A man rested on the bed in the knights' garrison infirmary, his striking light-purple hair complementing his otherwise charming features.
Yet, his face was covered in bandages and stitches, evidence of a recent fight marked by bruises and cuts. His body bore similar signs, with bandages wrapped around his arms, stomach, legs, and more.
Above him, a pair of hands glowed with blue light, sending beams toward his injured form. The light appeared to work wonders, as the bruises and cuts gradually faded, revealing smooth skin beneath.
After a period of focused effort, the blue lights dimmed, and the owner of the hands let his arm fall, a sigh escaping his lips as his cat ears drooped in fatigue.
"It's done, mew has finished healing nyou nyow," Felix announced, clearly relieved to have completed the task, evident by his flattening ears and relaxed tail.
However, there was still one last thing to do. He extended his hand toward the sleeping figure, blue light flickering as it reached his head. Moments later, the man's eyes began to flutter open.
Tired, dull yellow eyes met Felix's bright and playful gaze.
"Wakey wakey, Julius-kun! You really made Ferris-chan work real hard today!" Felix exclaimed with his typical cheerfulness.
Julius blinked at Felix, his eyes slowly sharpening in recognition of the familiar face above him.
"Ferris?…?" he croaked, his voice rough and raspy from his injuries.
"Yep! That's Ferris-chan! Mew's so glad you recognized me; otherwise, nyou might have ended up with some serious brain damage, which would have made mew's life difficult!" Felix replied, relief evident in his eyes at seeing Julius on the okay side of things.
Julius gradually propped himself up, weighed down by exhaustion and fatigue. Felix supported him as he moved.
"Take it easy. We dyon't want to hurt ourselves and make Ferris-chan's work even harder, meow?" he said.
Reaching for a cup of water on the nearby table, he brought it to Julius's lips. "Here, nyou should drink this. Nyou must be thirsty."
Julius eagerly accepted the cool liquid, his parched throat making him savor every drop. He let out a contented sigh once he finished.
"Ferris… Do you know what happened?" he inquired, finally feeling at ease.
Felix tilted his head, a hint of concern in his eyes. "Hmm? Don't nyou remember anything? What's the last thing nyou recall, Julius?"
Julius pondered, trying to piece together his memories: heading toward the castle, the announcement of the fifth candidate, each one sharing their platform and ambitions, one candidate being ridiculed, and then a butler—
His breath caught as a memory surfaced.
Azure-blue eyes glaring at him, filled with wrath and pain.
He tried to fight back, but was hit again, and again, and again, and again.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. More pain.
His sword was taken from him.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. More pain.
He curled into a ball.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Humiliation
.
"Disgusting."
"Hypocrite."
"Liar."
"You are not a knight, Julius. Just a fraud masquerading as one."
"—lius, Julius, Julius! Snap out of it!" A loud voice mixed with shouting jolted him back to reality.
What was going on?
He suddenly realized he was curled up, sweat dripping down his face, shaking uncontrollably, his pupils dilated and restless—
A calming blue light enveloped him, and Julius felt himself relax, his erratic breathing turning steady. His fidgeting ceased.
"…Felix?" he managed to say, finally regaining his composure after the ordeal.
"Julius! Oh, thank the Od you've calmed down. Nyou nearly scared Ferris to death! What happened to nyou?" Felix asked, his voice filled with concern.
"F-Felix… I remember everything. From the royal candidates to the duel. I remember it all," he managed to say, his voice trembling.
"Oh… Ferris-chan understands nyow. So Julius-kyun remembered the duel and got frightened, right?" Felix remarked, gazing into his eyes.
"… It wasn't meant to turn out this way." He started. "He… disrespected everyone—the nobles, the sage council, us. He even threatened one of the councilmen."
"Ferris-chan knows this, Nyan. What else, Julius-kyun? Please keep talking, and mew will be all ears." Felix asked, gently stroking the knight's head to soothe him.
After taking a moment to gather himself, he went on. "I… wanted to help him…"
Felix paused, blinking in surprise at the knight, then staring at him in disbelief. Julius? The one who was so strict about knighthood and the law wanted to help someone like him?
"I… wanted to save him. He had insulted and disrespected everyone present. The other knights would have sought out his neck; I wanted to protect him from that."
Felix looked contemplative as he thought about his words, then pieced it together. "So Julius-kyun was willing to play the villain for someone like him, nyow it makes sense."
He let out a dry chuckle, devoid of any joy. "No… Felix… That's what I told myself. That I was doing it for his own good, that the humiliation would save him from the knights' fury. But that had been a lie, right from the very start."
Felix looked intrigued at this. So this wasn't Julius's true motive? "Then what was your reason for doing it?"
"My own satisfaction." He appeared tired as he spoke. "My pride, my honor, they were all wounded by him. I didn't like it, so I wanted to respond to his words in kind—to teach him that he was wrong about everything he said."
He then locked eyes with Felix; Felix had never seen him look so defeated and downcast before.
"You can tell how that turned out for me," he said, lifting his bandaged arm to examine it.
He could still feel the phantom pain coursing through him—the flesh tearing, his bones cracking. Each blow had felt like he was being hammered repeatedly like dough.
Julius had never felt this sense of hopelessness before. Even during his brief fight with Cecilius Segmunt, he had never experienced anything like this.
"He didn't use magic."
The words left his lips barely above a whisper, but Felix's demi-human ears caught them instantly.
"Magic?" Felix repeated.
"He told me that he saw me as an ant—someone so beneath him that he wouldn't bother using magic against someone as weak as I am," Julius explained.
"Even if I summoned all my spirits to aid me in battle, the outcome would have likely still been the same: me getting humiliated in front of my peers," he concluded, sinking back into his bed, looking dejected, even depressed.
He doesn't know anything about the black-haired butler, but his gut told him this; it could have ended far worse for him.
Felix was at a loss for words. He desperately wanted to support his friend, but while physical injuries could be treated, emotional scars were a different matter entirely, and that was not an area of his expertise.
No, there was something he could do to help him…
'No! Ferris won't resort to doing that!' he thought, shaking his head vigorously. He wouldn't mess with his friend's mind in that way, no chance!
After a moment of silence, he decided to approach Julius. "Julius-kyun, is there anything mew can do for you?"
The knight merely glanced at Felix before looking down again. "I… I just need some rest, Felix. A little sleep would be nice," he replied.
Felix slowly nodded. This wasn't a good idea, but pushing against it would only harm him further. "Alright! If that's what nyou want, then Ferris-chan will do as Julius-kyun wishes," he said, getting up and heading for the door of the infirmary.
"Just remember to dwink plenty of water, okay? If nyou need anything, just call and Ferris will come right out. Take care now, nyan!" Felix said as he closed the door behind him, leaving Julius alone with his thoughts.
His mind wandered back to the fight, replaying the harsh words exchanged.
"The knights should have intervened to stop the insults directed at their future queen, not participated in it. You saw it yourself."
"You called yourself Anastasia's knight, right? If she were in that situation, what would you have done? Remained silent? Accepted it? Or would you have stood up for her?"
"I see. You would have defended her just like I did, yet you want to punish me for standing up against the same unfairness. You're a hypocrite, Julius,"
"You're all just a bunch of bullies, pretending to be something greater when you're really just scum."
"Disgusting."
"Hypocrites."
"Liars."
"You are not a knight, Julius. Just a fraud masquerading as one."
"No… Natsuki Subaru, you are mistaken. I'm not a hypocrite… I'm even worse than that," he said, a bitter chuckle escaping his lips, devoid of any real humor.
If his lady had been insulted like Emilia-sama… then he would have remained silent, his loyalty and duty to the kingdom binding him from intervening.
From the very beginning, since he aspired to be a knight, he had been taught that a knight's loyalty must always lie with the kingdom. That was the essence of his training in knightly conduct.
But what happens when the kingdom he pledged his loyalty to, along with its nobles and leaders, begins to show disrespect toward the lady he vowed to protect?
How could his knightly conduct and decorum assist him in such a scenario?
That's when it hit him.
It wouldn't.
A seemingly ordinary butler had stood against the entire kingdom to defend the dignity and honor of his lady—his friend—while he would have merely watched from the sidelines, doing nothing.
"You know, knights should embody chivalry and heroism, serving as role models who protect the weak and uphold justice. Yet after witnessing this pathetic excuse for an assembly, I can confidently say that, with a few exceptions, you are nothing but a disgrace—arrogant cowards masquerading as protectors, reveling in hollow titles while abandoning the very principles you claim to uphold."
"But what disgusted me the most is your hypocrisy. You dare to call yourselves knights, yet not a single one of you possesses the integrity of the title you flaunt. Hypocrites—that's all you are, and that's all you'll ever be."
Those words replayed in his mind, and he found himself in agreement with those words.
He was, after all, telling the ugly truth.
The knightly order had been in decline for a very long time, and he had known it well. Fully aware of the cracks forming within its foundation, yet all he had done was turn a blind eye—pretending it wasn't there.
Acting as if everything was sunshine and rainbows when, in reality, it was anything but.
'I'm a fraud, a fake. What value does my knighthood hold if willingly turn a blind eye to the ugliness in front of me? If I can't even defend my lady? No, my friend, as you did.'
He turned slightly, tears welling in his eyes, feeling the weight of the principles of knighthood—the strength to protect, the loyalty to defend, and the honor to uphold.
Which he found himself owning none of.
His mind wandered to his lady, Anastasia. She had been eager and excited for this conference, and what had he done?
He had humiliated himself in front of his peers, embarrassed his lady, and, in a way, shamed the entire kingdom since he was known as the Finest of Knights.
"Finest of Knights," he scoffed. "Such a title does not befit a fraud like me."
Julius would spend the night weeping, his contracted spirits offering silent comfort as his confidence and pride lay irreversibly shattered.