Congratulations

“Congratulations!”The cheer was echoed by everyone once Medrauta and Viviane had returned to the teahouse. It was a rather joyous moment that had both the knight and her lady blushing bashfully despite their hands being joined tighter than ever.“I’d say the same, but the two of you have been sitting on this for ages,” Brigitte said.“Brig! Levant! What’re you two doing here!?” Medrauta exclaimed.“Our booth ran out of stuff to sell, so we’re closed for the day. The princess saw you and Viviane heading back to the dorms, so she kinda figured that somethin’ like this might happen and grabbed us.”Medrauta’s eyes settled on Gwenhwyfar, surprised that the princess would go so far just to make up for what she’d done. It truly was unusual behavior coming from her. After all, Gwenhwyfar’s high-handedness wasn’t exactly a secret. Maybe she actually feels bad about the whole ordeal, huh...?“Eh!? The princess did!?” Viviane turned to Gwenhwyfar, shocked. “Y-You really didn’t need to, Your Imperial Highness!”“Hmph. I shall be the one who decides what I need or do not need to do, Lady Viviane. Do not forget that.” Gwenhwyfar crossed her arms, tossing her hair contemptuously. “Perhaps it is because of the recent debacle with my brother, but I’ve been feeling particularly repentant lately. I thought it might be prudent to have Dame Brigitte and Lord Levant take over your advertising duties for the rest of the day while the two of you frolic about in the festival.”Medrauta raised an eyebrow. She certainly would’ve liked to take the opportunity to have a date with Viviane, but it just didn’t feel fair to push all their work on Brigitte and Levant. “While that’s nice and all, we can’t just foist everything onto them. I mean, they just finished with their own booth.”“Actually, we’re fine with it.” Brigitte said. “Lady Maria’s with her father, so Levant’s shit outta luck when it comes to getting a date. Meanwhile, I’ve already done my qualifiers so I’ve nothing else to do.”“Speaking of qualifiers... You missed your chance, didn’t you, Medrauta?” Leticia turned to Medrauta apologetically, her expression downcast. “I’m sorry. I should’ve taken the first shift after all.”“It’s all good, Leticia. If anything, it means I’ll be able to cheer you on during your matches,” Medrauta grinned. “You think you can win this year now that I’m outta the tourney?”“Hm...” Leticia pursed her lips as she thought of the challengers that could pose a threat. “When it comes to duels, I think I can win. At least, I’d place within the top three. Overall though, I doubt it. Brigitte’s going to be competing and so is Kate.”“Ahh, Dame Kaitlyn’s your childhood friend, isn’t she? I’ve never had a chance to spar with her outside of the admissions tourney, but I remember that she was quite strong.”The admissions tourney was held every year at Avalyne Academy. As the only public academy based in the capital, Avalyne Academy was the most popular choice for newly-knighted squires, and while the campus grounds and housing spaces were by no means small, there was only a limited number of first-year students that the academy could take in.As a result, the admissions tourney was designed to filter out the thousands of applicants in a simple ladder-style tournament of duels where only the top one-hundred competitors would be granted admission. Of course, the higher one ranked, the better the benefits, especially for someone like Medrauta who wouldn’t have been able to afford the exorbitant tuition otherwise.Leticia nodded. “I thought she’d win the whole thing until I saw you knock her off the platform. Honestly, I don’t think she’s ever experienced such a one-sided fight before.”“Probably the case, yeah.” Brigitte put in. “She fought me to a draw for third place, and that was after Med kicked her ass. Speaking of that damn tourney, who was it that took second again?”“Rosette,” Medrauta answered immediately.The image of that beautiful foe burned bright in Medrauta’s memory even now. Rosette’s deep red hair was rich and dignified, a sharp contrast to Brigitte’s fiery crimson that was sharper and wilder. Her build was similar to Medrauta’s, and she wielded a heavy rapier that struck with the speed and strength of a falling star.“Whoa!” Both Brigitte and Leticia exclaimed in unison. “It’s not like you to remember someone’s name that easily, ‘specially when you’ve only fought ‘em once!”“...Because she was the strongest knight I’ve ever fought. And beautiful, too. N-Not as beautiful as you though, Viviane!” Medrauta hastily added as she felt Viviane’s death grip around her arm. “Honestly, I don’t even know how I managed to win.”“Well, I’m pretty sure she went to the qualifiers. I think she’s running a booth with Lord Kelsier and his buddies? I’m not too sure on that one,” Leticia said as her brow knit together in thought.“Lord Kelsier?” Medrauta recoiled as if she were disgusted. “Don’t tell me she swore an oath to that useless sack of shit! Have you seen his match record? I mean, sure, he might have a great Crest, but he can’t use it to save his life.”“Out of everyone here, you’ve the least right to talk about match records, miss ‘I’ve-Lost-Over-Two-Hundred-Matches.’”“She’s right, you know. I think it’s almost two-hundred-fifty now if we count the ones she participated in before Her Imperial Highness Arrived,” Brigitte added.“Urk!” Medrauta flinched. She hadn’t expected this double betrayal, but there was also nothing she could say to refute their points. Both Brigitte and Leticia tracked more wins than losses, and significantly so. Meanwhile, I’ve only won two goddamn matches, huh?Brigitte smirked. “Well, losses aside, you’re right. Lord Kelsier’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, and he’s already got a knight.”“...So what the heck is she doing with his group?”“Oh! I remember!” Leticia exclaimed. “Kate’s in one of her classes, so they spoke a while back. Apparently, she’s an errant now.”Medrauta frowned. An errant was a knight who wandered for an extended period of time without a noble or even mercenary employment like Roland. While being an errant at the academy wasn’t as punishing as being one after graduation, it would’ve been impossible for Rosette to participate in matches or raise her standing.“Rosette? An errant?” Medrauta shook her head. “Impossible. With the way she fought back in the admissions tourney, nobles would be clambering all over each other just to get to her, especially now that I’m taken by Viviane.”“That might be so, but she doesn’t seem like she’s interested in any of the lords who’ve sought her sword. Rather... If I recall correctly, there was a rumor about how she dissolved her oath after witnessing you and Viviane’s match against Lord Bastiche and his knight.”“Huh...” Medrauta frowned. “You don’t think she’s looking for a lady now, do you?”“It’s entirely possible,” Brigitte said as she saw a chance to jump back into the conversation. The three knights were now completely engrossed in having this discussion. “While you and Leticia are the only female knights who’ve sworn yourselves to a lady so far, it seems there’s a good number of us looking to do the same.”“And you, Brig?”“Hah! I’ll pass. Levant’s treated me well, and I’m honored to be his knight. Plus, I won’t even have to worry about sticking with him even if I do somehow fall in love with a woman. After all, he’s due to get married.”“Oooh! That is quite convenient, isn’t it?” Leticia said. “It’d be pretty awkward if Rosie and I ended up getting married while I was still serving a lord. I don’t even want to think of the politics behind that...”“That’d be a definite headache,” Brigitte agreed. “I’m not even sure how it’d work for Lady Rosaline considering you’d be your lord’s vassal, but—”“Ahem!” Gwenhwyfar cleared her throat rather loudly. While the knights were conversing amongst themselves, the princess, Sakura, and Rosaline had all been fixing them with looks of disdain. Despite that, it was only now that they interrupted as they could bear the situation no longer. “You meatheads sure do like to keep a lady waiting, don’t you?”“Pardon my manners, but I believe there was talk of a date occurring sometime today?” Rosaline said with a perfectly arched brow. “Perhaps we should start on preparing for the next batch of guests. What do you say, Lettie?”Leticia gulped as she heard her name being mentioned in a sweet, but somehow scathing tone. “O-Oh. R-Right.”“Indeed. Honestly, you should be ashamed of yourself, Dame Medrauta,” Sakura admonished. “Lady Viviane has been casting impatient glances at you this whole time, yet you’ve not noticed a single one of them. If you’re not careful, she might leave your side, you know?”“I wasn’t—”“Shh!” Sakura reached out with lightning speed, placing a finger on Viviane’s lips and rendering her protest stillborn.“Oh... Uh, sorry about that, Viviane. We kind of just got too into it...” Medrauta apologized with a sheepish smile.In response, Viviane merely shook her head. “You’ve waited long enough for me, so I don’t mind waiting just a little bit, Medrauta.”“Well, I shan’t keep you waiting any longer.” Medrauta grinned and swept Viviane off her feet, cradling her in a princess carry. “Now then, shall we be off, my sweet Viviane?”