The words of consolation came from Conrad and Crow.
(Everyone in this platoon is so nice... I’ll work hard so they don’t get rid of me!)
To Crow, it was more important to deal with the injuries Heath sustained today, as opposed to thinking about if Heath would make a good knight in the future or not. It was something he had noticed today — but he assumed that Heath had a particularly trying upbringing, and as such only seemed to think and assume in extremes. Although the young squire was currently being calmed and consoled, it only seemed to strengthen his resolve.
If this were allowed to go on, he would definitely injure himself again.
“Hey, Hea—”
“Heath.”
Crow had thought to intervene before Heath could hurt himself through one reckless act or another, but before that, someone else had already acted on the same thoughts.
(Knight-Captain Yore...)
Yore stood before Fie, speaking in a low and quiet, but resonant voice. In those blue-grey eyes, there was no pitying smile, no rage-filled glare. They simply looked at Fie in a piercingly straight and serious way.
“I need you. That is why you have been assigned to this platoon. If that were not the case, you would not be here in the first place. So, take pride in that and stand proud.”
You are needed.
Those words resounded inside Fie’s chest.
Needed.
To most people, Fie might as well have been made of air. She was the princess who never once drew her parent’s eyes — it did not matter whether she existed or not.
Still, she did have servants. She was a princess after all. Though the ones who bad-mouthed Fie were those very servants themselves. Even so, Fie felt grateful to them, if only because it was due to their care that Fie had lived to see this day.
There were people who worried about Fie’s well-being from the bottom of their hearts. Her sister, her friends, and some of the maidservants — there were not too many of them. And Fie liked them all. However, they gained next to nothing for taking care of Fie. It was one sided — and Fie could do nothing for them in return.
And so, eventually, there was no one who needed Fie to exist.
This was the first time.
The first time that Fie had heard that she was wanted by someone.
The first time.
In Fie’s life, the first person she met who told her she was needed and wanted was...
Captain Yore.
(This person is... the first person to ever... From the day I was born, to tell me that he needed me...)
“What about it, Heath? If you understand my words, respond.”
Those straight, serious eyes stared into hers — conveying that his words were the truth, and nothing but the truth.
As if to pick herself up, Fie — Heath, without much thought, gave a loud, sincere, Daeman-accented response to her platoon leader.
“Yes, Cap’n!”
And so, amongst kind individuals such as Crow, and the captain who needed her, Fie started her new life.
As Heath headed towards the squire dormitories, Crow remained behind to speak privately with Yore. The other members went back to their respective duties, training, or rest.
“So... He walked out with a huge smile plastered across his face,” Crow said. “Just as you said, he seems happy.”
“I only stated the truth.”
Crow’s words to Yore were somewhat informal — almost familiar.
Although Crow was by no means cowardly or deferential, his tone of voice was much like that of addressing a friend of many years, not his platoon captain.
To Yore, who had proclaimed to have said the truth without so much as a shred of shame — Crow smiled mischievously, turning his head slightly to the side.
“But then, if he had known of your true identity, he would indeed be very surprised... Wouldn’t he, Your Majesty, King Roy?”
Crow particularly emphasized the “majesty” part of his statement, if only because he normally would never refer to Roy as such. The two had known each other for far too long for formalities like that.
“I’ve told you before to not refer to me by that name when I have this mask on, haven’t I? I don’t intend to tell Heath until he graduates from being a squire. This is a matter of national secrecy after all. I wouldn’t want to burden him any more than necessary.”
In truth, the 18th Knights Platoon was a unit that reported directly to the King.
However, no matter how one put it, it was a bit of an issue for the King to personally lead a platoon of knights. And so with a nom de guerre of “Yore” and a mask covering his face, Roy had begun to lead the platoon in an unofficial capacity.
Although this information was only known to the ranks of platoon leaders and above, Roy was a being of superb charisma. Even as Yore, he received deep admiration and respect from other knights.
There were two reasons to keep all of this from Heath — in addition to maintaining the required secrecy, there was also the need to stop Heath from somehow trying to prove himself, or from feeling belittled. Although Heath was “needed,” and hence recruited, he was still but a squire. Hence, it was important to have Heath concentrate on his training — and that was what Roy had wanted, a practical measure.
“Well, let’s change the subject. About Princess Fie... Do you think she’s innocent? Or guilty?”
Crow posed the question with a somewhat more serious expression.
“Who knows? I don’t. I have left the subject of that woman up to Cain. Both the information gathering, and any decisions from here on out. If she is guilty, I will be informed. That is all.”
“Hey hey. Are you serious?”
“I am a busy man. I have my appointments as the king, and there are many things about Princess Fielle that I have yet to investigate. To even spend a second thinking about that woman is but a waste of time. If she is guilty, I have no intentions of forgiving her. If she is innocent, I have no intention of getting involved with her. She went ahead of her sister, the true princess, to come to Orstoll on her own. Even if I were to meet her, it would just be unpleasant.”
While it was sad, this was how the people of Orstoll viewed Fie. An arrogant woman who latched onto her sister’s marriage of love. A brazen woman who placed herself between the two because she could. A pitiful wretch of a woman who arrived in Orstoll before her sister, the true princess, did — all in a bid to curry favor with the King.
However, no one could see, much less understand, Fie’s frustrations behind this entire affair — much less how her situation had nearly made her give up on living.
“Well, if that’s how you see it, I won’t say anything about it.”
“More importantly... about Heath. He certainly has usable talent — maybe even guts. But mentally he doesn’t seem all that stable. I’ll leave the follow-up on that to you.”
“I would do it even if you didn’t tell me to. Heath is like a little brother to me. You should train him sometime. It seems like he really admires you.”
“If there is time.”
To even offer his time to someone or something, under the assumption that he would have said time to spare to begin with, was a somewhat high degree of care coming from Roy. After all, it was Roy, who had both his duties as a king and a knight, offering a portion of his time to tutor Heath — in other words, Heath had at least that degree of intrinsic worth.
“I’m sure he will be very happy if you train him. Why, just a few hours ago, he was making such a depressed face — as if he were going to die, because he thought he had failed the test. And now, that same face filled with hope came bounding all the way here.”
“That boy will be one of the knights whom we entrust the future of our country to. It is a good thing.”
However, King Roy did not know...
That the supposedly arrogant, troublesome woman that he had pushed onto a subordinate had in fact taken the squire test, and had been assigned to his personal platoon.
He really had no idea...
That the Heath that had bounded in with such a hope-filled expression to this warehouse containing the headquarters of the 18th Knights Platoon, had originally been forced into depression by his very own hand... It would be quite some time before Roy would severely regret his decisions and judgments with regards to this particular event — enough to violently dash his head against the wall willfully...