As always Giliath demands your power stones!
*
The duel ended as swiftly as it began. Several strikes were lashed out at each other, creating collisions of a sword to pole one after another. I even got to see Cassius unleash his Phoenix Wave S-Craft. How cool is that? He twirled around the sand acting like it was his own backyard. Giliath also unleashed some Crafts of his own, likely coming from his Hundred-Form Military Combat. Each blow was heavy.
But in the end, there had to be one winner. And one loser. It wouldn't be a show if they ended up in a draw now, would it?
I suddenly saw Father collapse onto one knee, panting deep heavy sighs. Several red marks could be seen on his face. It wasn't exactly the prettiest. I saw Lena shield Estelle's eyes whenever blood was flung around. Neither of each other's wounds were deep, but Cassius didn't come out of this unscathed either. I could see some injuries on his body too.
"It would seem I have come out of this as the victor, General.", Cassius said, letting out some breaths of his own. It wasn't super visible from afar, but the sand around them had reddened from the fighting.
"So it would. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.", Giliath said, only to stand back up.
Like I said, this wasn't a fight to the death. Most fights weren't in Zemuria, unless you were up against the big baddie final boss fight. Most fights leading up to that point either had some goal in mind, or it was just to test the main character's party. The only exception to this would be The Rivalries that occur during the latter half of Cold Steel. In those, there were defined victors and losers. And well, the loser ends up perishing because their Divine Knights would get absorbed into the winner's Divine Knight. These were the real death battles.
It's not like death doesn't happen here. There's lots of wars, and there's also Jaegers. Bloody battles that claim lives happen quite frequently.
Still, to think Father lost this duel...
Cassius is definitely no man to be underestimated. And just like now, he would be triumphant against Giliath during the last ten days of the Hundred Days War. Perhaps this served as a prequel to the events that have yet to take place? I'm not sure but if there was one thing I regretted seeing, it was Estelle's wide grin as she looked back at me. She even did a V-Sign with her hand.
"See? I told you daddy would win. It was really cool to watch!", Estelle happily said to me.
"Yeah, yeah. I get you. It's not like either of them are weak, but it really was enjoyable to watch, as you said.", I replied, smiling. Hearing that, Estelle giggled.
"That is enough! Colonel Bright has been declared the winner of this duel!", Queen Alicia exclaimed. The audience entered a fervor, and became excited. Everyone cheered.
""Three cheers to Her Majesty!""
""Long live Liberl!""
The standard gloating of when their own country wins, you get the idea. I wonder, did Father let it play out like this as another "lesson" to me, showing his humble side? I'm sure he could have easily won, but still lost. Or maybe it wasn't a choice at all, Cassius was just that powerful?
I could go either way with this.
Regardless, the victor was decided, and the celebration of life came to its conclusion. Everyone had to bid their farewells, and headed back inside Grancel City, wherever their next destination was. Grancel Castle was now off-limits again, and wouldn't hold any public appearances anytime soon.
That meant I had to depart from Estelle, Lena, and Cassius. I saw Estelle become dejected. I, on the other hand, truly felt it. I had become friends with one of the Trailsverse's main characters, even if we just spent two days together. This parting had much more impact on me than it did her, as it might be years before I get to see Estelle again. Unlike other characters, because Cassius is Estelle's father, he can't exactly waltz into Erebonia. He's a commander of Liberl's Royal Army. Just doing that alone is like inviting your enemy right into your own territory. Liberl and Erebonia haven't exactly been on friendly terms, unlike other countries. There's present peace yes, but those stuck-up nobles are looking to stir up trouble any opportunity they get.
And if it spirals out of control, guess who has to handle it? Cassius, as well as the many, many soldiers assigned under him. It likely wouldn't be handled by Cassius directly, but more along the lines of lower ranked soldiers under him, like a guy named Cid.
So yeah, Cassius can't exactly bring Estelle into Erebonia without walking into danger. On the other hand, Henry could do this with Elie. One, Crossbell City is a much shorter drive to Trista than it is from Liberl, and two, Crossbell State is on much friendlier terms with Erebonia, in my opinion. At least for now. Once Crossbell State's internal proceedings happen when it tries to declare itself independent, that's when things get messy, and it also provides a window of opportunity for Erebonia, and its new Chancellor, who is none other than my Father, to annex it.
I'm saying all of this because that is indeed what Giliath did in the latter half of the first decade of S1200, seizing control of Crossbell State. Even if it did only last for a short period of time. But like I said, this won't happen for a good two decades. I'll be twenty or older by then. There is much, much to do.
So Elie coming over to have some play dates seems much more plausible than Estelle. With that in mind, Henry and Elie were the first to depart from the new people I've come to meet. They had a scheduled airship flight, causing the two to promptly return to Crossbell City. Saying goodbyes were sad, but it's not like Estelle, Cassius and Lena immediately left. They stood around for a while, and we were able to play for a bit longer. The cheery atmosphere returned, and to my surprise Grandmother allowed Princess Klaudia to play with us, even if it was only for a short little while.
But that implied one, big thing. And keep in mind, this happened before Elie departed.
This meant that Princess Klaudia, Estelle, and Elie met each other while being kids. This wasn't even supposed to happen. Estelle's first encounter with Princess Klaudia takes place in Sky's first game. But now because everyone is gathered here, that is thrown out the window. We're still little kids right now, and with Estelle being Estelle, I have a feeling she might forget all about this. Will we leave enough of an impression on her that will cause Estelle to remember the three of us by the time we meet again?
That will remain to be seen. Just having Estelle be around Princess Klaudia was enough to uplift her mood. The crying from earlier stopped altogether. Estelle is the embodiment of the sun, one of the most cheerful girls you'll ever encounter in Trails. To say the least, it brought the sunshine over the gloomy atmosphere, making the remainder of our time spent enjoyable. Closer toward the end of the second day, Princess Klaudia began to address me as "Brother" more and more. Just as a kind gesture I'm sure. Either way, I got pretty close to Princess Klaudia, just like with Estelle and Elie. Estelle just shrugged this name-calling off, and still called me Naoto. If one related this to the Japanese, Princess Klaudia didn't call me "Onii-chan", or "Aniki". She was much more formal, and called me "Nii-sama". Just that alone was a surprise.
Near the end, our little circle of energy tuckered out. Elie and Henry were the first to depart so they could catch their flight. Cassius took Estelle and Lena away, as did Queen Alicia and Princess Klaudia. After this, Father and I were on our own on the second day, so we ended up staying at the Erebonian Embassy. It was already pre-planned, so there was no surprise when the head of the Erebonian Embassy greeted us. It was the same Ambassador Crainagh you would encounter in Sky. Despite being a noble, Father was still a General, so Ambassador Crainagh had to be respectful toward him.
We made sure not to cause a scene though. We simply slept after enjoying a meal inside the Embassy.
The third day came, and we departed Liberl bright and early around 7AM. Our visit was only planned for two days, and Giliath notified Kasia we would be returning in the morning. On top of that, he notified our personal driver too, and he was able to come pick us up. Heimdallr was just as busy as it was a couple days ago, and it was nice to check out the sights while we drove back to Trista. It was a smooth ride home without anything happening at all. Giliath managed to recount everything that had happened, and prompted me to treat those as lessons of his. I'll hold these dear to my heart. If I am set on the path to become a noble in the future, I'll need every lesson on etiquette I need.
Kasia greeted me with a warm hug, and her mouth opened up into a large 'O' once she learned that I had become friends slash siblings with none other than Liberl's princess, Klaudia von Auslese. Kasia immediately reminded us to keep this a secret and to not have it leave the house. We swore an oath to the Goddess there. Until I decide to let this see the light of day, we wouldn't talk about this one bit. You know, if I properly become Liberl's "Crown Prince" in the future.
With the trip to Liberl settled, I started to spend my days behaving like how a normal kid would, along with my new little bro, Rean. It was as if someone pressed the fast forward button. Giliath would often be away due to his military work, so it was just Kasia, Rean and I during the weeks. Giliath would try to come home over the weekends. To my surprise, nothing eventful happened during this.
Before I realized it, a whole two years passed.
I was on the cusp of turning four years old.