8

"So it's come around to this…" A certain giant mused to himself whilst at the breakfast table, making sure to sit beside Felt as he had joined in this the rest of the members of the Astrea estate.

"What do you mean Rom?" Felt asked as she peered up at the giant, confused at what he was getting at.

"Oh, nothing Felt. I just didn't expect to be sitting down a civil breakfast with an Astrea, within their own home nonetheless." Rom replied before awkwardly attempting to use the tiny cutlery with his oversized hands. There was no doubt that the giant was enjoying the food that ate and whilst he seemed troubled at first by the serving staff, his troubles didn't last long as he quickly adjusted. However, despite it all, there was a seeming limit to how much the giant was willing to cheer up.

Even Felt had long gotten used to the manor, and upon accepting her role as a candidate, seemingly fully accepted her time in the manor.

"Is there something wrong, Mr Rom? You seem troubled, if there is anything you wish to mention please do so." Reinhard asked with a worried expression that held Rom fixed onto it for a few moments, seemingly evaluating him before grunting back in response.

"Are you sure you're an Astrea?" Rom asked Reinhard's confusion.

"I assure you that I am." Reinhard calmly replied as the giant remained fixed on him for a few moments before a vague smile appeared on his features. Despite no one being able to tell why, the giant was seemingly pleased with something, potentially Reinhard, despite his reluctance to talk about it.

"Have you had some kind of run-in with the Astrea family before?" Leo managed to ask the giant as he looked over at him for a few moments, much like Reinhard, except for that he barely took as long.

"Now you can't be an Astrea, but I remember you from somewhere before the selection… weren't you one of the boys that helped out back at the loot house?" Rom eventually asked, pushing past Leo's own question as if he hadn't said anything at all.

"That's right, the other was Subaru and… sorry about what happened at the selection," Leo replied, quickly lowering his head apologetically as he waited for Rom's response.

Yet to his surprise, he had begun to chuckle to himself in response to the confusion of several people in the room. "Don't worry about that little scuffle, in anything I feel I should be thanking you for looking out for Felt so well. At least it's easier to feel at ease knowing her safety is in good hands!"

"Hey, what do you think you're saying?!" Felt exclaimed as she hit the giant's arm, not that it phased him in the slightest.

"I must agree, I was glad to see that Leo was capable of protecting Miss Felt's safety. I feel that I myself can rely upon him greatly when I may not be present." Reinhard added on to the continued displeasure of the blond, whilst it was only thanks to Felt's reaction that Leo himself felt rather amused instead of embarrassed from the praise of the two men.

"Well, either way, how did this come about for you? You hardly seemed the knight type when you first appeared." Rom then asked, moving the conversation along to Felt's relief.

"Well, after a brief first encounter with Reinhard, he ended up making the offer of training me. It was only later that day that we came to the loot house thinking that trouble was going down because of the way that Subaru was acting." Leo briefly explained, "And when everything at the loot house had settled down, other things happened so things didn't really settle down…"

"I see… and here I thought that it was Felt that had gotten you dragged into things," Rom replied with a smile.

"Hey, now what's that supposed to mean?!" Felt exclaimed as the remaining members of the room smiled at the pair's interaction.

"Well, then what about the little girly next to you, I've never been introduced to her before and she doesn't seem to be one of the serving types round here either."

"Oh, I'm Cecily! One of Master's contracted spirits! It's nice to meet you since I haven't seen a giant in a long time!" The blond spirit happily introduced herself with her usual energy, leaving Rom wide-eyed in surprise as he reinspected the spirit and Leo all over again with a new surge of interest.

"A great spirit, so you're a spiritual arts user?" Rom mentioned as he raised a hand to his chin, taking a thoughtful position. "you've certainly grown since I've last seen you."

"He completely moved past your question; it makes the appearance that he has an unsavoury history with them." Kou chimed in as Leo continued to eat his breakfast, silently agreeing with what the spirit thought. "I would recommend in letting him move past the subject unless you seek a tense environment."

"That's less than ideal, I image that Felt for the most part just wants to peacefully get along with him and not have to engage in another issue rising when it could be avoided… although, do you think that it's something that can be avoided forever?" Leo replied to the spirit.

"It depends if the giant can settle and have everyone accept him quickly enough." Kou bluntly replied.

"I don't know how much of that potential drama I'm willing to get involved with…"

"So, you're taking the royal selection seriously then Felt? I can't imagine what kind of work you've got cut own for you, but let me know if there's anything you need help with." Rom asked as he turned to the small girl at his side with an almost grumpy look whilst Felt was already grinning to herself.

"Now that the royal selection has officially begun, Miss Felt now has three years to grow her camp and win the support of the majority of the kingdom, so that she made be the one to form a convent with the divine dragon and take the title of the forty-second monarch of Lugnica," Reinhard explained with his usual, calm smile as the table listened to him.

"Right, and I know just where to start!" Felt proclaimed, clearly pleased with herself as attention was drawn back to her. "There are a certain group of doofuses that I think I could try reaching out to them."

"Don't you think you should sort out just what kind of kingdom you're aiming for before starting to recruit people?" Leo then asked.

"What do you mean, did you hear what I said yesterday? I'm planning on tearing this whole place down to the ground!" Felt shouted back as if it was obvious in a huff.

"I know that much, but I was wondering just what do you mean by that. Are you an anarchist? Or do you want a revamp of the current ruling system?"

"What's an anarchist?" Felt asked with a bewildered expression as she sat back down in her seat.

"Anarchy is when people plan to take down the ruling body and don't want to replace it with anything. In short, you wish to make the whole kingdom a lawless place and likely leave it in a constant state of turmoil as a result." Leo explained as the table quietly listened to his explanation whilst Felt nodded along in understanding.

"That sounds great!" Felt said with excitement, "I'll just do that!"

"Do you not want to hear the common outcome of anarchy first?"

"Huh?" Felt dumbly responded.

"You're talking about a so-called kingdom that can't defend itself again anyone, it would be a slaughter if anyone came looking to take over. There would be no peace as people endlessly fight for their own belongings and little amounts of peace. No one would be willing to work together enough and everything in the kingdom would likely eventually be left in ruin. You would single-handedly ruin the lives of around about a fourth of the current global population in one fell swoop, even the commoners and the poor would still suffer."

Upon hearing this Felt quickly went quiet and still in her seat, almost frozen in place whilst everyone could only imagine that such an image was currently running through her mind as she thought about it until hesitance finally appeared on her face.

"Um, I don't want to do that…" Felt mumbled as she felt a sense of shame, after all, how could she hate the knights and the nobles if she were to undertake a path that would surpass all of them combined in their vial treatment? "Um, Big bro, what about the other option? I don't want to leave the kingdom like this but I don't want to cause anything like that!"

"You would need a whole new system to apply to the country. If you wanted something that I already have an idea on how it would work… then I would suggest government."

"Government? It is a term that I haven't heard before, is this something from your home Leo?" Reinhard asked.

"Yeah, it's the common way of ruling now." Leo replied with a nod, "In short, a bunch of people come together in a group and make up the ideal's that they plan to swear to and they compete against some other groups for a time, gaining votes from everyone in the country. The group with the most votes become the government and they have power between them and after a couple of years they are removed from power and it all happens again."

"I see… so no one gets to keep all the power to themselves and nor do they get it forever…" Felt said as she ruminated over the idea.

"They can just get voted back in once more if the population liked what they did while they were in power." Leo pointed out, "And another thing would be the idea that if the government wishes to do something incredibly impactful then they usually have to perform another vote and gain the approval of the majority of the population to do so despite being the ruling body."

"That sounds great! I can just make our campaign that instead, it's still what I said to the stupid nobles, and since it's already in practice where you came from you know how well it'll work out right?" Felt said with excitement.

"Well… I have an idea, I can't say that it'll turn out the exact same way and even then I wouldn't call the system perfect either…" Leo pointed out, yet despite his words, Felt's confidence wasn't shaken in the slightest as she remained proud of the idea.

"I think it's still a hell of a lot better than what we're currently got to deal with," Felt replied. "Say is there anything that you're planning on doing today? Like your usual training and whatnot?"

"Yes, Miss Felt, there is something that I feel is of importance that I wish to do later today after the morning training practice with Leo," Reinhard chimed in, "And I feel that you may wish to attend as well Leo? It is matters pertaining to Subaru."

"Ah, I could guess at what that is… and as a matter of fact there is something that I need to talk to him about as well so if you wouldn't mind me tagging along."

"Not at all, I would be glad if you are wishing to accompany me to visit another friend," Reinhard replied as the knight and apprentice were pleased with their plans for the day whilst Felt huffed in response. "But there is also a more important matter that I feel I should inform you of now, Miss Felt."

"Drop it with the formalities already!" Felt shouted back to Reinhard's awkwardness.

"But you are my lady now, I couldn't possibly." Reinhard said with a frown, "But there is something that you should know. I have already been informed by the council of wise men that I may soon receive a summoning and orders from them."

"Hold on! I thought you were my knights, not still serving those old jerks!" Felt snapped back.

"Whilst I am your knight, I am also still the sword saint of the kingdom of Lugnica, so if there is something of great enough significance then it may very well be something that I am called out for. Please accept my apologies for such transpiring events." Reinhard replied as he gave a small bow toward the scowling blonde.

"Well, whatever, I'll be just fine without you. I'll just have to make sure that you make up for it another time."

"As you wish, Miss Felt."

"But still, something that they feel the need to request for you as the sword saint, do you have any idea what that could be?" Leo asked, making Reinhard take a thoughtful appearance for a few moments before collecting himself.

"From the reports that I have recently received, it speaks of the witch's cult's behaviour so I believe that they may soon request me to attempt to confront them." Reinhard eventually answered, "In honestly, I feel it's unlikely due to the ambiguousness and unpredictability of the cult made it nigh impossible to ever organize an attack on them, even if it was just sending me alone. Because of this, I hold my doubts that it is truly the case, however, if the council believe there is a chance and orders me to pursue them then that is what I shall do."

"If anything big does happen since you're a part of this camp does that mean it could be used to add to Felt's achievements?" Leo asked.

"I do believe that Miss Felt will be able to receive at least some of the accreditation, however, since it is the council of wise men that would be the ones to officially send me it wouldn't be possible for Miss Felt to claim all of the credit. However, should I happen to fail, that wouldn't reflect on her either."

"I guess that makes it better, I'm still getting something out of it." Felt sighed, "Well whatever, Leo, when you get back from big bro there's somewhere we're going together!" she then said with a pointed finger at him, to his curiosity and exhaustion.

"Whatever you say, milady." He sighed in response with a smile.

"Hey don't call me that!" she snapped back, but it kept the lively atmosphere as everyone began to smile warmly at their younger leader much to her fluster ire…

It had been a chaotic finish to breakfast that morning and the energy didn't die down in training as Reinhard and Leo continued to duel whilst Cecily, Grassis and Flam all watched just like any other morning, now with the company of Kou. However, unlike the three more vocal girls, the spirit was silent and steadfast as it watched the two sparring men, not even uttering a word that Cecily could hear.

Alas, just like any other fight between the two it always ended in Reinhard's total victory, with nothing even suggesting that Leo might have managed anything towards the sword saint. The battle, just like all the others, filled him with conflicted feelings that continued to last even as they walked down the street.

As he looked towards Reinhard who walked by his side, he constantly felt a strong conflict. On one hand, he knew that he was beholding the strongest in the whole kingdom and someone who couldn't be a better trainer, something he was glad to have been the one to train and improve against.

Yet on the other, he couldn't help but feel slightly bitter. Every single time it wasn't even the faintest competition, every single time it always ended up the same way and no matter how many different comments he received from everyone, he always felt the same.

'Am I really managing to improve?' Leo thought to himself as they walked through the capital streets. 'I know that there is no one in this kingdom that can beat him but dam… does it get tiring to constantly lose… I don't want pity but at the same time, why can't I just begin to get a little closer?'

Was it strange for someone to eventually feel frustration if they constantly attempted the same thing and never seemed to grow any more as a result? He knew that it wasn't true, he could now notice the increase to his stamina, and the sword felt far more natural in his hands, he was preforming movements he wouldn't have been able to before and his senses alongside his reactions had improved.

And yet all of it felt invisible when none of it showed against Reinhard…

"Perhaps you should request to practice against another individual." Kou's voice responded in his mind, taking Leo by surprise that he tried to hide as they walked along.

"Uh, you hear that?" Leo couldn't help but ask.

"I had a feeling that it was more a matter that you're thoughts were leaking out, it seems that you still aren't accustomed to controlling when you want to communicate to the spirits or not," Kou replied with indifference.

"Wait, does that mean that Cecily also heard?" Leo then asked.

"That's right!" The cheerful voice echoed in his mind with more energy than her actual self portrayed from beside him, hand in hand. "But I don't think you should be worried at all, you're way stronger than before! I'm sure that you could beat so many of the knights! Don't feel blue, don't feel blue!"

"Thanks, Cecily, but it's not like we actually know what the average level of skill is amongst the knights, I doubt that I could beat Julius on the little that we saw of him yesterday at least…"

"Perhaps you should consider the fact that you are comparing yourself to merely sword fighting," Kou interjected. "The odds of someone being a master of all, especially without a divine blessing, is slim to none."

"You have him bested with magic, we can sense that he doesn't have a working gate since he doesn't let any magic back into the atmosphere! And you have the spiritual arts with me!" Cecily chimed in.

"So you're saying I'm more of a magic user than a swordfighter?" Leo summarized as he thought about what the spirits were saying. "But at the same time that feels hard since it's not like I can cast high-level spells, and I don't even know if I have a large mana capacity…"

"But I told you that you can use my gate and mana to cast high-level magic if you want, and unlike others, you can combine it with sword fighting! Nearly no one fights like that you know!"

"Indeed, not many have the capacity to attempt to reach out into both categories simultaneously. I can tell that you seek for something to hold yourself in pride to, and yet you seemingly forget or potentially overlook the many traits about you. I assure you that you are already an entity that many would be envious of." Kou said whilst Cecily took the chance to subtly nod her head in agreement in the corner of Leo's vision, doing her best to make sure that people didn't view her as strange or suspect the secretive discussion the three were having amongst themselves.

"…I'll keep that in mind…" Leo replied to the spirit as he thought about himself again. "Thanks for that…"

"Your frustration was only natural, and all I did was help alter you to the truth of the situation at hand. If anything, you should be glad that you haven't actually had the need to test such skills."

"You could just say you're welcome!" Cecily quickly said in response to the hidden quasi-spirits as they began to turn around a corner and arrive at a large gate with guards, protecting the land inside that was the location of another grand mansion.

"Excuse me, but it is within my knowledge that a Natsuki Subaru is currently being housed within these walls as a guest. May I request that I, Reinhard Van Astrea, wish to be able to meet with him?" Reinhard asked one of the guards stationed at the gateway who promptly nodded in response before vanishing inside the premise, leaving the group to wait for his return.

"Say, where is this place? It's not where I dropped off Subaru with Emilia before." Leo asked as he admired the large building ahead of them. It wasn't as grand as the Astrea Estate, but it was by no mean's anything unimpressive.

"This is the Karsten Estate, home to Miss Crusch Karsten and her knight Felix Argyle that you saw yesterday within the castle. I had received words that Miss Emilia has taken her to leave from the city had left Subaru within her care, which I might guess is because of a need for Subaru to receive treatment from Felix."

"That makes sense, he's having an issue with his gate alongside… yesterday…" Leo replied as a heavy mood set in among them.

"That is something that I wish to be able to set right, I feel ashamed that I didn't interfere with that fight then…" Reinhard said as he lowered his head with a frown, his thoughts completely spelt out on his face. It was something that Leo felt the need to set right with him but there wasn't any time as the sound of approaching footsteps filled their ears as the guard returned with Subaru and Rem at his side.

'So, Rem's here as well like Emilia said… it looks like she's really taking my words to heart.' Leo thought to himself until he noticed that Subaru's expression had quickly turned to a snarl, the hatred in his eyes couldn't have been any clearer and it made Leo instinctively recoil.

"Subaru," Reinhard spoke first, somehow managing to get Subaru's attention back to himself until the black-haired boy quickly turned to shock as he witnessed the scarlet-haired man bow to him. "Forgive me."

"Hang on, what do you have to apologize for?" Subaru asked in shock, thrown off by the event that was taking place before him. "None of this was your fault!"

"No, I am a friend to you and to Julius. My own lack of virtue was responsible for my failure to stop a disagreement between my friends." Reinhard answered with an awkward, almost ashamed expression as he returned to standing upright. "That duel had no meaning."

The moment Subaru heard his words, his face began to drop in disgruntlement as his displeasure started to become more apparent. "No meaning?" He calmly repeated.

"No… what became of you two fighting there? You were hurt and Julius tarnished his own career." Reinhard explained as Subaru's mood didn't improve, instead, it quickly plummeted as Leo entered the conversation.

"I have to disagree with you there, Reinhard, that fight was completely necessary. I don't know if it was intended or not since I don't know Julius that well but…" Leo interjected with his gaze down at the ground whilst Reinhard carefully listened to his friend, yet Subaru had turned to complete outrage.

"Oh, but what? What do you think about it and why should it matter?!" Subaru suddenly shouted out to everyone's shock, seething with rage yet not caring in the slightest for how everyone saw him.

"I'm only stating what I saw, you might have not realized it but all the knights had seeming killing intent for you after what you did in the throne room, it was overkill and potentially unintentional but Julius technically saved your life then," Leo argued back, hoping that his words would somehow manage to get through to him but it only held the opposite effect and Subaru continued to fall further into disgust and outrage.

"Is that truly so?" Reinhard said with shock as he thought about Leo's words until he noticed Subaru's state.

"Is that what you wanted to say, you're taking that bastard's side are you!" Subaru shouted back.

"That's not what he's saying at all! Master's only saying…" Cecily interjected as she shouted back on Leo's behalf as she felt her own temper rising in the moment towards Subaru yet all she accomplished was attracting Subaru's attention to herself as well.

"Ah right, you're with him as well!" Subaru shouted back at the spirit, "I do so much, work so hard and people owe me so much they could never hope to repay and yet you're the one getting everything! You get magic, lavish living, spirits, the life of any destined protagonist and yet I'm stuck here like this?! What have you done to deserve any of it, you've even tried your disgusting little hands on Mili trying to take her away, aren't you?! At least that Julius guy was open about it unlike the little entitled backstabber…"

"That's enough." Cecily suddenly interrupted him with a deadly cold voice with a look that could kill, being plentiful enough to make Subaru recoil with a cold sweat. "I thought you were a funny, nice guy but I won't tolerate you talking about Master like that! You know nothing about him! He was trying to help you!"

"Wha?!" Subaru recoiled whilst everyone watched the two with serious, cautious gazes, ready to move should anything begin going south.

"Indeed, Sir Leo is a kind individual who has worked for the talents that he has gained. He has pushed himself to his limits for others and continues to do his best for your own health as well, please don't try to claim that he is anything like that!" Flam replied while she and her sister stood alongside Cecily with matching determination, a shocking burst of emotion flooding forth from the pair.

"Now, now, everyone should calm down!" Reinhard interjected, desperately hoping to prevent it from getting any worse.

"I don't see how anyone could claim that he's helping me, all that you've done to me is make things harder and ruin!" Subaru shouted out, now taking the chance to step closer to the children with hatred burning in his eyes whilst his fists tightened as he approached. Despite the fact that they doubted that Subaru would truly do any harm to them, they all still couldn't help but feel alarmed at the sight of him so heatedly walking towards them with the likelihood of at least doing something that would be an unpleasant experience.

The remaining adults were in shock at the site but the children didn't flinch in the slightest, almost seemingly uncaring for his approach as if it was nothing more than an empty threat. Instead, it was Subaru who found himself still with a sense of shock as he felt Leo tightly grasping his arm as the two exchanged equally threatening looks with one another.

"Subaru, I'm not going to allow anything against them, and it's a quick test of my patience as well…" Leo replied, doing his best to maintain his calm yet at that moment what calmness that he managed only made him seem more intimidating as his grip continued to tighten in contrast. "I understand that you're going through a lot, alongside mental health but…"

"You understand?! Mental health?!" Subaru exclaimed with bursting anger and disgust, having reached his limit. "What on earth could you possibly understand, thinking that there's something wrong with me!" he shouted as he did his best to shake free his arm before attempting to punch Leo with all the force that he could muster.

Despite receiving Subaru's unrestrained blow, Leo didn't show much reaction to the force that had managed to push his face aside but at the same time, a faint vale of shadows covered him. Despite the noteworthy punch, Leo returned to looking at Subaru with his own burning infuriation as the shadows failed to fade away as everyone looked at the two men in shock.

Subaru in turn had instantly recoiled with a cold sweat. His previous hatred had instantly vanished and was replaced with dread as he looked at Leo with a sense of horror, his breathing failing him as he retreated a few steps with instinctive fear.

"Subaru, are you alright?!" Rem called out to him in concern as everyone easily took note of his sudden change in demeanour yet she was the only one to immediately act on it as she took to his side. Everyone else felt conflicted as they looked at Subaru's messy state but any trace of their sympathetic feelings completely left them seconds later.

"Maybe you really are a warlock…" Subaru mumbled as he turned around to take his leave from the situation, no longer willing to put up with anything that was going on. It was only thanks to that action that he was spared the venomous gazes of the three small girls beside Leo and his own disgust towards him. "Reinhard, I have nothing against you but I would suggest that you all just go back to your little mistress. I have nothing more to say here."

"He quit now yet when he was faced with all the knights, he refused to relent against them until he was beaten and nearly broken." Kou chimed in as they watched the black-haired boy walk back into the Karsten estate leaving just Rem behind.

"I deeply apologize for what Subaru has said and thank you for the care you have shown up until now," Rem said giving a deep bow to the group with a hesitant expression. "And Sir Leo, Miss Emilia has spoken with me about what you have told her and the situation that Subaru is within. Despite his behaviour, I hope that you remain willing to lend us your help and knowledge."

"I'm… I know that he's sick but…" Leo groaned to himself with a pained expression as he took the chance to massage his forehead in an attempt to alleviate even some of his stress. "Yes… I'll help him. But I'm not tolerating him acting out like that again."

"Yes, I understand your point. I assure you that before your meeting that he was doing much better than that, it seems that he has misconstrued the previous events in a way that he finds upsetting…" Rem replied.

"It might also be that he does know the honest truth but he's just acting on ugly emotion instead." Leo replied, "Either way, I think it's best that we don't meet again unless it's urgent."

"Yes, very well. I thank you for your continued support for Subaru, and once again I apologize on his behalf for his behaviour. If you will excuse me, I wish you all a good day." Rem said as she bowed once more to the whole group before finally following Subaru back through the gates.

"I don't see how you can remain so calm! He's so horrible to you!" Cecily exclaimed in outrage, hugging tightly to Leo as she refused to take her scorn away from where Subaru was last spotted last. "And how can you continue to say that you'll help him? Even if he's sick…" she said before she slowly began to lose her voice.

"No, Cecily, I'm plenty unhappy about that as well. At the very least he could keep his displeasure to me instead you three..." Leo replied with a hefty sigh, "But I suppose… I also remember how he used to be. If he changed due to natural causes then that would be different, but that not the case… But be dammed I want a revenge shot."

"Sir Leo, did you not… use your authority on him?" Flam hesitantly asked as everyone waited for his answer.

"I'll admit, that's a bit sharp. I probably shouldn't have but what gave it away?"

"It's simply that sometimes your body is covered in shadows… if it wasn't your authority then I would be more concerned about it," Flam replied as she lowered her head.

"Also, despite the fact that Subaru was the one who struck you, he ended up being far more visibly affected as if something happened to him…" Grassis added on, "You did seemingly nothing and despite the fact it was Subaru that came away worse from it."

"Do you think that I went too far?" Leo asked.

"It was Subaru who was the one who attacked you! That counts as self-defence!" Cecily immediately answered as she spun in front of Leo with a look of complete outrage. "If you didn't do anything then I wouldn't have let him go!"

"Defending yourself is justified, but I hold conflicted thoughts of exposing him however briefly to an authority as a way of counting his behaviour…" Kou replied, emerging from Leo's figure and joining Cecily before him, meanwhile the twin maids merely hummed as they nodded in response.

However, compared to the rest of the group, Reinhard was clearly taking the meeting in a horribly different way as he remained standing and in shock as he emptily looked back at where Subaru and Rem had left them. The sight of the defeated man was enough to completely remove the rest of Leo's irritation as he knew he had to do something for his closest friend and mentor.

"I guess you're not taking that well, are you…" Leo asked as he approached the knight, snapping him out of his reaction as he did his best to recover.

"Ah, please don't worry about me. It is a shame that Subaru feels that way but if there is no way of changing his mind then there is nothing that can be done about it, and I can accept that." Reinhard said, regaining his usual, no, forced smile. A smile that could only be forced and yet it still managed to appear so natural on Reinhard's face.

'I know that he's practically Mr Perfect in so many different regards but… why would someone like that ever become so good at putting on a fake smile? Has that smile always been fake?' Leo couldn't help but think to himself with a frown that left Reinhard momentarily puzzled as he noticed it.

"It's not exactly like I helped with the situation," Leo replied.

"Please don't feel down about that, it appeared that Subaru reacted poorly to your mere presence and I believe that Miss Rem was correct in the idea of mids-constructing your assistance for more ill actions." Reinhard replied, "And I apologize for not preventing him from acting out towards you. You are a kind individual for continuing to lend your aid despite his treatment of you."

"No, you're wrong about that. At least, I don't think you could call me kind if I'm still harbouring resentment towards him." Leo replied with a sigh.

"You resent Subaru? But you're still willing to help him?" Reinhard asked, both worried and bewildered at Leo's admittance to him.

"Try to be nice, but always be kind… I suppose…" Leo murmured in response before snapping back out of it. "If there's anything that should be mentioned, it's you. You have a perfect reason to be upset about everything, all your friends are fighting and you're forcing yourself to remain strong and smiling through it all. It makes me wonder if ever that smile of yours is ever genuine."

Reinhard was in shock as he listened to what Leo had to say to him, it was obvious that he wanted to say something to interject yet he couldn't bring himself to interrupt what Leo was saying, so the younger man took advantage of it, making sure that he wouldn't give the opportunity for him to speak until he was done.

"Sorry, but to be blunt, very few of your relationships seem to be alright. Your family situation is horrible, including mine, three of your friends are fighting, and the whole kingdom places you on some sort of pedestal so they can't interact with you and to top it all off… you seem to think that you need to be outwardly perfect all the time and act like you have no issues."

"But I am the kingdom's sword saint and Miss Felt's knight, I-"

"You're a person dam it… I knew there was a likelihood of something wrong with you but not a full-on socially-prescribed perfectionism and a guilt complex to boot… at least I believe that's the best way to put it."

"I'm afraid that your use of terminology escapes me again," Reinhard said with confusion.

"It means that you feel the need to be perfect in order to leave up to everyone's unrealistic expectations of you, and the guilt complex is feeling that every issue in the world is your undisrupted fault and you feel the need to fix every little thing because of it."

"But I am a knight of lugnica, it is my duty to-"

"You're a person Reinhard, and that's not going to change." Leo said, preventing him from saying anything in objection before he released another hefty sigh, "I get that mental health is something highly neglected in this world but geese, does everyone have their issues?"

"I'm sorry…" Reinhard apologized as he lowered his head, no longer knowing how to best respond to what he was being told.

"I'm not scolding you; you know? I'm just worried, partly about the fact that you really might be too nice that it's not good for your well-being. Look, if you feel the need to start fixing issues, then we'll do a step at a time, and not by yourself."

"Yeah, you're super nice like master, you shouldn't be beating yourself up like that!" Cecily added on with a beaming smile whilst puffing her little chest out. "And if my master is doing something then I'm helping as well! Even if I think that it's too kind for someone acting like that..."

"I see… thank you, friend." Reinhard finally replied as a smile settled back onto his face, yet despite the lack of noticeable difference between his usual smile, the group couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth about it.

"What do we start with then?" Cecily asked as everyone's attention shifted back to Leo, waiting for whatever idea he would come up with.

"Well to start with, we have to give Subaru room for a while and hope that his own camp is able to help him since we clearly are not getting along now… You mentioned there was Julius, we could go and try and better explain the situation to him so that he might be more onboard and understanding about Subaru's scenario but the talk of mental health can be sensitive for him, especially if he's in denial."

"You make it sound like there is little that we can do in any regard for Subaru without further upsetting him," Flam spoke up whilst Leo nodded in response.

"For my personal feelings, better or worse, we do have to wait until he shows improvement… or rather if and when Rem gets back to us at some point. " He answered, "I would appreciate the space as well now… Is there anything you want to talk about concerning your family, however?"

"No, I thank you for the offer to help me but at the very least I would wish to keep such matters to more private spaces…" Reinhard said with another awkward expression, "I advise that you return back to Miss Felt now, I wish to accompany you but alas I have summons from the council to tend you. I wish you a good day until I return."

"Like you mentioned in the morning, will you be back later?"

"Only if I am not required to be immediately dispatched if such an event should transpire that I entrust Miss Felt's safety to you. I trust you perfectly in serving her in my place." Reinhard said, giving a small bow in Leo's direction, the two exchanging smiles.

"I'm touched you have faith in me, we won't let you down," Leo replied as the two finally bid their farewells before parting as Reinhard began walking towards the castle whilst Leo, Cecily, Flam and Grassis began to return home…

"You're late!" Felt shouted out with a pointed finger as Leo sighed in response to the bond's behaviour the moment that he walked into the Astrea Manor's common room with the rest.

"But you've got a grin on your face? Besides, we agreed at we'd back and do whatever you wanted after lunch." Leo replied in confusion, doing his best to think about everything that he either discussed with her or whatever he could possibly expect from her.

"And I saw the perfect chance while you were gone, I couldn't just ignore it so I took it!" Felt replied in matter-of-fact tones, leaning back into her seat leaving Leo and Cecily in even more confusion about what she was talking about.

"What did you see? Did something interesting pass by while we were gone?" Cecily asked as she hopped forwards with a smile, eager to see what the other girl had in mind.

"Huh, don't tell me a little kid is a part of this? Felt, do you really know what you're doing?" Another voice was heard near the door to the room as the group of four turned around in surprise to see three more guys entering the room, three guys that didn't fit into the nobility scene in the slightest.

There was a tall fat man, a dwarf boy and a slim, punk-like man that stood together as a trio as their appearances were enough to make it clear that they were all thugs or thieves.

"I'm not a kid, I'm a spirit!" Cecily replied in a huff, pouting towards the three.

"A spirit?! Seriously?!" The punk man said in a panic as the three men recoiled at the fact, staring down Cecily almost fearful of her now as they likely expected her to begin acting out her displeasure. "Ah, what's one of them doing here? Is she contracted to someone?"

"Yup, Master here is my contractor, but stop treating me like a thing!" Cecily answered the thugs as they slowly nodded in response before taking the time to follow her gesture to finally notice Leo instead as the two parties examined one another.

"Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Leo asked aloud as he intently examined the three for whatever would come back up in his memory.

"What? We've never seen your face before mate, we'd know if we ran into someone from nobility before." The dwarf replied with a sceptical expression.

"Wait, I know where! It was an ally somewhere in the capital, but you won't remember me. I saw you but you never saw me." Leo explained as he tried to wave off their gazes that only seemed more alarmed at the news. "Either way, the nobility isn't quite right. Things started off with nothing, then becoming Reinhard's student and now I'm fully stuck on the boat of supporting this feisty one…

"Hey! Who do you think you're calling feisty, big bro?!" Felt shouted out, irritated at the remark made against her but he merely smiled back in response. "Anyway, what happened to Reinhard? I thought you'd come back together. Did something happen with Subaru?"

"Something like that, Reinhard's gone to the castle because of his summons, and if they tell him to do something urgently then he won't be back until it's done. Naturally, he told me to take care of you in his stead until then…"

"So he's already gone off despite proclaiming to be my knight only yesterday? Jeez, talk about useless! At least I still get to boss you around though!"

"I'm not doing anything ridiculous for you…" Leo deadpanned.

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't and it's not like I think of you like Reinhard, but if he's not around then it changes things unless you can do it?"

"Like I said, as long as it's not ridiculous."

"You already want to do something else already?" Cecily thought aloud whilst Felt nodded to herself, looking perfectly pleased.

"Yeah, I wanted these three guys to get into shape! Reinhard was training you so well I thought that he could do the same for them, but since he's not here maybe you should give it a shot instead?" Felt explained much to the excitement of Cecily yet to the complete shock of the four men at the sudden turn of events…