Chapter 3: Preparing for the Festival

With less than a month to go, the Festival of Gratitude was fast approaching. I found myself sitting in the Riefenstahls’ salon, blankly staring at the door. It had been violently slammed shut only moments ago.

“Your Highness, you and my sister finally saw eye to eye a few days ago,” Fiene said in a hushed voice. “...Didn’t you?”

“Supposedly so,” I said. “Well, she’s gotten a tad less prone to embarrassment when we’re alone. But it seems that newfound confidence dissipates when there are others present. In fact, I feel like she might be even worse than before. To be fair, shame isn’t exactly an emotion you can easily think your way out of, and she’s cute that way anyhow. I think it’s fine.”

“I guess a calm and collected Lieselotte wouldn’t be Lieselotte at all.” Fiene laughed and nodded along. “...But what should we do about her dress?”

I was visiting today to decide on what Liese would wear to the ball at the festival. The girl in question had been here not too long ago, but Fiene and I had been too persistent in our pleading to see her in a dress. In the end, she ran off.

Knowing that the Witch of Yore was to resurrect on the final day of the Festival of Gratitude, Liese was adamant on being ready for battle. Instead of a dress, she wanted to show up to the dance in sportswear.

However, this would be my last opportunity to participate in the academy’s festivities. Unable to deny my desires, I had implored my beautiful fiancée to wear a pretty dress—what’s more, her little sister Fiene agreed with me. For whatever reason, that led to her fleeing the scene. Perhaps we’d been a bit too aggressive with our lavish words of praise.

“Hm,” I mused. “It would be downright depressing to prepare something that she refuses to put on.”

“Maybe she’d be fine with a dress so long as it’s easy to move in,” Fiene said. “Let’s give up on trains and petticoats. How about an empire silhouette that only goes down to the ankles—or even shorter on the front side.”

“Hrm... I suppose I’ll put in an order for something that won’t get in the way of her footwork, and ask the tailors to make it as easy to move in as possible.”

“Since she’ll be wearing heels, I wonder if there’s any dress at all Liese-tan could possibly fight in,” Lady Kobayashee said.

“And the scene shifts to the outdoors, so anything that’s too long will track through the mud,” Lord Endoh said. “Does that only freak out peasants like us, or what?”

Suddenly, the gods hopped into our conversation...which meant that my gods-blessed fiancée must have returned.

Knock knock knock.

“Excuse me,” Baldur said, opening the door without waiting for a reply. I’d been wrong; he was the carrier for our heavenly companions.

“Sir Bal?” Fiene asked. “Why are...oh, I know. My sister must have put you up to this because she didn’t want us to be alone.”

Baldur nodded casually. The branch family’s holding in the royal capital was right next door to the marquisate’s. To be exact, they were literally on the same plot of land. The young knight must have made his way over as soon as Liese had demanded him to.

“Your Highness, I bear a message from Lieselotte. She asks, ‘May I borrow a uniform from the royal guard?’ For the festival, I presume.” As Baldur gave his report by my side, I noted how his cousin had recently barred him from using her nickname.

“The royal guard?” Lord Endoh asked. “What kind of clothes do they wear?”

“It’s a military uniform!” Lady Kobayashee squealed in a frenzy. “They have this all-white uniform with golden accents, and they march alongside the royal family all the time, so they’ve got all these fancy buttons and embroidery on them!”

“Plus, they come with pants,” Fiene added. “The women’s version has a longer tail on the jacket, with slits for movement, right?”

I answered Fiene with a nod only to see Baldur do the same—at the exact same time as I did, no less. Feeling a bit awkward, I beckoned him to sit over by his lover, when the goddess’s voice exploded in my ear.

“I wanna see Liese-tan in a uniform! I know it’s not full-on cross-dressing, but I can’t pass up a chance to see a rare Liese-tan!”

Is this analysis or just personal greed? Regardless, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to see it myself. Clearly, following the goddess’s will was good prudence.

“I agree. The royal guard’s uniform is fit for combat and completely acceptable in a social setting. Instead of merely lending Liese one, I’ll have one custom tailored for her size.”

With everything set, Fiene nodded along happily and Baldur sighed in relief. I couldn’t begin to imagine how thoroughly my fiancée had chewed him out before he had come here.

“Will you be wearing the same, Fiene?” he asked his lover.

Now that he mentioned it, we’d been so engrossed with Liese’s dress that we hadn’t given Fiene’s attire any thought.

“No way. I’m so tiny compared to Lieselotte that pants wouldn’t look good on me... Honestly, I’m so unfashionable that I don’t really want to wear the same thing as my sister. Plus, I learned my lesson about wearing white and gold, so I’ll pass!”

Fiene was mildly incoherent as she stumbled through her words, but there was only one thing stuck in my mind: why is my Liese so unbelievably cute?

“Hey, who woulda thought she was hiding her dere side in a place like this?!”

“Liese-tan could’ve chosen to wear a normal knight’s uniform like her father or cousin, but went out of her way to ask for one from the royal guard. Naturally, the only explanation is her love for Sieg.”

Gods, I knew it.

“In that case, would you like to wear one of the dresses we considered earlier, Miss Fiene?” I pushed on with a friendly smile to overwrite the unbecoming smirk that nearly made its way to my face.

“Um...” Fiene’s head tilted to one side and then she began thinking out loud. “The issue is that my style of fighting means I need something that’s even easier to move in... I won’t be able to fit in kicks with the ideas we came up with for my sister. I think I’d like to wear pants too, but maybe something baggier so my stubby legs don’t get highlighted as much.”

“Like a rich noble boy? Or an Arabian style? Pirate pants? Oh, maybe kind of like a magical girl?” Lady Kobayashee began muttering with all the gravity of a general preparing for war. I couldn’t tell whether she was running through everything that came to mind, or if she wanted to see Fiene wear all of these different outfits.

“In the game, Fiene wore a knee-length dress with boots, yeah?” Lord Endoh said. “I feel like that’s good enough.”

“Oh, that was cute too. There’s actually an event where characters can send her a more traditionally fancy dress, but her standard one would definitely be easy to move in. Since it’s nice and casual, I think it’d fit her well!”

Apparently, the goddess wasn’t that invested, as she immediately okayed her male counterpart’s suggestion.

“Then let’s do that,” Fiene said with a nod. “Magicombat Dress: Commoner Style Edition, here we come!”

I had exactly zero idea what a “Magicombat Dress: Commoner Style Edition” was, but the task of turning her request into a real product fell to House Riefenstahl’s designers. I decided to leave it to them.

My irresponsible train of thought was cut short when Fiene suddenly turned to me with a worried expression.

“Oh, but I’m not sure if that would fit in with the crowd. Do you think that would be okay?”

“Ah, most people do dress formally, but...there are some hooligans who come in outlandish costumes, so you’ll be fine. The after-party for the Festival of Gratitude only admits students and staff, meaning that it isn’t all that stuffy. Feel free to do as you like, Miss Fiene.”

I could see her shoulders loosen up as I answered. Although she still seemed to have her fair share of doubts, there were none at the academy who spoke ill of her at this point.

Truthfully, there had been some vulgar individuals who’d derided her as a “mere commoner” in the spring. But I had publicly declared my friendship with her, and Liese had secretly cleaned up all who dared to slander her—though this latter point only became clear after the two tied the bond of sisterhood.

Combined with Fiene’s impressive strength and friendly nature, she now had friends in every part of the school. Besides that, as the daughter of a powerful marquis, she was the trendsetter. The Magicombat Dress: Commoner Style Edition could very well become the next big fad...even though I still had no clue what it was.

“All right, with our styles generally settled, I’ll leave you two to discuss how you’d like to coordinate colors and such. I think it’s about time I go check on Lieselotte.”

I rose from my seat. Fiene and Baldur exchanged glances and smiled bashfully.

“Lieselotte is... Ah. She’s in her room, and she’s obviously moping.”

Lord Endoh checked on my fiancée for me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his report. I guess I’d better hurry then.

“Cheering up Liese-tan is sure to be a better use of your time than getting in the way of Fiene and Bal’s flirting. Get going!”

“W-We aren’t going to flirt!”

Fiene raised her voice with a blush at Lady Kobayashee’s teasing. However, Baldur was unable to hear the goddess and was clearly confused.

“What’s wrong, Fiene? ...Are you copying Lieselotte?”

His question was the final nail in the coffin, sealing her lips away under a bright red face. In fairness, hearing her claim that they weren’t going to flirt unprompted signaled that she did want to flirt as soon as I left—in a very tsun de rais manner, no less.

I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that, I thought, and I slipped out of the salon.

────

The festival was only a week away. Long after classes had ended, there was no one to be seen in the campus’s rear garden. Only Liese, her father—in this case, I ought to refer to him by his official title as warmaster—and I were left. We were planning the security detail for the night of the dance.

“Let me confirm once more,” the general said. “You’re absolutely certain that the Witch of Yore is going to appear here in this yard?”

“No doubt about it,” Lady Kobayashee said. “The witch should be sealed away in some ruins right under this garden.”

Of course, General Riefenstahl couldn’t hear her answer, so I echoed it for him.

“The heavens state that the Witch of Yore is imprisoned in a ruin buried beneath our very feet. I doubt there will be any way for her to appear elsewhere.”

“In which case,” Liese said, “we have plenty of room. What do you say we call in the whole of our forces here?”

“No,” her father said. “We can’t ignore the possibility that she’ll escape or take one of our men hostage. Further, we’ll need to keep a reserve of forces to protect the students and staff.”

“Our teachers can all handle themselves,” I said. “Some regularly patrol the academy anyway, so I doubt they’ll need much help. How about...”

We continued our discussion for some time. Eventually, we decided that only a handful of people were to be present: Artur, Baldur, Fabian, and I (who the gods referred to as the game’s “heroes”) would be joined by Fiene and Liese (the “heroine” and “villainess” respectively). We comprised the team that had once slain the witch in the gods’ vision of the future. Lastly, General Riefenstahl would lead twelve of his finest troops to round out our forces.

“Hey, I’m really getting the feeling that this is overkill... I’m pretty sure Fiene’s strong enough to do this all by herself, you know?”

As us three mortals were putting the finishing touches on our positions, Lord Endoh suddenly brought up his concerns.

“Overkill is the best kind of kill! The Witch of Yore feeds on despair and eats away at people’s souls, so she’ll grow stronger and stronger if we let her. The best play is to beat her to a pulp with ungodly firepower as soon as she shows up! ...I think. Besides, Fiene only beat her one-on-one because she could sink her fist into Liese-tan’s body, and the witch won’t have a physical form this time. Plus, Bal still died during that fight. If we want to keep everyone safe, all of our planning is absolutely necessary! ...I think.”

Lady Kobayashee’s tiny voice when she said “I think” betrayed her usual confidence. It was plain to see she wasn’t wholly sure of herself.

“I can’t get over the feeling that we’re just bullying her...” Lord Endoh was clearly unconvinced, judging from how doubtful his tone of voice was.

“N-No, come on, we even gave up on Professor Leon! And putting all that aside, the witch was the one who bullied Liese-tan first. Just that she attacked our adorable future queen is reason enough for the whole kingdom to rise up against her! See? It all makes sense!”

I can’t disagree with that. The goddess’s words profoundly touched me, and I nodded to show my approval.

“Let us place Cecilie by Fabian.”

Out of nowhere, I heard Liese mention a peculiar name. Up until now, I’d only been half paying attention, but I now butted in to the father and daughter’s conversation.

“What?” I asked, unable to believe my ears. “You mean little Cecilie Riefenstahl is coming as well?”

“Indeed,” my fiancée said matter-of-factly. “Not too long ago, Cecilie was inducted into the knights by trial of combat. Although she is still in training like Baldur, she is a proper soldier in her own right. We’re planning to place her by Fabian’s side as one of his bodyguards.”

I was bewildered beyond belief. The trial of combat was an alternative to the standard recruitment examination. It required a challenger to duel five ordained knights and win the majority of their matches. Furthermore, this special procedure required the king himself to sign off on their character.

“The youngest daughter of House Riefenstahl is only ten,” I said in shock. “What in the world is my father thinking, recruiting little Cecilie like this?”

“Holy moly, she’s part of the ‘twelve finest troops’ that the general was talking about.”

“Remember what Liese-dad said? ‘I’ve chosen twelve of my best—I can assure you both of their skill and mental fortitude.’ I know we’re the ones pulling out Fabby-boo when his twelfth birthday is right around the corner, but I don’t know if a ten-year-old is gonna be that strong, especially mentally.”

My head was already in my arms, but hearing the gods only worsened my fears.

“Should I go and ask my father to rescind her knighthood?” I muttered to myself.

“Your Highness,” General Riefenstahl said, “there is no need for you to worry, and even less to blame His Majesty. We’re simply letting my daughter have her way.”

“But...”

“Cecilie has no qualms about laying her life on the line to stand by Fabian—in fact, I’d wager that she’s excited to face a foe so powerful. We can vouch for her skill, and we’ve drilled it into her that she has no one else to blame should she fall in battle. There isn’t anything to worry over.”

The man’s reasoning seemed cold to me, but Liese was completely supporting him.

“But... Wait, have Cecilie and Fabian been engaged?” I asked. I could understand her willingness to brave danger if it was for the sake of someone she loved.

“It is all but confirmed,” Liese said. “Young Fabian is still somewhat hesitant, but Cecilie is, shall we say, ambitious? For some time, she has pined for the strongest husband in the world, and I very much doubt she’ll let go now that she’s found him. As far as the festival goes, she said, ‘I’m going to marry Fabian and protect him forever. If I can’t, I’d rather die.’ She is, well, eager if nothing else... Truthfully, I had no idea that my youngest sister could display such passion.”

Faced with the fiery resolution of a ten-year-old, I was struck speechless. In response, the general heaved a tired sigh.

“I know Your Highness may think it ridiculous for a girl so young to say such things. Yet the thought that something is too early for a child is just the misguided belittlement of us adults. Children do their best to think about the world in their own ways, and often surprise us with what they can accomplish. Frankly, I didn’t even believe that she could overcome her trial to become a knight, but she proved me wrong with her own strength. There isn’t anything left for me to say to her.”

The father paused for a moment. His smile was tinged with melancholy as he continued.

“When she was born, she was so lovely yet fragile. Every parent bears that memory and tries to protect their children forever, but eventually the time comes when they can stand on their own. As lonely as it is, that’s how things are meant to be. The twins are still off playing without a care in the world, but my youngest seems intent to prove herself.” General Riefenstahl glanced at Liese. “Well, we’ve known for generations that our flock can’t give up on whatever they fall for. Our ancestors tore past every obstacle in their path to march straight toward their goals, and we’re no different.”

I had no mind to deny that House Riefenstahl was full of single-minded people.

“Yep, Liese-tan’s the prime example, but I feel like all the Riefenstahls are kinda heavy-handed with their love.”

Agreed. Personally, my mind had gone to their long history of loyal service to the kingdom, but the goddess graciously brought my attention to my lovable fiancée.

“I suppose you’re right,” I said. “Liese loved me for over a decade—ever since first meeting me at five years of age.”

“Wha—?!” Out of shock, Liese lost her ability to speak.

“Exactly,” her father said with a nod. “Cecilie is far more innocent than Liese ever was. At the time, my eldest was prepared to kill anyone that stole your heart and end her own life at the same time. You have no idea how anxious I was, praying that she wouldn’t do anything ridiculous. To see you speak of her so fondly now... Your Highness, I have nothing but gratitude for your benevolence.”

“In the game, she tried to kill Fiene, died, and was a proper villainess. Spot on!”

“The game’s events were primarily because of the witch’s emotional manipulation, but I’ll admit that her rivalry with Fiene was at kill-or-be-killed levels. But let me mention that she never bullied Fiene from the shadows like a coward, even before the witch stole her body. I can’t deny that she was a bit mean with her words and actions, but it was all in the name of love.”

The general, god, and goddess each put the absurd gravity of Liese’s love to words. Despite the heavy load, it just made me happier. To be loved so deeply was blissful—to think that, without the gods’ help, I would have never believed it.

“I’m truly thankful that we could get our feelings through to each other. Thank you for loving me up until now, Liese.”

I took her hand and placed my lips on the back of her palm. Her expression was a mix of frustration and embarrassment. It was difficult to put into words, and she soon began to let out a groan.

“Ugh, hnnng...” Liese’s gaze swam around, looking for a place to rest. Eventually, she glared straight at me. “Your Highness!”

I felt bad, hearing her shout so angrily. I’d overstepped my bounds by teasing her so much in front of her father...or so I’d thought.

“What do you mean to suggest by saying I loved you for over a decade in the past tense?! What do you mean, ‘up until now’?! Why are you sealing my feelings away in yesteryear without my approval? Do not belittle my love! Even should you ever grow to lose interest in me, I will love you for the rest of my life. No matter what kind of horrible plot or terrible deed it takes, I refuse to ever give up my position as your wife!”

“The tsundereally-pissed makes a glorious return!”

“Liese-tan says she’ll do terrible things, but she’s too nice for that. She didn’t do anything violent until the witch stole her body in the game, so I think the worst she’d do is challenge someone to a duel.”

...Oh, I can’t take any more.

“Wha—um, Your—wait! Stop!”

The onslaught of my adorable Liese and the commentary explaining her behavior caused my emotions to burst through. I hugged her tight, which made her shout at me in a panic.

“We may be the only ones in this yard, but m-my father is right here! Please, calm yourself!”

Her tone was very stern, but she didn’t try to push me away. It made it harder for me to pull myself off.

“Your Highness,” the general said quickly, “I shall see myself out. I will report to the guard station and explain our plans to the rest of the knights. Farewell!”

Thinking his actions strange, I snuck a peek at him. He was already marching off. My curiosity got the better of me, and I accidentally muttered, “I thought a father would want to stop something like this.”

Over his shoulder, he said, “Your intimacy is for the good of the nation! At any rate, I’ve given up on Liese since she was five!”

Oh, I remember. Once, at a banquet in the palace, I’d seen the general crying to my father. “I have four daughters, and not a single one ever said they wanted to marry me...” At the time, those around us managed to console him by saying things like “That’s just how girls are,” or “Don’t worry, you’ll be surprised by how much your grandchildren will love you!”

“Y-Your Highness! I’m, um, I’m hot!” Overloaded with embarrassment, Liese began to wriggle around in my arms. I didn’t mind letting her go, but that alone would leave a hollow space in my heart.

“Sieg,” I whispered.

She froze.

For the umpteenth time, I begged her, “Liese, please. Won’t you call me ‘Sieg’? I want you to always call me that, but can you at least start with when we’re alone?”

I’d also told her to forgo formal language, but to no avail. My dearest fiancée was just too shy to acquiesce to my requests. While I found it cute when she got tsun de really upset, I wished that she would be a bit truer to herself—if not at all times, then at least when she was with me.

Frozen and silent in my arms, she finally took the hint.

“...It’s embarrassing, and my heart is about to explode. So won’t you please let go of me...Sieg?”

For the first time, she called me by my name. For the first time, we were on equal footing. Slowly, slowly, slowly, I pulled away from the collar I’d nestled into.

Although Liese was clearly relieved, I sensed a faint loneliness as well. The air filling the newly made space between us felt cooler than usual, and I was moving before I knew it. Right before I pulled away entirely, I shifted course: my lips made their way to her cheek. The gentle peck barely even touched her skin.

“Hngh! Sieg!!!”

I had never known that human beings could blush as vividly red as Liese was now. She shouted and tears were beginning to well up in her glaring eyes, but she was just so adorable. I couldn’t help myself.

I was laughing as I raised both my hands in surrender. The girl who’d held me and me alone in her heart since the day we first met looked up at me in frustration; my lovely, cute, and beloved Liese.

An attack on my adorable future queen truly did warrant the whole kingdom rising up to protect her. The goddess had been right all along. Overkill was the best kind of kill. No matter how menacing the foe, I swore to bring down anyone that dared to try and pry us apart.