[Side Story] Earnest, Knight of the 7th Squad

As **** as he was to leave Rosalind in Lindow, he had made a promise to return for the exhibition in the capital, and so he left the day after arriving in Lindow. At the very least, Alesia was with her, so it wasn’t as if she was completely isolated during her recovery process. He also couldn’t deny that there was some comfort that he got from returning to the barracks, as minimalist as the accommodations were. Seeing his comrades, talking to his commander and giving him a (heavily redacted) retelling of the events in Knottori- it was nice to be back in a place where the most Earnest had to worry about was his form coming into this exhibition event. It was essentially a few tournaments all taking place at the same time- and Earnest was representing the 7th squad in two of them. He was one of their finest swordsmen, so he was selected to be in the dueling tournament- as well as also participating in the team battle against the finest from other squads. He did feel a bit sad that Rosalind wasn’t able to participate- he always thought her natural discipline and ambition would have led her to representing her squad here- but he would just have to be satisfied with knowing that she was safe.

Either way, Earnest settled his affairs before settling into the grueling training regimen in the two weeks leading up to the exhibition. Mainly, requesting a temporary transfer to Lindow, in order to watch over Rosalind’s recovery. In reality, this was just another leave of absence, but with the added caveat of him technically being “on call” for any emergency that would have required the 7th squad to mobilize. His commander wasn’t very happy with his request, but approved it regardless. He had known Earnest well enough to understand that this was important to him, and he wasn’t requesting such a thing without a good reason. That, alongside the fact that demoralizing a significant member of the 7th squad right before he was set to represent the unit to the rest of the country as a whole was a poor move, led to Earnest officially being assigned to Lindow, along with securing a leave of absence for Rosalind so she could recover without worrying about her duties. It was certainly more than most members of the squad would get, but Earnest carried more than most squad members.

And with that settled, Earnest threw himself into the training schedule that he and the other participating members of the 7th squad agreed to follow in the two weeks prior to the exhibition. It was grueling, far more than the normal training they would normally have- but the same ordeals that would’ve exhausted a lesser man instead made Earnest stronger. He had defeated dark magic and saved his childhood friend and love- flaunting his martial prowess in the largest tournament in the kingdom was comparatively relaxing. Really, the only thing that he could have thought was worrying was when another male member of the squad caught Earnest staring at him for a bit longer than was comfortable in the locker room- but such mistakes and lapses in concentration was perhaps to be expected given the current schedules they were on. He didn’t mind- he knew he was straight, and was completely confident in his sexuality.

Well, that’s what he told others and himself. In reality, that incident was part of a few that made Earnest worry that watching Rosalind debase herself under the influence of possession had awakened certain… deviant desires within himself. While he had needs like any other man, he certainly wasn’t one to masturbate like a horny monkey before an important event like this- and yet he found himself sneaking out of the cramped barracks on more nights than he’d care to admit, taking a mirror along with him and masturbating to the thought of Alesia in the woods nearby. It was… quite disconcerting, to say the least. While during the day, his thoughts and daydreams were ruled by worries and concerns about Rosalind, his virgin mind supplying him with chaste romances and storybook courtships- the night seemed to bring out a different beast in him, a far more carnal one that was much more interested in ensuring that he felt as much pleasure as possible. He found himself appreciating his own muscles and body a lot more than he used to as well- although perhaps some of that was to be expected, given his attraction to Rosalind and her incredibly fit body. But most puzzling was his fixation on Alesia during these lonely, shameful nights. The thought of tender, loving sex was what fueled his first orgasm to her during his time in the capital- but as the masturbation sessions continued on he found himself straying farther and farther from what one would expect a “traditional knightly romance” to entail. Thoughts of becoming a free-use sex **** to Alesia invaded his mind, and he found a perverse pleasure in the idea of becoming subservient to her every desire. He had already found her cute before, but now he found her truly attractive- the thought of her wanting him so much gave him a giddy feeling inside that he had only felt with Rosalind before.

His upbringing had certainly instilled very rigid, defined roles for the woman and the man in a relationship, with same-sex relationships being considered so sinful that they weren’t even addressed in his small village. Men were to be the breadwinners, the patriarchal defenders of their families, upholding the dignity of the family to the outside world- whereas the women were to be the homemakers, using their domestic prowess to uphold the dignity of the family within the household. And yet here Earnest was, gaining increasing pleasure in his fantasies of those roles being reversed, of meekly supporting a woman’s will, accepting it as more important than his own. Things really came to a head on the two “off-days” leading up to the tournaments, intended to allow the bodies to relax and heal from the intense, last-second training. A day that Earnest had originally intended on being leisurely instead was filled with the **** stroking of his own cock, as if it was some stranger that he couldn’t take his eyes off of. Sometimes he was masturbating to the thought of Rosalind dominating him. But more and more often, it was to the thought of Alesia doing the same.

Thankfully for the 7th squad, Earnest’s inner conflict over his affections and new-found carnal needs didn’t seem to affect his performance in any measurable way. In fact, some in the squad would argue he overperformed- placing in the semi-finals, outclassing the representatives from more prestigious squads in the dueling tournament- and putting on a masterclass in the team battle, turning the tides of battle time and time again to lead the 7th squad team to another semi-final finish- the highest in the squad’s history. This, at least, Earnest could have no regrets over. He outperformed even his own expectations, and left the capital on good terms with his squad, impressed by his dedication both to his childhood love and the blade.

Now, if only his matters of the heart were so easy… clutching the pendant that he so cherished, representing the unbreakable bond between him and Rosalind, he traveled to Lindow with apprehension in his heart, equally excited and anxious about a situation most knights were ill-equipped to deal with- interpersonal relationships. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so distracted, he may have noticed the almost invisible spell circle that now resided on his pendant, or the trace amounts of dark energy that it omitted before he felt the urge to masturbate…