CHAPTER XXXIII.
There were important things happening.
More than half of the male students have disappeared from the academy overnight, all of them barons, their fiances disappeared with them too!
Marie Fou Lafan only knew this was different from the script, she did know this was a bad thing though, all of the absentees were considered rebels now.
She scratched her writs below the Saintess bracelet, the damn thing was constantly sending magic to her and it itched and was annoying!
Julius learned about the Principality of Fanoss' surprise attack/declaration of war and spent a few days after the escape of the Redgrave's heir alongside the villainess' sister-in-law planning on how to join the frontlines.
But the disappearance of the rural nobles has thrown a major wrench on his plans.
The rest of the children of the Duke's faction were now being held hostages, even though they alerted Erica about the plans of the Bartfort girl to escape, however that just meant that they are the only hostages they have available now, and their value was questionable…
Right now Marie was in the same hall where she saw her prince for the first time, this time she was standing behind him as he tried his best to convince the remaining students to join in his efforts to help the kingdom.
The hall was half empty, the baron's children made a majority of the male students in the academy and right now most of them are clearly enemies of the crown.
In the game they made up the bulk of the protagonist's troops.
The situation was dire, Marie was always reliant on the foreknowledge of the events to come, and this was like playing in Hardcore mode!
Once Julius finished his speech the male students that remained all cheered, they were the sons of prominent families, and could bring considerable resources too!
But if they die in battle…
No she has to be optimistic, her boys were considerably stronger than they were in the game at this stage, they would prevent any major losses for sure!
0x0x0
Ethan was kneeling and panting, his arms a mess of hematomas and shallow cuts.
The man standing in front of him, the man who gave him the most through defeat of his life is none other than his future brother-in-law: Viscount Leon Fou Bartort.
Lord Leon held back he was sure, because he was still breathing, no matter how difficult it was.
But he had to measure himself against the man who brought down the Principality's Black Knight!
He thought himself close to his level, he thought that if he trained hard for a few more years he would have the necessary strength to fight an opponent such as the Black Knight and win.
He felt betrayed by fate once he heard the news from Lord Gilbert, 'If only I was born a couple of years earlier' he thought, but right now after witnessing and feeling the gap in power between his brother-in-law and himself… if he was born five years earlier he would still have lost badly to him.
This spar was such a humbling experience.
Ethan felt relieved that such a man would become his kin, his ally and that maybe, just maybe his own children would inherit some of that talent from their mother's side of the family.
He would not take any concubines, he absolutely wanted to see what his children would be capable of when he mixed his own outstanding blood with that of the monster that just left him behind to go fuck his own women.
That was all he was doing since he came to his territory again… After an appropriate amount of groveling of course.
His second wife had given birth to his first daughter, a beautiful baby girl they named Odalis; it was some sort of tradition within the former peasant's family to have their daughter's names start with an "O".
Getting the Viscount to spar with him was such a feat too.
The man wasn't even ruling his own land in favor of spending as much time as possible with his family.
He can understand that he will soon be deployed to the frontlines, once either the principality or the Kingdom prevailed it would be their turn to enter the fray.
He wanted to be there too, but Lord Gilbert made it clear that he would not be going to the front, the excuse? he has no Heir!
Lord Gilbert has no Heir either and he would be going to battle regardless,
Hypocrite!
No, Lord Gilbert really wasn't a hypocrite, he knew that the man wouldn't be fighting directly, he would be commanding the troops from the relative safety of an armored airship.
In truth Ethan just wanted to lash out, but he was mature enough to restrain himself.
It's just that he received a letter the morning of their escape from the capital.
Through that letter his father has ordered to break his engagement with Finley and support Prince Julius in any way he could.
House Robson has officially become one of the loyalists!
By now he must have already been disowned!
"You are brooding again" Finley's calm and collected voice got his attention, she knew of course, because he had told her when they arrived and then to everyone else that matters in the territory.
"I think some brooding is allowed when your family disowns you" he replied without looking up, he was lucky the Bartforts decided not to cancel their engagement, probably from their point of view this would be but a temporary setback.
Once the Redgrave faction prevailed they will be reinstating him as the Heir of House Robson… and exile his parents.
"You may be right about that but I don't like you brooding, especially after I got to the trouble of getting Leon to spar with you, Big sis Angelica is still glaring at me!" It was rare for his fiance to be that worried about anyone's opinion, but Lady Angelica was a different matter to her. "I thought you would be less grumpy after getting your ass kicked by big brother" and there she was, back to sarcastic self.
"Come on, I'll see if Lady Olivia can heal me" he had little hope of that happening though, Lady Olivia was just as mad at him as Lady Angelica.
"We better go to Miss Joan and save us glares" she told him in reply.
He sighed and looked up, this was a nice slow life, but this probably was just the calm before the storm.
In an airbike Coling passed at high speed, he had hardly gotten down from that thing ever since Lady Clarice had gifted it to him, and she was probably somewhere watching him ride it. He did not envy his friend, his future wife was beautiful but her love was… heavy.
"So, who do you think will be Colin's second wife?" He asked in sincere curiosity, ever since Finley made that comment to the Princess he has been thinking about what she said in times like this.
"Probably House Roseblade's second daughter" his fiance told him in an amused tone, no matter how beautiful those women are, he couldn't see himself being compatible with their personalities.
"I think he should go with someone his age though" he commented, not wanting to entertain the possibility of being related to both sister's through his brothers-in-law "maybe one Spencer's daughters"
"Please, age has no relevance in this, besides,in twenty years a four or five year gap will hardly matter," Finley said, shrugging.
Touche.
0x0x0
Olivia was happily nuzzling up to Lord Leon's chest on his left side, at his right was Angie.
She had given birth while he was away, sick with worry her little one had decided to come out early to brighten her days, although she was so small she couldn't help but worry.
Cleare was ready for it though, she had built an incubator for her baby, it was a machine with a crystal cage that provided her baby with an environment that simulated her own belly!
For a couple of weeks she could only hold her little Odalis to feed her.
It was heart wrenching, she longed for nothing more than to hold her.
The time waiting for Cleare to declare her baby out of danger was an eternity for her.
She had her parents and her own family with her all the time and that helped ease the desperation she felt watching her baby practically locked in there.
But eventually she was released and she could shower her with all the love she felt in her chest!
Baby Gil, almost a year old now couldn't help but be fascinated by his little sister and wanted to be close to her too.
She wasn't sure he understood the concept of siblings but Angie has talked to him enough about his little sister that he understands Odalis is important to him.
Olivia hoped they would grow up as normal siblings, loving and protecting each other.
Her heart was calm for a while, but then she started worrying again. Would her Husband come back?
Sure, she has him here right now, but back then there was some… no, not some there was a lot of uncertainty if he would ever come back or not.
Angie was the same but she was a lot better pretending nothing was wrong, she even knew more about the knight their husband was sent to kill.
Those were some long nights where she could do nothing but worry about him.
When Cleare showed them a letter from him informing them that he had succeeded they were overjoyed knowing he would be coming home soon, but that was nothing compared to when he finally showed up with not a visible scratch she couldn't help but cry of pure happiness.
Angie though, she slapped him and told him to never worry her like that again, she felt half tempted to give him a slap of her own as well.
She was angry as well, he missed their daughter's birth and his absence was the cause of Odalis' premature birth.
He had a lot to make up to.
But she couldn't be angry for too long, not with him or Angie.
He has their entire lives to make up for them and she didn't want to waste time being angry with him either, she has missed him, and so did Angie, so she decided to avoid all the apologies and kissed him.
The rest was history, they spent the rest of that day with their babies.
Gilbert seemed to have forgotten about his father after over a month without contact, it broke Lord Leon's heart but watching their husband's attempts to ingratiate himself with his firstborn melted Angie's own heart.
In the night she enjoyed a night of passion with both her Lord and Lady the way they have been doing ever since Lord Vince ordered Lord Leon to ambush the Black Knight.
But now she could participate much more actively than when she was still pregnant with Odalis.
She has all but moved to the master bedroom of the estate and shares the same bed with Lord Leon and Angie.
Soon, Lord Leon would need to fight again, at least the next battle would be the last if everything goes according to the plan.
0x0x0x0
Emile and Serge have officially gone mad.
In her Humble Opinion at least…
So what if she doesn't have a paper saying she is a shrink!?
Anyone with a functional brain can tell you that!
At this point she doesn't give a damn about her homeland!
In her defense, if Alzer can produce men like them and then put them in positions of power they deserve anything that comes their way!
Now, why would she, Leila, be so ready to abandon her fiance and country right now?
Well, maybe it has something to do with the pair of idiots flying a pirate flag and then attacking the territory of a man known as Pirate Bane!
They conceived this plan after drinking an obscene amount of vodka while playing a poker game with Loic's corpse and thought it was the best idea ever!
Serge and her fiance Emile will be attacking together hoping for a quick reaction from Bartfort.
And the worst part is that they said it was Loic's Idea… There is something very wrong with their sense of humor!
After hearing it was Loic's idea she, naturally, thought they were joking and let it slide, but she was proved wrong the next afternoon when they started to design their jolly roger she knew should have slapped some sense into Emile's head as Noelle suggested!
From then on her sister and her tried to convince them that it was a bad idea!
They had legally declared themselves as outlaws the second they fly that damn flag!
They could have become a target for any lawful noble inside the kingdom, and by this point it is clear to them that all of the rural nobles from this god forsaken country hate pirates with passion!
She warned them but they didn't listen!
Left with no other option Noelle and her have a plan of their own to maximize their chances of survival.
Serge was so sure of his victory that not even when she reminded them that due to their armors reliance on the Sacred Tree they would have twenty minutes to defeat all the defenders of the island and force Lord Bartfort to come out!
All Serge had to say was "That is plenty!"
She seriously wanted to get moving and maybe witness the first clash of the Fanoss/Holfort war and show them the one of this worlds most dangerous creatures destroy Holfort to get their pompous asses back into gear!
But it was not to be.
They were already in the Pïrate's Bane territory, and to make things worse a merchant fleet has already spotted them and turned back to the floating island of the infamous noble to warn the Viscount about the pirates stalking his lands!
Begrudgingly she had to accept that Serge's plan was working well… statistics at work, the guy had to be right at least once in his sorry life!
Leila took Noelle's hand and guided her to their cabin where they proceeded to change their outfits.
She wanted them to nail the Damsel in Distress appearance in time for what she believes is the boy's inevitable defeat!
Their crew is also indulging them in their plan and are looking the part the best they could… meaning they are all drunk.
When and where they got the booze was a mystery she had no patience to solve right now!
Leila donned a blouse that showed a lot of cleavage and a short skirt to get the attention of the Pirate's Bane, while Noelle wore some more prudish garments.
It was okay, she didn't want them competing for the man's attention.
They were doing this in response to the Heir' crazy scheme, because no matter how strong Serge believes he is, his opponents are seasoned knights that have been fighting constantly the last two years!
Once they were ready they locked themselves in a storage room to pretend to have been kidnaped by the pirates.
If Serge and Emile somehow manage to defeat the Baron then this measure would only be some kinky play between her boyfriend and her.
She wasn't sure what would be the best outcome for them.
On one hand if Serge wins and witnesses the power of the principality they would have the necessary backing to save the Republic; but given all she now knows of them, they will somehow ruin the future somehow!
The six Great Noble Houses are decaying, the Lespinasse are all but gone already, Leila and Noelle are the last of their line.
They were probably just left alive so they could marry into one of the surviving houses too.
It has taken a lot to accept it, but the fact is that even if Serge doesn't ruin the Republic her meddlings have already condemned the country!
Right here, right now Alzer is of no consequence, neither are the kingdom or the principality, the only thing that matters is to survive.
They kept themselves quiet in the off chance they could hear the battle outside, but the ship was silent, not even the inebriated crew made any significant noises.
After thirty minutes she knew they had lost.
That means that Emile and Serge are most likely dead…
She felt a vacuum inside her once she fully accepted that her Emile was dead, there is no point in going back to the republic now.
Noelle and her have indirectly caused the death of three Heirs now, If the Great Nobles don't consider them criminals they would at least be viewed as bad omens in the best of cases!
Leila sat down on the floor and hugged her legs.
What do they do now?
Noelle sat beside her and embraced her.
0x0x0x0
About an hour later they could hear steps getting closer to their hiding place, she knew those were probably the men sent to board their ship after they took care of…
She looked at Noelle and her sister's eyes told her that she was as ready as she was ever going to be.
"Over Here!" she yelled, hoping Bartfort was among the men coming for them.
"We… we are locked!" Noelle added.
They stopped right in front of their door, in two tries they opened the door, five men peered inside and for a terrifying second aimed their weapons at them.
"Who are you?" one of the men asked.
"We are Noelle and Leila Zel Lespinasse" Leila spoke for them, hoping this man would not try anything with them.
"A middle name?"
"Are they nobles?"
"Fuck no! The middle names are Fou, Fia and Rapha!
"You are right, I've never heard of Zel!"
She held Noelle's hand to both, reassuring her sister and to give herself the bravery to explain to the brutes that those names are part of Holfort's tradition, not the Alzer's!
But that wasn't necessary, the man in the lead silenced with a glare "It's Alzer's nobility" He told them angrily much to her relief "Zel.." he nodded his head towards them holding one finger up "Sera, Leita, Laz, Oi and Lato" He lifted another finger for every one of the middle name of the Six Great nobles middle names… even if he botched some of the names she was happy someone recognized they could be of importance!
"How do you know that James?" they were keeping silent while these men chatted comfortably with each other in the ship of one of the men they just killed!
It was frightening how used they must be to these things.
"Learned it in the academy, it's not completely useless" the lead man said, if he went to the academy he must be a knight at least. "Now, what are you two doing here? this is no place for a lady."
"I'd rather tell it to your Lord" she said hoping they would not press in questioning them and leave it to Bartfort.
"As long as you speak with Lord Leon, it's alright, Leonard, please escort these ladies to the boarding ship and take them to the estate" He ordered one of his subordinates.
They followed the man in silence, once they were outside there was a rather small ship waiting for them, and in the distance there was a massive airship six hundred… no at least seven hundred meters long, and it was towing a whole floating Island!
"That's The Partner, Lord Bartfort flag ship, it just returned from its mission…"Leonard must have realized they were staring and explained the presence of the massive ship.
Back in the tournament she remembers the Duke's small fleet taking off to chase the Offreys and she was told that the first ship to take off, a two hundred meter class with black body, belonged to the Pirate Bane…
This was a much more impressive ship!
They boarded the small ship in silence, privately Leila couldn't wait for the night where she could show her appreciation to Lord Leon… He was such an Invincible Knight!
A/N: Hello all!
Hope enjoyed the chapter, because I'll be taking a two week break to go to my vacations and finish the fic.
Please read and Review!