Doubt

“I’d like to speak with Rosie privately, please.”

Despite expressing her desire to kick Medrauta’s ass in quite the loud manner just seconds ago, Leticia’s first request when she returned to the room was rather soft-spoken.

Though her eyes had been filled with a strange amalgamation of frustration and determination when she was staring up at Medrauta who had been peering down at her through the very window that she was dropped from, Leticia’s gaze now bore nothing more than apprehension and what Medrauta recognized as fear.

Medrauta crossed her arms, assuming an almost defiant stance as she frowned at Leticia. “...You’re not going to start falling back into that spiral of depression, are you?”

Leticia shook her head wordlessly, but the anxious look in her eyes still remained.

“...Medrauta,” Viviane looked up at her knight in concern. She wasn’t sure what had driven Medrauta to become so rude and callous, but she knew she couldn’t let this sort of behavior continue. Holding a blade to Lady Rosaline’s neck and throwing Dame Leticia out the window... Just what has gotten into her!?

“Yes, Viviane?”

“Let’s give them some time, alright? Surely there are a few things they wish to share only between themselves.”

A conflicted look flickered across Medrauta’s face. It was clear that she didn’t want to allow Leticia out of her sight, but at the same time, she simply couldn’t bring herself to defy Viviane’s earnest request. In the end, she had no choice but to capitulate to her beloved lady’s demands.

The door behind them closed with a soft ‘click’, and Rosaline turned to Leticia with teary eyes. She held a cloth to her neck, and though the wound was only skin deep, the cloth was already stained a bright red.

At once, Leticia knelt, her voice filled only with regret. “...I have failed you, Lady Rosaline. I will accept any punishment you deem fitting.”

Rosaline shook her head, kneeling to meet eyes with her knight. The cloth she held dropped to the floor as she placed both hands on Leticia’s shoulders and pushed the knight backward ever so slightly, forcing her to look up.

“...Then forgive me for acting at my leisure,” Rosaline murmured. There was so much that Rosaline wanted to say to her knight, but it was impossible for her to put everything into words. Frustration, grief, relief... and love. There was only one way she could express everything in a single action.

After taking a deep breath, Rosaline leaned forward and pressed her lips firmly against Leticia’s before the knight could even react. She would never let Leticia go again.

Though Leticia made to pull away at first, she found that all her strength was worthless in the sweet embrace of her lady. Met with no other choice, the knight followed her beloved’s display of affection, returning Rosaline’s kiss tentatively despite her initial apprehension.

...How...? Leticia thought as they finally broke from the embrace. She stared deep into Rosaline’s eyes, taking in all the hurt and grief that the noblewoman had gone through ever since the attack on the academy. But even in that abyss of pain, there existed an overpowering light of love that dwarfed its darkness.

I left you alone to suffer for so long... Yet how can you still look at me like that, Rosie? How can you still long for my love...?

“...You’re still bleeding, my lady.”

“...I know.”

Rosaline could feel her blood seep into the shoulder of her dress, but she paid it no mind. She leaned forward, embracing Leticia once more, hungry for the touch of her beloved knight. She had missed Leticia so greatly that even if Medrauta’s blade had truly bitten deeper, the pain would be negligible compared to how she felt without Leticia by her side.

“...At the very least, please allow me to heal your wound first, Lady Rosaline.”

“...Why are you speaking so formally to me, Lettie?”

“Because I have failed you. Not only did I abandon you in your time of need, but I allowed a blade to mark your skin. Can I... Can I truly be called your knight?”

Rosaline closed her eyes and bestowed her Crest upon Leticia, bathing the room in a soft golden light as the symbol of her Crest manifested in the air above her, taking the form of a small hourglass.

“Of course, Lettie. You will always be my knight.”

Leticia pressed her lips into a thin line as she choked back her tears with great effort. Though she wanted to let them fall, she knew that now was not the time. Not when she still had so much more to say to Rosaline.

She raised a shaky hand to Rosaline’s still-bleeding neck, a golden glow emanating from her palm as she called upon the power of the Crest. At once, blood began flowing out of Rosaline’s stained dress and the cloth that had been dropped to the ground, streaming through the air and back into her rapidly closing wound until all traces of the cut disappeared.

“No, Lady Rosaline.” Leticia stated, her voice laced with regret and misery. “I am not worthy to be called your knight. Not until I am sure that I will never break again.”

“...Lettie.” Rosaline murmured even as her grip around Leticia’s shoulders tightened. Despite holding her knight so firmly in her hands, she felt as though Leticia would disappear from her side again at any moment.

She wanted so desperately to protest, to lock lips with her beloved knight once more until Leticia understood once and for all how deeply her love truly ran.

She wanted to chain Leticia to herself and make sure that the knight could never stray for more than a few paces so that the Leticia she knew and loved would never leave her sight again.

But she couldn’t.

She couldn’t bring herself to say a word when she opened her eyes and gazed into the warmth of her knight’s eyes. Though they contained traces of grief and regret among a sea of other emotions, there was a determination that even the maelstrom of sorrow could not devour.

Ah... I’m too late... Rosaline’s hands loosened around Leticia. Even though the noblewoman wanted Leticia to give up on whatever aspirations she’d suddenly manifested and just stay by her side forever, Rosaline simply couldn’t voice those thoughts.

To do so would be to spit on the newfound resolve that Leticia had found, and that was something Rosaline simply couldn’t do. Even if it meant that Leticia would one day leave her side, she had no choice but to support her beloved knight.

“...Why do your tears fall once more, my lady? Right now, I am by your side.”

Rosaline sniffled. “...Because soon, you and I will part ways.”

...After all, that’s what you’ve decided, isn’t it? I can only hope that you return to me soon...

“No, my lady,” Leticia said, gently taking Rosaline’s hands. The noblewoman’s eyes widened in surprise. “How can we part ways when I am yours?”

“B-But...! You said.... you weren’t worthy to be my knight...” Rosaline said bitterly. And the look in your eyes said nothing would change that...

“That may be so, but it does not mean I must leave you, Lady Rosaline. I have already left you once... and I shall never do so again. What I meant was that I must reaffirm my resolve. I... I am a knight, my lady. The strength that I wield must be my own. I always thought that I had finally become strong. That the strength I possessed came from myself and no other, but it was only after Amelia’s betrayal and Kate’s disappearance that I realized the true nature of my strength and how weak I truly was.”

“...Weak? I’ve never thought of you as weak, Lettie...”

“Perhaps so, but there are things that only a knight can understand,” Leticia said softly. “Please rest easy, Lady Rosaline. I swear to you that I shall never leave you again.”

Rosaline had no choice but to content herself with those words despite the tightness in her chest that still remained. “Then... What will it take for you to call yourself my knight once more?”

Leticia’s jaw settled into a determined line.

“I must reaffirm my resolve as a knight.”

“Reaffirm your resolve...?” Rosaline wondered. She had no idea what Leticia was talking about. As far as she was concerned, she was willing to accept Leticia as her knight no matter what, but Leticia clearly saw the situation differently.

Leticia nodded. “Yes. I must be certain that the strength I have is mine and mine alone.”

“...And if it isn’t?” Rosaline asked worriedly. She wasn’t sure what exactly Leticia meant, but she knew that it was important to her knight. There was something that Leticia needed to ascertain, whether that be her strength or her resolve.

Even if it isn’t... You’ll still be my knight. Rosaline wanted to voice that thought, but she knew she couldn’t. To do so would be a crippling blow to her knight’s pride and determination. Yet, she couldn’t help but worry...

Or do you mean to leave me if you find that your strength is not yours...?

As if sensing her lady’s trepidation, Leticia flashed Rosaline a grin. “Then I need only make it mine.”

Rosaline blinked in surprise before suddenly hugging her knight as tightly as she could. The tears she shed now were filled not with sorrow, but with joy, their warmth seeping into Leticia’s chest.

Ah... I missed that smile of yours, Lettie.