Chapter Fifty-Nine: A Rose that Blooms in Darkness

"Yup, that lady looks really familiar, but where have I seen her before?" Asta wondered to himself, meanwhile, he heard the comment nearby men were making about her.

"Damn, that woman is gorgeous,"

"I know, I wish my wife looked like that,"

"Do any of you recognize her? She looks like someone I've seen before,"

"Not really, but what does that matter,"

The swordsman shifted his gaze back to the woman, he raised a brow in confusion. "Why is she just sitting there with that blank expression with all these guys talking about her? Could she be possibly waiting for someone? Maybe I should go talk to her, then I can find out who she is," he thought before pushing through the crowd and walking towards the azure-clad woman.

His action didn't go unnoticed by the other men. "Is that kid about to go talk to her? Look at his clothes, that's obviously a peasant, does he think he stands a chance?"

"Regardless, he's going up there, peasant or not, shorty's got balls,"

The woman shifted her gaze minorly in Asta's direction as she noticed him approaching her, but then a loud chuckle was heard, causing her eyes to shift in another direction, Asta's head turned in that direction and he saw a man.

While he didn't recognize the man approaching, the spectators clearly did, one speaking up. "Wow, that's Arnold Bamilton, of House Bamilton,"

"House Bamilton? Nope, never heard of it, I swear, these people seem to always know the least important noble families and treat them like such a big deal, I don't know, I guess you just have to be one of them to get it," the magicless mage thought to himself as Arnold passed by him, the noble looked right at the teen, his face contorting in disgust.

"Uh, what a filthily dressed commoner, I don't why in king's name are you here at the Star Festival," he scoffed before turning his attention back on the woman in front of him. "But that isn't important, it's you I came for, lovely maiden, I haven't seen a woman as beautiful as you throughout this entire festival, so you shall be my companion for the remainder of the festivities, that sounds great, doesn't it?"

The woman looked right at the noble with an indifferent gaze, but to his complete surprise, she turned her head away from him, the indifference still present, even with a slight look of annoyance present.

Arnold gasped at her action, but quickly composed himself. "Are you playing hard to get? There's no need for that, I'll make sure you have a wonderful time," he argued as his hand neared hers.

It didn't take an expert to see that the man's desires were not reciprocated by the beautiful lady, and Asta was said not-expert as he spoke up. "Hey you!"

Arnold turned to him, his face showing great annoyance. "You again, why are you speaking to me? I don't associate with your kind, shouldn't you be off begging for food or something?" he turned back to the woman. "Sorry about him, where were we?"

"What an asshole, I'm so going to teach this guy a-," Asta began muttering to himself as he advanced forward, but was interrupted midway as a large mass of thorny vines and blue roses erupted out of nowhere, just missing the swordsman while Arnold was wrapped in its clutches.

"I've grown tired of that annoying voice of yours," a familiar voice spoke, Asta's eyes widened as he saw it coming from the woman, holding a lash-type weapon from which the vines and roses originated.

"Holy crap, that magic, it's the same one from the cave battle in Nean, now I recognize her, that's the captain of the Blue Rose Knights! She looks so different without her helmet on," the magicless mage realized.

"You came up out of nowhere and practically demanded that I be your companion as if I was some object or a kind of animal, you didn't even ask for my name, I am Charlotte Roselei of House Roselei, and the Captain of the Blue Rose Knights," she lectured the noble, who now was gasping his apologies, once the briar mage released him, he ran for his life.

"What an insolent creature," Charlotte muttered before she turned to Asta. "Boy, if I'm not mistaken, you're a member of Yami's squad, that man said some deplorable things to you as well, are you alright?"

Asta scratched the back of his head, he was a bit nervous as he's never really interacted with the female captain before. "Yeah, I'm fine, I've gotten used to it over the years. The thing I'm amazed by is how quickly you acted, your magic is so cool, I can't believe I didn't recognize you-," he was saying as he walked forward, but was interrupted this time as his foot hit a crack in the ground, sending his body on a collision with said ground.

But strangely, his face never hit the cold earth, in fact, whatever his face landed on was feeling warm, and soft, it was something he never felt before, but regardless, it was a feeling he didn't want to abandon, however, that desire didn't come to pass as a hand pulled his jacket up, lifting his whole body, causing him to see a tall dark-skinned woman with short black hair along with white clothes that didn't leave very much to the imagination. It turned out Asta tripped and landed right on her rack.

"Oh hey, you're that boy from the Black Bulls," she stated.

The magicless mage raised a brow, this woman appeared to know who he was, but he had never seen her before in his life. "Do I know you?"

The woman chuckled as she dropped him on his feet. "That's right, I don't think I've ever introduced myself, name's Sol Marron, a member of the Blue Rose Knights, led by my beloved Char. I was at the Merit Ceremony before the capital got attacked, I didn't really talk to anyone because there were a bunch of guys, but you're cool enough in my book ever since you taught those Silva assholes a lesson, as a commoner myself, it was quite refreshing,"

"Um, no problem, I'm Asta, and it's nice to meet you, I guess," Asta said with some reluctance. "So, she's a misandrist, the Witches' Forest would be a great place for her, but at least she wasn't as bad as the women from there,"

"Sol, how many times have I told you to call me captain, not Char, if you're going to address me by a nickname, at least don't do it in public," Charlotte softly reprimanded her.

Sol met her statement with a salute. "You got it, Char," she responded, earning a facepalm from her captain. "Don't be so glum, look what I got you!" she then proceeded to pull out a new blue dress out of seemingly nowhere.

"How the hell did she do that?" Charlotte asked herself before pushing the thought away. "You want me to wear that?"

"Yeah, you'll look great in it, it's blue after all," Sol replied with a grin.

The swordsman shared her grin. "I agree, you would look great in blue, that's your squad color after all,"

"See, even Asta agrees, now let's get you changed," the dark-skinned woman said as she rushed over to Charlotte before taking out her grimoire. "Earth Magic: Geoforce Cylinder," she casted as a large cylindrical tube of earth rose up from the ground, covering the two ladies from view.

"Now we have some privacy, let's take this off," Sol could be heard saying before she cheerfully shrieked. "What a body, Char! Even though I've seen it many times, I can never get enough,"

"Sol, don't say that, the people outside can still hear you!" Charlotte told her, outside the cylinder, every guy save for Asta gulped, imagining what could be beyond that layer of rock.

About five more minutes passed before the cylinder finally came down, revealing the briar mage in a frilly blue and white dress.

"Goddamn!" the men all exclaimed in unison, with others whistling their compliments.

It didn't take long for Charlotte to summon her briar lash, sending a glare in their direction. "Compose yourselves, this isn't some kind of beauty contest," she scoffed.

Sol cracked her knuckles. "That's right, only the Blue Rose Knights are allowed to fawn over our captain's body," her voice just as threatening, silencing the men at once.

"Damn, they can be really scary when they want to be," Asta mumbled before another familiar voice was heard.

"Yo, there's a lot of people here, something interesting going on here?" the magicless mage smiled as he recognized the voice being Yami's, and sure enough, the dark mage had come into view, with Kenos and Finral walking beside him.

Charlotte and Yami shared a few seconds of eye contact before the former turned her head back, her face blooming bright red. "Oh my god, it's Yami! He's here!"

"Hey you guys," Asta walked over to his squad members.

"Asta, you're here, that's great, now we don't have to worry about finding you again," Kenos said with relief.

"That's right, no need to worry about me," he replied. "Wait, where's Zuka?"

"She's helping Jack and Glynda take down our stands since we're done with sales for the night," Yami answered. "And speaking of that, sorry…for throwing you,"

"It's alright, but that's strange, you've never really apologized for hurting me before," Asta stated.

"Trust me, it's best if you don't know why," Finral told him.

"Now, back to what I was asking, what's so interesting that all these people are shacked up?" the dark mage asked.

"Oh, because of her, the lady with the blond hair," Asta replied as he pointed at Charlotte's turned back.

"Great, so much for trying to not stick out, at least Asta didn't state my name, perhaps Yami might not even recognize me," the briar mage thought to herself.

"Oh, if it isn't the Prickly Queen, I guess that makes sense, although I never imagined I'd see you in such a getup," Yami said, recognizing her immediately.

"Damn it!" Charlotte mentally exclaimed before she composed herself and turned around. "Don't insult me, I was put in this outfit against my will, and besides, what on earth are you wearing?"

The briar mage took some time to focus on Yami's clothes, but was immediately stunned once she noticed how much of his body was exposed, like his bare chest, but that wasn't the object of her gaze, but rather…the cloth covering the dark mage's little friend. She subtly stared at it, a bit of drool fell down from her mouth.

Yami's face became one of comedic indifference as he stared back at Charlotte and shifted his body. "Watch where you're staring, Prickly Queen, that's sexual harassment,"

Charlotte's face became red. "I-I wasn't staring at it! I w-was wondering how you could wear such humiliating attire to a festival like this?!"

"Oh, well, where I come from, this is the attire for festivals and big celebrations, it doesn't feel humiliating to me, it's one of the few things I have here from my original culture," Yami explained before smiling. "If I ever find a way to get back home, I'll take you all with me sometime, it'll be tons of fun,"

"Us, go to the Land of the Rising Sun someday, that would be quite awesome," Kenos commented.

"Yeah, that's where Ki originated from, perhaps I could level up my skills," Asta added.

While the two Black Bulls voiced their opinions on the matter, Charlotte kept hers to herself. "Me? Going to Yami's homeland, the place where he grew up, if we could go there someday, would it be possible for me to meet his parents? I could even ask for their blessing to marry Yami, they might say yes, but what if they say no? My parents would never approve of me marrying a foreigner, ugh, why must things like this be so complicated,"

Yami then spoke up. "Well, we found out what all the commotion was about, time to be on our way," he was about to turn around and leave when a voice from close by spoke up.

"Oh, hey there, boys," the Black Bulls were the only ones who recognized the voice, upon turning around, they saw Vanessa walking to them, Rouge atop her shoulder, a bottle of alcohol in hand.

Kenos raised a hand of greeting. "Hey there, Vanessa, what've you been doing so far?"

"Nothing much, just drinking and enjoying the sights, what about you, how are those guests you invited from the Underwater Temple?" she replied before asking.

"They're doing great, and they're having a lot of fun, but they're with Noelle now, long story," the solar mage responded.

"That's cool, what about you captain, how'd your stand battle with Jack go this year?"

Yami sighed. "We had a tie, first time in history, but I guess there's a first time for everything. Oh, and I saw Glynda there too,"

Vanessa's face contorted to one of joyous shock. "You did? Wow, just when I mentioned her to the Witch Queen a little while back,"

"Yeah, she's the vice-captain of the Green Praying Mantises," the dark mage replied.

"No way, I saw her becoming a Magic Knight if she ever wanted to but I didn't imagine that's the squad she'd be a part of," the thread mage remarked.

"Oh, and get this," Yami began, beckoning Vanessa over, whispering something to her once she did so. "Jack is totally in love with her,"

"Jack the Ripper? In love with her? Glynda is a sweet woman who I owe a lot to after leaving the Witches' Forest for the first time, and she deserves the best man possible to make her happy, no offense, but Jack isn't really the guy I'd picture fitting the bill," Vanessa whispered back.

"From what I can tell right now, it's one-sided and Jack's in denial about his feelings, but he has become a bit better, Glynda was actually able to get him to stop arguing with me," the dark mage continued whispering.

"Of course she could, that woman is a kind and compassionate bombshell who can be tough when she needs to be, and while she was never very aware of her own feminine charm during the time we were together, the one she's never oblivious to is when to discipline some ass,"

The two continued their whispering, and while Kenos, Asta, and Finral didn't mind as they were having a conversation amongst themselves, Charlotte stared jealously at Vanessa, her cheeks blooming pink. "Who is that woman standing next to Yami? I don't see a robe, but going by the fact that the others seem comfortable with her, she must be a member of their squad. But look at what she's wearing, such vulgar clothing, but Yami doesn't seem to mind, is he…into that kind of stuff? And just what are they whispering about?"

The female captain chose not to just keep her thoughts to herself this time and walked over to the two before pointing at the scarlet-clad woman. "You, what's your name?"

The dark and thread mages were a bit surprised by the sudden intrusion, the latter pointing to herself. "Me? I'm Vanessa Enoteca, and aren't you Charlotte, the captain of the Blue Rose Knights?"

"I am, so tell me, Vanessa, what's your exact relationship with Yami?" she tried to ask in the composed voice she usually spoke in, but it ended up falling quite short and sounded a lot more erratic.

"My relationship with him?" Vanessa replied as she nonchalantly slung her arms around Yami's shoulders. "We're quite close,"

Charlotte's face bloomed bright red at the possible implication of her response, she asked another question. "C-Close, do y-you mean, in an inappropriate way?"

"Um, no, what made you ask that?" the thread mage raised a brow.

"Well, look at how you're dressed for a public celebration, excuse my harsh wording, but you're dressed like a whore, do you have no shame?!"

"What did you just say?! Are you trying to insult me?!" Vanessa exclaimed angrily as she moved up on the woman.

"Well, maybe I am!" Charlotte challenged as she did the same.

Yami was beyond confused, along with the rest of the people present. "Well, this just happened," the dark mage plainly commented.

"What the hell are you doing, Char?" Sol muttered, also bewildered at the argument going on between the two women.

"Woah, woah ladies, calm it down," Finral intervened, somehow being lucky enough to not get punched in the face while doing so, the spatial mage got in the middle and pushed his arms, forming distance between them. "I don't know what's going on between you two, but whatever it's about, it has to do with clothing, and I know the perfect way to settle something like that,"

Asta obtained his starry-eyed look. "Nice work, Finral, you defused that in seconds, you're so awesome!"

Although, that positive perspective wasn't seen by the dark and solar mages as similar thoughts came to their heads.

"Finral coming up with a good idea between two arguing women who are both quite attractive? No offense man, but what a load of…," Kenos thought.

"There's no way in hell he could think of a 'perfect' way to settle that, total…," Yami thought as their mental comments finished on the same word.

"…Bullshit,"

"Ah, the Star Festival, what a fun time it is,"

Those were the words that came out of Leopold's mouth as he, Rama, and Erika walked by, passing many stands and people.

"You're right," Erika agreed, a small smile on her face. "It's a great celebration the kingdom looks forward to all year,"

"That reminds me," Leopold turned to his rival. "Rama, have you ever been to the Star Festival?"

"I actually have, the Asterius family may be a common family, but we're pretty well off thanks to our minor reputation, we've been attending this festival for years," the lightning mage replied as he held his chin.

"Hey there, everyone, look what I got you!"

The three squadmates turned around to see Oxanna running to them, a big smile on her face, holding four large sticks of some kind of white thing. "This white puffy thing tastes great, the old guy who sold it to me calls it cotton candy, it's so sweet and airy,"

Her three friends each grabbed one and took a bite, the flame mage was the first to share his thoughts. "Holy crap, you're right, this is amazing! Festival food always rocks!"

"Say, Oxanna, won't your family be here at the festival too?" Erika asked.

The phantom mage turned to the lava mage. "True, but I'm not concerned for anyone, well almost,"

"What do you mean by almost?"

"Kenos and my parents will be fine, the one I'm really worried about is Dante. The years when we went together, Dante always stayed with my parents and didn't really talk to other people. He never was the most social person, now that he's in his squad, he'll be on his own, I hope he'll be alright," Oxanna stated.

"That is going to be hard, but how is he ever going to overcome whatever fear or anxiety he has if he never faces it?" Leopold asked.

"I suppose you have a point, and who knows, probably he made some friends," the phantom mage responded. "Well, no need to worry about that now then, we have some enjoying to do,"

The other nodded and started walking before Rama spoke up. "Hey, have you all heard…it appears we're getting a new captain, they'll be introduced during the awards ceremony,"

"I know, Randall just told us today, even he didn't know, but that's odd, why would they appoint someone to be our temporary captain and not tell us in advance, or even tell us who this person will be," Leopold voiced his opinion.

"Maybe it was a last-second decision, but whoever the person will be, one thing is true, they'll have to be incredibly exceptional if they want to properly fill Captain Fuegoleon's shoes," Erika stated.

"I just hope that our temporary captain isn't a jerk, or some damn classist, I won't tolerate any bad thing they say about you, Tiger Cub," Oxanna said as she faced Rama.

"Thanks, Violet, but you don't need to worry about me," the lightning mage gratefully expressed. "I may be a commoner, but people know not to mess with me,"

"Alright then, but if we do get an asshole and they try anything-," the Rossiu was saying, but was cut as her foot hit a crack in the ground, sending her body on her way to the ground.

But her descent was suddenly halted as Rama held her up with one hand and pulled her back up. "It seems you're the one we should be watching out for,"

"Thanks," she said before looking down and seeing their connected hands, a small blush appeared on her face at the sight before Rama's hand disconnected from hers.

"So where are off to next-," Rama was about to ask, but what cut off as he felt grab hold of his hand, he looked and saw the culprit was Oxanna's hand.

"I miss that feeling from that mission some time back," she suddenly stated.

"Huh?"

"Back when we had to help Magnus, after we beat the Diamond soldiers, the way you carried me, it made me feel like a princess, especially since I'm not too far from that title. I know you can't carry me like that again for no reason, but…at least I can have this, it…feels nice," she explained, staring back down at their connected hands. "Do…you mind?"

Leo and Erika could swear they saw Rama's face turn red for a split second before it turned to normal, giving Oxanna a semi-nonchalant look.

"No…I don't mind at all,"

"I said I know the perfect way to settle this, and here it is!" Finral exclaimed, standing atop a platform, a microphone-type magic item in his hand, behind him were two large red curtains, before him was a crowd of men, all cheering. "And that way is through…a cosplay contest!"

All the way at the back of the crowd stood Yami, Kenos, and Asta. The faces of the dark and solar mages were of comedic indifference as the same thought entered their mind in unison.

"You cannot be serious?"

Asta, on the other hand, who stood in between them, was starry-eyed as he pumped a fist into the air. "So awesome, I wonder who's going to win?!"

Yami and Kenos' faces kept their looks of comedic indifference as they both stared at the swordsman. "Of course he wouldn't care,"

"Here are the rules, gentlemen, our two lovely ladies behind these curtains will come out wearing a costume of their choice, afterwards, it'll be up to you to decide who wins, courtesy of these," the spatial mage announced before directing attention to two heart-shaped objects in front of him. "These special containment items take in mana, once our ladies have come out, you'll cast your vote by sending your mana into the container closest to who you think looks the best!"

"This is totally just for his own enjoyment, isn't it?" Yami asked aloud.

"Yup, Finral's a great guy, but he has to learn how to keep those desires of his on the down-low sometimes," Kenos answered.

"C'mon and get this thing started, I wanna see what Char's going to where," Sol said from within the center of the crowd.

"Hey, wait a minute, why are you here? You're not a man," one guy next to her stated.

The earth proceeded to grab his collar. "Listen here, you damn man, I still don't know too much of what's going on, but I do know one thing, and it's that my Char is going to win this by a landslide, and I intend to both witness and aid in that landslide, so you better shut the hell up," she said before dropping him.

Finral then spoke. "It's time to begin with our first contestant, Charlotte Roselei, and she's dressed as!" he began as the curtain to the left opened, revealing the briar mage wearing a black and dark purple outfit, and a witches' hat atop her head of the same color, a hand on her hip as she stood before the large crowd. "A tantalizing witch! I am spellbound!"

"Looking good!" a number of men exclaimed in unison as they cheered.

"Damn Char, you look great!" Sol exclaimed as well.

"Now this is how you rock witch attire," Charlotte calmly remarked, but her mind was a different story. "Ah! This is so embarrassing! I may be revealing less than that Vanessa woman was, but this is still something I'm not used to wearing, but…Yami might like it, he didn't have a problem with hers, so maybe he'll think mines looks good too,"

"She actually doesn't look too bad, not gonna lie, I was expecting that she would choose something a lot more formal since that's how nobles can be," the dark mage plainly commented.

"True, I'm surprised she went with that of all things," the solar mage added.

Finral began announcing again. "It appears our first contestant has received some good treatment, but it isn't over yet, next up we have Vanessa Enoteca, and she's dressed as!" the second curtain opened, revealing the thread mage to be wearing a nun outfit. She chose a humble posture as her hands were kept in front of her in a simple manner. "Oh wow, a nun, bless my heart! I know that after tonight, I'm going to have to ask God to forgive my sins!"

Yami's tone was the same as before. "She looks pretty good too," he stated, but Asta didn't agree.

"A nun, what a great choice!" the swordsman yelled.

"Why is that? Do you like nuns or something?" Kenos asked.

"There's a nun who helps at the church in Hage Village where I was orphaned. She also helped raise me and Yuno. For years, I've been asking her again and again to marry me, but she keeps saying no," he replied.

The solar mage turned his head in the opposite direction. "Good thing Noelle wasn't here to hear that or she'd go ballistic. Plus, isn't it not possible for a nun to get married since she's of the cloth? But knowing Asta, he won't be giving up on that anytime soon,"

Charlotte turned to Vanessa. "I must say I'm surprised, with what you were wearing earlier, I didn't expect you to choose that outfit,"

"At times, it's better to conceal than to reveal. Leaving it up to men's imaginations only excites them more, when it comes to things like these, all a woman has to do is cover up and let her curves do the talking," she explained.

"Not a bad idea, but it won't be enough to beat me," Charlotte retorted.

"Okay gentlemen, it's time for you to vote, send your mana up!" Finral exclaimed.

"I'm totally voting for the witch!"

"What are you talking about? The nun was obviously hotter!"

"Char, you totally get my vote!"

"Damn it, I don't have any magic power, I can't vote!" Asta comedically whined.

"I'm not really voting for everyone," Yami spoke up as he turned to the solar mage. "What about you, Kenos?"

Kenos looked back at his captain nonchalantly. "I thought I already told you all I'm not really into older women, voting for someone would go against that belief," he replied.

"Hm, do you have something against older women?" the dark mage asked curiously.

"No, it's just a preference of mine, I don't mind a girl who's 2 or 3 years older than me, but not too old," he replied.

The three Black Bulls looked forward as men and Sol sent their mana up, the magical energy taking on a pink color as both heart-shaped containers started being quickly filled, the briar and thread mages looked intently before the flow of mana stopped and the result was called.

"It's too close to call, we have a draw!" Finral exclaimed, followed by exclamations of excitement from the crowd.

"No way, a draw," Charlotte commented.

"It seems we'll have to go to a second round to decide this, get ready gentlemen, the next round will be swimsuits!" the spatial mage continued.

"No way in hell!" Sol exclaimed from the crowd as she suddenly jumped onto the platform and rushed towards Finral, putting him in a chokehold. "If even one of you dare say that again, I'll kill every man here!"

"Ok, ok, uncle," Finral gasped.

"She's sure protective of you," Vanessa commented.

"True, sorry about her," Charlotte responded, but in her mind, the briar mage couldn't be any happier. "Thank you so much, Sol! If I had to display myself in a swimsuit in front of Yami, I'd surely pass out on the spot,"

Vanessa then spoke up again. "If this was a tie, we'll still need something to do to settle this, and unlike my squadmate, I know something that could actually do it,"

"Alright then, what is it?" Charlotte asked.

"Before I tell you, why don't we change out of these clothes first?"

Charlotte and Vanessa were back in the area they were in previously, dressed in their previous attire, a good group of the men from the crowd stayed behind to watch, observing from a close distance was Kenos, Asta, Finral, and Sol.

"Hey Kenos, did you see where Captain Yami went?" the magicless mage asked.

The black-haired teen nodded. "Yeah, he said he going to take a quick piss, he should be back any second,"

"So, what's the idea for your tiebreaker?" Charlotte wondered aloud.

"My idea to settle our little dispute will be…," the scarlet-clad witch began as she opened her grimoire, pulling out a bundle of threads, spreading them out, she pulled them back connected to an array of wooden mugs. She set them on a nearby table before sending out her threads again, this time they returned with bottles of alcohol, Vanessa skillfully moved her threads around in order to pour the beverage into each mug.

"…A drinking competition!"

"Where did she get those mugs and bottles from?! How is everyone just pulling shit out of nowhere?!" Charlotte initially thought before her thought process shifted to Vanessa's challenge, but she was equally troubled by this as well. "A drinking competition? I don't-," she was about to refuse.

"Did I hear someone say drinking competition?" a voice asked, everyone turned to see Yami walking back.

"That's right, the first person to throw up from drinking too much loses, this will be a test of endurance," Vanessa explained.

A small smile touched Yami's face. "Oh, I like a woman who can hold her liquor, after this is done, we should all go for a drink sometime,"

Those words that left the dark mage's mouth immediately made Charlotte forget about declining this face-off, her resolve to win was steeled. The two women sat down by the table, cheers erupted behind them.

"Are you ready for this?" the thread mage asked.

"Of course," the female captain replied, but for what felt like the twentieth time that night, her mind disagreed with what her mouth boasted. "What the hell was I thinking? I can't do this, I'm a total lightweight, the most I could manage is a small amount of wine,"

She wanted to back out, but her peripheral vision saw Yami watching them, she knew she couldn't surrender. "I won't give up, it's just like what Yami says, I have to push past my limits!"

"Ok, let's begin," Vanessa declared as she gulped down the first mug in a few seconds.

Charlotte grabbed the mug handle and began bringing it towards her mouth. "You can do this, today will be the day, today will be the day," she thought as the cold wood touched her lips and she let the drink fall down, she survived the first gulp, and then the second.

But then the third one came.

She could already feel herself getting woozy, hardly any time passed before she felt her body sinking down towards the table, unable to keep herself up, she finally hit the table with a soft thud, her cheeks red with intoxication.

"What just happened, she hardly drank anything?" Asta asked, confused by what transpired.

Kenos merely facepalmed. "Don't tell me, please don't tell me…," he began thinking, before everyone but Asta and Yami finished the thought along with him.

"She's a total lightweight!"

Even though she wasn't out cold, Charlotte closed her eyes. She didn't want to be conscious right now, having just humiliated herself in front of the man she loved, in her drunkenness, she thought to herself. "How did it become like this? That I'm so calm and collected normally, but then I say irrational stuff and do irrational things when he's near me. Oh yeah, I remember now, those times were so vivid in my mind,"

[Flashback]

The Clover Kingdom. Some Years Ago.

I don't fully remember why, but a witch placed a curse on my house, or more specifically, me. She said that on my 18th birthday, I would bring an end to our family. My parents were obviously worried and called every curse expert they could to undo it, but to no avail, I told my parents not to worry, one day I would become strong enough to defeat this curse, those were the words I told them, I asked them to put their trust in me, and they did. I don't know if it was because they actually had faith in me or if they just wanted to calm themselves down, but regardless, I knew one thing for sure, I had to beat this, no matter what.

The scene switches to daylight as a younger Charlotte walks through a street of the capital, surrounded by people, she could hear the comments they were making about her.

"That's Charlotte Roselei, right? The Vice-Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, I've heard that's she's been progressing quickly through the ranks, her magic is so powerful,"

"And it's not just that, she's drop-dead gorgeous,"

Two men dressed in formal clothing emerged from the street and kneeled in front of her. "Lady Charlotte, I'd be honored if you were to marry me," one man proposed.

"No, marry me instead," the other man challenged.

The briar mage didn't look impressed, she quickly ensnared them with her magic. "Which one of you can match my strength, and handle my curse? If you can do that, I'll gladly marry you," she asked before releasing them, but they didn't answer as they were already running away in fear.

"All talk, some men are really useless, they don't have what it takes," she mumbled before entering her thoughts. "It seems it's really up to me to combat the curse on my own, I know I'm strong enough, I'm a vice-captain after all,"

But little did she know that she was completely wrong.

Once Charlotte's 18th arrived, all hell broke loose. "What's going on?!" a passerby exclaimed in confusion as they saw many thorny vines coming from one building, said vines beginning to spread to the areas around it.

"It's the curse on House Roselei!" another passerby quickly explained.

Within the noble building, the vines were seen coming out from Charlotte's body as they caused her to float in the air. "Why is this happening? Why can't I control it, I'm supposed to be strong enough!" she screamed in her mind.

Outside, she could hear screams of pain and agony, nearby people were being ensnared, whether they be on the ground or up in the air. "No, people are getting hurt, I have to get a hold of this!" Charlotte told herself, but no matter what she did, the flow wasn't stopping.

The vines began to obstruct her vision, blocking out view of the sky. "Is this where it ends? Was this the best I could do? I'm sorry, mother, father, you put your trust in me and I failed," the briar mage whispered as she finally accepted her fate.

That was…until the sound of cutting was heard, she turned in the direction of the sound before a thick layer of vines were suddenly cut, letting the sunlight shine through, and standing in front of it was a young Yami, a white tank top with a black cloak over it, his trusty katana in hand.

"It's Yami Sukehiro, I can't believe I'm letting him see me like this,"

The dark mage spoke up. "Yo Charlotte, didn't expect to see you at the source of this, I guess this is that curse you have that Julius talked about that one time, those things coming out of you knocked over my soup," he said quite plainly.

"I don't need your help, I can do this by myself!" Charlotte exclaimed, despite just giving in a few seconds prior, her pride wouldn't let her admit defeat in the presence of a peer.

Yami took out a cigarette, quickly lit it, and popped it in his mouth for a few seconds before blowing a puff of smoke. "Y'know, I like tough women, but there's no shame in asking for help. You got Julius, our masked boy, William, our pain in the ass, Nozel, our discipline freak, Fuegoleon, and you got me, it's okay to rely on people once in a while, that's what we're here for, to support each other. You can do things by yourself, but if you ever feel overwhelmed, just call, and I'll stand by your side through the whole thing, promise,"

Charlotte couldn't believe what she heard, but what she couldn't believe more, was the feeling that went through her chest as he spoke and the vines began to disappear. She believed that defeating the curse would only be done by becoming as strong as possible.

But never once did she believe that it could be done by falling in love.

[End Flashback]

"That day, you taught me an important lesson, that no matter what I would face up against, I had people I could count on, people to rely on, people who I knew would help me every step of the way if I ever needed it. Whenever I wonder why I do these stupid things around you, I think back to that fateful day time and time again to find my answer: it's because I'm in love with you dammit,"

The sound of footsteps could then be heard approaching, Charlotte opened her eyes thinking it was Sol coming to get her, but it was in fact Yami, he looked right at her. "You're not too good when it comes to drinking endurance, are you? That's perfectly fine, but why'd you agree to this?"

"I thought I could surpass my limits, like you," Charlotte confessed in her drunkenness, but was just sober enough to not reveal any other personal secret.

"Like me? I think that's the first time I've ever heard you say that, I didn't know I was an inspiration to you," the dark mage stated with a bit of happiness before he noticed the mug Charlotte was drinking out of earlier, he gently took it out of her hand.

"This is still a quarter full, wouldn't want this to go to waste, I hope you don't mind," Yami said casually as he drank the rest of the alcohol.

The briar mage noticed that he put her mouth exactly where she did. "An indirect…," she didn't get to finish as her face turned bright red and she passed out.

"I guess I win then," Vanessa said.

"Yup, good work," Yami responded. "Hey Finral, come teleport all this to base, I'm saving this to drink after we head back,"

"Coming," Finral replied.

"Char!" Sol exclaimed with comedic worry as the two mages went to the same spot leaving the swordsman and the solar mage on their own.

"This whole thing was certainly weird," Asta commented.

"It truly was," Kenos agreed. "I wonder how Kiato and the others are doing, it's been some time since we split up from them, I better go check on them,"

He was about to turn around and leave when multiple voices became louder and five words were heard over and over again.

"The Award Ceremony is starting!"