THIRD PLEDGE

In Stonewall town square, several townspeople, villagers from the neighboring village, and the knights were admiring the remains of the gargoyles laid in front of them. Not because they thought the creatures were beautiful. But the fact that the tragedy-bringing demons were now reduced to a pile of rocks piqued their interest.

"To think you'd be able to defeat all of them." said an old blacksmith to one of the knights.

"That's right! We did not even lose a single soldier." prided a young knight.

"That's even more unbelievable! I heard stories that a single gargoyle could take on dozens of knights unscathed." said a seamstress. "But all 21 of you managed to take on 22 gargoyles without losing one person."

"You'll have to give all the credit to Lady Leonardo." said an older knight. "She was the one who guided us through during the quest. She's the reason why we managed to achieve this total victory."

"To be honest, I had my doubts about her when you all stopped by the village yesterday." said the old blacksmith. "But she's really that incredible, isn't she?"

"Indeed! In fact, Lady Evelyn took out two gargoyles herself." said the young knight.

He then frowned. His last sentence gave him a bit of a thought.

The young knight went closer to the older knight for a more private discussion.

"It actually made me wonder, senior. Did Lady Evelyn ever needed us in the first place? Considering how skillful she is in magic, don't you think she could've handled all these gargoyles by herself?"

The older knight smiled at his younger peer's statement.

"That's because she was teaching us how to fight against demons." he said. "Lady Evelyn wanted to show us that you don't need to be someone as powerful as her to fight the demons. As long as you have the courage and the right plan, then that should be enough for you to rise to the occasion."

The young knight reflected on those words. His mind flashed through their mission they executed this morning. All the failings and triumphs they experienced.

"Do you think we've become proper knights to Lady Evelyn?" asked the young knight to his senior.

"We've done well to implement her unique communication strategy by using those weird 'terms.' But we did have our failings like when we went into disarray when we heard the gargoyle shriek and when one of us almost stepped into the gargoyle territory."

The older knight then sighed.

"Even though I've become a full-fledged knight, this quest revealed many of my shortcomings. My goal now is to keep improving myself so that Lady Evelyn will acknowledge me as a proper soldier."

"Senior, you seemed to have forgotten that Lord Bryce is our head knight."

The older knight chuckled.

"Do you really think the Baroness and Baron Leonardo will let Lady Evelyn stay cooped up in the estate? After she just led a successful gargoyle extermination quest without any casualties?" said the older knight.

He pointed to the pile of gargoyles in front of them.

"Most of all, do you really think Lady Evelyn herself will just sit idly by after accomplishing this much and showing her worth to us, the Leonardo soldiers?"

The young knight nodded in agreement.

"This quest was her way of gaining her parents and our trust, isn't it? So that we all would know that she should be the one leading the knights of Leonardo from here on."

"Exactly! And as a knight who always seek a higher purpose in his life, I couldn't help but wonder toward what end Lady Evelyn is bringing her army. Why is she so determined to lead the Leonardo knights? What goal she wanted to achieve?"

"For an incredible leader like her, it must be something worthwhile."

"And that's why I'm now dedicating myself to her cause." proclaimed the older knight. "I will follow Lady Evelyn and discover the grand purpose she's aiming for."

The two knights contemplated in wonder about the impression Evelyn Leonardo had left them.

Meanwhile in the town chief house, Evelyn was having a private meeting with her mother, Hannah.

Mr. Gavin, the town chief, provided them the dining room, and Giselle prepared the refreshment from whatever ingredients available in the house.

After serving the two Leonardos, Giselle and the town chief left the room to give privacy to the matriarch and her daughter.

"Mother, I'm sure I have told you that ever since I woke up from the curse, I possessed knowledge that I did not own before I was cursed."

Hannah nodded. 

"The healing spell, the ancient language, proficiency in magic, and your strong leadership aura. To be honest, your transformation had made you almost unrecognizable to your father and I."

"In due time, you'll learn the reason behind this." said Evelyn. "But for now, I'm reminding you of my 'sudden transformation' because I want you to believe what I'm going to say next."

Hannah gulped. She sensed she needed to steel herself to hear what's coming from Evelyn's mouth.

"Mother, the world is on its way to a time of chaos." stated Evelyn.

Her face was the most serious it could ever get. Evelyn was not trying to fool her mother.

"A time where death and sadness are as bountiful as there is air almost everywhere. We will enter a time that a tragedy like the raid on Stonewall will become a daily occurrence like how the sun always rises every morning."

Hannah clenched her fist so much it trembled. She believed every word her daughter just said, for everything Evelyn said so far had come true.

"Why are you telling me this, my daughter?"

Evelyn smiled. She was glad the baroness was quick to accept her words.

"Because the Second Oath I pledged during the pilgrimage compelled me, Evelyn Leonardo, to be the one who brings that looming time of chaos to an end."

Hannah rose from her seat.

"WHAT?! What are you saying, Evelyn?"

"The Second Oath entails the will of Einsof which commands me to spread the Great Wisdom He imparted in the Leonardo Grimoire to all corners of the world. God wanted the Primordial Arts to be known by all." said Evelyn. "From what you've seen and heard so far, I'm sure you know what this means, don't you, mother?"

The baroness sighed for she understood what Evelyn was trying to say.

"So far the Primordial Arts contained in our family grimoire is used to counter demons." said Hannah. "If it is your duty to spread the Primordial Arts all over the world…that means it is your mission to go out there, battle the demons, and show the world the might of the Great Wisdom."

Evelyn nodded.

"In order for me to begin that mission I would need an army. Loyal soldiers that would follow me spread the light of Einsof that He entrusted to our ancestor, Elias. You can help me acquiring them."

"I suppose this is your way of asking me to grant you authority over the Leonardo knights?" asked the Leonardo family head to Evelyn.

"Father is the head knight, but you're the head of the Leonardo House since you're of the Leonardo blood." said Evelyn. "The decision to hand over the leadership right to the soldiers ultimately falls down to you."

Hannah went to the window and looked over the soldiers working around the town.

"What do you plan to do with my soldiers, Evelyn?"

Einsof's Chosen One stood up and went over to Hannah. She joined the baroness looking over the knights.

She spoke to the Leonardo family head with the most determined voice.

"I plan to turn each and every one of them into the best soldier there is.

"I will take them into battles against demons and lead them to victory.

"I will use your soldiers to introduce the Great Wisdom and Einsof's emissary to the world.

"Through their display of valor, all armies of the world will unite under a single banner in the battle against Satan."

Hannah glanced at Evelyn. She could see from her daughter's gaze that Evelyn was being more serious than ever.

The baroness had many questions she wanted to ask to Evelyn. What her daughter just said right now only added more to the pile. 

The more mysteries there were to Evelyn, the more unrecognizable she was to Hannah. As if every single thing that Evelyn revealed to the baroness, only made Evelyn's image as Hannah's daughter faded even more.

As such, the baroness spoke these words to Evelyn.

"My daughter… after all you've said and done ever since you woke up from your curse, I'm perfectly certain that you'll accomplish all those things you just said to me.

"But there is just one thing I'd like to ask from you. If you won't grant it, I won't relinquish the authority over the Leonardo knights to you."

Evelyn nodded in compliance.

"Name it, mother."

Hannah immediately embraced Evelyn in her arms and started sobbing.

"Please…" cried Hannah.

"Mother, what's the matter?" asked Evelyn back in confusion. She was startled that her mother suddenly started crying.

"Please… keep relying… on us…"

Evelyn frowned for she didn't understand the request.

"Keep relying on you?"

"After I give you the authority to lead the knights and you embark on your noble quest, please don't stop relying on your father and I."

"Oh, mother…"

"Please, Evelyn. The more you speak and act, the harder I could see my daughter in you. All these talks about you going on a journey to fight all the demons in the world sounded like you're going to leave us for good."

Hannah couldn't help but cried on Evelyn's shoulder.

"I understand you have your duty to spread the Great Wisdom. But please let your father and I keep being a part of your life. We don't want to lose our daughter the second time.

"Even though you've grown to be different from who you were once, you're still our daughter and we still love you. So, please, let us keep helping you…"

Evelyn hugged her mother back. She understood the weight of Hannah's emotion.

The Chosen One then gave her answer and a proposition to the baroness.

"I will most definitely keep counting on you and father." Evelyn giggled. "You two better be prepared for all the demands I'm going to be asking."

"Oh, Evelyn…"

"And I'm taking back what I said about my secrets."

"What? Are you going to reveal all of it to me right now?"

"No. Previously I said that I will reveal my secrets to you when the time is right. Now I'm saying that I will reveal my secrets to you once I have all the answers." stated Evelyn.

Hannah frowned in confusion. She noticed there was a difference to the words, but could not really understand the significance.

"Are you saying that there are some of your secrets that you don't even understand, yet?"

Evelyn nodded.

"It'll be better if I already understand them completely once I revealed them to you."

"Thank you, Evelyn. Thank you!"

Evelyn sighed at this conclusion for it addressed the thing that had been going on in her mind as well.

"(It is true, some of the mysteries behind my reincarnation are 'where did the soul of original Evelyn go to after I took over her body?' and 'whose soul is inside the body of Princess Mariana right now?' Not just for my parents' sake, but I believe knowing the answers to those will be important to my quest as well)"