A Day as a Knight P1&P2

Part 1: Loyalty to the Hearts

The king remained standing, waiting for everyone to leave. The knight who had covered Rose tried to leave with her, but Rose stopped him.

—No… Let them go first. —

The two knights carried the unconscious Clover hero while the Queen of Spades left with her own knight. The Lancer, who had stayed behind talking with another knight shortly after his appearance, was helped to stand and walk. Rose watched as the other knights attended to the unconscious mages on the floor. Once the other three heroes had left, the knight led Rose out of the room.

They had to climb several staircases since the summoning took place in an underground hall. Upon exiting, they found themselves in a room illuminated by sunlight streaming through a single open door. Outside, they saw a garden and what appeared to be the back of the castle. As they walked toward the castle, Rose looked back, analyzing the building they had exited: a sort of temple with figures of four armors decorated with hearts, spades, diamonds, and clovers, each bearing a different weapon.

—What are those statues? — Rose asked.

The knight, without turning to look at her, replied:

—You guys. Those statues represent the four heroes. You're supposed to be the one of hearts. —

Observing the statue with heart patterns, Rose noticed it had a feminine silhouette with large breasts.

—I see why that old man was so upset…—

Following the knight, Rose was led inside the castle to a room where several semi-human ladies in maid dresses greeted her.

—Welcome, Heroine of Hearts —they said in unison, lifting their gaze and surprising themselves upon seeing a man. The eldest of them, a woman with feline features and orange hair, approached the knight.

—T-This must be a joke, right? This is not what we were trained for! Don't you see? It's a man! —exclaimed the maid, as if she were protesting.

—He is the Hero of Hearts, whether you like it or not —replied the knight firmly.

—I am a woman… —Rose weakly exclaimed. —I have been a woman since I was born, and if you can't see that, then I don't want you here either —she said, asserting her voice over the others. She already had experience in imposing this type of conversation.

The maids fell silent and left one by one. The knight also remained silent, stopping the eldest maid.

—Bring some clothes for the hero.—

The maid nodded, casting a disdainful look towards Rose, who was only covering herself with a red cloak, which was the knight's cape.

—That goes for you too —said Rose, looking at the knight with disappointment and anger—. If you can't respect me, I can't trust you. Thanks for protecting me, but I think this is where it ends.—

With determination, she took off the knight's cape and handed it back to him.

The knight was surprised by her words, but he had already made a decision, bowing his head with a slight smile on his face, which was not visible through his helmet.

—There were 25 knights in the summoning chamber. Only 10 of us had the right to choose which hero we wanted to serve. As you saw, five of us managed to stay by a hero's side.—

Rose didn't fully understand what the knight meant, but her expression remained threatening.

—Everyone wanted to serve the Heroine of Hearts. Even the king considered abdicating the throne to do so. I thought they were all just opportunistic and childish since I had decided to go with the Hero of the Spear.—

Rose frowned at these words.

—And why did you come with me? —she asked angrily.

—Because no one else did. I didn't come out of pity or sadness, but because as a knight, I must protect my hero while they cannot protect themselves, and you seemed to come from a situation where you couldn't protect yourself… And I found it dishonorable that none of your admirers came to your rescue.—

Rose was taken aback upon hearing this, remembering what had happened in her world, and she began to tremble slightly. After a few seconds, the knight knelt before her.

—My hero… No, my Lady of Hearts. If I have to call you "my lady" to be allowed to protect you, I will, because it is my duty as a knight and because I want to protect you, my lady. I am loyal to the king, the kingdom, and the Priestess of Hearts!—

Then, the knight removed his helmet, keeping his gaze lowered. Rose, seeing the knight's face, was surprised by the resemblance to an actor from her world who played a Nordic god, except this knight had hair and a beard of a bright golden hue, like fine threads of gold.

Still somewhat distracted by the knight's appearance, she remembered noticing the changes in his voice during his speech; his sincerity was evident. Rose, hearing him and seeing him kneel, recalled how at various conventions and autograph signings, her fans did the same. This made her smile and remember for a moment that not all her fans were monsters like those from that night.

—Alright… I will let you fulfill your duty if you respect the fact that I am a woman.—

—The most beautiful, as the legends dictate —said the knight, lifting his gaze and looking directly into the eyes of the heroine.

Rose, upon seeing those emerald eyes, was surprised because she firmly believed those eyes could shine in the dark. For an instant, the knight's eyes flashed with a red gleam, which was imperceptible to Rose.

—What is your name? Polite knight—

The knight stood up, smiling, and began to use a formal and calm tone in his response.

—My lady, I am the son of Gabriel G. Márquez, trained by Sir Patrik. I am known as Sir Dominik G. Meyer, First in the list of Royal Knights of the Kingdom of Nuremtich.—

P2: Three-Leaf Clover.

The two knights entered a room full of semi-human women dressed in maid outfits.

—Welcom-— The semi-human was interrupted by the tallest of the knights. —

—Yes, yes, whatever, get out, filthy cats. The hero is not ready to receive you. So go away, we will call you later. —

The knights placed the hero on the bed in the room and waited for the maids to leave.

The maids agreed to leave, although not all of them had feline features. The eldest of them, a semi-human with long pink braided hair, blue skin, and webbed hands, approached the tallest of the knights.

—As the eldest, I am obligated to attend to the hero, that includes his wounds. —

The semi-human had features of some kind of fish; her eyes were those of a lizard, glowing in an orange color, and she lacked a nose. The knight, disgusted by this appearance, simply did not look at her.

—We don't care, we are the hero's royal knights. If you want to help, just bring us some food. —

The semi-human nodded, but lacking human lungs, she couldn't sigh at the situation. The equivalent in her species was to close her inner eyelids twice before leaving the room.

The taller knight removed his helmet and took a deep breath, indicating that he had been holding his breath. The knight had gray eyes and tousled hair, which was spiked into two points, giving the appearance of wolf ears that matched his sharp eyes and menacing features.

—Damn aquatic beasts, they smell just like their relatives —the knight mentioned with disgust. —

—You exaggerate. If they work for the hero, they shouldn't smell bad, but I'm surprised they let her show her face. Didn't we have masks to hide that awful appearance? —

The other knight responded in a calmer tone. He was sitting in the corner of the bed where the hero was resting. Upon removing his helmet, he revealed eyes identical to his companion's gray eyes, but due to his large, rounded eyes, his black hair in a Mod Cut, and his shorter stature compared to the average royal knights, he looked more innocent and harmless.

—Do you also think the summoning was a disaster? —

The warm-eyed knight spoke while looking at his still-unconscious hero. Almost instantly, there was a sound of metal hitting wood. Turning around, he saw his companion who had just punched the wall.

—Disaster? —said his spiky-haired companion—. An empty sword, a crying lance, a crystal shield, and a male priestess! —The knight had an expression that reflected his anger and discontent with the supposed heroes—. Listen to me, brother, at least in this generation of heroes, we are the only group of two. We have to train him to be the best of this generation. —

As he mentioned this last part, he approached his brother, grabbing him by the shoulder pad from below and pulling him up from the bed.

—And you better not reveal my methods to the king, understood? —

His gaze emanated so much hatred that his brother thought he could see his eyes turning red and an aura of the same color filling the room. But unlike his agitated brother, the knight remained unprovoked and continued to display his kind and relaxed eyes.

—I would never betray you, Ventus. Besides, I wanted to tell you the same. I need to at least outdo that arrogant Dominik now that he's decided to support that wretched man. —

The calmly composed brother chuckled after mentioning the knight and the hero of hearts, to which his larger ally responded with a laugh, releasing his brother.

—Haha… I hate your calmness, Nix. Your obsession with the ideals of the shield hero makes you so dull —his laughter faded as he spoke under his breath—. Maybe that's why the blow you gave him knocked him out —hinting that the blow to silence the hero had personal feelings behind it.—

—I admit I was disappointed to see a shield smaller than me, but I know what it's like to be small in a world of giants —Nix's serene gaze shifted to a murderous look emitting an intense blue aura, unlike his brother's.

—But what I don't know is how to be weak in a world of strength! —the knight's calm tone turned into that of a deranged person—. I am Nix De Luca Orphan, trained by Mrs. Glacies, second in the list of royal knights of the kingdom of Nuremtich, and I will transform this weak and deformed man into "the Shield of the World."—

Ventus seemed to withstand Nix's aura well, but when his tone of voice changed, he was momentarily surprised, allowing the aura to seize upon that emotion and intensify it, making Ventus more compliant.

—And I am Ventus De Luca Orphan —his surprised emotion exploited made him feel deep admiration and respect towards his older brother—. Trained by Mr. Patrik, tenth in the list of royal knights of the kingdom of Nuremtich, and I will assist you in whatever you need, older brother.—

Ventus knelt before his brother with his head bowed. Meanwhile, Nix, still with his aura active, turned to him with eyes emanating a desire for death and suffering.

—You better, because this is my chance to outdo Dominik, and this waste of a hero or my foolish brother will snatch it away from me. —