Kurtis and I stared silently at each other. Only the sliding of the dressing room door finally broke the stalemate.
“Thanks for waiting,” Duke Alcott said as he entered the room. With one glance at Kurtis and me, he froze, then took a halting step backward. “Oh, pardon me! Have I arrived at a bad time?” He escaped to the dressing room and called back, “Were you mid-proposal? Please, don’t let me stop you. I’ll wait as long as needed!”
“Hwuh?”
Duke Alcott had seriously gotten the wrong idea when he saw Kurtis kneeling before me.
“W-wait, it’s not what it looks like!” I shouted.
“What Lady Fi says is correct!” Kurtis said, still gravely serious. “I would never dare be so profane as to propose to my lady!”
Duke Alcott returned, an odd expression on his face. “Oh, I see. My mistake. I won’t pry, but you two sure have a strange relationship, huh? Kurtis, you’re the superior officer, but you clearly respect Fia greatly.”
Cerulean joined us then. He and Duke Alcott had changed out of their jester costumes and into ordinary yet fine shirts. Duke Alcott, having abandoned his long-haired wig and makeup, looked more normal again. Cerulean’s change was less dramatic, as he merely appeared to be a well-to-do young boy from a good family.
They sat on a sofa across from us just as maids arrived with plates. I gawked, amazed by the number of dishes they carried.
“Forgive me,” Duke Alcott said, “this is all we could prepare on short notice. If this were my manor, I would’ve been able to serve you a proper meal, but I do not have as much authority in the royal castle.”
I gaped at the table, positively overflowing with dishes, and wondered if he was messing with me.
“Er, no, this is more than enough,” I said. “More than we can even eat, maybe…” I reminded myself that I was speaking to Duke Alcott, not Dolly, and added, “…sir.”
He frowned. “Fia, even after we’ve grown so close, you insist on putting up a wall between us? We’re already friends. Our status doesn’t matter. Oh, and don’t try to complicate things further by saying it’s because we’re teacher and student now, okay?”
He made these claims of friendship so casually. Was this what Kurtis was warning me about? I checked with a glance his direction. The ever-strict Kurtis appeared conflicted. Maybe it was best to heed his advice.
“Uhh, so you say, but I do think our difference in status is pretty important, sir,” I said.
“Fia!” Duke Alcott exclaimed, leaning forward and clasping one of my hands in his. “I’m serious! You’ve moved me! I heard you got those holy stones from Sutherland, but I never thought I’d witness something so valuable and powerful actually put to use! Even if you found a knight on death’s door, I believed everyone would avoid using the stones for fear that a more opportune moment might come!”
His fervor overwhelmed me. “Right,” I said, nodding along.
“And yet you used them without a second thought to help someone! Without the slightest shred of doubt, you endeavored to help everyone you could! I don’t care if this is blasphemous of me to say, but your actions reminded me of the legendary Great Saint of three hundred years ago!”
This sudden turn in the conversation left me utterly speechless.
Duke Alcott continued in a rush. “I have been moved by you, Fia, and I respect you greatly! I want to be your friend so I can stay by your side! If I am lacking in any way, then I will endeavor to correct that so I can one day be a worthy friend! Please, let me be your friend!”
I couldn’t deny such a frank and sincere request. I nodded, still speechless. Kurtis frowned, but what choice did I have? I couldn’t reject Duke Alcott when he was being so earnest. Besides, becoming friends with someone wasn’t the same as “getting more involved” with them.
Duke Alcott beamed. “Thank you, Fia! I know I can be unfair or come across wrong at times, but if I can be your friend, I’m sure I can learn to live true to my ideals like you do! Thank you so much!”
“U-uh, I’m not really doing anything that amazing, sir…” I looked down at my hands. While I was glad Duke Alcott was so happy, I was also worried about what Kurtis would think of all this.
Duke Alcott was, of course, oblivious to my worries and reproached me in an upbeat tone. “Fia, friends do not speak to one another so formally. I am not your superior officer or anything, so please speak more freely with me. You speak freely with me when I’m Dolly, and I’d rather you keep things consistent.”
“Y-you have a point…”
Encouraged, he pushed. “And please, call me Lloyd. Duke Alcott sounds so terribly stiff.”
“Huh?! I-I don’t know if I could go that far…”
“I do recall that you called the heir of Marquess Wyner by name when you visited my home.”
I did. I do all the time, in fact. But Fabian’s different because he’s a fellow knight recruit…
While I struggled with that point, the duke trundled on. “Not to mention that you speak to Kurtis, a knight brigade captain, without using his title.”
“Guh. B-but, it would be impudent and disrespectful of me to address you by name! I would get reprimanded for sure!” It was my last, desperate attempt at an excuse.
Duke Alcott merely grinned. “That won’t be a problem! People won’t complain if I tell them not to. I’m a duke, after all. Getting people to do what I want is child’s play.”
“…Fine.” Defeated, I gave up the fight.
Ngh… I feel like I’m the one always having to make concessions, I thought, hanging my head.
Duke Alcott—or, rather, Lloyd—jovially raised his glass. “All right! Let’s toast to me and Fia’s new friendship!”
“Count me in,” Cerulean said. “If calling someone by name is proof of friendship, then Fia and I have been friends for a while now.”