for her time and end the Tea Party when the doors suddenly burst open. The two of them turned to the source of the commotion and saw a young woman in a purple dress that had long straight blonde hair and blue eyes. Nicks' eyes widened when he recognized who just showed up.

"Dorothea! What is the meaning of this?!" Just as Deirdre exclaimed, the one who interrupted them was none other than her older sister. Nicks was wondering what she was doing here when the woman walked up to the younger sister.

"I told you not to accept this Tea Party invitation. What if he turned out to be someone unscrupulous?" Nicks felt a vein pop on his head. The hell was this woman talking about?

"Excuse me? I happen to trust Leon. If he says that his brother is a good man, then I will believe him. From what I have seen so far, he is correct in his assessment." He felt a lot better when Deirdre took his side and defended his dignity.

"That still does not mean that he is worthy of a Roseblade." Dorothea adjusted her argument instead. Rude. She didn't even know anything about him and she was already judging him.

"You just want me to end up like you, still unmarried even after graduating." He had to hold back his laughter at how casually Deirdre said that. Her older sister didn't seem to be expecting such words as she recoiled like she was struck.

"I'm just looking out for you, sister. It's been clear that you don't really think your actions through based on your letters." Oh yeah, that was definitely the wrong thing to say based on Deirdre's frown. It got even worse with her next words. "I mean, really! Piloting an Armor? A noble lady doesn't do such things!"

"I happen to enjoy piloting Black Getter and I am thankful to Leon and Control for giving me the opportunity even though I am a woman." The younger sister slowly said through gritted teeth. Nicks could empathize as he was getting really pissed at the older sister as well.

"And this is why you won't be able to find a ma–" Both sisters froze at the sudden loud noise close by. Nicks slammed both his hands on the table and stood up, knocking down his chair in the process.

"SHUT UP!" Dorothea took a step back as Nicks walked around the table and stepped between her and her younger sister.

If there was one thing he always understood, it was that his siblings had to find their own way in life. As much as he wanted to help them whenever they were in trouble, they would never learn if he did that. The results with Leon and Jenna spoke for themselves. The effects were a bit skewed with Finley so far but Colin was doing good progress into eventually being able to find his own path.

Nicks knew that he was making a mistake. He knew that he was blowing it and wasting the hard work that Leon put into this Tea Party so he would have the chance to find a good bride. But as an older brother, he couldn't stand how Dorothea was acting anymore.

"Ah!" She yelped as he went and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"I don't know what your problem is with your sister, but you sure as hell don't get to tell her how to live her life like that!" He yelled while shaking her a bit.

Deirdre looked up at Nicks' back as he stood between her and Dorothea. She never noticed how much taller than her he was or how broad his back actually was. A strange new feeling settled in her chest as he started berating her older sister.

"I get that you're trying to look after your younger sibling, I've done that too! But you can't live their life for them! You have to let them make their own decisions and let them live with those decisions, they won't ever grow up if you don't!"

The Roseblade name was always respected at the Academy thanks to her older sister. Deirdre herself started attending the Academy at the perfect time. It was long enough after Dorothea's time that people didn't compare her to her older sister, but was recent enough that their family's name was synonymous with success and excellence.

The side effect of that was people always saw Deirdre as superior to them, and she proved time and time again that she was. Leon and his lovers were the few who looked at her as an equal and not someone to look up to. They considered her as a friend instead of an idol.

What she was currently experiencing with Nicks was completely different from anything she had encountered was the very first time Deirdre found someone outside her family actually protecting her instead of confidently expecting that she could handle the situation herself. The realization made her eyes widen and her cheeks burn up.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?! Answer me!"

For Dorothea, being yelled at and manhandled by Nicks brought out a very new feeling in the very core of her being. She was the greatest of her year. Unparalleled and perfect in every way. Every boy who tried to court her wilted the moment she challenged them in any meaningful way. It was so disappointing that she never ended up getting married to anyone. All she wanted to do was prevent her younger sister from suffering through the same disappointments that she did.

Instead, Dorothea realized that her sister found the one man who was actually willing to stand up to her. Even better, he was doing so for the sake of her darling younger sister. The fierceness of his voice and the fury in his eyes made Dorothea's heart throb in a way she had never experienced before in her entire life. Has she finally found the one? She had to know.

"So what will you do next, you brute? Will you pin me down on the floor? The wall? The door? And right in front of my dearest sister?" Dorothea excitedly asked in quick succession as her breathing grew harder and her face heated up. The unexpected reaction snapped Nicks out of his anger. He quickly let go of the older woman and stepped back, only to be stopped by the table behind him.

"If I recall from Deirdre's letter, your name is Nicks, correct?" The man in question hesitantly nodded as Dorothea stepped forward and smiled. "Nicks, yes. I can get used to calling out that name."

"Is there something wrong, dearest Deirdre?" She asked as the hand she was about to reach out and touch Nicks' face with was intercepted by her younger sister, Deirdre holding onto her wrist with an iron grip.

"Nicks is having a Tea Party with me, dearest Dorothea." She calmly explained to her older sister even as both their arms shuddered from straining against one another. "It is quite rude of you to take away his attention from me."

"Not at all. I merely wish to get to know him better, for your sake as well." Dorothea also calmly explained to her younger sister as she kept trying to free herself. Nicks watched all this and was quickly losing patience at their antics. These two were supposed to be the best of the best of their respective years?

"What a coincidence, that is what we were doing before you quite rudely interrupted us." Deirdre responded, standing up so the two sisters were face to face with each other. The younger sister still had her older sister's wrist in her hand. Nicks finally decided to take a page from Leon's book himself and do something crazy enough to maybe work.

"Will the two of you stop barking at each other like a couple of mutts?! You're sisters dammit!" He yelled at them both, startling them enough for him to pull their arms off each other.

He glared at them both before speaking again in the tone he used to cow his own younger siblings whenever they went too far. "Now, will the two of you cut this shit out and get along or do I have to collar you both?!"

He wasn't sure if he got the right reaction when both girls looked down shyly, blushed, and fidgeted.

"Yes." They both said at the same time. Nicks breathed a sigh of relief and more calmly asked Dorothea if she wanted to join them for the rest of their tea party. She graciously accepted and things pretty much settled down from there.

Nicks was so relieved that the two sisters stopped arguing with each other that he never followed up on what exactly they meant when they answered 'Yes' to him.

…

I was surprised when, a few days after the Tea Party with Nicks, Deirdre apologetically told me that she wasn't going to be able to join our party when we went into the Capital's Main Dungeon.

"I have to go home and talk to my family about a few important things." She explained before giving me a wistful smile, she was even blushing! "Your older brother is a wonderful man, Leon. Be proud of him."

I couldn't help but grin as I watched Deirdre walk away with an actual skip in her step. Looks like Nicks made a really good impression on her. That was fantastic!

I guess that meant that he won't have any issues with marriage anymore.

Mission Accomplished! Good work, Me!

I was waiting at the Dungeon Entrance for the others in my pilot suit. Control was going to escort them here so I decided to check to see if there would be a lot of people around. Thankfully, there weren't that many so far.

"Ho there, friend! Might you be the infamous Doom Knight?" I blinked at the familiar voice that called out from behind me. I turned around at the sounds of armored footsteps and took a step back when I saw who it was.

Resplendent in gleaming white armor and a blue hooded cloak. There was a longsword strapped to his waist that had a pretty elegant looking pommel. The most striking thing about the new arrival was the mask he was wearing to cover his eyes. Though it did nothing to cover the very familiar blue hair of a man he had seen a few times before.

"C-can I help you?" I asked in a slightly higher pitched voice because I couldn't believe what I was looking at.

"I see that you are about to delve into the dungeon yourself. I would like to ask if you would let me join your party. It would be a good experience for me to have an adventure with the Doom Knight." Yeah, that was absolutely the last thing I was expecting to hear when I woke up this morning.

"I see. Umm…what should I call you?" Roland Rapha Holfort, dressed up as the Masked Knight that helps the main protagonist sometimes in the game, grinned even though his disguise didn't work on me at all for some reason.

"You can just refer to me as Masked Knight!"