Age of Heroes (Age of Heroes Chronicles)

Chapter 117: His side

West Palais

The first time West met her was at the Academy.

He was sent to learn about chivalry

And even though he was poised to rule but stories of knights and their chivalric quest has always captivated him so with his father permission he went to the Academy, determined to learn and make new friends, for life in the castle can be a bit stifling.

And ruling can be a burden, a heavy burden, a burden he knew that one day he have to take up, and rule the family as its head.

But back then he wanted to become one of the Knight Brothers

On his first day, West searched for Helia.

Not because there is love between them both but because it is the right thing to do.

He was too young at that time to felt love nor that they have developed any feelings to each other.

It was because father and he know, he meant it in the pure, noblest intention to unite our Houses of Zephyr and Palais but that doesn't mean he have to like the arrangement but still, propriety and honor must be upheld.

She is his betrothed

And as such, even though he felt no love for her, honor compels him to treats her like the lady she is.

That night, during the first banquet, West had invited Helia to join him, Harold, Arago and Reval at their table.

She did not look pleased, and he believed that the invitation had somewhat annoyed her.

West had heard the stories of course, how she ran from her home, protesting the marriage, and he can sympathize with her feelings which is why he invite her but it seems only to incense her more.

The banquet itself is not that big, mostly because not that many students arrive in the Great Hall yet.

After getting to know each other, Harold began to disparage the common folk.

West wished he could give him a tongue lashing but dared not, for Harold, as the son of Lord Alderam, was his Lord.

The off-putting remarks disgusted Helia as well, and she excused herself from the table to join another one nearby.

She held out her hand to some boy with a white hair accompanied by a girl and a boy.

West looked at them. And something attracts him. Not the boy beside the white hair boy, nor the white hair boy itself, nor it was Helia.

But what attracts him was the girl.

West tried to enjoy the evening, but he could not. He was enthralled by the girl who sat next to Helia.

Her blonde hair glistened like gold and her blue eyes seemed to cast a spell on anyone who dared to look at them. For the first time in his life, West was falling in love.

What is this feeling? he asked himself.

The Knight Master Orval rose from his seat and delivered a speech, which West gave scant attention to. His eyes keep going to her.

Instead of watching over Helia, he found himself staring at the girl who always positions herself around the white hair boy.

Who is she? He thought. He then turned to Arago and asked, "Do you know her name?"

"Whose?" Arago said with a trace of confusion in his voice.

"The girl sitting next to Helia."

Arago studied the table. "Ah yes. Her name is Lisa Lethe. She is in the Fierce Dragons group."

West shook his head in disappointment. He could not court her like he wished now that he was betrothed.

To court someone else, not to mention her lacking family background, though it did not bother him, it will damage his family name and he couldn't do that to his father honor, his family honor.

So he did nothing. And nothing was the hardest things to do.

The days passed like a dream.

West learned from other recruits that Lisa and Helia had gone on a difficult quest.

Harold was furious, confident that they were showing off and would die in the process. West met them one day in the Hall while talking to Harold.

"Don't you think that's just showing off?" Harold said sarcastically to Arial.

West said nothing, even though he was furious with Harold.

It was unbecoming of a noble to wish harm on other fellow nobles, not to mention to a fellow Knight.

Arago and Reval, Harold's lackeys, laughed and snickered. Avil snickered on the back.

Kyle and Lisa looked at them, but said nothing.

They then look at the ground and somehow it made his heart burns with fire looking at the woman that he had crush on being subjected to such treatment.

Looking at Lisa like that oddly make him want to shred Harald to pieces right there and then. He clenched his fist and his eyes is burning.

While he was about to be blinded with anger, suddenly a crashing sound sobers him up

Arial pushed Harald from his seat, sending him crashing into the Purple Faery table.

Harold was shocked, and so were his lackeys. Arago was having a hard time holding back his smile though. West could not help but smile as well. After a few tense minutes, Harold got up and walked away. The matter was over.

"We must go as well," Helia said. "Our quest awaits us."

West bid them farewell and wished them a safe journey.

A few weeks later, Helia and Lisa returned.

And what tales they brought. Tales of glory! Tales of killing notorious criminals and saving innocent lives.

West was delighted while Harold was frustrated. He had wished for their demise, and seeing them showered with adulation fueled his anger.

"Congratulations!" West said to them. "I hope someday that I too shall go on such a chivalric quest."

The celebration continued while West relaxed on a sofa.josei

The matter with Helia had been eating away at him for quite some time. She was obviously not in love with him.

That he could clearly see.

But his father had insisted that he should court her. But how could he court her when his heart belonged to another girl?

He tries to court Helia because of the insistence of his father but she did not respond.

But the fault is not hers alone. How can he court her with all the attention she deserves when his own heart pines for another?

The months passed while West wrestled with his feelings for Lisa.

And then he got good at hiding his feeling. His feeling was buried so deep, so cleverly hidden there is not even a hint that could make anyone realize how much his love grows for the cute little girl named Lisa.

At times when she didn't notice, he would stare at her longingly. At times he would pretend that he doesn't know his own feeling

Pretending it's not true. Pretending he didn't see her. Pretending that seeing her every day, lessen his love for her.

He longed for her, desperately wishing that she was in his arms.

And since, he is unable to say that three little words, every time she turns her back and leave, he can only look at her longingly.

His mother once said, "pretending, and denying love makes a man heart hard in the inside, his heart stopped beating for life, and the beauty of the world never truly opens, his life never truly complete"

He admires not only her beauty but her fire, her burning passion for good her strength to fight evil.

He would not deny that she is cunning, but she always does the right thing and her bravery and courage of standing up what she believes tantalize him like no one ever could.

In the poem of Levitia and Leliana, doesn't the brave and virtuous princess kill the dragon without Levitia's help?

She was like that to him.

The young, virtuous princess covered in mud, yet so beautiful like a rough diamond. West had also noticed that Lisa had quite a temper. And that only made her more complex in his eyes.

She is a challenge. And who would not like a challenge. Only cowards.

He also notices she always hang out with Helia, Arial and her brothers.

All good companion, strong companion, so his one sided love, his unrequited love, though he is worried about her, doing many dangerous quest he can put his heart at ease because the choice of her companions.

Of course he is not the only one who likes her in the long years that passes because when her father becomes a part of the nobility, many marriage proposals came for her yet she rejected every one.

No one knows why.

And she is hard to approach.

She is known as the Four Greats while he and Harald and their companion is dubbed the Four Lions. He always chooses Helia to fight him, because he could not bear to hurt Lisa.

Years passed, but West never found the courage to tell her his feelings.

Then the war began.

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This is from West POV. So that you could understand some of his behavior and undersatnd why he falss in love with Lisa. Anyway. see you all tomorrow and leave some comment