By the time I woke again it felt like the inside of my body was burning up. My muscles were screaming and aching like after an extended training day in my former life. Best news of the day is that I can still feel all of my limbs...

I slowly sit up and look around. As far as I can conclude... I'm in what I suppose is one of the only actual guest bedrooms... like Castle Celeste, the guest rooms are furnished sparingly. Only a bed, a scroll of the code of chivalry on the wall, and my armor on an armor rack... I move an arm up to look at myself under the cover, and conclude that I'm practically undressed, wearing different girl's underwear than I did yesterday. I've been wiped down too... at the end of the bed is Helena. She's sleeping while being bent over the bed and is clutching a handkerchief with Jesmaine's initials on it...

I gaze around the room and lock my eyes onto a set of clothes placed on the night stand. Judging by the light from the window, it's morning, and the battle for the day should already be starting. I have too many things I need to know, and too many things I need to do before we start the day properly!

I need to find out what was going on with Peony, I need to heal the injured, I need to find out why I was falling yesterday, the number of casualties, find out why they were trying to capture me rather than kill me at first.

I get on my feet to get dressed and glance to Helena. Should I trust that she's tried to keep my gender a secret?... but if she did... then why was she allowed in here in the first place? I slip into the shirt and pants first and leave the armor behind. I'm not going to the front-line today. If I'm targeted to that extent, then it is better I stay behind for a while. As bitter as it is to say, it may be a good distraction to make the enemy wait for us, but that is as much as it'll be. I just barely open the door before being face to face with Vitis. His hands are clenched and his lips curled into a scowl. The hints of guilt are gone, and replaced solely with anger and disappointment.

"Celeste-sama. I accuse Peony Roselia of cowardice."

—-*—-

Vitis' Point Of View

I spent the entire night considering what to do about what happened while trying to keep people's guts and limbs the right places in the infirmary. Since the Lady can heal them, we struggle desperately just to keep them alive rather than just amputate. I was one of those in our unit that got out of this the best... Asher is in the infirmary. Apparently his lung got hit just before he and the Tepet heir found the Lady... he stopped coughing and vomiting up blood thanks to our lady... but he's not doing well. Mike's arm is more off than it's on, and knowing the Lady's magic has limits, he probably won't be able to move it again. Spence and Arven got trapped on their own, and they're both crippled... A few Tepet soldiers managed to pull them back, but... Spence at least had his guts on full display as we got him to the infirmary... according to Darius, they mostly got a handle on Spence's guts when the Lady used a healing spell before passing out... Even then, Spence is in overhanging danger of dying from the complications of the injury. Parts of his guts had been cut open after all. We tried sewing it closed... but he probably won't live... Arven knee bent the wrong way when we got him back... we've tried to put it back, but the bleeding wouldn't stop until after the healing... even now we don't dare touching it... it's too close to an artery... He's still throwing up blood regularly as well...

All of this... all of this is relatively fine... we were in the very front, so we took the hardest hits and was the unit that got split up the most. I expected this and I can deal with this. Thankfully almost all other of our units hardly even got a step away from the Tepet front line so they're fine, but... when I looked to my side to find Peony, a wall had appeared... and when I removed it, Peony and Rudder were surrounded by enemies... they were back to back fighting bravely, but they were being overwhelmed. It was just the two of them with more than six opponents. It was not a reasonable fight... and of course the Headal soldiers tried to prevent us from regrouping with the two of them... Rudder always secretly didn't like Peony, but he was fighting alongside him and made sure Peony never got stabbed in the back.

For the three years I've known Peony, I've always insisted that he was secretly a great guy. That he was just shy, but actually did care for you, so I've trusted that his secretly good personality would one day come to light; that one day the others would be able to see that he wasn't the self-serving person they took him to be. Especially after he only tried to actually make friends with them after the Lady would otherwise take away his his time to hunt... and yet...

I've been the fool all along.

Peony had glanced at us with his vivid red eyes and then to the people around him... he knew we were trying to get to them, and then, just for an instant, there was a little path he could squirm through between the enemies... and he did... even now I can hear his words among the roars of war... 'I am regrouping as ordered.' With those words he left Rudder behind.

Rudder who was left all alone and surrounded by enemies... he was left with those careless words being the last words said to him... abandoned... alone... The enemies took him down in an instant...

Mike who was together with me flew into a rage and summoned the biggest version he cool of a flood wave, trying to mimic Lady Lily, but there was nothing we could do. Even though Mike charged in, bashing and cutting his way through the enemies... taking reckless injuries one after one... it was too late... he was gone... his skull has been pierced open by a the backside of a war-hammer, blood and liquid was flowing out of his head together with pink... pink mushy parts of his brain... there was nothing to save... Mike went pale and went into immediate denial as he lifted Rudder into his arms, looking at me with this helpless look. 'Medic...' he had worded out...

I somehow managed to bring everyone back behind the front line... everyone but Asher. Asher was nowhere to be seen for a while... I think he managed to get into the labyrinth during the time I didn't see him... but I can't be sure... my head was a mess as I tried to deal with Peony's betrayal, Mike's panic and the hostile earthen surroundings... I couldn't believe that Peony would do this. No, I couldn't understand why. He knows as well as the rest of us that Rudder has a loving fiancé waiting for him at home. Rudder never hurt Peony, nor cursed at him or spread bad rumors of him. Rudder didn't like Peony, but that was no reason... no reason for abandoning him to that fate in such a way... I... tried to excuse him for a while... hoping and praying that Peony had an explanation for his deeds... and yet... after hearing it, I wish I hadn't... If there's one thing Peony has it is a 'good' reason for his actions....

I've never felt so... disappointed... with someone before... so betrayed.

I spent nearly every day for three years trying to bring Peony together with everyone and to get close to him... to be a good brother in arms... to be the one person Peony would trust and maybe even look up to. I did whatever I could to be a good partner but... I was never a brother to him... and I admit now... I never can be... and I never will be.

I made up my mind. Both as the next in command, or actual one in command of our unit, I needed to be the one to tell the Lady. I've covered for Peony long enough. I should never have trusted Peony's little whimsical moments of kindness. I should have asked our lady to have him sent away. The only thing left for me to do was to accuse him of cowardice... and I did.

—-*—-

I lead the lady outside and let her go to the infirmary before anything else. Perhaps she was aware that things were quite bad. For how badly everything went, our casualties were low. We lost five people of our own, with about thirty being heavily injured to the point they usually wouldn't be able to fight anymore, and twenty more being more... lightly injured. For a planned attack on us, these were very low casualties. It rained for... about half a minute I think. Screams and grunts escaped from the people in the infirmary as the formerly passed out patients started moving about... Mike... Mike screamed out in frustration and sorrow as he woke up from his blacked out state and realized that he was back in reality... Once we came back to our allies we'd pried Rudder from his arms and somewhat forcefully knocked him out. He'd stayed asleep after that until now... but he's no better than yesterday... he's staring at his arms where he'd held Rudder with an expression contorted in sorrow. His eyes pressed together and his body curled over as tears flow down his cheeks. I can hear his mutters of apologies and regrets among the sob like screams...

Our Lady gets up and walks up to him. At this point I don't know what to expect, but I can see her teeth gritting as she clenches her jaw. She kneels down next to him and only places a hand on his shoulder... nothing more... but I can see tears filling her eyes as well and her other hand squeezing a small pendant hanging from her neck.

Mike looks up at her with his murky blue eyes and ends up curling up more in her direction. She takes his hands and folds them together in prayer, whispering words to him that makes his eyes clear up a bit, filled with but small hints of hope. She clenches her hands together as well... and just for a few moments I watch them pray together for Rudder.

"Celeste-sama..." I stop the two of them after a little while, but the only one that notices is our Lady. She gazes up at me with mournful eyes, but there's not a tear on her cheeks. She nods understandingly and gets up.

I look to Mike, hesitant of whether I should speak up or not... but... more than anyone else Mike deserves to deal with Peony. I move closer and kneel down for a moment, but he doesn't seem to react.

"We will take care of Peony..." I say softly enough not to interrupt his prayer... I see his hand jolt at my words, but his hand squeezes the other tighter... I get up and lead our Lady to Peony.