I was alone with Augusta. She was in her shirt and breeches. Her flamberge rapier was hanging by her side, and there was a long bundle in her hands. Both of us were seated on wooden chairs. Guilt flowed through me, despite how relaxed Augusta seemed.

  "Augusta, I'm sorry," I said. "I should have been stronger. I should have killed that monster before you even showed up."

  "Dante, please be quiet for a moment," Augusta replied with a calm voice.

  I closed my mouth. At the very least, I owed her enough to hear her out. This was nowhere near enough, but it would have to do for now.

  "I'm not mad at you, Dante. I knew why you ran off the moment I realized you did," Augusta stated. "I know what you think of yourself. If I knew there was a monster out there, I would have kept a better eye on you."

  She then looked down.

  "This is my fault, not yours," I said.

  "It is, but not for the reasons you think it is. I'm glad you're taking responsibility, but it shouldn't be like this."

  Augusta then raised her head.

  "But I'm not here to talk to you about that," she stated.

  "You're not?" I questioned.

  "No," Augusta shook her head. "Breaking you out of that mindset will take a long time. I can worry about it later. Now, I want to tell you a story."

  That was...a bit strange.

  "A story?" I asked.

  "Yes. It's about some of the origins of Calavon," Augusta answered.

  "Is now really a good time for history lessons?"

  "It is," she said. "There isn't any better time. I thought about this a lot, and I finally made my decision."

  That didn't help clear things up. And it didn't look like Augusta was going to budge. It seems the only choice I had was to listen to her. Especially since she saved my life.

  "Alright, tell me it," I nodded.

  Augusta looked right into my eyes. Despite her cold voice, there was a warmth to her gaze.

  "Thousands of years ago, back when Calavon was a new kingdom, there was a warrior woman named Brunhilda. My family claims that it is descended from her," she started.

  "Claims? Not is?" I asked.

  Augusta shrugged.

  "The records from that time are not very good. I'm not even sure if Brunhilda existed. It would be pretty hard to be descended from someone who never existed," she answered.

  "Yeah, it would be," I admitted.

  "But the point is that a lot of people believe Brunhilda was real. Because of her, warrior women aren't seen as very strange in Calavon, which isn't the case everywhere. Though they're still rare," Augusta continued.

  I raised an eyebrow.

  "How good was Brunhilda allegedly?" I questioned.

  "It is said that Brunhilda was only defeated three times in her entire life, not counting training," she said.

  That was impressive.

  "Maybe you're descended from her after all?"

  Augusta shook her head.

  "That's not why I'm so strong," the girl stated.

  Of course, not. I'm pretty sure you're strong because you're one of the Duke's Duplicity's final bosses.

  "Anyway, Dante, the day came when Brunhilda decided she wanted to marry," Augusta continued. "It would be pretty stupid if she didn't. Imagine if my family claimed descent from someone who never had children."

  "I can't argue with that," I agreed.

  Augusta then shoved the bundle she was carrying into my arms.

  "This is a gift for you. Open it," she ordered.

  "Thank you," I said.

  While I was confused as to why Augusta would give me a gift now of all times, I complied and unwrapped it. Inside was...a sheathed sword. It was a flamberge rapier.

  When I looked up from the weapon, I saw a slight smile on Augusta's face.

  "To signify to everyone that she had chosen her man, Brunhilda gave him a copy of her sword," Augusta told me. "I love you, Dante. Please, be my lover and someday, my husband."

  My brain froze. I couldn't believe what just happened. It took a few moments for me to wrap my head around what was going on. And that just made me even more shocked.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "You love me?" I asked.

  "Yes," Augusta nodded.

  Only one question was present in my mind.

  "Why?" I wondered.

  Augusta's slight smile turned into a bit of a wider smile.

  "You care about me in a way no one has before. You stand up to me when I do something wrong. You don't let me win when you spar with me, and you're getting better. You're strong, smart, brave, protective, and caring. You comfort me when I'm sad and share my joys with me when I'm happy. And I'm not a princess to you. I'm not the Bloodbath Princess either. I'm Augusta. I'm me. Do I need to go on?"

  I shook my head.

  "No, you don't. That explains everything."

  My heart was pounding. Not with fear, but with joy. Still, I couldn't let this stand.

  "Even if I don't care that you are a princess...Augusta, you're a princess. I'm a commoner. Won't that cause problems for you? I'm not even a low-ranking noble. Will your people put up with this? Will the other nobles?" I said.

  "No noble wants to marry their son to the Bloodbath Princess. And if they'd rather me go unmarried than marry a commoner, I will use my sword to explain my love for you," Augusta replied.

  Two fair points. But there was more.

  "I don't have my memories back, Augusta. Won't that be a problem?" I pointed out.

  "Don't worry, Dante, I thought about that too," her calm voice flowed into my ears. "We will remain chaste until we're married or you get your memories back. That should give us a few years to see if they return."

  "But what if my personality changes?"

  "If you're a different person when your memories are back, we can talk about it then. Whatever happens, I will be on your side or bring you to mine," Augusta promised.

  She placed a hand on her chest.

  "Even if your personality changes slightly, I don't think it'll be extreme enough that I'll stop loving you. For that to happen, you'd have to become a monster."

  That was a decent point. My old memories would mix with my new, so any personality change wouldn't be much. And Augusta's words were making me blush.

  "What if I was in a relationship with someone before I lost my memories?"

  "You've been at this school for weeks and haven't gotten any letters. I doubt you were with anyone."

  More good points. I shifted with incredible nervousness. This was...I hadn't expected her to confess like that! Even if Augusta liked me, I thought she'd try to get me to like her and just wait for me to ask her out.

  "I'm not as strong as you are, Augusta. Do you really want a lover who's weaker than you?" I asked.

  "Physically, you're weaker than I am," Augusta answered. "But mentally, you're far stronger, Dante. If I were as strong as you, I'd have done things a lot differently. Besides, with how much I'm sparring with you, you'll get as physically strong as me sooner or later."

  I had just one more card to pull.

  "I'm keeping secrets from you, Augusta, and from everyone else. There are a few things I know that I haven't told anyone about," I said.

  Secrets! I remembered seeing shows where secrets caused a lot of drama between the hero and their love interest. Women hate it when you keep secrets from them, even when you're fully justified in keeping them!

  "That's fine. Everyone has secrets. I'm keeping secrets from you, too," Augusta replied. "I'm sure you'll tell me when you're ready, just like I'll tell you."

  How were we two teenagers acting more maturely than an allegedly adult reporter?

  "Dante," Augusta's next words were abrupt.

  "Yes?" I asked.

  "If you don't want to be my lover, just say so. You don't need to come up with excuses, like secrets," she said. "I won't hold it against you if you don't love me."

  I took a deep breath. Augusta had me cornered. There was no way out of this that I could think of.

  "Augusta, those excuses weren't for you. They were for me. I was desperately looking for some reason to say no so you wouldn't feel more compelled to defend me," I replied. "But Augusta..."

  After hesitating for a moment, I spoke from the heart.

  "...you're awesome. You're the coolest person I know. And you're also a lot kinder than anyone gives you credit for. Just being around you makes me really happy. I love sparring with you, I love having fun with you, I love being around you, I just love you, Augusta. And I want to make you happy."

  I extended a hand to her.

  "Augusta, I will be your lover."

  She gently took it in her own. Augusta's soft smile melted my heart.

  "Dante, I swear, you will not regret this," Augusta said.

  Then, she leaned in close to me. I placed my new sword on the ground by the chair and grabbed Augusta's arms. She then sat on my lap. We gazed into each other's eyes as Augusta cuddled me close.

  My girlfriend pulled my head close to hers. I let her, wrapping my arms around her back and bringing her to me. Our lips touched. We weren't so lost in the moment that it went any further. The two of us just sat there for a few moments, embracing and gently kissing.

  And no, there was no tongue action. Tongues are a disgusting part of the human body that have no place touching another human.

  The door suddenly opened. Robert stepped inside.

  "Your Highness, I know Dante is..."

  He blinked in shock upon seeing us still locked in our kiss. We parted. Robert just stared at us in utter disbelief.

  "Dante, are you being raped?" Robert asked.

  "No. This is fully consensual," I answered. "And we're not going as far as having sex."

  "Oh. Then you...and the Bloodbath Princess..."

  "Dante is my lover," Augusta confirmed.

  Robert looked between the two of us. He seemed to be in a complete daze.

  "The Bloodbath Princess...romancing someone. Romancing Dante," Robert shook his head. "I...I think I'm going to sit down somewhere. This is a lot to take in."

  "Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.

  Robert waved it off.

  "I'm fine. I just need to sit down," he answered. "You two enjoy your whatever."

  With that, Robert closed the door. Augusta turned back to me.

  "Dante, I'm not in the mood after that," she said.

  "Neither am I," I replied. "So...we should probably start with making sure Robert's alright. Then, we should...I'm not really sure. I'm pretty sure I never had a lover before, and if I did, I don't remember."

  Augusta grabbed my hand with gentleness.

  "I think what we do is tell everyone we know that we are lovers. That way, no one will try to seduce you," she stated.

  "That's...I'm not sure if that's what you're supposed to do," I replied.

  "Neither am I. But do you have any better ideas?" Augusta questioned.

  After thinking for a moment, I shook my head.

  "We could go on a date, but I don't think the teachers will want us to leave the campus just yet. It's only been a day since all my ribs were destroyed," I said.

  Then, I felt a lightbulb rise over mine and Augusta's heads. The two of us spoke at the same time.

  ""Let's study together.""

  "We already train in gym class, so we can add that too," I stated.

  "We're sure to pass any class together," Augusta added.

  I gestured to the ground in front of me.

  "So, should we get up and check on Robert now?" I asked.

  While I was 95% certain that he was fine, I wanted to make sure.

  "Yes," Augusta answered.

  She got off me and started walking to the door. I followed her.

  "One more thing, Dante," the girl said.

  "What is it?" I questioned.

  "At the tournament..."

  Augusta took a deep breath before speaking.

  "...will you fight while wearing my favor like a knight of the previous age would do for his lady?"

  I blinked in shock before recalling my previous talk with Augusta about the tournament. A playful smile crossed my face as I replied.

  "Of course, my lady. May I ever be thine knight errant," I said.

  Augusta gave me a warm look.

  "Some day, I will dub thee, Sir Montressor," she replied.

  After that, the two of us left the room. And, upon meeting Robert...

  "I still can't believe this is happening, but I hope it goes well," he shook his head. "Augusta, keep a close eye on Dante. He'll just throw his life away again on his own."

  Augusta gave him a single nod.

  "I will. I promise," she stated.

  ...he was perfectly fine.

  My Patreon