"Explain."
"Lady Priscilla... Now..." He let out an awkward chuckle. "W-we simply didn't notice any men entering the building." Right. Sure.
It was incredible how Heitor didn't feel any pity towards the man at all, even though Priscilla was lifting him by his damn collar. This was the guy who was clearly completely okay with getting them killed after all, so as far as Heitor was concerned, he was no better than an assassin.
But Emilia didn't see it that way. "L-Lady Priscilla, please let him go! You're hurting him!"
It was kind of depressing, even though she was defending the knight, he did not seem to appreciate it one bit, basically sneering at the girl. Was the hate for the Witch of Envy truly that strong? He supposed it was understandable, but still...
Priscilla glared at the half-elf. "To let this man go, would be akin to letting our assassins go, do you not understand that?"
Emilia looked down. "I do, but even so... I don't think negligence should get them killed. Um... t-there are proper ways to punish people like that!"
Priscilla rolled her eyes. "Idiot." And went back to glaring at the man.
So Heitor felt like he needed to elaborate for the half-elf. "Lady Emilia, I find it highly unlikely that this man and the men under his command simply failed to see the assassin. It's much more plausible that he just didn't care about their entrance... Or in other words, they are accomplices."
Emilia sighed. "You... you're right..." She accepted it rather quickly.
He imagined she already pretty much knew, Emilia wasn't dumb after all. She was probably just trying to give the man the benefit of the doubt, but with Heitor's words she finally had to accept the situation.
Emilia bit her lip. "And I'm sorry, in the end I caused trouble for everyone..."
Heitor waved her off. "It's fine Lady Emilia, you didn't hire any assassins..." His words didn't really work towards comforting her. It's not like she didn't know that, after all.
But Al's words were a bit better. "Yeah. Besides, there's a new group of assassins after the princess every single damn week." Completely understandable, really.
The gladiator glared at the knight. "I'm surprised you guys were okay with two candidates dying in one night though... Especially since the princess isn't exactly unpopular." But she should be!
The knight gasped. "The assassins went after Lady Priscilla?" That was... a strange thing to say.
Priscilla dropped him, and clicked her tongue. "How annoying..." He had no idea what was going through her mind.
But Heitor had a theory on what had happened. The assassin's sent after Emilia were collaborating with the knights, while the assassins sent after Priscilla weren't. Actually, now that he thought about it, wasn't Bubba kind of confused how his men managed to just enter without some sort of plan?
Priscilla's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "For now, let us round up these failures called knights and take them into the palace." She glared at the downed knight. "I trust you will not resist?"
The man paled. "I-I won't Lady Priscilla." For once the strange pressure Priscilla could emit was being useful.
Good ol' anime killing intent.
She then look at the gladiator. "And Al, I have a job for you after this. Go back to my estate and gather the Crimson Battlefront, I cannot trust these excuses for men, so I will use my own."
Al bowed. "I'll bring them here as fast as I can... but wouldn't it be better to go and do it yourself princess? This city is clearly dangerous?"
She shook her head. "I still have things to do here." She smiled. "Worry not, piggy shall protect us, as he has done tonight..." And that smile slowly soured. "Although he better remember whose hand feeds him."
Heitor scratched his cheek. "It's hard to forget." She really was still on about him helping Emilia!? "By the way, wouldn't it be better for Schult to go with Al as well? He's just a kid."
Honestly, as far as Heitor was concerned it would be better if they all went with Al and abandoned this city. What if bringing the Crimson Battlefront was seen as a personal challenge and they all got executed for it?
Schult spoke up, even if he was still very much recovering from the shock of the attack. "I-I won't leave Lady Priscilla behind!" He should though!
Priscilla put a hand to her chin. "No, he speaks wisdom, Schult..." Yes!
Priscilla was a bitch, but she seemed to at least care for the kid somewha—.
"But then again, you are the only servant of mine that I brought. So I suppose you may stay." Damn it!
Schult commemorated. "I won't cause any trouble!" He won't survive the trouble!
Emilia raised a hand. "S-sorry, but what is the Crimson Battlefront?" The proof that this world was mess up.
Al cleared his throat. "It's princess' private army."
Emilia's face twisted in shock, for a candidate that had no resourse that must sound crazy. "She has such a thing? Even for a baroness it seems..." Too much?
Al nodded. "Yeah, but if it helps, her dead husband was once a viscount who got demoted out of that title during the demi-human civil war. He still kept being almost as powerful as a viscount though."
Emilia covered her face in shock. "Lady Priscilla's husband passed away? That's so sad..."
"You truly are a half-wit." Hey, it isn't her fault she doesn't know Priscilla is a bitch who could never love someone. "Let us stop wasting time already. We go towards the palace."
Welp. Hopefully they wouldn't all die.
In the end Heitor didn't even see what had been discussed in private. He simply awaited with Schult for Priscilla and Emilia to return. Not even Al was with them anymore...
It was way too stressful.
But eventually they returned. "So, how did things go Lady Priscilla?"
"Those men are all snakes." Ah. "Which is to be expected of course. It was mine folly to believe only the other candidates were my enemies in this competition."
He sighed. "I don't think you can be blamed for not accounting for this." He couldn't believe was defending Priscilla of all people. "Did they do nothing though?"
Priscilla scowled. "They certainly denied any involvement in the matter, but the knights were arrested and will be punished." They had to show something at least...
Priscilla continued. "We will also be escorted to a new hotel, where we will be guarded by a new group of knights."
He gasped. "Seriously!? No way we are gonna accept that, right?"
Emilia nodded. "I don't like it too. I think I'm just gonna head back to Roswaal's manor." So she wasn't gonna stay in the city like Priscilla the nutjob...
Priscilla looked at her as if she was a dog. "No, you will stay for a few more days. We will also be taking the hotel offer."
Emilia winced. "But..."
Priscilla quickly cut her off. "I will be organizing a meeting between the candidates, one you should be present for. Though if you truly wish to run, then do as you please."
Emilia sighed. "No, if that's the case then I will stay." She held onto her crystal. "Puck might be mad though..."
Priscilla shifted her gaze to Heitor. "As for the hotel, it is simply the best choice currently given to me, at least until mine Crimson Battlefront arrives. And I doubt the knights will try something so outrageous so soon after this night's assassination failed."
She grinned. "But if they do, it shall be your duty to protect mine divine self, piggy. I adopted you as a stray, so it is only natural you would be given the work of a guard dog."
He scratched his cheek. "I don't think piggies are supposed to be bodyguards, but whatever." It was his job after all. "That said, can we at least all sleep in the same room? That would make things a lot easier."
Because then, even if Emilia kept spawning as a green unit, or another dumb thing happened, he would be able to quell the disaster more easily. Also, without Al around, protecting two people in different places would be... stressful to say the least.
Priscilla pouted. "I accept sharing a bed with you or Schult, but I refuse to extend the same courtesy to the half-wit." Wasn't it strange to accept sleeping with a pig, but not what was possibly the most beautiful woman in the world?
Emilia interjected. "It's fine Lady Priscilla, I'll sleep in a different room. I'm a light sleeper, so I'll wake up if—."
He cut her off. "Do not even try to utilize such obvious lies." He almost died because she was such a heavy sleeper! "And Lady Priscilla... maybe she could sleep in the same room, but not the same bed?"
He was trying to find a 'loophole' in her rules. Mostly because he knew directly arguing with Priscilla rarely ever lead to anything. She would be stubborn, just to be stubborn.
She hummed for a while. "I suppose that's... acceptable." Awesome.
She continued. "The half-wit can sleep on the ground. Surely it is better than the dirt that she is used to?" Not awesome!
Emilia blushed. "Even when I lived alone I didn't sleep in the dirt, but I don't mind."
"You should mind!"
In the end, even when they were escorted to the hotel they didn't go to sleep. At that point the Sun had already risen anyways, and they all had things to do.
Emilia was talking with Puck, who had woken up. Priscilla was writing letters, maybe to the candidates, maybe to other nobles. And Schult was...
What was he doing? "Yo Schult, you okay buddy?" He had decided to check on the kid.
It had come to mind that back when he had just been summoned into this world, the reason he survived not being run over by Priscilla's carriage, was due to her not wanting to show him bloodshed.
Or in other words, he wasn't used to being attacked by assassins.
"I..." Schult slowly build up his courage.
You have triggered a Support Event.
Ah, so it was one of these? He just had gone through a big battle, so he should have expected it. However, did that mean Aldebaran had left them before he could get his B-Rank with the guy!?
The boy continued. "I'm not really doing anything..." And that courage all deflated away, Schult sounding guilty.
Heitor raised a hand with a smile. "Funny coincidence! Me neither!" And he was a grown ass man. "So don't feel too bad about it. It's not like Priscilla gave you an order or anything."
He clenched his fists. "Yeah, but... You're not like me, mister Heitor! And you're definitely doing stuff! You're guarding the hotel!" Was he though!?
He continued. "While I just stood here thinking of what happend during the attack like a baby... I was useless back then."
Heitor could have just told the boy that it was natural for a kid to be useless during a assassination attempt, but he had a feeling that wasn't what he wanted to hear.
Though he didn't know what Schult wanted to hear either. "You're a servant, one who cleans clothes and stuff. Don't put the expectation of knowing how to fight on your shoulders, Schult."
He scowled. "Maybe if I was a normal servant that would be okay, but I'm not. I'm a servant of Priscilla Barielle, the future king of Lugunica..." He sure had a lot of trust in the woman. "I have to be exceptional. For her."
Oh no... was this the birth of another Al!?
Well, he would be more successful than the gladiator. "Lady Priscilla already sees you as exceptional. She really cares about you, you know?" Maybe a bit too much even!
All shotacons should die!
"I know..." He frowned. "But she just thinks that because I'm a kid... once I grow up, if I'm not good enough she will..." Wait, he could see her shotacon tendencies!?
Suddenly a look of resolve appeared in his eyes. "I have to get strong... So, please train me when you have the time, mister Heitor!" The boy bowed.
To such a honest display there was really only one answer. "Sure, I don't mind. But I'm not exactly the greatest swordsman of Lugunica or anything." In fact, he was barely a swordsman in the first place.
Schult smiled. "That's fine, I still feel like becoming like you, will make me exceptional in Lady Priscilla's eyes!"
"If you say so."
Support Event over. Schult's C-Rank Support Achieved!
After checking up on Schult, he decided he might as well do that with the rest of the party. Especially since he had maybe built enough points with them to progress their Supports.
First of all, he made his way to the half-elf. "Hello Lady Emilia, are you... doing well?" She looked... not just tired as usual, but also a bit angry.
She hesitantly nodded. "Yes, I'm fine Heitor... Puck and I just had... a fig—. We had a discussion." So they had fight. Got it.
You have triggered a Support Event.
As expected, another Support Event. He had fought the last battle by her side through pretty much all of it, so it was only natural that this would occur eventually.
He put a hand to his chin. "So... what was the discussion about?" Much like with Schult, he liked Emilia. If she was in trouble, he wanted to help her out.
"It was..." But Emilia didn't look like she wanted to talk about it. "Puck was unhappy about my decision to stay in the capital after the attack." That was actually pretty understandable.
For once he couldn't even call Puck a overprotective father, this was just common sense. Though then again, what if she was hunted down outside of the city, while she was basically alone?
Heitor hummed. "Well... why do you wanna stay in the capital after the attack?"
She sighed. "Because of Lady Priscilla's meeting... It's gonna be something important, I just know it, and as a candidate... If I was the only candidate not present... It would be really bad."
She continued. "But Puck doesn't care, I don't think he sees me as someone who can ever become king in the first place." That was so strange...
Heitor was not a father, but wasn't it natural to believe in your daughter? Especially when the fucking Divine Dragon supposedly did?
Heitor put a hand on his shoulder. "Make sure to prove him wrong then, Lady Emilia."
She giggled. "That's a ni~ce thing to hear, thank you Heitor." She stretched that word out! Cute! "But should you be saying that? You think Lady Priscilla is gonna... crush me, right?" Ah, his words from the Selection had come to haunt him!
He sputtered. "I... Um... Uh..."
And now she was giggling again. "Don't worry silly, I'm just teasing you. Of course you support the person you work for."
He scratched his cheek. "Even so... Let me clarify something, while I do think Priscilla is amazing..." Even if that was infuriating. "I don't think she's invincible. So work hard!" He would place his faith in Caeda!
True love conquers all!
Or something of that nature.
She smiled. "I will... I have to!" But at the end her smile faltered. Did he smell a dark backstory coming along!? "I can't fail my fellow elves, after all!"
He was almost surprised the Support didn't end right there and leave him in a cliffhanger. "Are you talking about your equality pitch?" That sounded like a Fire Emblem plot.
She and her fellow elves had suffered discrimination, and so she would try to change the world for the better by becoming king of the entire nation! After she had chosen by a dragon! The dragon part was important.
She nodded. "Yes, but also... this is going to sound like a strange story, but... the truth is that I was frozen in ice, stuck in a forest... for... I don't how long..." There! The dark backstory! "I don't remember anything from before I was frozen." Amnesia!?
Intelligent Systems, you predictable dog...!
"Puck was the one to unfreeze me, but... it took a lot of power, so he can't do it again, and there are tons of other elves frozen in the same forest..." Resolve shined in her eyes. "But the king of Lugunica gains access to what is called Divine Dragon Blood. Something that according to Roswaal, can unfreeze them."
"I have to get it, no matter what!" Ah, so she was after a mcguffin.
A dragon related mcguffin at that. "I see... Though I'm sure Lady Priscilla would be willing to help you if she won." Maybe. Actually, this was Priscilla, so there was the possibility of her spitting in the elve—.
A sudden idea came to his mind, borne out of Fire Emblem tropes.
Emilia was totally the Witch of Envy, wasn't she? And he didn't say that in a derogatory manner.
She was frozen (sealed) and then when she was unfrozen she lost her memories, and by coincidence, she just happened to look like the Witch of Envy... This was the trope where the character is actually god or whatever that Fire Emblem was loving these past few years! Kinda like Byleth!
She was the main heroine! The female lord!
But Priscilla also felt like that... Welp, it was probably just the case where every candidate was a playable lord. Which is why he desperately needed to learn more about them someway or another.
"I'm sure she would." Naive. "But I still want to try and become king nonetheless. Is that bad...?"
"Not at all Lady Emilia. As Priscilla loves to say, do as you please."
Support Event over. Emilia's C-Rank Support Achieved!
That was pretty crazy for just a C Support!
And now it was time to face what would be the most stressful support. Assuming he had unlocked it in the first place of course.
"H-hello Lady Priscilla..." He awkwardly entered the room. And then saw that she was still writing. Should he maybe leave then?
She turned around to face him. "Piggy? Is there something you need?" There was something off about her. He couldn't quite put the finger on it, but there was definitely something wrong.
A Support Event has been triggered.
Not that he cared, he was just here for the Support. "I'm just here to check on you... I've been going around seeing if everyone is okay after what happened." And also collecting Supports! You never knew when they could be useful!
She rolled her eyes. "You expect me to have been shocked by that? People have been trying to assassinate me from the day I was born piggy, it is nothing new. You might as well ask me how I feel about today's weather."
He looked away. "So... like... that doesn't make it okay. So you wanna talk about it?" He couldn't believe he was actually willing to listen to Priscilla's troubles of all people.
He might just puke.
She clicked her tongue. "There is nothing to talk about." And then turned around to go back to writing. "I am far too busy to think about such useless matters, though even if I wasn't, this conversation would be worthless. As a Vollachian, I do not fear the blade that hides in the dark, nor the blade that shines in the sun."
"O-okay...?" Should he just leave? But the Support had yet to end...
She grit her teeth. "Yes, I do not fear it all. I've dealt with such politicking as a child. Why would I panic as an adult?" Her writing got more frantic. "Especially since the world works in my favor. To point a blade at me, is to point a blade at one's own neck."
And after her writing, so did her breathing. "I will win. I was born to win. I was going to win...!" The quill snapped in her hand.
She... she was definitely shocked by this whole thing.
Ugh, he would need to comfort Priscilla. It was the least he could do after coming here. "You know, I'm not gonna see you as weak just because you're scared of losing or dying. It's a pretty normal thing."
The fact that she showed fear at all actually made her less of a bitch in his eyes. Priscilla Barielle wasn't completely delusional, just mostly delusional.
She got up from the chair, making it fall to the ground. "Scared...?" And then faced him. "Piggy, are you really foolish enough to ever think of myself as being scared? What would I even be scared of?"
Her pride really was something. "Of everything? This whole situation is really scary, and you have been living it ever since you were a child. I wouldn't look down on you if you wanted to run away, even." But it would be funny!
Priscilla summoned her sword. "You are not my sister Piggy. Do not think I shall forgive such words from your filthy mouth." Ah...
Ah!? Shit, could people die in Supports!? Had he messed up way too much!?
It had been a decent time since Priscilla had threatened him, so he had lowered his guard! What an idiot he was!
He began stepping back. "L-look, I'm not forcing you to run or anything like that! I'm just saying that if you wanted, you would still be the strong... way too strong Priscilla in my eyes."
And she was stepping forwards everytime he retreated. "And I'm supposed to care for your opinion, piggy?"
He shook his head. "N-no! But I'm not the only one who thinks like that... Schult and Al, I'm sure they wouldn't see you as lesser for it!" Mostly because they worshipped the ground she walked.
"Hoh...? But then I must ask once again. Do I look scared to you?" Flame was dancing across her body.
He gulped. "I mean... kinda?" And then gave her a thumbs up. "But that's... okay! We aren't warriors in a battlefield right now, we are friends, so there's no reason to hide it... I... We won't suddenly stab you in the back at the first showing of weakness."
He continued. "Maybe it was like that in Vollachia, but this isn't Vollachia. This is the Priscilla camp!" Made of simps and terrified people.
She grit her teeth. "You...! Fine, I am a bit scared! This is scary! B-but just a bit!" S-she was actually admitting to it!? "I know that any mistepp may get me killed... Just like when I was a child, just like with Prisca, because the truth is... I..."
The fire disappeared. "The world doesn't work in my favor. It never has. It never will."
Even she seemed shocked at admitting that. "It didn't work on Prisca's favor, and changing my name and claiming to be reborn did not suddenly change that. If the world truly loved me above all, then me, and my brother, and Arakiya, we would all be... So..."
She looked away, a blush on her face. "So I'm thankful for you, and to Al, and to Schult, and for everyone who tried their best to bend the world in my favor. It means... it means a lot to me."
"Priscilla... Wow... I..." He didn't really know what to say.
Priscilla's blush became fiercer. "There! You have finished checking on me!" She swung her sword way too close to his neck. "Now let me get back to work, Heitor! Useless, arrogant piggy!" Right! Time to run away!
Support Event over. Priscilla's A-Rank Support Achieved!"
AN: So close...!