Chapter 15

At the Magic Academy of Tristain, the typical quiet school life of students and teachers wasn't like the previous days; following the assassination of prince Wales, the ties between Tristain and Albion were on the verge of breaking apart and turning into a war.

When princess Henrietta was told by a crying Louise about his death, the purple head was devastated, unable to stop her tears of pain. On the other hand, Saito was both sad and extremely angry at himself for not managing to save Wales.

He was able to save Louise from Jean by killing him with his new deadly technique, but the anger for his failure was immeasurable. It wasn't a case that he was currently training outside, destroying each target in a brutal way with Derf and his second sword.

'My partner is governed by so much rage that his powers are responding to it. Each hit he throws has absurd strength.', though the ancient weapon, destroying another target in pieces.

Siesta and the kitchen staff were observing him all the time, feeling sad that he was so much angry despite he did his best to accomplish the mission. Though, they widened their eyes when they saw Montmorency approaching him.

"Saito-kun.", she called him, making turn towards her.

"Good morning, Montmorency-san. How are you?", he asked her, changing his frustrated expression into a forced smile.

"I'm fine, thanks. I was worried for you after I found out about what happened; p-please, don't blame yourself for it.", she told him, surprising him with a hug.

"Still, I was there. I was there and couldn't deflect that damn arrow…", he said, tightening his hold on the swords.

"Everyone knows that you give your best to protect innocents and those dear to you. You saved Siesta and Louise from that viscount, so please, d-don't hate yourself.", she told him, starting to sob on his chest.

Hearing that made his eyes widen, so he put down his weapons and reciprocated the hug, blushing and smiling a little. The feeling of being comforted by a girl that held him dear was something of beautiful, so her affection managed to quiet down his anger somehow.

Siesta watched the scene with a little pout because she wanted to comfort him too, but since she knew about the blondie's feelings, she smiled too while shedding a tear. Seeing the boy she loved hate himself was painful for her as well.

Also Sylphid wa relieved that he smiled a little because she loved it whenever he was happy. He was the second human that she got affectionate to, after all.

"Thank you for your words, Momon."

"Ehhh? M-momon?", she asked him, flustered instantly.

"I-I thought of calling you like that since we're close friends and all.", he told her, scratching his red cheek.

Her heart beat faster at listening to him, so she blushed and smiled, saying that she loved that nickname. She blushed deeper when he suddenly patted her head.

"Thank you again for cheering me up. I will go back to my room to check on Louise, since she's still upset for what happened. You're the best, Momon.", he told her with a true smile, making her eyes shine.

So he put away his swords in the scabbards and greeted her, with her still feeling loud heartbeats in her chest. Even if she wasn't under the effect of the love potion anymore, she retained feelings for him, which got stronger after they renewed their friendship.

Directed towards their tower, the young man entered inside and climbed up the stairs to reach his room and finding his girlfriend on the bed with her face on the cushion. He could see traces of tears on it, which made him frown sadly.

"Lou-chan.", he said, sitting next to her.

"I-I'm useless. I can't perform any spell and I could do nothing to protect my childhood friend's fiancee.", she said, sniffing and crying more.

"Don't say that. I know better than anyone how much effort you put in what you do.", he told her, patting her head comfortingly.

"Even I was angry with myself for being unable to stop that arrow and I can't stand this failure, but what makes me sadder is to watch you in pain.", he added, suddenly lifting her to surprise her by bringing her head to his chest.

"This failure will be something we may not forget, but I'm glad that I'm still with you. If I had let Jacques kidnap you, I wouldn't have been able to forgive myself."

The sweet gesture along his words full of love made her eyes widen and shed more tears, crying more and hugging him back. She was so moved by his feelings for her that she couldn't control her tears, adoring how kind he was.

"S-Saito! T-thank you for being with me. I-I don't want to get separated from you."

"I promised you that we will always stay together, and I don't want to break it. I love you, Louise.", he said, smiling and blushing.

By saying that, he managed to make her smile a little despite her tears continued to fall. In comparison to her sister Eleanor and other people, he never saw her as a lost cause because of her incapacity to perform spells; the mere fact that he was in their world meant that she had some talent, and like he told her, he knew that she gave her best to ameliorate.

So the two lovers kept hugging each other like that until her tears dried off, though she preferred clinging onto him anyways. His kindness and his comforting warmth were things that she would never get tired of, which were the main reasons along her love for him that she adored staying glued to him.

'As your familiar and boyfriend, I want to protect you and make you always happy. I don't want to get separated from you either, Lou-chan.', he thought, morphing his smile into a serious expression.

If someone like Wardes became a traitor, that just fueled Saito's mistrust towards strangers for when he and Louise would go on another mission. Though, Henrietta's excruciating pain for losing her beloved cousin meant that she wouldn't give them other missions, especially because risking to lose her best friend and him too would be far more devastating.

Far away from the academy, precisely in a hidden building of Albion, while the roads were full of people mourning the prince or discussing about the potential war, a man dressed up elegantly was sitting on a chair, facing another person.

The other person in question was a beautiful woman with black hair, violet lips like her eyes, who wore a black tunic with a hood. "Those plebeians are sure loud outside of here. I can't believe that Jean got killed.", said the man with disappointment.

"Fufu, he underestimated his opponent. But in the end, prince Wales got killed by my underling.", said the woman, giggling maliciously.

"You sure are dangerous, Sheffield. Especially with that ring on your finger."

"This ring's power to control minds is sure very useful for our plans, Cromwell. You did great on stealing it from that spirit.", she told him, admring the ring with a purple jewel.

"You promised me that I will able to command Albion, so I trust your decisions. With her fiancee dead, the princess is more vulnerable to Reconquista and this will help to make start a war between the two kingdoms."

"Still, since Wardes is now dead, we need some help from another magician. I guess you're familiar with Fouquet fufu."

Cromwell widened his eyes at the mention of that name, showing a wicked grin before such idea. "Oho, I see what's your plan. Very well, I guess getting help from her will be useful hahahaha."

Sheffield smiled in an evil way in front of his laugh, with her ring shining a little. Whatever else they could have in mind was sure meant to bring sadness, pain and take innocent lives just for their twisted purposes.

Back at the magic school, after comforting his master until she fell asleep, the young swordsman went to the kitchen to grab some food, meeting Marteau and the maids that assured him that Wales' death wasn't his fault.

Their support for him made him smile happily and thank them, causing the girls to glee before his handsome happy face. On the other hand, Siesta suddenly enveloped him in a hug, blushing on his chest while his face got red too and Marteau whistled.

"S-Siesta?"

"D-don't hate yourself for what happened, Saito-san. If I'm still here with you and everyone, it's all thanks to you because you saved me from being a slave. You will always be my hero no matter what.", she told him, showing him a smile before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Needless to say, that move made him blush more and her fellow maids pouted in jealousy while Marteau and Derflinger chuckled in amusement. "Umm, I'm glad to know that and I'm always ready to save you again because y-you're so dear to me."

Some steam came out of her ears at hearing that, so she hugged him tighter like Louise usually did, with countless flying hearts around them. The boy knew that his partner would tease him again about his success with women, but he smiled anyways and caressed Siesta's head like he did with Momon.

So, after getting hugged by her, he grabbed some bread, meat and other things before thanking everyone and going in the courtyard where all the other familiars were too. Upon noticing him, Flame and Sylphid didn't waste a second and went to lick his face affectionately while Robin jumped on his head and made happy sounds.

"Haha, I'm glad to see you all too. I brought some food for everyone."

Most of the familiars had shiny eyes when they heard that, so they all got around him to get either some bread or other delicious things. Despite him being a human in comparison to them, he befriended every single familiar because they were all nice and liked being petted by him.

Between them, the blue dragon was the most affectionate because she totally adored playing with and giving him licks on the face, blushing when he reciprocated with a kiss on the cheek. All the other magicians saw him as a hero and not a commoner anymore, and outside of the main girls interested in him, there were others that had the hots for him.

In fact, whenever he decided to train shirtless, they would glance out of the window to admire him and desiring to be embraced by him. His pinkhaired lover obviously didn't like that every time, stating often that he was hers like she was his.

The reason why he befriended everyone was because he didn't know if he could return to his own world and they were all good people that cared for him, starting in fact by his Lou-chan. And while he was feeding and playing with the familiars, Colbert approached him.

"Good afternoon, Saito-kun. Are you feeling ok?", he asked him in worry.

"Yeah, I feel a little better thanks to some people that comforted him. Also, I wanted to thank you for the sword you gave me.", he answered with a smile.

"Heh, you're welcome. You train hard every day to achieve new strength, so I wanted to help you somehow. By the way, I know that you killed that viscount."

"I didn't have any choice, Sensei. That man wanted to kill me and kidnap Lou-chan, so I had to take his life to avoid that. I don't enjoy killing, but I don't have any pity for cruel people like him.", he said, getting serious.

Colbert frowned sadly at listening him, still, he was right; if he had let Jean stay alive, he would have come back to attack him and endanger Louise's life again. Moreover, a traitor of Tristania that was involved with the assassination of Wales wasn't anybody that deserved an ounce of forgiveness.

"I'm relieved that you kept your values despite taking the life of a person. You see, you and every students are like sons and daughters for me, so I can't help but care for all of you.", told him the teacher, surprising him and making him smile.

"Thank you for telling me that, Colbert-sensei. I also care very much for everyone here, so I will give it all to do that."

In front of his resolution, the kind mage smiled and nodded in agreement before waving to him and returning to his duties. He wanted to check if he was ok because he knew that Saito released a scream of sorrow when the prince died.

He didn't want him to fall in despair and keep hating himself for that, as like he just told him, he was a son for him, even if he wasn't a parent to begin with. But more importantly, he was relieved that he wasn't going to become what he was in the past.

Following his talk with Colbert, the Gandalf spent a little more with the familiars, until the moment he decided to greet them to return to his and Louise's bedroom. Though, he suddenly got stopped by someone, who happened to be Montmorency.

"Momon? What's wrong?"

"Saito-kun, you told me that you liked me before I drank that potion and you even wanted me to be your friend again. I-I know you love Louise, but please, see how much I love you."

Before he could even say something else, she planted her lips on his, shocking him and making his face red. He found it unbelievable, but she was actually kissing him on the lips, which was something that only Louise did.

The image of the smiling pinkette suddenly appeared in his mind, causing him to stop the blondie from keeping to kiss him. "S-Saito-kun?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this to her. Your feelings make me happy, though the mere idea of breaking her heart makes me sad. I'm so sorry, Momon.", he told her, covering his red face and looking away flustered.

"No, don't be. I'm h-happy that I was able to deliver you what I really feel, and even if I can't be your girlfriend, I will continue to love you.", she told him, morphing her sad face into a smiling one and giving him another hug.

Of course, the young swordsman was flabbergasted by what she said, but the two of them weren't aware of Sylphid that watched the entire scene, remaining mouth agape.

That shock turned into jealousy fast enough, as it wasn't fair that the pinkette, Siesta and the water mage could kiss him while she didn't. For that reason, she thought that perhaps he would feel attracted to her if she showed her other form that only her master knew about.

Besides her, no one else saw the kiss Momon gave him, as the news would reach Louise's ears immediately and cause a fight between the two girls. The fact that the blue eyes boy attracted almost all the girls of the academy was well known, but it was only his girlfriend that kissed him.

"You sure a womanizer, partner!", told him Derf in amusement.

"I'm not!", retorted the boy, getting more flustered while the blondie was still clinging onto him.

"By the way, kissing you isn't the only thing I want to do. I-I would like to give you my virginity as well.", she told, blushing profusely.

His mind registered those words in some seconds before his face turned scarlet red and he gasped. Was it for real? She wanted to have sex with him? He understood that she didn't want to hide her feelings anymore, but she was overdoing it.

"I think I have to go back to Louise. See you!"

He gently detached her from him and basically ran back to his tower, with her stunned. Though, she started to giggle because she found his reaction cute and as sign that he was conscious of her.

Now inside the tower of his bedroom, the warrior panted and couldn't get rid of his blush, still flustered for all that happened with Montmorency. 'Louise must not find out anything, otherwise she would get sad or discuss with Momon.', he thought, walking towards his room.

Opening the door, he found the sweet pinkette still asleep on their bed. Such sight made him blush because she reminded him of the famous Sleeping Beauty, which had sense as she was always beautiful and adorable to his eyes.

He also sat next to her and took her hand, which made her smile in her sleep and call his name sweetly. Once again he fell for her, overjoyed that she thinks about him even in her dreams.

That also encouraged him to develop his powers and his abilities even further to protect her better in the future, refusing to let anybody hurt her. Perhaps he didn't enjoy killing, but if it was necessary to protect everyone, he wouldn't hesitate. At all.

A/N

And chapter 15 is here, everyone! Sadly, Wales' death gave birth to chaos and disorder in Albion, with Henrietta devastated in her own kingdom for losing her beloved. Saito and Louise were sad for their failure, but thankfully, they managed to cheer up a little with the help of the people dear to them.

Cromwell seems to be working with the dangerous Sheffield that you may remember perhaps, and their next move shall be make Fouquet break out of prison.

Meanwhile, Montmorency showed her real feelings to Saito, and despite she got refused, she won't give on him. And neither the others will, especially Sylphid that could show herself in a different way. Will Fouquet come back? Will a war between Albion and Tristain start? Stay tuned to find out.

See ya!