"I remember she did say 'Castle Heart' at the time… Whatever, let's just go ask and find out." Emily didn't feel like overthinking it. She led Ethan toward the Griffin Training Grounds, where Blazing Griffin Knight Aeliana was stationed.
Unlike Ethan's subordinates—Seraphina, Cicero, and the others—Aeliana, despite choosing to follow Emily, wasn't bound by unwavering loyalty. She wasn't the type to pledge eternal allegiance, never betraying under any circumstances.
In fact, when a unit hero follows someone who isn't their official lord, their loyalty tends to be quite low. They can switch allegiances at any time without consequence. That was one of the major downsides of not being a lord.
But once you became a lord, unit heroes' loyalty to you was bound by a contract!
Of course, even contract-bound loyalty had varying degrees of strength, but overall, it was far more reliable than mere verbal allegiance.