Crest of the Strongest Knight

Chapter 156 - Eris' Promise

Eris' life changed after she was knighted.

After being admitted to the Imperial Academy thanks to her mother's influence and connections, Eris thought she would be destined to an endless litany of embarrassment and disappointment just like she had been as a squire. Talentless and weak, Eris was incapable of wearing heavy armor or wielding a greatsword, her frail build despite being a knight making her the laughingstock of her knight order.

Despite her protests to live a more muted existence in her home duchy of Avimorne, her mother—Marchioness Grail—simply wouldn't allow Eris to fade into mediocrity, condemning her daughter to what would have been four years of shame at the Imperial Academy without ever heeding Eris' pleas.

Unbeknownst to her, it was at the very doorstep of the place she dreaded most that her life began to change. As she contemplated her future while preparing to take the first step toward her doom, Lady Scarlet had suddenly burst into her life like a falling star, shining with a luminosity so great that it surpassed even the sun. The noblewoman had rekindled the hope she'd lost and more.

Upon their meeting at the gates of the Imperial Academy, Eris had vowed to change herself and become a great knight worthy of standing by Lady Scarlet's side. At the time, she knew not what drove her to make such a bold proclamation before the star of high society, but she clung onto it obsessively throughout her time at the Imperial Academy, particularly during her first month.

"Training again?" Belita leaned over the marble railing overlooking the Imperial Academy's spacious training grounds. The moon dangled above like a steel-wrought eye polished to perfection, the silver light that it reflected cascading gently onto the world below.

Eris stopped mid-swing, dropping her stance as she stared up at Belita. The countless beads of sweat on her body refracted the moonlight falling from above, giving her skin an almost ethereal glow. "...What are you doing here in the middle of the night, Belita?"

Belita vaulted over the railing, landing solidly on the ground before Eris. Although the balcony she'd leapt from was located on the academy's third story, it was nothing more than a short drop for a knight, especially one of her stature. Belita's long brown curls hung elegantly below her toned shoulders, her muscled legs and well-built figure distinctly apparent despite her uniform.

"That's what I should be asking you." Belita's eyebrow formed a perfect arch as she regarded Eris, watching as the blonde-haired knight immediately began submerging herself in her training regimen once again. "You've got your first match tomorrow and you've been working yourself to death ever since we met. Shouldn't you be resting?"

"Why do you care?" Eris clicked her tongue in frustration. If anything, I'm not getting enough training in...

It had only been two weeks since she'd started attending the Imperial Academy and she hadn't had much time to train between classes and schoolwork. As knights of the Imperial Academy, graduates were expected to serve the imperial family in some regard for at least a year, making the knight's curriculum there much more homework-intensive compared to the knight's curriculum at Avalyne Academy thanks to the inclusion of etiquette and clerical classes.

"Because I'm your roommate and your friend," Belita rolled her eyes. She was more than used to Eris' attitude by now. Upon first meeting her, Belita thought Eris would be meek and shy as befitting of her tiny stature, but the blonde-haired knight had been the complete opposite. Boisterous, ambitious, and driven, Eris had been an unexpected but veritable tempest of activity who was obsessed with training and nothing more.

Sometimes, Eris' intensity was so great that Belita couldn't help but wonder if there was something else motivating the smaller knight other than her self-proclaimed ambition to become a great knight as soon as possible. At times, Eris could seem almost desperate to Belita, as if she were trying to convince herself that she had to work harder and harder even if her body was about to give in. In fact, Belita had already found Eris passed out in the training grounds once, leading to her current routine of checking on the blonde knight's nightly practice sessions.