Knights’ Barracks, Canteen

  The ceremony shortly resumed from the point Noah had interrupted it, the former Knight didn’t rejoin them and maybe it was for the best, if it weren’t for the fact that technically he wasn’t there as a mere spectator but on duty as one of Veronique’s guards.

  ‘Maybe he should just pack his bags and leave, it would be quite humiliating for him to keep working there after that tantrum’ Veronique had thought a bit pissed off ‘and I am quite pissed at him because Mos and Bos were so rilled up after that whole duel that Lucia had to stay out with them’ at the least her hallucinations were keeping her company on the previously mostly empty bench, it was as if after the show they wanted to see the finale to this whole mess and decided to join in instead of keeping their distance.

  Little Drag had dragged itself into the seat next to Veronique.

  “As a token of your loyalty to the Aurelia wear this cuff with pride” Commander Regulus had said taking one of the cuffs and clasping it shut on Kain’s offering wrist

  ‘I wonder why there are two if he’s only giving one’ the redhead had wondered when Kain rose and took the other cuff himself, the action had caused several surprised gasps

  “Is he really going to risk it?!” some bystander had said much to Veronique’s confusion as the Undead had made his way towards the Aurelia.

  Veronique didn’t get exactly what was going on but didn’t question it when Kain went on one knee and offered the cuff to her with a deep bow, she just took it and put it on her own wrist completely trusting Kain.

  ‘Cool’ it was the first thing that came to her mind when the cuff had resized itself to fit on her wrist ‘what now? Do I have to keep this on forever?’ just then the two cuffs glowed bright then disappeared from their wrists.

  “Eh?” Veronique was genuinely afraid she had done something wrong, then she saw both cuffs had reappeared on the pillow ‘err where is Miss Hawkings when I need her’

  “What just happened?” Rhea had asked

  “The Knight there decided to swear eternal loyalty specifically to Veronique” Duchess Lucretia had explained sounding a little amused, Rhea looked in complete awe by the answer.

  ‘Okay that doesn’t sound like a bad thing…wait is Kain?’ Veronique would swear Kain was looking right at Little Drag, but that shouldn’t be possible ‘yea it must be my imagination’

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  “But he’s an Undead did it even work?” an unknown bystander had commented

  “What a peculiar case, tell me kid do you feel different?” Ivan had suddenly said from behind Veronique giving her another scare

  ‘Is this man part Jack in a box or something!?’ she thought holding her heart ‘he keeps popping up everywhere!’

  “You are not that much older then me” it was all Kain said and he didn’t seem too pleased about it

  “Keep your academics for another day and let him settle, the cuff probably didn’t even work” the Duke intervened before Ivan could try to pester Kain with questions, he sounded utterly sure of his claim “you got some guts for even trying this stunt with Veronique knowing it won’t bring you any advantage”

  “I don’t care about titles or power, this was just about sending a message” Kain didn’t miss a beat in saying those words “I am loyal to Lady Veronique because she treated me with respect unlike my peers”

  ‘Err I didn’t do anything special’ she didn’t dare to say this out aloud but it was exactly how she felt about it.

  The ceremony was done and much to Veronique’s displeasure Kain had stay at the Knight’s Barracks for another week before he could come back as her guard.

  The event had been so chaotic she only realized she forgot to take a peak at the ceiling when she was back in the Inner Garden.

  Miss Hawking’s Study

  Miss Hawkings had been absent from the ceremony, she had preferred to take the time to reorganize her study since she wouldn’t have been allowed to give her input anyway and she wasn’t interested in such things in the first place.

  So both Rhea and Veronique had to fill her in on what had happened

  “He took the other cuff and offered it to you?” Miss Hawkings had repeated to make sure she had heard this right

  “Yes? Then they disappeared and reappeared back to the pillow, is that a bad thing?” Veronique had recounted

  “Usually offering the other cuff to an Aurelia is a risk, it’s a symbol of utter loyalty if you had refused it the Ceremony would have come undone” the older woman had explained

  “Then it’s great I didn’t” Veronique was relieved

  “Not quite” and the relief was gone just as it arrived

  “Wait why? You just said Kain’s ceremony would have come undone if I refused it” the redhead wanted some clarification.

  “There is a valid reason as of why it’s a reasonable choice for an Aurelia to refuse” Miss Hawking took her time to illustrate the whole issue “the cuffs are an old Artifact, the Skills infused in it make a permanent bond as long as one of the recipients is of Aurelia’s blood”

  “So when they disappeared it meant it worked?” Rhea had supposed sounding utterly fascinated from the whole thing

  “No the disappearing trick activates regardless, the cuffs probably couldn’t make a bond because Kain is an Undead and they were meant for Humans” Miss Hawkings answered patiently and took a pause after taking a glance at Veronique “it’s probably the only reason the Duke didn’t react badly to it”

  “What exactly would this bond do?” now Veronique was curious

  “The Knight would get an enhancement based on the Skills of the Aurelia they swore their loyalty and in exchange they would die if the Aurelia passed on” the older woman satiated that curiosity “It was popular method to ensure loyalty in the past before the side effects were discovered”

  ‘Yea be loyal to me or die, I can see why it was popular’ the redhead had reasoned a little irritated as she could see how such thing could be abused or forced into people.