"Haaa" Duke sighed as he sat on a log, drawing on the soil with a stick he picked up.
"Ah! There you were, I thought you suddenly ran off to who knows where hahaha" Byran joked as he sat down next to Duke.
*Haaa* Duke breathed and sighed as if signaling to Byran that he wasn't ready to talk right now.
Byran sat next Duke for a while, just being there as Duke thought of the things that happened.
But after a while, the silence was broken by Duke.
"I could've saved her if I was just a little bit stronger... Or at least those scum wouldn't have escaped" Duke quietly murmured.
"Huh... It wasn't your fault you know... Did you know even Gwaine failed once or twice at saving someone?" Byran gently said.
"My grandfather failed? I thought he never failed!" Duke was astounded at the fact that his great grandfather too was an imperfect human like him.
"Kuhahaha, yes... Gwaine indeed never lost a battle... Sadly it wasn't true for his men and some of the villagers he tried to protect. There was this one time..." Byran began to recount to Duke of his grandfather's losses during the war and how Gwaine got through the loss, and what he did to prevent another loss like that.
Byran: "And so you're grandfather lost his best friend that day... Well, at least I think they were best friends. Foot Knights like us weren't all that privy to Gwaine's private life...
But anyway, it wasn't your fault Duke... It wasn't your fault..."
Duke looked at Byran, and Byran stared back at Duke who was currently forcing himself not to cry... It would've looked cool if it was another character or hero, sadly Duke right now looked constipated.
"Thank you..." Duke solemnly thanked Byran.
"Okay. Now let's go and pack up your stuff" Byran nudged Duke as he went back into the village to pack up his things.
Duke walked back into the village, but as he walked towards the hut he was given by the Village Elder he was suddenly surrounded by a group of Villagers.
Duke suddenly became frantic as he had very bad experiences every time he was surrounded by a large group of people.
But contrary to Duke's negative expectations, the Villagers had a different intention.
"Milord! Thank you so much!" One skinny looking Villager tearfully shouted to Duke as everyone around him started to do the same.
"You saved ma children! Thank you so much! Come now Kimber, say your thanks" A woman nudged her baby daughter.
"tankyu mishta (Thankyou mister!)" The young child had a hard time saying thanks, she was one of the survivors of the fire.
Seeing the cute little girl, Duke's eyes became teary as he remembered another and older little girl...
"You're welcome, you're all welcome..." Duke said with a solemn heart as he hurried back to his hut to prevent them from seeing him tear up.
The soldiers managed to get 75% of the grain before it was burned up and only two children and three elders perished, contrary to the number of dead the Villagers expected from a sacking by bandits, 5 dead was quite the small number and they were thankful towards the Knights and soldiers who defended them and of course to the benevolent Count that lead them.
There were no casualties in his army, only 10 wounded and 5 severely wounded. Byran was included in the 5 severely wounded so the other 4 were also fine like he was.
Overall the defense of Kath was quite a successful endeavor for Duke, well... for his military career at least.
Duke saddled up his horse as he and his men were sent off by the Village Elder.
But while Byran and the Village Elder were talking a voice came from behind the Village Elder's back.
"Cynthia! Wait up!" A man's voice could be heard. It was Annie's father.
Annie's mother came up to Duke as she handed him a rough teddy bear.
"Please keep this... She would've wanted you to have it" Annie's mother remorsefully said.
Last night Duke secretly put the teddy bear on their doorstep as he felt Annie's mother should have her daughter's teddy, but Cynthia felt otherwise.
Cynthia: "And thank you... For trying to save her"
Annie's mother forced her tears back as she bowed.
"Yes... And I'm... sorry too. For failing" Duke also forced his tears as he bowed back to the mother.
It was a weird sight of a fat count bowing to a peasant woman, to other nobles it would've been an absurd thing to do, bowing to someone lower than you...
But Duke just wasn't noble by stature. But he was indeed noble by heart as he humbly asked for the grieving mother's forgiveness.
*Yawn* Annie woke up feeling bright and fresh, today was her big day as she excitedly left her room to polish her sword and armor.
"Hey Annie, you excited today?" A Knight passing by brightly asked as she rubbed every piece of her equipment.
"Yeah, can't wait! Hehe" She brightly smiled back at the Knight as she stormed away from the barracks towards the city markets.
Annie walked the bustling streets of Maine filled with life and different people, smiling.
Though the traffic was a tad bit annoying for Annie who was a hot-headed Knight's squire. But patience was a key trait for merchants, and her merchant-in-training side calmed her hot-headed side.
"Two silver!" A merchant haggled with her.
"No! 1 silver and 80 copper! That's its market value!" Annie shouted back.
"Oh come on now! The soap traders have been complaining about the traffic lately and are charging us more! I can't do anything about the price" The merchant sighed as he pretended to be sad.
"Ughh, FINE, here two silver. You're lucky today's a special day for me" Annie grumbled as she cheerfully stormed away with the soap in a hurry.
Her next destination was the Bath Houses, a new establishment established by the Archduke himself to keep up the city's hygiene.
"Lalala~" Annie meticulously cleaned her self and her hair as she wanted to look her best today...
For her big day.
After bathing, Annie went back to the Knight's Barracks where she met up with her master Byran.
"Are you ready for your accolade?" The old white-haired and grizzled Byran asked with an aura of a wise teacher.
He was the Archduke's second teacher after his grandfather and Annie felt lucky to be designated as his squire.
"Yup, SUPER ready!" Annie shouted as she wore her shiny armor.
*Sigh* Byran shook his head as he looked at the cheerful grown girl in front him, brightly smiling like a squirrel who had just found a large stash of acorns.
"Well... Just don't mess up your lines ok?" The old Byran was quite worried for the teenage girl.
"Sure sure, then after we parteyy!" Annie excitedly invited her teacher to her after-party.
"Kukuku, I can finally taste that sweet sweet nectar" The old Byran murmured as he imagined himself drinking tons of liquor at the party.
"Ehhh? You can't drink! You're not allowed to, remember?" Annie reminded her master of the restrictions the Archduke gave him as the two walked towards Maine's Palace.
"Kuh-! M-maybe just a little drop... I'm sure a little won't hurt" Byran pouted as they reached a large door that led into Maine's throne room.
The Archduke's Palace was a newly made castle that was twice as large and magnificent than the Imperial Castle, and so the throne room was indeed a sight to behold. But what was even more amazing to look at were the different known Knights, Magisters, and influential people who came to see her Knighting Ceremony.
*Tut tururu!* As Annie was walking the great blue carpets the trumpets sounded, signaling the Archduke's arrival.
It was the Archduke, Duke Pendragon, followed by his beautiful wife Vivian, and their two children.
Duke sat on the throne as Annie sighed in awe at the majestic look of Duke.
Duke was roguishly handsome as his sharp features highlighted his fierce jawline and his grizzled beard while his wife, Vivian, who wore beautiful robes sat next to him followed by her two beautiful young baby boys.
"Hey, big bro! Time to Knight me now!" Annie mischievously said which made Duke sigh a little bit.
"Annie, it's "milord" right now. "Milord" " Duke tried to correct her too informal behavior as he stepped down the throne and started the Knighting ceremony.
"And with my authority as Archduke of Brune, I name thee, Knight!" Duke ended the ceremony feeling smug as he had just called himself Archduke... a title he never thought he would ever get during his youth.
When the ceremony ended Annie suddenly leaped at Duke as she gave him a BIG hug.
"Big Bro! Big Bro! I'm a Knight now! I'm a Knight!" Annie cheerfully shouted as tears of joy escaped her eyes.
Duke felt the intense happiness and pride Annie felt from accomplishing her dream as his arms hugged her back.
[Heavy] Duke thought as he held the young Knight. She wasn't heavy because of her armor.
The Duke right now was a great warrior who could even carry mountains and sever seas! One Knight couldn't burden him with her weight.
No, she felt heavy because of the dreams, goals, and aspirations she had as a living breathing human being whose whole life was still ahead of her. But then a sudden pain pierced Duke's heart as the heaviness Annie gave him slowly faded away into empty nothingness.
Duke woke up because of the bumpy carriage ride as he felt tears run down his face.
And his arms... his arms felt empty and open as they held on to no one. He could not find Annie in his arms for the sad and painful truth was... She was no longer there.
At that moment the ugly, obese, and weak Count realized:
He held nothing...