"Mother…" Conrad said, calling out to Lady Cherie for suddenly mentioning an unexpected name in front of the female Beast Knights.
But the blonde lady remained looking at a particular person even after she uttered that name. In fact, when the others followed the direction she was looking at, they were confused to see that Lady Cherie was looking at Mari. The said Wind Tiger Knight, in turn, tilted her head on one side as she pointed at herself.
"Why… are you calling me Lyall?" Mari asked, the innocent expression on her face became even more visible.
It seemed that Mari's expression snapped Lady Cherie out and laughed rather weakly. "Oh, forgive me for saying that name. But… you closely resemble that young lady, in case no one had ever told you that."
"Mother, does that mean you've met Princess Lyall before?" This time, it was Wolfram who asked that question.
But the woman just smiled sadly and went in Yuri's direction. To the surprise of the Beast Knights, Lady Cherie pulled Yuri's head to her chest and started saying words like "I miss you, Your Majesty" and "Let's have some fun now that you're back from your trip".
Even with that commotion that she 'intently' created just to divert the attention of the other people from Wolfram's question, it seemed that her silence was enough as an answer. It was just as Murata had once confirmed to them when they were still heading to Esovia.
Lady Cherie had long been aware of the Beast Knights' existence, and that she knew someone like that from Conrad's past. But who would've thought that Lady Cherie had once met the princess of Esovia a long time ago?
With a sigh, Conrad faced the still quiet Mari who was only looking at his mother. "Knight Mari, I'm sorry for my mother's sudden comment."
To his surprise, Mari faced him with a nostalgic smile and shook her head. "There's nothing for you to apologize about, Lord Weller. She wasn't the first person who said the same thing to me, you know."
"What?" The brown-haired soldier didn't expect that remark, though. "What exactly do you mean by that?"
"Mainly, the ones who first commented on that same thing were Klaus and Lady Sofia. And I'm sure that you're aware now, both of those people had the strongest connection to Princess Lyall by blood. Hanz said the same thing a week after I was first brought to Esovia when I was sixteen. But he could immediately sense that I was a different person. Even with that, he said that he'd teach me everything I needed to know about being a Beast Knight and become a friend to him, as well."
Well, that would make sense. But what about him? He had never once thought of Mari as Lyall. But… how would he explain the familiarity he felt towards Mari that resembled that of the dead Esovian princess? Was there supposed to be a plausible explanation to that?
"You should have dinner first before you sleep, okay? I don't think Klaus would like it if you skip meals again," Rina reminded Mari. The latter only smiled before nodding.
The said black-haired knight sighed heavily before facing Conrad. To her confusion, he was eyeing him with a concerned look on his face. Why was that?
"Are you alright, Lord Weller?" she asked in a hushed tone.
But she knew it was still loud enough for the soldier to hear. He blinked a few times, possibly snapped out of his own musings before nodding.
"You should take a rest now. I'm sure you and the other Knights will have a long day tomorrow."
She took that suggestion to heart and left the castle grounds together with her friends. However, the longing and worried look on Conrad's face didn't go unnoticed to the other people left there.
xxxxxx
First night in a foreign country.
Somehow, the thought still didn't seem real for Mari who had never left Esovia aside from going back to her home world. Could that be the reason why she was feeling restless and couldn't sleep even though the exhaustion because of the event that day was supposed to take a toll on her body at the moment? Then again, perhaps it was natural that she felt that way.
There was still danger somewhere. The enemies might be lying low in the meantime after the attack they did to that village. She was still thankful that they managed to save the area before it was too late. But even with that relief, she was only left with more questions.
And she was desperate to find answers to each and everyone of them.
But seriously, she was supposed to rest. Then again, if her mind wouldn't even give her a chance to do so, she might as well find something else to do while her mind calmed down. It was a weird approach. But it was better than nothing.
"Alright. Time to head out for a while," she muttered and took a robe that she could use to cover herself and let it be her protection from the night wind. Though she was aware that the wind for that night wouldn't be as cold as she expected, one could never be so sure when Mother Nature would decide.
Thankfully, it became easy for Mari to familiarize herself with the layout of the Blood Pledge Castle. And so it didn't take long before she found her way out of the place.
But for some strange reason, she found herself heading towards a fountain outside the castle. To be specific, to the flowerbed near that fountain that she briefly noticed while heading to the guest room prepared for her. She had no idea why her feet led her there. Even so, she was glad that she found the place.
Maybe this place would help her relax somewhat.
"I wonder who's taking care of this place, though. The flowers here are unique, not going to lie. But they all look beautiful."
Yes, she was talking to herself. It was strange, but she already had that habit even as a child. It was like… she was reassuring someone from far away. She wanted someone to know that… she was there. Alive… and breathing properly.
She couldn't understand where that notion came from. But she did her best not to let anyone know about that weird habit of hers as much as possible. She just wanted to talk even when alone. If that was a sign of craziness, then she couldn't give a damn care.
A part of her was aware that she was doing it for an unknown — but still, a valuable — reason.
Mari couldn't contain the smile on her face as she looked and assessed each variety of flower that thrived in that flower bed. She didn't usually see flower beds this unique in Esovia, so this was new to her. But her smile slowly faded as her sight landed on a certain flower that, she knew, she had never seen before.
And yet… Why did she have this feeling that the silvery green flower she was looking at the moment was something that was meant for her?
"Where did that come from? Was that even possible?"
Okay, now she had additional questions that she needed answers… ASAP! Then again, was there even someone who could provide her the answers?
xxxxxx
Another update, everyone! I'm trying my best to finally continue writing this story so that I can say that I have finished writing another KKM story that was not YuuRam. Then again, I have only written one YuuRam story. Or maybe two. Wait, I have to double check that information.
By the way, you might notice that my updates were shorter than the previous ones. That is because I'm limiting my word count to that of between 1,000-2,000 words. You could say that I'm doing this as a practice for my other writing projects, especially those that I would post online. Also, I'm doing this as a way for me to be able to update faster than usual. It might not be an everyday update. But I want to update regularly. Maybe… 3-4 chapters a week. But we'll still see. Regardless of the outline that I made for this story, the originally planned 32 chapters might get longer even if I would choose to follow the original outline.
In any case, thank you for reading till here. I really appreciate it. Let me know what you think about this chapter by leaving your reviews/comments. See you on the next update, everyone! Bye!
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