*Aurelia's Pov*
There isn't much to say about Lucas, when it comes to romance.
He's quite good at making girls fall for him without meaning too.
I guess I got too lax with him.
I always knew Revonia would try something with him, but Charlotte?
Someone who was like a sister to me, betrayed my trust.
I never said it to her, but I thought I made it abundantly clear that I was NEVER going to hand him over to anyone.
He was Mine, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE.
***
*Charlotte's Pov*
When I made my gift for Lucas, I had snuck a peek at my sisters.
I had an artifact box just like Revonia, probably the same artifact as well, a communication orb, but unlike her I had another item that I had put under the 'Open when alone' sign.
It was an ornamental sword.
It was something my father allowed me to decide who to give it to.
And when he had heard that I had chosen Lucas, he had asked me to take a walk with him.
We left through the side exit of the throne room and walked towards the imperial garden.
He activated the silence artifact, it made a dome around us which obscured how we looked, and blocked any noise, but still identified us as royalty as to not be bothered.
He said, "Charlotte, I'm saying this as a father, not as the emperor right now. I like this boy you have chosen. He's well liked amongst the 4 of you, and he's a prodigy raising multiple magical attributes to the 3rd circle, and becoming a 4th stage knight, when he's only been practicing for 6 years."
"However, now I must address you as the emperor."
"This knight is eternally loyal to his mistress. He will never look away without great incentive and great coercion. If what you desire is pure love, he will not give it to you, I'm most certain he wishes for a harem, as most men do in this country."
"I will not allow you to marry, or be a lover to such a man."
"So show me he will devote himself to only you, and only you without abandon, even Revonia must not sway him, and then I shall grant your marriage"
"Despite what I've said, you are not very close to inheriting the throne, so I much prefer you leave the imperial lands before the fight for the throne becomes bloody."
"If it really does come to it, I will give you full authority over your own marriage, but as much as I hate doing this to my own children, you must be a political tool, for the future, for I alone cannot ensure the future of this empire."
"You have your ornamental sword, it means more than just a mere handkerchief or tassel, you are not just showing off your favor or support, you are giving him the authority of your name, the ability to stand as your knight."
"Are you sure that he, such a devoted knight, will come under you if you ask?"
I was not sure if he would join me under normal circumstances but,
"If I needed to get out of needing a partner to a ceremony, or knew of a dangerous journey, if I called upon him, he would certainly be at my side."
"Then I shall let it be in peace. I hope to the gods above that they smile upon your decision."
We walked back to the throne room, from which I departed back to my room.
Revonia gave him a ceremonial dagger, a show of support to him, but this sword would be my way of claiming Lucas.
I was behind in this game, and Aurelia had a secure foundation in the heart of Lucas.
I needed something to pull ahead of both of them.
So I left another object in the box, to be opened while we were giving gifts.
A letter opener, specifically, one with my insignia, the fourth moon.
***
*Aurelia's Pov*
I couldn't believe what I was seeing as Lucas pulled out a letter opener with her crest.
How could she?
I smiled, but I think Lucas noticed I wasn't in the best mood.
Charlotte on the other hand beamed.
She looked like she had bloomed into maturity.
Good for her.
But Lucas is mine.
I will make sure of it tonight.
***
*Lucas' Pov*
After the gift opening, our food was served and we ate the delicious feast laid out in front of us.
There was so much, and I think the gifts really got to Aura as she was eating a lot of chocolate, her favorite comfort food.
In fact, it's such a comfort food that it's her only three heart object in game.
The romance part of the game wasn't very massive as it wasn't the main selling point of the game, but it was possible.
Every playthrough allowed for a marriage near the end, but that's spoiler territory for the 3rd year so I'll leave it alone.
Anyways, I think I had romanced just about everyone in game at least three times, including the childhood friend option, you're given if you can't max a companion rank.
In fact, the childhood friend is the only companion with a awakened and unawakened form when you go to marry at the end.
Naturally the game allows you to marry no one, or people of the same sex, given that they swing that way, or are open to it.
The game also allows polygamy in certain circumstances.
I have played through every option mentioned above, mostly the none married option, since it requires a dedication object, which I'll keep secret since it really is spoiler territory, and they're not only difficult to obtain, but different for each character.
Anyways on to the romance and companionship system.
There are 3 parts to it.
The first part is interaction, having them in the party, fighting/sparring them, and spending free time with them.
The second is invitations, the game has events for this kind of thing, like balls, a medieval version of prom I guess, quests, visits to places, and going around the city, which is a free time event, that is dependent on the time.
They aren't always at the same time, but you can be sure they occur in the same week.
They also don't pop up if you've already made plans for free time, don't have a high enough companionship rank, or haven't completed a quest or storyline for them to interact with you.
The third is gifts. Gifts to each person is ranked by hearts. There are 1 heart objects, which is any object for a character that doesn't align with their dislikes. 2 heart objects, are objects that they have interests in and raises the companionship meter more than the 1 heart objects, but have a 1 day cooldown.
3 heart objects are objects that a character is really interested in. They can only be given once a week, though just like the 2 heart and 1 heart objects they can be purchased every day if you have the ability to do so.
Some 3 heart objects are simple to obtain, like Aura's gourmet chocolates.
Others have a harder method, like a certain knight's 3 heart object which is a mandragora, or mandrake fruit and roots.
Many characters have multiple 3 heart objects, of which some are harder to obtain and therefore give more companionship exp.
Lastly the characters who have only have one 3 heart object, are special in that they have a 4 heart option.
These 4 heart options are not only time consuming, but they require that you have at least a 7th rank companionship, otherwise you become a benefactor as opposed to a love interest.
For example a 3rd year research senior in game is one such person. She has an enmity with her family, who disowned her because she refused an arranged marriage. She hated her corrupt family, which was marrying her off to another, so she refused, and was disowned, and replaced by another.
The 4th heart object for her is the seal of the family head. It means you have to conquer the family from bottom up. Everyone from the servants to the elders and in this case patriarch must be subservient to you.
A challenging feat for a player, since the family is a viscount family.
Anyways back to Aura, she is not one of the special characters, but that was okay, I loved her for who she was, not the game character, but the real person.
As for the 'favor' bestowed on me by Charlotte, and less obviously Revonia, I couldn't say.
I didn't want to engage anyone in a romantic relationship until I was certain I could protect them more than adequately, meaning I probably wouldn't accept or give any confessions, or in game terms, max out my companionship, with anyone until I had reached at least the 6th tier in both swordsmanship and magic.
It shouldn't be hard, and I should be able to accomplish that in a year. So 1 more year Aura.
With all my thinking finished, and the food on my plate finished too, Leo the first ranked in the knight course for the second years footed the bill.
His purple card had a silver stripe signifying him as a second year.
It was a nice card. I should dethrone Aura next year just for a bit to take a picture of my card with it.
Oh and in case you're wondering the first year's stripe is grey, and the third years had a platinum stripe.
They all sound like the same, but trust me when I say the silver stripe is super cool, the platinum is alright too, but the grey stripe was a little dull.
As for any other color, well green cards were reserved for faculty, orange cards were for guests, and gold cards were for VIP's, not nobles or royalty, but VIP's like the Dean and all of the 9 Unified sovereigns. The empress as one of them was naturally entitled to one, but the rest of royalty was not.
Anyways with the food paid for and the afternoon about to end, we all said our goodbyes to each other and left. Aura stuck around though.
"Hey Lucas come with me I have a gift for you too today."
"What I surprise, I do too."
Naturally it was my body pillow I had requested from Lucy.
"No, I actually do."
"Oh, okay."
She took my arm and we started to walk.
"Where are we going?"
"Just wait."
As we started walking towards the southern part of the city, I started to ask questions.
"Why are we walking towards the residential area?"
"Just wait."
And so we kept walking, if we kept going I was sure we were going to pass through the portals.
And that's when Aura pulled me right, towards an apartment complex for the academy city families.
She started to walk up the stairs towards the second floor.
As we were walking across the second floor she started to slow down and face me as we were walking.
Her arms loosened from mine, as she started to hold my hands.
Then a smile started to move across her face.
She stopped walking and I tilted my head to indicate confusion.
That's when we were pulled into a house, and I was blindfolded.
I wasn't sure what was going on, or if I was in danger, but her hands were relaxed, and she didn't sound distressed.
I was now holding Aura just by the hands, and from what I could tell she was laughing while facing me.
I didn't feel hands pulling me, more like gravity, or flying, towards the house.
But we never hit a wall, or anything for that matter.
However, we did stop moving and I could feel the ground beneath me.
It was soft. Completely different from the cobblestone streets in the suburban parts of the city.
And then she spoke up.
"Take off the blindfold now. I know you could have, so thank you for humoring me."
So I did.
And I stared out into a very familiar field under the starry sky.
I turned around and spied a very familiar farmhouse too.
I started to walk towards the house I hadn't seen in the months before my knights quest.
I hadn't been able to make a day to see them in between recovering from the quest and cultists, her birthday, and preparing for the academy.
While I had planned to see them on before my birthday, but it fell through as they had left to visit other parts of the empire to get away from my supposed death.
I sent a letter to the farm, and I assume that the duchy got word of their arrival.
Aurelia caught up to me.
"Is it okay for us to be out this late?"
"I've already arranged for the academy to let us off for the night."
"And how did you manage that?"
"I had mom take care of it."
"You're the best, I love you."
"Wow, if any of the other nobles in the school heard that, you'd be crucified."
"I'm terrified."
I exclaimed as I walked up the porch.
We fell into silence.
I knocked.
"Who the hell is knocking on the door again this late at night?"
I heard the deadbolt unlock.
The door slowly opened as I saw Kelson at the door.
"Lady Aurelia!"
Kelson exclaimed.
Annelise made her way over to the doorway too.
"Then that means you must be..."
"Hi Dad, Mom."