The first day of the Knight Tournament ended with the Lioness squire emerging as the champion.
That night, the estate that was assigned to the Lioness Kingdom's entourage was bustling with activity. The place was completely filled with people celebrating the champion of today's competition. All the 25 squires that were participating in the Tournament were invited by the princess to celebrate this matter.
The reason for this commemoration was because it had been too long since the Lioness Kingdom had someone emerge as a champion in any part of the Tournament. Even though it was only the first day, it was an extraordinary achievement nonetheless.
"Everyone cheers!!!"
"Let's toast for our kingdom and for Lanzelot! The archery champion!!"
"Cheeerrrsss!!"
"Let's toast for the Lioness Kingdom victory!"
"Cheeerrrss!!"
"Let's toast that none of the Lioness' squires got disqualified on the first day!!"
"Cheeerrsss!!"
"Let's toast for our beautiful princess!!"
"Chee-"
"..."
"..."
"That's inappropriate, Marc! Shut it!!"
Marc, a squire who was completely wasted, was quickly brought down by some squires. The others, on the other hand, swiftly bowed their heads toward the princess, who calmly sipped her drink.
"We sincerely apologize, princess. He's drunk!"
The young squires were happily celebrating the occasion. It seemed they drank so much that they forgot who they were seating with. Hence, the flippancy.
Fortunately, the princess wasn't offended by those words. She just smiled at the squires and said, "Well, what he said is not wrong..."
The hint of tease in her tone, coupled with the charming smile on her face, made all the squires instantly excited.
"Cheeerrrsss!!"
Then, the princess who sat at the head of the table stood up and said, "Squires of the Lioness Kingdom, I congratulate all of you for successfully passing the first day of the Tournament. Cheers!"
"Cheerrrsss!!"
Taking a sip of her drink, the princess continued her words, "And of course, we have to give today's honor to our talented friend, Lanzelot Dulat! Congratulations, Lanzelot! You really made us all proud today!"
Emery raised his glass and said modestly as he accepted the honor, "It's my duty to do so. Princess."
This was part of his childhood dream - to achieve such a recognition, especially from her. But standing here with a different name and face caused Emery to feel conflicted feelings.
Immediately after, the feast began, as the servants started delivering cuisine after cuisine to the tables like a herd of sheep. Everyone was having a good time. Some of them dined to their heart's content, as many of the cuisines were exotic and unique. Some heartily drank the myriad kinds of beverages provided by the servants, while others talked and conversed with each other in great harmony.
In the middle of it, the princess turned her head toward Emery and said,
"I did not realize you were also so good at archery, Lanzo. It's hard to believe you had no instructor teaching you."
This was the part he disliked the most of fame, the reason he wanted to be low key in the first place: the unwanted attention and suspicion that came with it.
Emery calmly put the cutlery down, looked at the princess and said, "It's nothing, princess. I just spent a lot of time practicing. As for the rest, it's just luck I guess."
The princess' smile widened, "How could someone receive the champion title with just luck? Lanzo, you are being silly right now."
"..."
Emery should have just stayed quiet like he had planned. He really was a terrible liar.
Seeing that Emery was getting into his unresponsive mode, the princess continued, "So… you are good at dueling, as well as archery. I wonder if you are also good at cavalry... are you?"
Upon hearing that, Emery let out a smile of his own as he answered, "No, not at all, princess. I'm actually not good at cavalry, but don't worry. I will do my best tomorrow."
"I see…"
When Emery finally thought the session of questions and answers was over, the princess suddenly did something that baffled him.
"Alright, you will come with me now." she said, as she got up from her seat.
Seeing the young girl almost reaching the door, Emery shook his head helplessly and followed behind her.
The princess called Emery out in the middle of the feast and brought him out in the middle of the night. The sight brought countless murmurs to those who saw it.
The truth, however, was realistic.
The princess and Sir Yvain, who always accompanied her, took Emery to the stable located next to the estate.
"Let me see your horse." The princess said after they reached the stable.
The horse Emery owned was the one he bought using his own money at the market in Venta City. It was an ordinary horse, probably the most inferior when compared to all the horses in the stable.
The sight of the unassuming horse brought a deep sigh to the princess.
"I... I'm not trying to belittle you, Lanzo. But this horse…" she sighed again, "The quality of the horse will really matter in tomorrow's cavalry competition. You surely understand this, do you?"
Emery nodded his head at that. He certainly knew, as he had seen and read about the cavalry competition, that the nobles called jousting.
This activity was more into the higher ranked noble sports with its high cost of equipment. Hence, Emery's minimum, almost non existent experience with it.
"Don't worry, Lanzo. I understand. Most squires face the same problem as you."
The princess was being nice by not saying the words low rank noble.
"Lanzo, I am here to lend you any of the knight horses for tomorrow's competition."
"..." Emery was silent.
Thinking Emery did not grasp what she meant, the princess spoke once more, in a clarifying and detailed manner.
"You can choose any of the Lioness knights' horses in this stable for tomorrow."
Emery mulled over the princess' offer. He did not accept it straightaway.
He walked through the stable, checking out all the horses. And then, reality hit him.
Each of them was definitely faster than stronger than his horse, especially the white beauty owned by the princess and the stunning brown owned by Sir Yvain. His ordinary horse was undoubtedly far inferior when placed among them.
Emery never cared much about horses, as he knew he would not ride them often. After all, why would one need a horse when their running speed might be faster than the latter. And this wasn't considering his crazy efficient teleportation magic.
However, not having much experience in cavalry might be helped by having a good horse. It seemed lending one was not a bad idea at all.
"Can I really choose any of them?"
The princess nodded at Emery's words.
"Yes, Lanzo. Think of this as us supporting you to make the kingdom proud."
Upon hearing the confirmation, Emery swiftly approached the one he eyed ever since his eyes landed on it.
"This one." Emery said with a faint smile, as he chose the brown horse with goldish hair, Yvain's horse.
The princess and Sir Yvain were both stunned. They looked hesitant for a moment.
"Lanzo, this... "
The princess glanced towards the golden knight and explained.
"Here's the thing. Master Yvain here is known to have an interesting relationship with wild animals and his horse here, Jewel, has never been ridden by anyone but him."
The golden knight finally decided to say his piece.
"You can take her, but only if you can convince her to let you ride."
The golden knight helped him put on the saddle and gave Emery a try to ride.
Just as he said the horse was very wild, she didn't even want to be touched by him, how would he be able to ride her.
Truth be told, Emery hadn't much experience with horses as well. However, he really wanted to try something.
Emery slowly approached the horse and slowly used his spirit reading ability.
He was never as gifted as Klea or any of the other elite students in mind probing, but he had learned a trick or two during his elite class study.
He knew how one should try to tame a wild creature, and of course, horses were not even one of the high tier creatures to be worried about.
Emery started with a simple message, introducing himself to the horse, and with no time at all, he was already able to touch the horse and finally ride her.
The spirit reading ability did not only just let him to ride the horse, but Emery could easily communicate with the horse, which was a huge advantage for an amateur rider like him.
This surely gave a shock to both Yvain and the princess. The golden knight could only shake his head and let his horse be used by Emery tomorrow.