Chapter 13
Siesta was doing the laundry for some students outside, smiling at the sight of the bright sun. To make her day happier, there was also her savior in the courtyard, who was training his swordmanship skills as usual.
'I can't help but find him so handsome when he swings his weapon. He totally looks like a hero.', she thought, feeling her heart beat faster. Even if he was already taken, no one said that she had to discard her feelings for him, so she wanted to continue to love him regardless.
To her surprise, Sylphid appeared and jumped on the boy, licking his face happily. "Haha, that tickles! I'm happy to see you too, Sylphid.", he said to the blue dragon, scratching her chin and making her purr.
"I think you can play with her, partner. It's been 2 hours that we trained.", said Derflinger instead.
"Yeah, a pause won't harm. In this case, we will play hide and seek. I will count and you have to hide, ok?", he asked to the female dragon, getting a happy nod as reply. So he closed his eyes and started to count until 50 while Sylphid went in search for a good hideout.
The blackhaired maiden giggled in front of their interaction, unable to not look at him with a blush. Thinking that he would like it, she walked towards him and hugged his back, catching him off guard.
"What-S-Siesta?", was his flustered reaction.
"Hehe, sorry if I s-scared you. I wanted to surprise you.", she bashfully told him with an innocent smile.
"Oh, I see haha. It's ok, don't worry.", he told her, blushing and smiling embarrassed.
'Damn it, she's so cute!', he thought, liking also the soft sensation on his strong back. He already felt it when she hugged his arm the first time they met in the kitchen, but he would never get tired of it.
Though, the blue dragon came out of her hideout out of jealousy and went to cling onto him to have his attention. "Calm down, Sylphid."
"Hahaha, she's so jealous! You make yourself get loved easily, partner!"
Derf's teasing only served to make the young warrior more flustered, especially because other students and maids chuckled at the funny scene. Also Colbert watched it and couldn't help but laugh a little, liking how the foreign boy could bring such happiness at the academy.
'Even if he comes from another world, he's truly a kindhearted person. Nothing like me.', he thought, smiling sadly while remembering something horrible of the past that happened way before he became a teacher.
But his attention along everyone else's got caught by the sound of a horse running, so they looked at the school's gates to see a man wearing blue and grey clothes and a big hat riding a horse. Saito noticed his long gray hair during that, wondering who could it be.
He got also surprised when the mysterious person stopped in front of him, Siesta and Sylphid, calming down his horse. "Excuse me, young lady and boy, but this is the magic academy, right?", he asked them, lifting his hat to show his face, which had green sharp eyes and a short beard.
"Yes, this is the academy of Tristain. But what's your name, sir?", asked Siesta instead.
"My name's Jean-Jacques Francis and I'm the viscount of Wardes. I'm here because I was told that Louise de la Vallière is attending this academy."
The name of his girlfriend made Saito's eyes widen, with Tabitha's familiar glaring at the new person; it was like she perceived something of ominous coming from him. "Why are you searching for Louise?", asked the young warrior.
"She's my fiancee, so I came to see her."
Saito's mind along Siesta's and every student's registered those words for some seconds before their expressions morphed into mouths agape. "J-Jean?"
The pinkette's voice attracted her boyfriend's attention, seeing her at his right with a surprised face upon looking at the bearded man. "Oh, there you are, my little Louise. You became much more beautiful in these past 6 years.", said Wardes, smiling and walking towards her.
On the other hand, she frowned and quickly went to cling onto her beloved Saito, shocking him. "Why are you here? You and I aren't betrothed!", she exclaimed, glaring at him.
"What are you saying? You and I have been fiancees since you were a child. Also, why are you hugging that boy?"
"Because I'm her boyfriend and her familiar. Look."
Raising his left hand, Derflinger's wielder showed his runes to the viscount, shocking him more at first before his eyes glared at him. "Y-you're her boyfriend? What's the meaning of this?"
"It's just like he said. He and I are a couple and we love each other, so I don't care if my father decided that you will marry me. I already have Saito!", she replied, tightening her hold on her beloved that noticed that she was trembling a little.
Siesta, the female dragon and all the other people were stunned by what was happening, but since he wanted to understand everything, Louise's familiar suggested to go to the canteen to talk calmly instead of discussing.
Surprisingly, Jacques seemed to agree with his idea while the pinkette had still an annoyed expression but agreed too. Saito also told Siesta and Sylphid to go back to their duties, getting nods from them that stopped clinging on him.
So the couple and the mysterious "fiancee" went to the canteen, where they got served with some bread and soupe. "What's this story about being her boyfriend, commoner?", asked Jean to the boy, drinking a glass of wine.
"Hey, don't be rude to him. It's like I told you earlier: he got summoned as my familiar and we fell in love with each other.", replied the pinkette for her beloved.
"I've never heard of a noble having a human familiar. Are you sure you didn't make a mistake during the ritual?"
"I showed you my runes earlier, so she didn't make any mistake. Louise is a good magician that does her best to ameliorate every day.", said the warrior defiantly, making her blush and smile.
"So you basically stole my fiancee from me, Saito was it, right?"
"What are you saying? I told you I never accepted to be betrothed to you. I love only Saito and no one else!", she said, hating that he was constantly rude to her love.
The growing tension between the two of them and him made each student worried, especially Guiche and Tabitha. The blonde was flabbergasted that the viscount called himself Louise's fiancee while the bluenette disliked the way he talked with her friends.
Kirche, on the other hand, found Jean handsome but less than Saito, whose face was cuter and his body hotter in her opinion. So hot that she wanted to get in his pants so bad if he wasn't already taken.
Montmorency wasn't present in the canteen because she was in her room at the moment, as she wasn't ready yet to see the young man again. She couldn't still forgive herself for what she tried to do, but that didn't mean that he wasn't concerned about her.
Anyways, before the viscount's lack of respect towards his girlfriend, the wielder of Derflinger couldn't stay calm, so he said, "You said that I'm just a commoner, but I will show you to not underestimate me. Let's have a fight one on one."
Needless to say that his words made some people spit their drinks; they couldn't believe that he just challenged a viscount in front of everyone. The kitchen's team watched in awe instead, except for Siesta that got more worried for him.
"A fight?", was Jacques' reaction, astonished.
"Yes, we will have a spare match in the courtyard, so no mortal duels or worse. I will show that Louise didn't summon just a commoner."
"Saito, you don't have to do that. I-I don't want you to get hurt."
Smiling at her, he caressed her head and said, "I will be ok, trust me. I just want to show my strength to this guy."
His gesture and the speech managed to make her smile in relief, with the bearded man glaring at their interaction. "Fine, we will have this match if you really want."
Upon getting his challenge accepted, the warrior and his beloved followed the viscount in the courtyard, with the two men distancing from each other and taking out their weapons.
'That looks both like a wand and a sword.', thought the foreign boy, noticing his opponent's weapon. Despite he fought not many people, all of them had a sword, a lance or a wand, so it was the first time he saw a "wand/sword".
Regardless, once the two of them got ready, he quickly ran towards him and swung Derflinger, clashing against the viscount and making sparks. Impressed by the force of the impact, Jean continued to clash against him, which made everyone believe their skills were equal.
"I see you've got a lot of strength, which is the fruit of a hard training. But let's see how you deal with this!"
Getting away from him, he used his wand to shot a wind blast towards Saito, which made Louise and other girls worried. Though, he dodged it by jumping out of the way and ran again towards his opponent.
"Attacking me directly won't-Aaargh!"
The viscount released a scream of pain when he got punched in the gut by the boy's right fist while their swords clashed again. "I never fight with only my weapon."
Jacques' expression morphed into an annoyed one, so he slashed his weapon, missing him due to his dodge. The bearded man couldn't believe that a mere commoner managed to hit him, so he was getting frustrated easily.
'U-unbelievable…He got much stronger and so confident since our duel.', thought Guiche, amazed like Kirche and everyone else. Louise admired him instead, feeling her heart beat faster because he was fighting for her sake to prove the supposed fiancee wrong.
"This battle lasted even enough. Take this!", shouted the wind magician, shooting other blasts at the boy.
Instead of avoiding them, Saito ran at them and slashed Derf, which absorbed them all under the widen eyes of their opponent. So he sent back those blasts, which hit the noble and made him crash on the ground in pain.
"I think that's enough indeed. This is my win.", declared the Gandalf, putting Derf back in the scabbard. At hearing that, everyone applauded for him for what he managed to do, getting embraced by Louise instantly.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"No worries, I don't have any scratch or anything.", he assured her, patting her head. That made her smile and snuggle into his chest, enjoying his lovely gesture.
While each person was happy for his victory, the defeated viscount had an angry expression. He absolutely couldn't believe to have been humiliated in public by a simple foreign guy, so he looked at Saito with hatred.
Though, not wanting to make a scene, he got up and walked towards him and Louise, raising his hand forward. "Well done, young man. Not only once, but you could hit me twice. I see now that your master summoned a strong person.", said Jean, smiling.
"Thanks, you fight very well too. I hope you understand that she and I are a couple, and I don't want to give her to anyone."
Her beloved's words made her pink pupils widen while her face blushed intensely, not hesitating to jump him and making them fall on the ground. "Hahaha, you totally know how to make her crazier for you, partner!", joked Derflinger, causing him to blush while the viscount was once again astonished.
"Yeah, I can understand now. But my engagement with her was decided by her father, so I will have to talk about this with him. In fact, I will leave now since I got nothing more to do here."
"Good, tell Father that I already have a gorgeous man that I love deeply and that my engagement with you never existed.", said the pinkette, still clinging onto her boyfriend with hearts around them.
Annoyed internally, Jean sighed and nodded, whistling to call his horse and greeting them before leaving the academy in the same way he reached it. Unbeknownst to him, Sylphid observed him carefully with an uneasy expression, which got noticed by Tabitha.
Whenever her dragon made that face was because she could understand if a person was evil or good, so that meant that the viscount had something really obscure behind his person.
Anyways, considering that he left the academy, the dragon went to hug her playmate and licked his face, making him laugh because it tickled him. Guiche and Kirche even complimented him for his performance, getting thanked while Siesta was relieved he wasn't hurt.
He risked his life more than once after he saved her from count Mott, so she couldn't help but grow worried whenever he fought. After all, she had intense feelings for him.
The one to have watched the fight as well was the principal, whose expression was anything but calm. The fact that Jacques appeared at the academy irked him very much, as if he didn't trust that wind magician.
'I got played by that thief of Fouquet once, so I won't trust strangers.', he thought, suspecting that he had something in mind that would harm Louise and her beloved.
Speaking of him, following his victory, he got invited by Marteau and the staff to the kitchen to receive a lot of delicious food as prize in their words for showing another time the strength of commoners. Of course, some maids clung on his arms and got scolded by his girlfriend for that, but he dug it in the food and ate it delightfully.
Since he loved what they cooked, the speed with which he was eating was incredible, blushing because the cute pinkette cleaned his cheek for him by stating that she liked spoiling him. Getting redder, he couldn't hold back from enveloping her in a hug, saying that she was too adorable and making her blush more.
'Your compliments always fill me of joy. Also, thank you for saving me again.' , she thought, kissing him on the cheek in glee. Siesta and her colleagues pouted out of jealousy, finding them cute anyways and bringing some desserts to the warrior.
Seeing those only made his eyes shine, so he didn't hesitate to eat them too to fill his stomach. Someone could say that he liked eating too much, but as he trained constantly every single day, he needed to recover his energy more often as result.
Following two hours, he was done with eating and decided to rest on the grass, telling Louise that he would see her later after the lessons and receiving another smooch from her. So he joined the other familiars and rested by sitting next to Flame, who licked his face upon seeing him.
It wasn't like the spare match versus the bearded viscount tired him too much, but he was sure that it would have been more difficult it theirs was a real duel. He was flabbergasted when that man presented himself as the pinkette's fiancee, but by judging her behavior, it was clear that she disliked him.
'I don't know everything about her past, but my bond with her is something impossible to break.', he thought, determined to show who really loved her to anyone else that dared to steal her. What annoyed him the most, was the fact that it was her father to have decided her unwanted engagement because he hated it when someone forced you to love a person you disliked.
Be it due to nobles' rules or whatever, being engaged forcefully instead of loving who you really wanted was just wrong for him. His love for Louise was born due to the continuous affection and care that she had for him ever since they first met, so like hell he would give up on her.
Though, while he was taking a nap together with Flame, he was unaware that a person arrived in front of him: it was Montmorency. The blondie had a sad expression on her face while she looked at him sleeping so peacefully, beginning to cry.
'How could I…H-how could I try to use that potion on you? I don't deserve your love.', she thought, kneeling and shedding more tears.
The regret for her actions was something painful and heavy for her, because she felt like she betrayed his trust. The trust of the guy that considered her one of his dear friends.
Her sniffles were loud enough to wake him up too, so his eyes widened at seeing her cry. "M-Montmorency-san? What's wrong?!", he quickly asked in alarm and getting closer to her.
"No, don't be nice with me. I d-don't deserve your kindness after what I did.", she said, shaking her head and unable to gaze into his eyes.
Hearing that only made him much more worried and sad, but his face got determined and he didn't hesitate to embrace her in a hug, shocking her. "S-Saito-kun?"
"Please, don't say things like that. I understand that you still feel guilty of her actions, but I can't stand seeing you so much in pain. I told you, didn't I? I forgave you for what happened and I was happy when you returned to be the person I met.", he told her, tightening his hold her and making her blush.
"You didn't hurt anybody with her actions, so don't beat yourself. You're always my friend, so I'd really like to chat and spend time with you like before.", he added, caressing her head too.
The water mage's heartbeats increased their rhythm at those sweet words and her tears became tears of joy. Knowing that he held her and their friendship so dear really made her glad, so she couldn't help but snuggle more into his chest and cry while he comforted her.
The scene was so touchy that even the other familiars were moved at seeing it, with Robin jumping on the boy's head to snuggle on him too. As if he was thankful for how kind he was to his master.
To his chagrin though, he saw that some students watched what he was doing and he blushed, hoping that they wouldn't make up some false rumors about him. Maybe his and Montmorency's position could be misinterpreted, but he was just hugging her to comfort her as a good friend should do.
Outside of the academy instead, precisely in a forest, the viscount of Wardes was still riding his horse to go towards Tristania; since he was the captain of the Griffin Knights, a special squad of magicians, he had to go there to check how his teammates were doing.
Though, his face was anything but calm, as he absolutely despised the fact he got defeated by Louise's familiar. His anger was more due to the fact that he was her boyfriend and she refused the engagement decided by her father, which ruined his plans.
'If ours had been a real fight, that scum wouldn't been able to beat me at all. Besides, don't think you will get rid of me already, Louise.', he thought, smiling wickedly. What he had in mind to do next sounded like that would endanger the young couple in the future or very soon too.
But while riding his stallion, he had to stop the animal because a wild bear appeared in front of them, standing up on two feet and roaring menacingly. Sighing, the noble got down from his horse and took out his wand, raising it towards the bear.
"Die.", he simply said, shooting a lightning beam that hit the beast heads on and killed it. The bear fell backwards while Jean thought that neither Saito would be able to resist against that spell.
That sword he used seemed to absorb magic and repel it back, but perhaps it had a limit for how much magic it could absorb. Of course, just like Jacques didn't fight seriously in that spare match, neither the Gandalf did.
So no one of them really knew about each other's true abilities, but considering the plan that the viscount had in mind, a real fight between them wasn't far from happening. A fight that could be mortal though.
A/N
And here's chapter 13, everyone! I take the occasion to thank you again for liking this story, and as you can read, Louise's "fiance" made his appearance. Still, in comparison to canon, she never accepted the engagement with him here and her heart beats faster exclusively for her Saito, especially after they made love previously fufu.
Montmorency was still sad and angry at herself for what she did, but the young warrior couldn't stand seeing her in pain and didn't hesitate to comfort her. Since he doesn't know if he can ever meet his family and his friends of his world again, he holds dear Louise and everyone that he was affectionate to.
He won the spare match with Jacques because he trains constantly in comparison to the anime, but their real match must still happen. What plan could Jacques have in mind exactly? Stay tuned to find out.
See ya!