Chapter 37 - Maya Rosenwald P1
Chapter 37 - Maya Rosenwald P1
~37.1~
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I have a petname now. Or I suppose I regained my petname.
While Lanti and Aira chatted, I took a glance at the rest of the party. It was then that I noticed Helena talking to a pair of wolfgirls. I couldn't tell what they were talking about over all the chatter, but her head was down.
"Excuse me," I said to my friends. "I'll be back in a moment." I walked over to them. They noticed me coming and stopped talking. "Hello, Helena. Is everything okay?"
"She's okay," one of the wolfgirls said. "She was just telling us about your duel earlier, Lady Elise." The second wolfgirl nodded.
"Is that right?" I placed a hand on Helena's shoulder and tried reading her mind.
"Yes. I'm okay, Lady Elise."
"Even now, she came over here worried about me. Am I really that obvious? Do I look that dejected right now? I know I have plenty of reason to, but I thought I was hiding it well enough."
Hmm...
"She is strong enough to match me with the sword. Maybe even stronger than that. I feel like she held back to have a better match. She was considerate of that. And just a few minutes ago, she defended Lady Maya without a second thought. Rumors are going around about a scene this morning. They say she admitted to being bi. I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't even know what this feeling is. Am I really infatuated with her this fast? No, it doesn't matter. Even if that's the case, and she likes me that way... my family will never allow it. I'm already arranged to marry into another ducal house in Weltwald. The thought of marrying a man is terrifying. The thought of not getting to pick my future... not being allowed to fall in love on my own accord... I have to keep my expression together. Come on, Helena, you've made it this far without looking pathetic."
I stopped reading her mind. If she's really infatuated with me, it wouldn't be right to read her thoughts again. I don't know her well enough to have any real opinions. I want to be her friend out of a shared interest in swordplay. Would it even be right? If her feelings develop further, it will only hurt her down the road... but I already feel compelled to help her. I despise the very concept of arranged marriage, and it seems she's going to be miserable marrying a man. I shouldn't make assumptions, but if she's interested in me and afraid of marrying a man...
I mentally sighed. "So long as you're okay. I was worried you were being talked down at," I glanced at the two wolfgirls and smiled, "but it seems the truth is the opposite."
The first girl nodded, "I'm Celine Dietlinde, and my twin sister here is-"
"Christine Dietlinde. Our family is a retainer to the Rosenfeld house, and we're childhood friends with Lena. Excuse me, Helena."
"It's nice to meet you," I replied. "I'm Elise Aindrea. You called Helena 'Lena'?" I smiled at Helena. "That's a very pretty petname. I just gained my first petname only moments ago. Maya just coined 'Eli' for me. The three of you may address me with my name, petname, with a title, whatever you want. I don't mind."
A smile broke on Helena's face. "Thank you for the compliment, Lady Elise."
She's going with title still, eh? Maybe she'll work her way up. I want to help her, but I need her to open up about the arranged marriage on her own. I shouldn't mention it first, or she might get suspicious and not let me help. I probably shouldn't even mention relationships in front of her.
"Of course! Would you three like to join us over there? I'm sure Maya and Their Highnesses would be delighted to meet you. Well Helena has already met Maya, but the others?"
"Cel? Chris?" Helena asked.
"That sounds wonderful!" "I would love to."
"Shall we?" I led them over and everyone introduced themselves again.
"Eli, you were able to match Helena with a sword?" Lanti said, glancing between us. "My word. That's quite impressive. You're a powerful mage and talented enough with a blade to match last year's youth swordplay champion."
"Champion?"
Maya quickly reminded me, "The tournament I mentioned. Every school in Weltwald was there, and then she went on to compete and win the international tournament."
I grinned at the thought of another person being that good. She has higher accolades than I imagined. "Is that so? Perhaps I could learn a thing or two from you, Helena."
She smiled apologetically. "I'm not sure. I held back at first, but you were so good that I had to gradually pull out all the stops. I ended up holding nothing back, and I feel like you still had more you didn't show."
"Perhaps, but I don't mean to ask you to teach me anything directly. Rather, we could be sparring partners. In the heat of a fight is where you learn the best, where you learn things you never imagined. You can pick up your opponent's techniques or even develop new techniques of your own."
"Eli," Lanti said. I looked over at her and saw her eyes narrowed. "I noticed this before, but just then... something is different about you. The way you talk about things... it sounds like you're not talking in theoreticals, but practicals from experience. There's not an ounce of doubt or hesitation in your speaking. Have you been in real battle before?"
Heh.
"That obvious, huh?" I glanced in the direction to the east. "I've been to the frontlines. Only my parents, grandfather, and... two others know."
"You're even looking to the east. The closest continent to here on the frontlines is to the east. Why admit this to us if so few people know?"
I twirled my glass around a bit. "I'm not entirely sure. If I had to guess, I feel like it's okay to tell the lot of you."
"I might have heard about you," Rhia said. "There's been talk of a rogue swordmage that shows up seemingly randomly, moves faster than the soldiers can follow, and throws out fantastical spells, not unlike the spell you used this afternoon. The last spell I heard of was one that created what looked like a swirling mass of clouds that drops hundreds of lightning bolts on the enemy."
"I've heard about that, too," Lanti added. "The rogue shows up on the battlefields that is having the most trouble and suddenly the forces there have a much easier time holding the frontlines."
I laughed dryly. "Heh. Yeah. That'll be me."
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Revision: 2025-2-10