Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 80 - Blinded by Love

"...I knew him."

"Huh? You mean Sir Damien?" Medrauta asked.

The two of them had made their way through the academy's halls rather silently as they departed from Eirlys' office. While the silence was by no means awkward, Medrauta thought it was slightly weird that Viviane hadn't uttered a word during the entire discussion about Damien, so she was relieved to hear her beloved lady's voice once again.

Viviane nodded. "Yes. However, I... don't think it would've been appropriate for me to speak of him at the time."

"Why's that?" Medrauta asked, confused. "I think Lady Estelle would've been quite happy to hear more about her former knight."

"...I don't think so. Not about my encounters with him, at least." Viviane's voice was barely more than a whisper, a swathe of complicated emotions swirling in her eyes. "They weren't exactly pleasant ones."

Upon seeing Viviane's face, Medrauta had a pretty good idea of what had happened between Viviane and Damien especially given the latter's connection to Isabella. The revelation caused conflicted emotions to brew in Medrauta, but she remained silent and allowed her lady to elaborate.

"My first meeting with him was after an etiquette class. For that particular class, we were supposed to participate in a round of socializing and share one of our interests. I... brought a book." Viviane's eyes moistened as she recalled the event, but no tears fell. She was stronger than that now. "It was a gift from my mother and even now, the story remains one of my favorites... even if I no longer have that book with me."

Medrauta's lips formed a thin line. She was frustrated at the fact that Viviane was forced to suffer and lose something precious to her, but it had happened in the past. She knew that no matter how angry she became, there was nothing she could do to reclaim Viviane's book.

Viviane shook her head. "I don't know why, but Lady Isabella had already marked me as her target back then. Had it just been her and her friends, even I might've been able to run away, but she had Sir Damien with her that day, and needless to say, my book was destroyed. Of course, I reported the incident to the Round Table, but I'm sure you know how that went."

Even now, Medrauta had no idea why the Round Table was so biased against Viviane. In the first place, the Round Table was supposed to act as an impartial organization that regulated the activities of knights and nobles across the empire, answerable only to the Imperial Family and select individuals like Merlynne, the noblewoman who had been selected to lead the organization.

Medrauta thought that the situation would improve after she became Viviane's knight, but she had been wrong. In fact, it had become worse. Before, the Round Table used to at least send condescending replies to Viviane's reports and complaints, but after Medrauta swore her oath to Viviane, the Round Table stopped interacting with Viviane entirely.

Of course, she had intended to bring this up with Merlynne during their scheduled meeting after the festival, but due to the circumstances of the war, that meeting was now indefinitely postponed. In the end, all Medrauta could do was apologize.

"...I'm sorry. If only I'd met you sooner, perhaps—"

"No. There's no need for you to burden yourself with such thoughts, Medrauta. Even though I was bullied for most of my time here, I don't regret coming to Avalyne Academy at all. Had I not been bullied... Had I been treated like a duke's daughter should, then our paths probably never would have crossed. So at the very least, I'm glad for that."

"...I'm glad we met too, but I just... I just wish you had a happier time here at the academy. Every day I came to pick you up after class, you looked so relieved. It was almost like seeing a prisoner set free from the cell every time." Medrauta sighed. "I hated that, you know?"