Unfamiliar Territory

“We’ll be stopping here for tonight, Lady Viviane. Dame Medrauta.”

Although the sky was dark and the moon hung ominously above, the carriage had only stopped moving a few seconds ago. The coachman stood next to the carriage’s door as he addressed the occupants, scanning the vehicle’s surroundings. While he wasn’t a knight, he was still a soldier and had been entrusted with transporting Viviane and Medrauta to the Revelo duchy safely.

“Understood,” Medrauta replied as she surveyed the exterior through the carriage’s windows before stepping outside herself. After ensuring that it was safe, she offered a hand to Viviane, helping her lady down onto the street.

Though it was late at night, the streets were still bustling with activity which wasn’t too surprising given that they’d chosen to stop at Vargos, a medium-sized city situated near the edge of the capital’s borders. Since it would take them three days to reach their destination, stopovers during the nights were inevitable.

A few of the passersby stole curious glances at the trio, but most paid them no mind. After all, the place that they had stopped in was considered the upper-class district in Vargos. As the coachman went to park the carriage in a more appropriate spot, Medrauta and Viviane stood in front of the large building that loomed before them.

Its surface was made of chiseled white stone that allowed it to stand out from its adjacent establishments, and its wide surface decorated with various engravings and ornamental columns reminded Viviane of home. Various mana-powered lights lit up the front of the building as well as its interior, a sign of the establishment’s wealth and level of service.

“...Damn.” The word had slipped out of Medrauta’s mouth before she even realized it.

As an orphan who immediately became a squire, Medrauta had never even laid eyes upon such luxury before. Of course, she’d seen the imperial palace from afar while she was apprenticed to Padraig, but she’d never witnessed its glory up close, nor had she ever come close to stepping inside.

All her life, she’d eaten, slept, and bathed in the cramped barracks that were afforded to knights mainly because such spartan living conditions “built character”, but now that she was about to spend a night in what pretty much looked like a palace, she simply couldn’t help but stare in wonder.

“Is everything okay, Medrauta?” Viviane asked, concern creeping into her voice as she watched Medrauta stare at the building. “D-Do you not like it? Sorry... I should’ve chosen a different hotel to stay at...”

“H-Huh!?” Medrauta exclaimed, snapping out of her awe-induced trance. “No! T-That’s not it, Viviane! I was just thinking... Am I even allowed to spend a night in a place like this? I mean, it’s so... I dunno. It feels like a place that only nobles are allowed to enter.”

“Of course you’re allowed!” Viviane tugged on Medrauta’s arm, pulling her closer. “Besides, who’s going to protect me if you’re not there?”

Medrauta grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess I’ve just grown so used to the barracks that I’ve forgotten people actually have mansions.”

“I remember you were pretty shocked when you saw Lady Rosaline’s room for the first time too.”

“Honestly, I just wasn’t expecting her room to be so damn big. I thought yours was the biggest they got since you’re a duke’s daughter.”

Viviane laughed nervously, studiously avoiding the topic. While Medrauta was aware of how the Round Table ignored Viviane’s complaints and requests, the knight certainly didn’t know that they were insulting her lady by treating Viviane as if she were no more than a baron’s daughter. Of course, Viviane had always avoided informing Medrauta of this, fearing that her knight might do something drastic out of sheer anger.

I mean, it’s not the first time she’d risk herself just for me... Viviane thought, grinning as she recalled the times she’d been forced to hold Medrauta back from taking a carriage to the imperial palace and barging into the Round Table’s chambers.

“Anyway, let’s go in and see what rooms they have available. Honestly, it’s my first time staying at a hotel, so I’m excited to see what they’ve got to offer!”

Medrauta nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me, but are we, uh... We’re staying in separate rooms, right?”

“No?” Viviane glanced at Medrauta with a look of confusion as she led her knight into the hotel. “Why would we stay in different rooms?”

“W-Well... I mean...” Medrauta averted her gaze, blushing fiercely. I-Is this a sign...? Is she telling me that we’re gonna...!?

“We won’t be able to discuss the contents of the letter at all if we stay in separate rooms, Medrauta. Or did you already forget your promise to me after you spent the entire trip here distracting me?”

Yeah, of course she wasn’t, idiot! Medrauta mentally berated herself, shaking her head in an effort to clear it of any lingering lewd thoughts. “To be fair, you were particularly receptive to my ‘distractions’, Viviane.”

“T-That was...! L-Look! I just think we really should go over this, okay...? The letter and the official statement so we can make sure we’ve got everything right before we arrive.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll go over it with you properly tonight.” Medrauta sighed in resignation. She really didn’t feel like reading the massive text dump, but she’d find a way to make it enjoyable somehow.

After extracting that begrudging promise from her knight, Viviane smiled and headed over to the hotel counter where she was offered a variety of rooms. While there hadn’t been many opportunities for Viviane to flex her family’s affluence back at the academy, there was nothing holding her back here. Her eyes lit up as the receptionist showed her the list of rooms that were still available for the night.

“We’ll take the imperial suite!” Viviane declared proudly, placing down two large gold coins.

In the Avalyne Empire, currency was divided into three tiers: bronze, silver, and gold. Each coin was assigned a different value with bronze coins having the least value. Next was silver which was equal to one-hundred bronze coins whereas gold coins held the most value, each of them equal to one-hundred silver coins.

Because of this disparity in value, it was often said that a commoner could not only survive, but flourish with only a single gold coin. As a noble of one of the four great ducal houses though, Viviane had more than enough gold coins to throw around without fear of running out any time soon.

The receptionist received the payment with a smile, handing over a set of ornately decorated keys to Viviane after informing her the location of the room. Viviane curtsied and thanked the receptionist before skipping her way back to Medrauta.

“Someone’s feeling especially happy tonight,” Medrauta sighed inwardly in relief as Viviane returned to her side. Though they hadn’t been far apart, being left standing alone in the middle of the hotel’s palatial lobby had made her irrationally nervous. “What happened? Did they give you a discount or something?”

Viviane blinked. She knew that Medrauta was rather unfamiliar with how nobles lived, but her knight’s latest question truly highlighted how disconnected Medrauta—and other commoners, by extension—was to the lifestyle of nobility.

Viviane shook her head, taking Medrauta’s hand gently. She was already planning on pampering her knight tonight after they finished going through the letter, but seeing Medrauta’s reaction lit a fire in her heart. Alright, Medrauta! I’m gonna show you the best time of your life tonight!

“Hehe, I’ll show you after we’re nice and settled into our room. It’s on the top floor by the way, so we’ll have a great view of the city and the sunrise!” Viviane grinned as she led Medrauta toward the stairs.

Medrauta simply nodded. She couldn’t trust herself to speak when she was barely managing to hold on to Viviane’s hand. Her eyes scanned their surroundings, noting that the others in the lobby were all wearing formal clothing befitting a noble.

With nothing more than plain clothes and a breastplate, Medrauta felt woefully out of place. Of course, Viviane’s outfit was similarly plain, but the dignified way she carried herself made it obvious that she was a noble unlike Medrauta’s nervous floundering reminiscent of a fish out of water.

Oh, fuck. Am I seriously allowed to step on this thing...? She gulped as she followed Viviane up the stairs, treading as lightly as she could on the red plush carpet that lined the stairway. Every time her steel-shod boots left a mark on the fabric, Medrauta visibly winced. Much to the knight’s chagrin, Viviane found it both amusing and adorable.

“We’re here!” Viviane announced, causing Medrauta to heave a massive sigh of relief.

“Alright, now let’s get inside so I can take off these—” Medrauta stopped mid-sentence the moment Viviane unlocked the doors and flung them open. Her eyes widened to an unbelievable degree. Despite all her combat experience, nothing could prepare her for this sight.

“...Holy fuck. What in Aluvsha’s name did you do, Viviane?”