Meet the knights

“Can I ask what the duke said to you my lady, should we write a reply instantly?” Titus spoke up. “I didn’t know you were close with him.

She shook her head, “No, we’re not close. I’ll deal with this alone.” 

Titus nodded understandingly. 

“I’ll talk to my father about this.” Standing up, she made her way to her father’s study. 

She knocked on the door and said, “Father? It’s me, Vienna.” 

"Vienna? You can come in.” 

Said his father's gruff voice from the inside. Entering the room, she sat by her usual spot, which is by the sofa. Her father, Duke Xaviera offered her tea. "That’s good, I was going to call you to talk to you about something, dear." He started.

The lady looked at his father. "If this is about lecturing me about breaking the rules last night again father-"

"The Duke Raziel Valen Donovan had sent me a letter, asking for. I’m sure you received one too. " He asked.

“Yes.”

“Although I seem to disagree a bit...he offered something to me...but I want to respect your decision, my daughter.” 

"To be honest, I received proposals from a lot of marquesses and Earls, asking for your hand. Even nobles from other countries. And I believe it's your time to get married." His father continued. Silence filled the air. The mood changed.

Is her father pushing her away? She can't help but think. It is not like she hated the idea of marriage, if anything, at the age of 21, she is quite late at the age of getting married in their empire, but she doesn't care. She purposely delayed it, hoping that the crown prince would notice her but things are different. 

"I'm not going to marry someone, father." Standing up, she said one last thing to her father before going out. "Is that what you wanted to talk about with me? I better leave then." And she slammed the door shut. She could hear his father's protest but ignored it.

It was plain rude to speak like that with her father but what can she say? She has avoided this whenever this topic is being brought upon her. And she hates it.

Now that her parents forbid her from going out, she sat by their rose garden, which her father gifted her during her coming of age ceremony. Her maid Roxy was beside her, serving her lady. 

She munched on her favorite dessert, pudding. She sipped her favorite jasmine tea and inhaled the scent, savoring the richness of the sweet milk and cream from the pudding that clashes together with the tea.

The lady sighed in contentment. This is her usual tea time. Of course, she's chilling outside and inhaling the fresh air as she awaits the arrival of the knights. It was not only Titus who had gone to the escapade, her family sent their own five more knights to the emperor's army.

"What's taking them so long?" she asked her maids, not getting slightly irritated. A lady should not be kept waiting!

"They reported to Duke Xaviera first, my lady. Just be patient." Her maid replied.

She sat back, forcing herself to have patience. She finished eating her afternoon dessert. 

After a few minutes, a voice boomed from behind her. "My lady!" She almost jumped in shock at the sudden sound.

"Quiet, Ramon. You are annoyingly loud. Maintain your composure as a knight!" yelled another knight. Turning around, she was face to face with their family's five knights, including Titus. 

Titus smiled at her and kneeled, making a fist with their right hand and placing it on their left hand. It was the knights' tradition, with respect to their masters.

The other knights followed.

Titus spoke up, "How are you, my lady?" And they rose up.

"Thank you for greeting us patiently." Said Werner. Bowing his head.

"No need to be so formal, Werner." The lady said, greeting them with a smile. She patted each of their backs before saying, "You all did your best. Thank you for returning."

Since childhood, she never had someone she could call her friends...girls around her age hated her or got jealous of how she got close with the boys...and the only friends she had aside from Titus and Roxy were their family knights. They practically grew up together. And she feels comfortable hanging out with them.

Her father even said that he thought she would turn into a male one day. If only he knew how she hated being a girl and not being able to publicly swing a sword...or even join the knights...

Her maid, Roxy, now excused herself and left them alone, having to do some tasks. Ramon, the one who shouted earlier, cried, "How are we so blessed with a beautiful, strong, and kind lady? Did I save a life from the past?"

The lady chuckled and smacked his head lightly, "Quit acting, Ramon. I know you are just buttering me up." She then faced the other knights. "I have a request for you."

"We did our best to return as early as possible, my lady." Said Titus. "What is it, my lady?”

Ramon's face paled. "No no! I want to rest first! Spare us, my lady!"

Ramon looked at Werner beside him, begging him for help. Werner sighed, then bowed his head, "Forgive me, my lady, but on behalf of the other knights, is it possible if we could take a rest first? We did not have enough sleep."

Ramon nodded his head aggressively, eager to get away. "Yes, my lady! Please! I feel like dying out of tiredness!"

The lady nodded and dismissed them. "Okay, have a rest. I'll be considerate for once." She said.

They grinned in victory and walked away, leaving her and Titus. "Are you not going with them?"

"I am loyal to my lady. I have to listen to her requests." Said Titus.

She smiled. "That's what I like about you, my dear Titus. I am happy I picked you as my knight."

Titus went quiet, his cheeks turning red. Lady Vienna finds it cute whenever Titus gets like this. He's always like this whenever the lady compliments her. That is why he does his best to meet her standards and never fails her.

She looked up at the sky and saw it was a clear day. What a lovely day for a duel. Besides, she's not busy for today.

She clutched her beloved sword. The metallic and rusty smell is engulfing her. It was her brother's gift to her, as he taught her the art of sword fighting. However, it was unladylike according to her parents, so she hid it from them all these years. And alas, they were still not aware of it until this day.

Wrapping her hand with a bandage and tying her hair, she faced her knight. “Let’s have a duel, Titus.” 

“Certainly, my lady. Attack me anytime.” He said, grabbing his own sword too. 

With that, Lady Vienna started to launch at him.

Slashing her swords against him, she started to speak, "Duke Raziel sent me a proposal."

Titus stopped at what she said, looking at her. He seemed shocked, and a bit sad."Really, my lady?"

She nodded, "Yes." She wanted to open her mouth and tell him everything, that she found a book and it contains her life events, that she will be killed by the crown prince or the Duke..but she didn't have the courage to do so. If Titus knew the truth, what would he do? She can't help but think.

Titus paused for a second, before saying. "I see."

"What do you think I should do, Titus?" She asked sincerely don't have an idea of what to do with it. She didn't expect this to happen as it was not mentioned in the book.

"Everything is destined, my lady. For now, go with the flow. And if you decide that you don't want to marry him anymore, then inform me as I'll help you escape."

She chuckled at her knight's response. He had a point..."That's a good idea, Titus. Then I'll trust you on that."

"It's a pleasure, my lady."

"How about the crown prince, my lady?" Knight brought up. "Do you not love him anymore? I noticed you are not chasing after him anymore."

Lady Vienna stopped at that, remembering her stupid past. "Things have changed, Titus." Was all she could reply.

Titus nodded, "I'm glad you realized it, my lady. I'm tired of worrying about how the rumors are always spreading about you. If only they know how kind you are.” By this time, Titus’s eyes were shining in admiration to her with an unknown emotion. 

The air suddenly felt heavy, and there seemed to be words that Titus wanted to say but he was quietly staring at her, a small smile on his face. 

She tilted her head to the side, “Are you okay, Titus?”

Titus pulled out from his trance and nodded. “Yes, I am. I just missed you, my lady.” 

And with that, they continued on their duel.

"Okay, Lady Vienna. You won," Titus was gasping for air as the lady managed to disarm him after half an hour or so. His bright silver hair shone through the sun and his purple eyes begged her to stop. The afternoon sun was turning into the sunset now. But the lady still had energy left.

She swung her sword through the air, hearing the satisfying swishing sound it made. She faced Titus, "Come on, let's start again. That was not enough. You were going easy on me." She knew Titus was not giving his all to this sparring. He knows he's stronger than this, he's just pretending. He is the second strongest knight after all.

And she has to train herself before she meets her end.

"No, I apologize to my lady. But I believe you'll have to go inside, my lady. The Duke and Duchess will be returning soon and they will see you holding the sword."

She gasped. Oh! She'll get caught!

Dropping her beloved sword on the ground, she removed the bandage wrapped on her hands and removed her hair tie to let her bouncy long hair cascading down her back, and dashed towards their mansion. 

When she changed her clothes, Titus appeared by her door. “Lady Vienna, your brother is looking for you. He has a guest and he says it's your friend.”

Friend? 

Descending down the stairs, she went to her brother’s study. Opening the door, she saw his brother talking with a man seated from across from him. “Brother? You called?” 

Her brother turned to her and smiled. “Hey Vienna, I have a guest here. I’m sure you know him.”  

Her eyes widened. No...it can be….

Silently praying it won’t be him, Lady Vienna mumbled a curse as the man turned around, and there he was...she was right. It was Duke Raziel, his red eyes and black hair and with his usual mask covering half of his face. “Hello, Lady Vienna. So lovely to see you again.”