When she failed to get the answer out of Joss, she turned to William for a sign.

William didn’t notice this as he was chewing on the concept of marriage. He brooded on the idea for a few minutes before correcting himself, “Actually… I don’t think it’s enough if you marry someone… Because if Jacqueline is mental enough, she could decide to dispose of both of you. Since she is still part of the family and the wife of our father… But! If you married someone and then disowned her, as father disowned me, she would have no right nor reason to interfere any longer… Of course, it would be ingenious to send her far away as well, to drop the possibility of a revenge-act...”.

This plan might actually work, but the mere thought of such a huge change made Joss question it. He found that there was a better solution to his problem. One, which his sister had just reminded him of.

He said, “I don’t know… Father might get furious, but he did leave the household in my hands… Maybe it would be for the best if I respectfully disowned her and her son… Made them relocate somewhere secure and out of sight… And then, maybe… You could move back in?... You know… Become a Castonale again?”.

Contrary to his beliefs, William didn’t seem too keen on that suggestion. His sister explained, “... I can’t Joss… I actually like it here… You know my ambitions. If I return to that house, I’ll be nothing more than a housemaid and a nanny… Although I do want to help you with the twins… Argh, now I feel really bad for letting you down like this… I just-”. Remony had her heart set for action. She interrupted William’s stream of excuses and made her desires clear. “I’ll do it!”, she almost yelped.

Both siblings stared bewildered at Remony. William was the first one to question her, “What?... B-but!? I thought you only wanted to marry for love as your father did?”. Once those words were let loose into the room, a strange quite filled it.

Remony began playing with her hair, which was mostly done up. Luckily for her, a few wavy strands were there to support her idling. “So you actually… Love Joss?”, William asked, afraid to harm this innocent flower who was his dear friend.

Remony had burning cheeks and a sheepish smile displayed on her face. Her eyes were a bit watery, for her feelings at this point was about to burst, either into extreme sadness or glee. The one she wanted an answer from had gained a well-cooked brain. William threw the fake embroidery he was stitching for his armor, to go up and ‘slap’ Joss into the world of the living. “Joss! You can’t just let her hanging there, that’s incredibly rude!”.

“Ergh! Ah-eh…!?”, Joss rambled. His eyes were burning strong as they inspected Remony. This truth that he was unprepared for made him choose to flee the scene. As he fled, he cried out loud, “I don’t know!”.

Remony felt the cool air rustle her clothes as Joss passed her by. Slowly her head drooped and her smile disintegrated like a crumbling bust. “Ah… Joss, he… Don’t take it too hard, Remony”, William soothed as he closed the distance between them. “I mean… I think he’s just confused… Maybe he hasn’t given it a single thought before now?... That’s probably why he couldn’t give you an answer straight away”. William felt the tinge in his hand. Thinking: I shouldn’t have slapped Joss…

The crushed girl before him had succeeded in only minutes, to expose herself fully before her friends…

The part that hurt the most, was although it wasn’t said in words, she knew that her feelings had been rejected. It had been in the heat of the moment. Now all she felt was regret. “Wha-... Why did I even say that?...”, Remony croaked. Then she fell onto her knees while she sobbed through her hands. “Because you love him, right?... Don’t feel bad because you do…”, said William. Then he began to caress her back in a caring rhythm.

No one likes to see or get their heart broken this way…

****

The glory of the sun began to cleanse the earth once again. Yet inside the castle walls, it was still murky and laid in shadows. Perfect for a certain someone who wanted to blend in with the guys. They were doing morning practice at the training grounds. The early participants were the knights in training.

William gulped as he neared the instructor. The first person on his list to fool. “Morning Sir!”, William growled with the manliest voice he could muster. The instructor glared at William with a pair of stern, whiskey eyes. “Morning… Page?”, he said, already questioning William’s presence.

This quickly needed some fixing, so William began spinning his tale, “That’s correct!... I’m the page of Sir Ger Persmith. A brave knight that was lost during the bandit pursuit… Along with him, I lost my standing and fought with the grave dilemma… What will I do without my master?..”. William fake-sniffed a few times as if the mere thought of his deceased master, was going to bring him to tears.

Then he continued his heartfelt speech, “My hopes are that by training hard and diligently, someone will see my worth and resume my training as a knight… So, please let me attend this practice along with the others… Please Sir!”.

Then William bowed deeply. Showing his sincere attitude to serve and work hard to regain his supposed lost career. Whilst showing off his half-baked embroidery of the former knight, Ger Persmith.

The instructor saw the symbol and sighed. Then he dug up a worn book in his satchel nearby. Checking the many charges and names with knights who had enlisted a page or two. The listings were many years old with numerous recordings of both deceased, redrawn, or full-fledged knights.

William knew that this would happen, so he had the day before, stolen the book to make a false enlistment. Fortunately, these listings were only meant for formalities. So none checked them regularly or would get suspicious of a forgotten name or two. This logic could also be applied to names that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

The instructor saw his name and that the listing had happened a few days before Ger Persmiths death. This realization made the seemingly tough man gather moisture in his eyes.

He briefly looked away to wipe it, before he turned his head back to William. Thankfully, the instructor had managed to regain some of his composure from earlier. He said, “Alright… William Duelock?”. Hearing this alias, William knew his plan had succeeded. He rang out with a: “Yes Sir!?”.

The instructor nodded and said, “Alright, William… You can join the rest. Please go to the back and don’t you dare squander this opportunity that I have given you!”. William happily went to the back as he almost sang out, “Of course not, Sir!”. Thinking about how nice it was to finally hear his old name again!...

This glee he got from his plan’s success, quickly simmered down. For it was difficult to train at the same pace as the others. When they hit him, he would easily falter. Vice versa, when William’s hunk of metal met theirs, it didn’t do much of an impact. Yet this wasn’t unexpected.

William knew that he wouldn’t be able to win with strength. What he needed was sword techniques, a mind that could react faster… Or rather a mind that could pierce through other’s weaknesses and a body that would follow it strictly with every impulse…