Subaru straightened in his chair, expression grave, and raised three fingers.
"I swear on everything I have. I will not cause trouble or interfere with Lady Felt's plan."
"Don't worry about it, Felt. With Emilia there, he'll be on his best behavior." Gojo draped an arm over Subaru's shoulder, grinning. "And if anything does go wrong, at least he'll be embarrassing himself in front of Emilia."
"Fine. Since you put it that way, he can tag along."
Felt was reasonable enough to admit there was no real downside. Besides, Subaru had been visibly down the past couple of days after discovering he had zero aptitude for swordsmanship. A change of scenery might do him good.
"Yes!" He shot out of his chair. "I knew you were the best, Felt!"
The gloom of two failed training days evaporated on the spot.
"We're running late. Let's move." Reinhard rose from the table.
"Old Man Rom, wish me luck!"
Felt waved to Rom with a grin brimming with confidence.
Reinhard took the reins of the Dragon Carriage while the rest settled into the cabin. Their party wasn't small: Felt at the center, flanked by Carol's two granddaughters to manage her outfit, then Gojo, Betty, and the newly attached Subaru.
Betty's justification had been succinct: where the Spirit Arts User goes, the spirit follows. If one extra passenger was already aboard, what difference did one more make?
Gojo couldn't argue with the logic.
"So where exactly is the assembly being held?" Subaru pressed his face to the window, practically vibrating at the thought of seeing Emilia.
"The Royal Castle." Reinhard's voice carried from the driver's seat. "Every minister, noble, and member of the Knight Order is required to attend."
"The castle. It must be incredible."
Subaru's eyes went distant with anticipation.
"Being incredible doesn't make it a date venue, so stop fantasizing." Gojo rapped his knuckles against Subaru's skull.
"I wasn't thinking that! Emilia and I are just friends right now." A beat. "But if I keep at it, I know she'll come around someday..."
The moment Emilia's name came up, Subaru became a bottomless well of enthusiasm.
"They say the dragon-slayer becomes the dragon. You haven't even slain the dragon yet, and you've already forgotten your whole hero quest."
Gojo smirked, thinking back to the wide-eyed boy who'd first stumbled into this world.
"Can you blame me? I don't have the talent to be a proper hero. Magic, cursed techniques, swordsmanship, I can't learn any of it. Honestly? I've realized that giving up on the hero thing and just being with the person you love isn't so bad either."
"A male human whose brain has been overwritten by the urge to reproduce."
Betty's summary was clinical and merciless.
"That's not what this is! My feelings for Emilia are pure..."
The banter carried them through the noble quarter and into the castle grounds.
Once inside, everyone climbed out and followed Reinhard down a long corridor until they stood before the palace proper.
Marcos Gildark, Commander of the Royal Guard, stood sentinel at the entrance. His gaze swept across the group as they approached, and he raised a hand.
"Commander Marcos." Reinhard offered a respectful nod.
Marcos studied each of them in turn, then spoke in a low, measured tone. "All attendees of the Royal Selection assembly must be registered."
Reinhard glanced at Felt. She caught the cue and stepped forward.
"This is Satoru Gojo. Like Reinhard, he serves as my knight." She gestured. "This is Betty, his contracted great spirit."
She turned to Subaru, and a wicked little smile crept across her face.
"And this one is my servant."
Subaru heard the word, saw that grin, and swallowed whatever dignity he had left. Getting inside was all that mattered.
"Oh, yes indeed. My master, Lady Felt, it is the supreme honor of my life to serve at your side."
He bowed with a flourish, mimicking Roswaal's theatrical cadence with alarming accuracy.
"My, my, if it isn't Subaru. What a pleasant surprise to see you here."
The voice came from behind them. The same theatrical lilt, but from its original owner.
Gojo turned. Roswaal and Emilia, right on schedule.
Their party was lean by comparison. Just the two of them, no one else.
"Emilia!"
The instant Subaru spotted her, he lit up and dashed over without a shred of restraint.
Marcos watched him go, then shifted his gaze to Felt.
She let out a dry laugh. "Don't mind him. Planted spy."
Gojo caught the flicker of confusion that crossed Marcos's stoic face, gone almost before it registered. If you weren't watching closely, you'd have missed it entirely.
"Commander, may we enter?" Reinhard glanced at Subaru, already deep in conversation with Emilia, and smiled.
"All nobles and officials have arrived. One candidate remains outstanding. Please wait briefly."
Marcos stepped aside and drew open the great doors behind him.
Beyond them, the hall was everything Subaru had imagined and more. Vast, opulent, and packed with people. Clusters of them stood in scattered groups, murmuring among themselves. The division was obvious even at a glance.
One faction wore the white uniforms of the Royal Guards.
The other consisted of ministers and nobles in black tailcoats that reminded Gojo of university graduation robes.
Every head turned as the doors opened. Dozens of gazes locked onto them the moment they stepped through.
Gojo felt Felt tense beside him.
"You're fine. Don't think about it." He kept his voice low. "Emilia's more nervous than you are."
Felt glanced sideways.
Emilia had gone rigid. The easy warmth she'd shown while chatting with Subaru was gone, replaced by a mask so tight it revealed nothing at all. Her nerves were visible from across the room.
Knowing her rival was just as rattled did wonders. Felt's shoulders loosened, and she flashed Gojo a covert thumbs-up.
As they advanced through the hall, Reinhard leaned in.
"Lady Felt, the area at the center is reserved for the candidates. The head of the Duke Karsten Family and the president of the Hoshin Company are already there. Please join them."
Felt nodded.
The initial jolt of nerves had passed. She was steady now.
Gojo's coaching over the past two days had drilled one idea into her head: the others were here to compete for a crown. She was here to close a deal. Completely different games. No reason to measure herself against them or worry about rivalry. Do the job. That was all.
Today she had exactly one task: sell a vision, as a merchant would. Get people interested.
Gojo had used every spare moment during her rest breaks to hammer these points home, walking her through likely scenarios and how to handle each one.
With all of that behind her, Felt found herself settling into an unexpected calm, a quiet sense that she and her competitors weren't even playing on the same field.
Light steps, chin raised just so. She crossed the hall with every ounce of poise those grueling days of training had beaten into her, and took her place beside the other two candidates.
Roswaal gave Emilia a nod, and she followed, falling in alongside Felt.
"Emilia-tan looks extra beautiful today."
Subaru's gaze trailed after her, reverent bordering on lovestruck.
"Tan?" Gojo raised an eyebrow.
"It's my special nickname for Emilia. Don't worry about it."
"Sometimes Betty truly pities Emilia." The spirit stood at Gojo's side, her voice laced with sympathy.
"Well then, I should head over too." Roswaal gave a breezy wave. "Once the assembly wraps up, let's all get together, shall we?"
He drifted toward the cluster of nobles and officials on the far side.
"One, two, three, four." Gojo counted the candidates. "Still missing one. Let's hope she doesn't keep us waiting too long."
He scanned the room, already bored. If Felt hadn't insisted he come, he'd have happily skipped the whole affair. Listening to tedious people say tedious things was indistinguishable from wasting his life. He could be lounging in the sun right now, eating pastries, drinking good tea.
"The last to arrive will be Lady Priscilla of House Barielle."
Reinhard offered the information unprompted.
"Another noble family?"
"That's right, meow. Same as Lady Crusch."
A head topped with cat ears popped into the conversation, the voice cheerful and familiar, like Puck's playful lilt. Gojo recognized the cat-eared knight from his visit to the Knight Order for the insignia.
Felix, if he remembered correctly.
"Among the five current candidates, setting aside Lady Felt, two come from noble houses: Lady Crusch and Lady Priscilla."
Julius stepped forward and joined the exchange.
"Do the three of you share some kind of cosmic bond? I seem to run into you every single time." Gojo's gaze bounced between them.
"Because the three of us are best friends, meow." Felix's lips curled into a catlike grin, his fluffy ears giving him an almost unbearable cuteness.
"Makes sense. By the way, the Knight Order allows women to serve? You seem to be the only girl I've seen, Felix."
He'd been curious about it since their first meeting. He'd assumed the Order permitted female knights, something like Joan of Arc, but scanning the room just now, he hadn't spotted a second one.
Felix burst out laughing.
"Looks like Ferris pulls it off flawlessly."
Still grinning, Felix tilted his head back, exposing a slender, pale throat, and pointed straight at his Adam's apple. A playful tongue poked out.
"Not a girl, actually. Ferris is a boy."
Reinhard and Julius both fought down smiles, amusement dancing in their eyes.
"My mistake." Gojo leaned in for a closer look, completely unfazed, then nodded with genuine admiration. "You really can't tell at all. That's honestly impressive, Felix."
"Hehe, thanks for the compliment. But don't think flattery means I'll let my guard down around you."
"Guard down?"
Reinhard stepped in, still smiling. "Felix is Lady Crusch's knight. And Julius serves Lady Anastasia."
Gojo looked at Julius, who returned a polite smile.
"Please don't tell me every knight in the Order has already pledged to someone."
"Oh no, nothing that dramatic. It's only the three of us, meow."
Felix waved the concern away.
"Good. I was worried the whole Order had been carved up already."
"It's not quite that bad." Felix laughed. "But if a knight's loyalty to their candidate ever conflicts with their duties to the Order, they have to step down from one."
Gojo nodded. Between this conversation and Reinhard's earlier explanations, the picture of how the Knight Order worked was coming together nicely.
While they chatted, the great doors swung open once more.
Every gaze in the hall pivoted toward the entrance.
Standing in the doorway was a young woman in a vivid scarlet gown, somewhere around eighteen or nineteen. Noticeably older than Emilia and the others.
And it wasn't just age that set her apart. The figure displayed beneath that strapless formal dress left the other four candidates in a category so distant it barely warranted comparison. The gap wasn't a gap. It was a chasm.
...
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