CHAPTER XX.
He was slowly dying.
He was not born to waste away in some fancy chair everyone else calls: Throne.
Of course not!
Roland Rapha Holfort was born to be the center of attention, to be worshiped by the masses. He was born to seduce young innocent maidens, to secure his line would last forever!
But he has so few chances to do the former.
His wife, the Queen is an efficient manager, so efficient that she never messes up and in consequence he never has the chance to save the day!
When the Marquis told him about this tournament he was excited!
The chances he would have to relive his youth, he even thought about donning his mask again and winning the whole thing!
Maybe even finally taking off his mask to amaze the nobles and bask in their adoration.
But it was not to be!
Mylene decided to tag along to keep an eye on him.
His wife usually prefers to stay out of his way to avoid conflict, but this time she judged the event to be so grand that they both needed to graze it with both of their presences!
She was watching him like a Hawk and he simply didn't have the chance to really enjoy himself after the first day when she decided to take a walk around the camp.
The worst part was that he couldn't find a woman that matched his tastes in that short time.
This entire event has been dull so far.
However that changed when Malcolm finally came to pay respects to him.
The man looked pale and thinner than the last time he saw him in the palace.
That coupled with the bags under his eyes revealed, much to his dismay, that his breach in protocol can be overlooked.
To his understanding diarrhea is not fun, and perhaps that the man was suffering such affliction was punishment enough.
And if learning about the man's condition wasn't entertaining enough he got another treat in the form of a group of knights bringing in a few people to be judged by the Marquiss.
The best part was that one of the parts awaiting judgment was that Upstart baron that has been stealing the meager attention he has been able to procure for himself in the newspaper.
The case was scandalous to say the least.
Count Offrey wanted to extract quite the sum of Dia from the Baron in compensation for the trauma his daughter suffered and to replace her sex toys…
At first he got himself a little excited at the prospect of meeting the nubile daughter of the Count… Instead she was the biggest deception in the event so far, it was almost incredible how someone so young could be so rotten.
No one but her father was buying her lies and somehow she deluded herself that she was giving a good performance.
In contrast The Baron's concubine gave such an aura of purity that contrasted with her station in life… He felt sad that damn brat got to her first.
Angelica was doing fine for herself, somehow she managed to land on her feet after Julius' betrayal.
Mylene and Malcolm were about to allow the Offreys to extract an unpayable amount of money from the Baron.
That would have been one of the best outcomes for the crown, but it was such a boring finale to such an exciting situation.
Oh, Vince came to the Baron's defense.
Both his queen the Marquiss were about to ignore the Duke's pleas in favor of preserving the inexistent honor of the Offrey girl, but he had other plans.
"Will some Dia really satisfy your honor, Lord Offrey?" he asked with contempt, and before the man could lose even more face he continued "This kind of offense can only be settled in the field of battle!" He said looking from the Count first and then to the Baron.
"Before the Tournament starts the Champions of both Houses will settle this in the arena!" He said knowing that the Count will send his best to defeat the Baron, and when that happens that would be such a sweet revenge!
To have the one that has been stealing attention from him to be humbled or killed in the biggest stage in the kingdom right now will surely make him feel better.
0x0x0
Ever since she was aware of the world around her Leila Zel Lespinasse knew that the very same world was in danger.
This was the same world described in a certain Otome game she used to enjoy in her previous life; she was born in the same country as the first sequel of the trilogy.
After making sure her twin sister Noelle was doing well with her fiance Loic Leta Barielle.
She decided to take a look at the country where most dangers to the world come from: The Holtfort Kingdom.
She proposed to her own fiance Emile Laz Plevento embark on a trip to a Third World Country, as the kingdom was considered within the Alzer Republic.
He was such a docile man, always eager to please her and he naturally was ecstatic to take a trip and travel away with her!
The situation seemed normal mostly, a few things here and there didn't follow what she knew of the first game, she couldn't enter the academy to check on the characters of the third game.
But from what she has been listening to from the nobles she has met so far, the protagonist has a different name, nothing to worry about , especially when she has captured all five love interests.
And after a visit to a temple, she already was on the right path to becoming the Saint of this era.
She was currently sitting in a suite Emile managed to secure for the Armor Tournament the kingdom was organizing, she never paid much attention to that bugged ridded first release but she had read about this event.
The Villaines father, a Duke, was supposed to lose what is left of his political power in this tournament, this was the best outcome before the war event.
They were about to watch a non-scheduled match, one of those things so minor that it wasn't even mentioned in any forum. Or it was probably something not in the script, she has become familiar with them during her second life.
Emile approached her after speaking with some of the young nobles attending the event, he was good at networking, even though they would never ever use the contacts made in this kingdom, they were good for them to have while they stayed in the country.
He was in a good mood when he told her "So this is a grudge match between a Count's House and some well known Baron!"
"How come the Count doesn't just…?" She implied that the difference in status was too much and that the Count could probably just make the Baron disappear. If it was like back home, it would be like if any of the Six Great Nobles was insulted, they could just kill or maim the offenders.
"If the rumors are true, this Baltfort character somehow got married to Duke Redgrave's daughter."
Oh… so the villainess was already exiled? That was interesting, she felt some pity for her, when it rains it pours, not only she was forced to marry someone of a lower station but the man even picked up a fight with a higher ranking House shortly after the wedding.
"How come it ended up in a duel?" she had to ask, this was too much, but it was likely a better outcome than having the Count invade the villainess territory.
Emile chuckled uncomfortably "There are two versions of the cause. The first says the Count's daughter entered the Baron's tent with her servants to visit the Baroness and found them about to… you know" he chuckled again, that was scandalous! "And another wilder rumor says it was this Bartfort guy, with his wife and mistress together!" oh he was enjoying passing on this gossip, but rumors are such a wild thing, no doubt that was just an exaggeration.
"Keep going!" she whispered, eager to know more, she didn't like gossiping… but this was just too much!
"The Count's daughter said the Baron tried to get her to join with his other women, and when she refused he killed two of his man servants…" that chilled her spine, when gossip involves murder and a rape attempt, it stopped being funny.
"Is he a monster?!" she felt worse for the villainess, this guy was just the worse.
"They call him Pirate's Bane here, so no one doubts he did kill those servants" Emile explained in a more sober tone "The story he tells is different though. Lord Barotfort said he was in his tent with his women and his baby boy when the Offrey girl…" his baby boy? Probably an illegitimate child born from his mistress.
"That's the House of the Count?" she remembers that name too, traitors to the kingdom if she wasn't wrong.
"Yes, well, the man claims she ordered her servants to attack his wife when he told them to leave, he killed them before they could get to her!"
Having heard both sides of the story she was inclined to believe in the Baron's word, if the girl in question was the same from the games she was capable of that and more. "The royal family it's here, couldn't they avoid this duel?" she asked, they should have done something! Inner fighting is bad no matter the place you are in.
"There are no witnesses, they were about to put a hefty fine on the Baron but the Duke got involved" that seemed par for the course, punishing the lesser House and back to work…
The fact that the Duke got involved meant that he still supported his daughter, in the game he cut all ties with her, this was a pleasant surprise, the Duke was a better person than the two dimensional character in a game.
"When he couldn't get the Bartforts punished, the Count challenged them to a duel… for his daughter's honor and here we are!" he said gesturing with his hand towards the arena, a red armor wielding a halberd on one side and a blue one wielding a sword and shield on the other "Bartofrt will fight himself, but the Offrey's champion is someone claiming to be the Masked Knight, a big time hero from the last war they had, many think he is just an impostor though"
She knew about the Masked Knight, the forums had in depth guides about how to trigger him to make your life a little bit easier in the first game, he was someone who fought with the Black knight to a draw in the past, he always fought on behalf of the Royal House's interests, it was possible that this was yet another nail in the Duke's political coffin.
"I've put a bet on Bartfort, ten white gold coins for his victory!" Emile said to her dismay, that wasn't much to a rich Heir like him, but it was still an important sum of money.
"At least it wasn't too much!" she glared at him, he wasn't prone to gambling, but she could sympathize this time. The story was awful, and betting on the Baron was saying he believed his side of the story. A shame they had to part with that money though.
Just then a large group of nobles entered the suite, leading them was a man with long white hair and dressed elegantly, a couple of young women with blonde hair in different shades were right behind him, one of them was carrying a baby, and most of the other people held a resemblance that indicated they were related to each other. The people around them started whispering to each other, listening to them, she learned this was the Duke, there was no doubt one of the blonde women was his daughter…
The group made a beeline towards the window to the arena, they ended right next to them.
She could only look at the blonde woman that held the baby, a boy by the looks of his clothes, a few black hairs on his head and red-wine eyes… the same eyes of the woman, the mother had her hair braided in an elegant bun and was quite the beauty. Those were the characteristic features of Angelica Rapha Redgrave!
The villaines was married long enough to be pregnant, give birth and the wee little baby was a few weeks old already!
This was not right! She should be a newly married woman, and in no way she should have had the time to carry a pregnancy to term if the events of the game…
Sooner than she was prepared for, the duel started.
The Masked Knight had the support of the public and an obvious advantage in gear, even to her, his armor has a better performance than that of the Baron, but the Baron was successfully fending off every attack launched and even had the chance to retaliate every five or six strikes.
The man was skilled, but she thought that he would make a mistake sooner or later.
Some people around them started to yell in anger "That's not the Masked Knight!" or Impostor.
Soon the people in the suite around began cheering for the Baron that was valiantly holding off the superior armor.
A vicious shield bash made the red knight armor retreat spinning wildly.
The possible impostor had finally hit his opponent and was ready to finish him off when the red armor threw his weapon and advanced on him still spinning, confusing the masked knight long enough to have his guard open with a kick to the shield and a follow up precise elbow strike right in the chest area, where the armor is thickest to protect the pilot.
The red Armors right arm fell to the ground completely mangled however a spray of red flew out of the machine's chest and then the red armor walked away from the fallen blue machine as if it was a fact that the match was over.
The white armor of the referee approached the blue armor and with care pried open the hatch, she could see the white armor shaking its head before calling the match in favor of Leon Fou Bartfort.
As the crowd around her erupted in cheers, the medics entered the arena escorted by a squad of knights, they all walked with slow and deliberate steps as if to indicate there was no need to hurry.
After seeing the decisive blow she could hardly blame them, the man was dead, she was no expert in neither combat nor armor, she was no healer either but it was obvious that the strike had intended to kill.
"So that is what the knights of Holtfort are like… certainly, they do deserve their fame. I can't think of anyone back home that could outskill them!" Emile praised the pair, not caring for the fact that only one of them was walking out alive.
She felt the blood leave her face, the knight was dead. She looked up to see how Emile was also cheering for the victor who was getting out of his armor and walking out of the Arena.
"Are you all right Leila?" Emile asked her with worry, finally noticing that the match had caused a negative impression, she shook her head, she felt like vomiting right there and then. That was brutal.
She felt her legs tremble, a murder had just happened and these barbarians were all cheering!
"What are they doing?!" someone yelled, she looked back at the arena where the knights had beheaded the corpse and were showing it all around. She felt grateful to have been born in the Republic if this was the level of brutality of the Kingdom!
"THIS IS CALICO JACK, SCOURGE OF THE SKYES, CAPTAIN OF THE SKY VIPERS, WANTED MAN!" the crowd started booing…
They were approached by one woman from the Duke's entourage, "Are you okay?" she asked, she was a beauty with blonde hair, blue eyes and a buxom figure, she probably noticed Emile had started to support her so she wouldn't fall. Leila could feel her legs failing her.
"I think the end of the match was too much for her" Her fiance explained, it was true.
"Please let me help her" the woman held up her hand, it was glowing with a purple light…
"Holy magic!?" Emile asked, she was also shocked but it was as if he was far and she could barely focus on his words.
Later she would reflect that the kingdom has always had reverence for the users of this type of magic, it was not strange that a woman who can use it to this extent would end up in the company of such a powerful person like the Duke.
Thanks to the woman they had gained the attention of the rest of the entourage, but it was worth it, she started to feel the soothing effect of the rare magic immediately, all of a sudden the fact that a criminal was publicly executed didn't seem to be of much importance either, more importantly, Lord Leon was such an invincible knight, she couldn't wait until tonight when she'll...
"Greetings," the Duke himself came to them, and was looking at them curiously, probably due to the fact that he didn't recognize them in a suite full of his supporters "I'm Duke Vince Rapha Redgrave, and you are…?"
"I'm Emile Laz Pleven, and this is my fiancee Leila Beltre, we are from the Alzer Republic" Emile introduced both of them, she was better now but etiquette demanded him to introduce them both.
"It is rare for a member of one of the Six Great Nobles Houses to visit us, I hope your lady is feeling better" the Duke continued with the pleasantries.
"I'm feeling better now, thanks to…" she didn't know the name of the woman who helped her.
"This is Livia Fou Bartfort" the Duke introduced the woman, who curtsied politely "And this…" he directed their attention to another young woman with similar features except she was a bit taller and of course, the red-wine eyes of the Redgrave family. She didn't need to be told who she was "Is my daughter Angelica Fou Bartfort, they are both married to the young man who just fought in the arena. We are going to check on him now, please enjoy your visit to the kingdom, but I must warn you," the Duke got closer to them and said quietly "You shouldn't linger for too long, war is coming" with that the group left.
She looked at Emile and got closer to him so she could whisper in his ear "We should go back after the Tournament is overI" He nodded, they didn't want to be caught in the kingdom's inner conflicts.
The duke shouldn't still be this powerful at this stage of the game, but there was nothing she could do, except go back home and prepare to stop the Principality's weapons.
A/N: About Noelle and her stable relationship with Loic, this scene only depicts Leila's perspective, what is the truth?
Other than me, who knows?
Muahahaha.
Oh and if you find anything strange with Leila after being healed by Olivia... it's because Olivia's powers are growing and some of her thoughts leaked through the healing spell and influenced Leila.
A/N 2: Hey everyone, sorry for my mistake, this time it is chapter 20.