Side Story 5: Mutual Ideals
“Wow…”
Celeu, watching from the side of the arena, muttered. In front of him stood Callis and the Knight’s Grandmaster, who had just finished their battle without even breaking a sweat.
What an overwhelmingly high-level battle. Even until their weapons broke, it was impossible to know who would win and lose. The Knights were cheering, the Nobles were in awe, the castle servants had paused what they were doing in amazement, and in Celeu’s heart bloomed a powerful admiration.
No, admiration might not be the right word. Delight, Awe, Worship… He didn’t know what word to use to describe it.
“Can I be like that, too…?”
“If you want to be, and do your best to achieve it.”
“Nee-san…”
He turned his gaze towards his sister, Serena, who looked like she saw something entertaining.
“To think he’s still so strong even in retirement… Even so, as long as you continue to admire him and put in effort, you can do it. You’re the next King, after all.”
“So long as I put in effort…”
“That’s right. Study a multitude of topics, train your body, make personal connections, temper your heart, and find something worth fighting for.”
“Something worth fighting for?”
“For Duke Fall, that’s his wife, his daughter Laurier-san, and… well, he fights for his family.”
Those words only made Celeu admire him more. He was amazed at how strong Duke Fall could get by fighting for his family, and at the same time, he started to wish he could do the same.
“Can I… become like him?”
“You won’t be able to become exactly like him. However, you can get extremely close. Even though you won’t be just like him, you can become great by imitating him.”
“By imitating him…”
“That’s right. In short, you just need to learn his good points and copy them in your own style.”
“I can do what he does… in my own way…”
“That’s right. And look over there. There’s a child who looks just as amazed as you are.”
Celeu turned to look towards where she pointed and saw a red-haired boy about the same age as him by the side of the Knight’s Grandmaster. He, like Celeu, was looking towards the fighters in admiration. No, surely, his gaze was turned towards the Knight’s Grandmaster instead. However, as Celeu turned his gaze back towards Callis, he felt an affinity with the boy.
“Nee-san… I’ll do my best! Just like that person, I’ll do my best to make the people of this country happy!”
“Yes, do your best. I will do my best, too.”
“Yeah!”
The two boys took a step forward that day. Their goal will take them along a steep and precipitous path, but they resolved to never give up. With their hearts longing for the ideal they were shown, the boys felt they could march along that path without turning back. Serena, watching over her younger brother with a happy gaze, sincerely thanked Callis in her heart for bringing about this change in her younger brother.