The next day came.
Cecily rose early without Rolo’s help, ate her breakfast, cleaned her room, and organized her things.
Standing in front of her full-length mirror, she struggled with her hair.
“It’s not going how I want it to...”
Her fingers were charged with an anxious energy which had nowhere to go. She struggled to tie her favorite ribbon into her hair, the restlessness of her hands making it impossible to get it to look right no matter how much she tried.
Rolo let out a dubious meow as he walked at her feet.
As Cecily let out a sigh, the hair she had tied up fell apart in tresses. She couldn’t leave it like this—people would think of her as a complete weirdo. She picked up the brush and tidied up her hair once again.
Almost ready to leave, she applied her eye drops. She checked her appearance from all angles with her now flaxen eyes, then pulled her hood down as she set off. Her hair was still a mess, but Cecily was still so full of nervous excitement from the previous day that she paid it no mind.
“I wonder if that knight will be in the castle town again today...”
She was nervous, it was true, but the furious beating of her heart was a sweet and lovely thing too. She had made sure that she had included the knight’s handkerchief, which she carefully washed the day before, in her bag. Ostensibly, her reason for going was to simply return this borrowed handkerchief. And her real reason was to say thank you to the knight.
But there was a second real reason which had also settled deep within her heart: she wanted to see him again.
Cecily had finished her weekly chores on yesterday’s trip, but she resolved to head to the city for the purpose of meeting him again.
Hmm, this makes me feel a little bit like a stalker...
She shook her head furiously to rid herself of this thought.
No! I just want to thank him properly.
Telling herself that this reason was more prominent than the other, she finally set off.
“Rolo, I’m heading to the city. What are you going to do?”
She called out to Rolo, but her cat simply sat on the window ledge swinging his tail, showing no desire to come with her. Cats follow their own whims, so this didn’t surprise her much.
She filled his bowl with fresh water and gave him a stroke before she left. His eyes closed in pleasure as he nuzzled his head into her hand.
“Okay, I’m off now, so take care of the place while I’m gone.”
With that, her second trip to the city in two days began.
Today, too, the city was buzzing with life.
Cecily was a little worried about whether rumors were spreading about her, but she didn’t appear to draw any unwanted attention from the crowds.
“Now where would he be...?”
Out on the high street, Cecily looked around, becoming aware of a major flaw in her plan.
I don’t even know his name...
Maybe Cecily had been buoyed by the chance nature of their encounter yesterday, because she had imagined she would bump into him if she simply came to the city. But the royal capital was a huge place—this hope was obviously misplaced.
Is just walking about and hoping I run into him all I can do?
Just as this thought crossed her mind, she noticed something at the corner of her vision.
“Ah!”
It was a striking gold aiguillette attached to a refined blue uniform.
This man was blond, which meant he wasn’t her knight from yesterday, but their uniforms were unmistakably the same. Most likely, the two of them belonged to the same knights’ order.
Cecily plunged into the crowd. If she followed this blond knight, then she would have a greater chance of finding the knight she was actually looking for. Carefully weaving her way through the bustle, she made sure to not lose sight of him as she followed behind.
For Cecily, who was usually so reserved, this was an unimaginable act.
Her hard work paid off, however, because soon her wish was granted. The blond knight headed into one of the popular cafeterias. There weren’t many customers inside, so Cecily knew she was sure to be spotted if she just followed him in through the front door like a simple and honest fool. She glanced around the side of the building and found a row of barrels situated behind it. She stood atop one of them and peered in through a small window.
Inside, she saw a certain young knight raise his hand in greeting to someone.
There he is!
Cecily’s eyes were practically glittering with joy.
What do I do? Should I just head in now or wait a bit?
As she stood atop the barrel, her legs quivered with uncertainty.
It was still early, so there were no other customers sitting around the two of them yet. If he’d been on his own, she might have been brave enough to head inside, but with the owner and his friend present, she couldn’t scrounge up the courage she needed.
Soon, their conversation floated out towards the window. The blond knight was bantering with his black-haired friend.
“It’s pretty rare for you to come down into town two days in a row. Her Royal Highness the Fifth Princess will be sad without the captain of the Celestial Knight Brigade with her, you know?”
“I know you’re trying to rile me up, Alphonse. Fact is, I think Her Royal Highness is probably happier that I’m not around.”
Their words left Cecily in shock.
They’re in the Celestial Knight Brigade?
Even Cecily, who knew little of the world, had heard that name before. The Celestial Knight Brigade was a knights’ order belonging to the Carzenia Kingdom composed of knights who rode upon wyvern steeds. Despite being magical beasts, wyverns had been tamed by witches. They possessed incredible strength that, in times long past, allowed them to rule the skies.
The Celestial Knight Brigade had a long history within the kingdom, and their tough yet magnificent wings continued to beat on the king’s behalf in order to protect their skies from all foreign foes.
As the kingdom was currently experiencing a time of peace with its neighbors, the knights’ order was chiefly tasked with quelling rampant magical beasts. But even in this, they exemplified their dominance over the skies.
One of the features of the Celestial Knight Brigade was that the order wasn’t divided into smaller units. Rather, it was more accurate to say that the order didn’t have enough knights to be divided up into multiple units to begin with.
Knights in the order would perform ten to fifteen years of service before leaving the brigade and spending the rest of their lives caring for their wyverns, who lived far longer than humans did. Sometimes they would be commissioned to head out on rescue missions during emergencies, but apart from that they were essentially in retirement.
Riding a wyvern required incredible skill, and in order to fill any vacancies in the brigade, younger knights needed to first train their own wyverns. After all, wyverns were creatures that only opened their hearts to the person who raised them. Fierce creatures, they wouldn’t hesitate to snap or kick at any who approached—apart from the one who raised them—even going so far as to cause mortal injury. Due to this, upon the death of a knight—whether it be by accident, illness, or combat—their wyvern would be released back into the wild.
In this way, wyverns and their knights had a codependent relationship. Although wyverns provided exponential power to protect the kingdom, the Celestial Knight Brigade also shouldered many risks in working with them.
On top of this, the wyvern population was small and they were tricky creatures to raise, which meant that there were apparently only twelve knights currently working in the Celestial Knight Brigade. This group was led by their captain, who personified the military might of the kingdom—he was the elitest of the elite.
I didn’t realize how incredible he was.
As Cecily watched over him with wonder, the knights’ conversation continued.
“That reminds me. Cyril told me that apparently you went and saved some girl in town yesterday, huh, Zeke?”
Zeke!
The excitement nearly made Cecily fall off the barrel she was standing on. It had taken almost no effort to learn the name of the black-haired knight who had saved her. Cecily was full of gratitude to this Alphonse.
Even his name is wonderful. It’s almost unfair how elegant it is...
Cecily’s face reddened, and she repeated his name in her head.
Sir Zeke, Sir Zeke, Sir Zeke...
“But color me surprised. Who’d have thought that a witch lived in the royal capital?”
Alphonse’s remark startled Cecily. It was clear that she was now the subject of their conversation.
From where she stood, she could only see their faces in profile, but it seemed to her that Zeke’s expression had hardened somewhat.
“You haven’t been spreading that around, have you?”
“Of course not. But I’m just saying it wouldn’t hurt to be a bit careful, no?” Alphonse’s tone was marked, emphasizing his warning. “Watch yourself, Zeke. They say witches are known to use shady potions to control people’s emotions. Even someone like you wouldn’t stand a chance if you drank one.”
Cecily could only stand in shock as she listened to him. What he was saying wasn’t as brazen as the old woman who’d pinned her as the thief in that high-pitched tone yesterday, but she couldn’t help but be surprised that even someone in the Celestial Knight Brigade held discriminatory views against witches.
But...
Cecily squeezed her hands into fists.
Zeke didn’t discriminate against me.
Even though he knew what Cecily was, he still held out his hand to help her as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
This might have seemed like a trivial act to some, but for a witch like Cecily, it was enough to make her fall in love.
I’m sure Zeke will rebuke him. He’ll tell him that I wouldn’t do such a thing.
“Got it. I’ll watch out.”
In an instant, Cecily’s expectations were shattered. Sinking down into a sitting position atop the barrel, she was frozen in shock.
She wasn’t sure how long she sat like that, but before she knew it, the sky above was starting to darken and the cries of birds announcing the coming dusk crisscrossed through the air.
The two knights had probably long since finished eating and had left. Drunken voices started to trickle out of the window from inside the bright tavern hall.