Baudouin stared at the young girl standing in front of him, ready to debate him over doing more physical training of all things. Her eyes glinting in the same way they had yesterday during dinner, despite the obvious pain she was still in from when she’d been struck in the head by Gervase.
He was certain now that her near death experience was the crux of the reasons behind why Yolanda had changed. Because the girl he knew wouldn’t of asked to observe the guards unless she was deathly bored. She would’ve needed someone else to push her into turning that observation into actual physical training when he suggested it, certainly not pushing for it anyways after Agathe pushed against her doing so. And she certainly wouldn’t have ever wanted to throw herself through more of that same physical training he’d given her of her own volition after experiencing it once.
She was still the same in many ways, yet fundamentally there was something more driving her now. He still didn’t know exactly what ambitions lay within her mind now, beyond them being far more grand than they had once been, but he was starting to glean a little more with each interaction he had with this new her.
Baudouin just really wished she wasn’t making him regret having offered to give her a firsthand experience in what the training was like.
The girl in front of him still had her head tilted the same way she did whenever she was intent on digging deeper and her soft voice soon followed. “Have there not been five different Crusades within these lands, the current ongoing one included?”
He narrowed his eyes slightly. It was such an innocent sounding question from her. If only it hadn’t been hiding within it whatever her logic was going to be this time, he’d have been happy to indulge her. But he’d seen this yesterday, he knew that the young girl was going to try and twist whatever his answer was to try and support her newfound want for training that he was still trying to figure out. So he’d have to make sure it couldn’t be first since he really would prefer he didn’t have to turn this into a real spectacle by bluntly denying her.
It might be for her own good, but he’d rather not make her resentful of him. Especially this new side of her.
“There have indeed, Yolanda.” He began, acknowledging her question before shifting it in a way he’d hoped would convince her to say from the path she was trying to take. “The entirety of Europe has a vested interest in both helping us safeguard our lands and in taking them back. They may not be of your kingdom, but they stand with us nonetheless. They’re yet another reason you won’t need to spend any time training, leaving you free to pursue whatever else you could want to do instead.”
Yolanda’s frown grew ever so slightly, but the young girl hid her displeasure surprisingly well otherwise, being something that Baudouin had nearly missed. “That is true.” She acquiesced, only to continue and pounce on some string of logic only she could see after he thought he had disarmed whatever she was trying before. “However, I am still the Queen of Jerusalem. Is it not prudent that I have a greater understanding of how to fight from the very nature of my kingdom? One where we’ve been the subject of countless crusades to aid us in our fight?”
Baudouin could really feel the eyes of everyone in the courtyard on their conversation right now. From Eschiva that Yolanda had specifically requested to be her handmaiden from what he’d heard from Camille, to all the different guards. Even those who he’d cleared to leave for a proper dinnertime meal hadn’t left yet to watch this.
The rumors from this were going to be a nightmare to contain.
He mentally sighed before considering the young queen’s words and how he should respond to them. “And you’ve already achieved that. One small session of training might not seem like much when compared to the time all the guards and knights might spend themselves training, but your understanding already eclipses that of many noble Ladies I knew of in Europe.”
He had made sure of that. Too many times in the adventures he had joined Jean on in their youth had some ignorant noble Lady, or sometimes even an ignorant Lord, scoff at what they asked for in return for their service. And with this kingdom being what it was, he had always wanted to impose on her an understanding of what really went into the lives of those who fought.
For a moment she grew silent and her gaze fell to the ground, something that had him believing he might’ve finally gotten it into her head that she truly didn’t need to train with them. But when he saw her eyes again, that glint of determination hadn’t faded.
She really was growing to be more like her father, even if right now that new aspect of her was being quite vexing at the moment.
The young girl met his gaze with one of her own. “But what if I wish to have a Lord’s understanding?”
His initial reaction had nearly been to deny her out of hand now. Not only would it be unseemly for a girl to know how to fight, much less the queen Yolanda was, he knew her father well enough to know he wouldn’t want this for her either. He really didn’t want to have to put his foot down and force this to come to a close, but it was seeming more and more like he’d have to do that, consequences be damned.
Instead of jumping to that though, he forced himself to try and think about what exactly was driving her to think this way in the first place. To try and take up that aspect of Jean that he had always told him was how he created his strategies and to make use of himself. Both when they were simple knights together gallivanting in Europe and for the Crusade he was commanding now, it was something he told him he’d used constantly.
She was adamant to do this training, that was for certain. She also had originally planned to just observe it. He hadn’t known what it was she was doing this for back when he had offered a more personal experience with it, but from how she was reacting now, he was certain he had unwittingly given her exactly what her end goal in observing the training had been.
And why had she wanted to train in the first place despite her position being one she should never need to fight in? From what she’d told him, it was out of a sense of duty. That somehow, her position as the Queen of Jerusalem demanded of her to have a Lord’s understanding of how to fight despite not being one.
It was a misplaced, if well-meaning ideal that he wasn’t entirely certain of how it’d formed in her head. She should not need a Lord’s-
Baudouin suddenly gasped as suddenly, something clicked within his head. He let his gaze drift from her towards the sky, searching for where he had borne witness to it bursting into flame only the night before. After a second he found the part of it he was certain that it had occurred at.
He had assumed like everyone else that it was an omen of ill tidings to come from the Lord, likely for the ongoing crusade. But what if its meaning was far different than he and everyone else he’d talked to about it had assumed?
His gaze fell back down towards the young girl standing in front of him, a hint of concern on her face now from what he presumed had been caused by his silence that was mostly hidden away. A level of control he wasn’t entirely certain the girl would’ve been capable of with how Jean spoiled her and the lack of other nobles for her to interact with. And just one of many new developments that she had undergone since recovering from her sickness.
From the intelligence and sharpness he had known to exist within her becoming far more prevalent than it had in the past, to the determination that now seemed to guide her gaze and movements. Even today, she had shown a level of potential that reminded him of why he had decided to take in Gervase in the first place alongside a semi-worrying tendency where she pushed herself more than necessary. She was both simultaneously the same girl he knew before she had gotten sick, and someone else entirely at the same time.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Maybe there was something more that had occurred that night with her. Or maybe, he was ‘seeing meanings in the strange machinations of nature that didn’t truly exist’ like Jean had always told him when he shared his thoughts on occurrences like the sky bursting into flames.
Either way, despite how unorthodox of an idea it was to train her like she was some young Lord being tutored in the arts of war despite being someone who in other circumstances should’ve grown to be an elegant queen, there might be a reason for it that he just wasn’t seeing. Whether it was some sort of divine providence guiding her on this path from the Lord, or the result of a spark of brilliance that had brought Jean to where he stood today In Jerusalem leading the Fifth Crusade, he was no longer so certain that denying what she asked for here to be the correct move.
On both paths, she would inevitably find some way to train herself anyways from what he could judge from her reactions so far. So why stand in her way and cause greater danger for whatever future she saw where she needed to know how to fight when he could ensure she had a much better education with proper guidance that she sorely needed in some aspects if what she had tried earlier was any indication.
It had been a clever move she had tried against Gervase, but one that hadn’t thought nearly far enough ahead about the consequences.
Of course, he wasn’t certain her father would share his own sentiments, but if this was truly meant to be her path then she’d be able to convince him to let her continue. And if she couldn’t, then that was that.
He nodded to himself, taking in the way everyone was staring at him now a second after. He lightly laughed to himself. He really had let himself get lost into his own thoughts right in the middle of a discussion.
He let a smile grow on his face as he regarded Yolanda now. What a bold move she had proposed and here he was about to indulge it of all things. How the tides shifted ever so swiftly. Or maybe he was starting to grow soft and ill-minded in his age.
“Perhaps you have a point Yolanda,” he began, knowing well enough that this was going to be something to ease others into who didn’t have his own perspective on the astonishing young girl who was their queen. “Such a shift in your education is something I will have to discuss in greater detail with others within the castle, but it is something I can begin to arrange. Things will be taken slowly of course, but I will not stand in your way if you believe this to be your duty.”
Yolanda for her part, seemed quite taken aback by his words, just like everyone else in the training grounds who’d been paying attention to it. She recovered though, her face smoothing out in seconds before she responded with a soft voice. “I, er, thank you for listening to me, Castellan. I will strive to prove that my continued training is the right choice.”
Baudouin gave her an amused smile now. It seemed that his sudden shift was enough to confuse this new more alert version of her. “Please Yolanda, call me Baudouin. Reserve the titles for formal meetings and for whenever we begin your training proper, as if you were really a young Lord underneath my tutelage. And don’t thank me just yet. There will be much more I will expect of you with this arrangement and you’ll be the one responsible for getting your father on board with this idea whenever he is able to return.”
The girl blinked before she gave him a nod before wincing and placing her hand back upon her head where Gervase had struck her, something he couldn’t exactly pinpoint hiding deeper within her gaze. “Alright Cas-, Baudouin. I will be sure to meet them to the best of my abilities.”
“Good, then feel free to head back to the castle and grab your dinner. I will not hold you any longer here.” Baudouin waved his hands to dismiss her which she swiftly followed, giving him a curtsey before departing back to the castle with Eschiva leading the way back.
For a moment after she disappeared from sight, the men around him were quiet and he felt all their eyes upon him now. And then it was broken by Gervase’s confused voice. “Err, Sir? Are you certain it is wise to have her learn how to fight as if she were a Lord?”
Baudouin turned towards him with a genial smile while he shook his head. “Only somewhat. I am following a hunch as it were. We will see if it pays off.”
He had followed her father that one fateful day he had first met him on a hunch and it had led him here as the Castellan and close friend of who was essentially the King of Jerusalem. It was time to see if she would take from that aspect of her father too.
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Sitting on my far too comfy bed, I found myself surprisingly unable to sleep while I pondered for not the first time what had happened earlier.
I hadn’t convinced Baudouin, that I was certain of. No, somehow, the older man had convinced himself that he should say yes to the prospect of me doing more training. And I didn’t know if I should be more relieved it had become simpler than I thought it would’ve been to do so, or worried about why he so drastically shifted his stance on it so suddenly.
Beyond that, I was also getting the distinct feeling I might’ve gotten far more than I was originally bargaining for. I had only wanted further training in the first place because I wanted to both know how to defend myself like this and because I wanted to try something new while I was here and found that I had enjoyed far more than I was expecting to, my still somewhat aching head notwithstanding. But the way he repeated the point I’d made about wanting a ‘Lord’s understanding’ made me think he had not taken that as me saying I wanted to do some more training in a way that wasn’t just me outright saying it.
Hopefully, that wouldn’t come back to bite me in the ass, nor would the whole me having to be the one to convince my father here about this too.
It was strange, I only knew the man from foreign memories and the small samples of history I’d read about him that were related to Isabella, yet I couldn’t help the sheer level of anxiousness that had begun to suffuse me at the thought of having to convince him of something I just knew he wouldn’t agree with. Like he really was my father.
God, I was not looking forward to meeting him if I was already feeling like this before even meeting him. At least that’d probably be a good year or so in the making considering the pretty pressing Fifth Crusade that he was a commander in. Silver linings.
Some silver linings like how I now finally had a chance to go through my notifications now that neither Agathe or Camille was watching over me like a hawk after learning I had suffered a head injury that had given me a minor concussion since the day was over, giving me some real privacy.
I was pretty sure there was a guard standing right outside my door that hadn’t been posted there yesterday ready to enter my chambers at a moment’s notice, but he couldn’t see through walls so that was fine by me. Mostly. Still wasn’t entirely used to having an entire household serving me still and all the things that brought with it.
But digressing from that, I focused at the edge of my vision where the notifications sat, another two this time. The first message subsequently popped up in the front of my vision and I couldn’t help but grin a little when I caught sight of what it was.
The young queen has proven herself quite able in a conversation and in convincing others to see from her point of view. Base Diplomacy increased by one.
Diplomacy: 4 (Base 3 + 1)
That certainly confirmed that I’d be able to raise them myself, even if I disagreed with the idea that I’d actually convinced Baudouin in the end.
Not that I actually knew what this did for me apart from being a step towards another Boon. Really, I wasn’t entirely confident the Attributes did anything for me in the end, or if they did they were incredibly subtle about it. And even if they did, the only comparison I had for the Attributes were what I knew from the game itself which wasn’t nearly as reliable when whatever it truly was that drove my Character Sheet didn’t seem intent on actually following in the footsteps of the game and diverged at seemingly random places.
Still, a gain there was something to at least see as something good, so I’d see it that way.
I dismissed the first notification and the second one came up moments after and I couldn’t help but stare at it. This was new.
The young queen has taken the first steps in learning how to fight underneath the skilled tutelage of Castellan Baudouin. With her swift learning, if she keeps at it, more certainly is to come of it beyond the very basics. Prowess Tutelage has begun. May progress into one of many various aspects of Prowess depending on what is learned and if the tutelage is continued. Highly influenced by Castellan Baudouin’s own Prowess. You have gained the Prowess Tutelage Modifier. Increases Prowess by one.
Prowess: 1
Tutors and Guardians were things in the game, but this was far beyond how that system had ever worked. Not to mention that there were apparently multiple aspects of Prowess now, whatever it was that really meant.
Oh, and I had gained a point of Prowess which as an Attribute increase, felt exactly like me apparently gaining a point of Intrigue or Diplomacy did. In that, I didn’t feel a lick of a difference even if I had supposedly gotten better.
Sometimes, I still considered the possibility of all the game-like aspects that had followed me being just a very vivid hallucination as a way for me to cope with the situation despite how improbable it’d be for my mind to be able to consistently form them the same way.
I shook my head and let myself fall back into my bed. I could ponder all that later. Now, it was time for me to sleep off the small ache that still persisted in my head and to bring to a close my second day as Yolanda.
It didn’t take long for me to drift off into the gentle embrace of sleep, my final thoughts vaguely wondering what the future held in store for me.