When Caspian woke up, it was to discover that he was lying in a bed. The stinging scent of antiseptics filling the air and the white walls and ceiling let him know this much, at least. He was in the hospital wing of the Colosseum.

When did I get here?

"I see that you're finally awake," a voice said in his ear. Caspian turned to find Erica sitting by his bedside.

"Erica... where's Ele?"

"Hmph!" Erica crossed her arms and huffed. "You wake up to discover that someone as magnificent as myself has been watching over you, and the first thing you ask me about is your girlfriend? That's just rude."

When Caspian continued to stare blankly at her, she sighed.

"Elincia is already in enough trouble. She can't afford to show you anymore favoritism than she already has."

"I see. So, it's politics, is it?"

"Yes."

"I hate politics."

"Ufufufu, don't we all."

"By the way, where's the rest of your entourage."

"Well, Derek is right here." Erica gestured to Derek, who Caspian only now realized was standing directly behind Erica. How a man in bright red armor could have been missed was beyond him. "Tiffania went to the restroom, and her brother is escorting her. I would have gone myself, but I promised Elincia that I would keep an eye on you."

"I see. What about Cassidy?"

Erica's smile was reminiscent of a fox. "You mean you haven't noticed?"

"Haven't noticed what?" Caspian asked.

Erica glanced down. Caspian followed her gaze to find, much to his surprise, a sleeping Cassidy. She was sitting on a chair, while the rest of her lay against the bed. The young maid had a firm grip on his hand as she dozed. Her forehead was creased, as if she was experiencing an unpleasant dream.

"She hasn't let go of your hand since she came in," Erica added.

"Huh..." Caspian had lost feeling in his hand. Was it because Cassidy was gripping it so hard that she had cut off the circulation, or the remnants of the poison in his system? He didn't know.

"You're remarkably calm," Erica observed.

Frowning, he tried to work around that statement. "Why wouldn't I be calm?"

"No reason, I suppose." Erica shook her head and smiled. "In either event, let me congratulate you on your victory. It was an impressive match."

Caspian almost scowled. "Thank you, but if it hadn't been for that poison, the match would have been over long before Julius even had a chance to attack."

"It was the poison that made your fight so impressive," Erica countered. "Fighting off a poison of that caliber isn't easy. That you did so while in the midst of battle is incredible. Be proud, Caspie, for you have earned my admiration."

"That doesn't make me feel very proud," Caspian deadpanned. Erica pouted, but he changed subjects. "What about the other matches? Have any of those started yet?"

"The preliminary set of matches are all over," Derek answered. "The winners were Adesh, Christo, Heracles, Darin, and Gustav."

So, Heracles and Adesh had won. That didn't surprise him. Heracles was raw strength personified, and Adesh, from what Caspian had seen of his movements, held the fluid grace of an experienced fighter. Christo's victory was a bit surprising, but not out of the question. That being said...

"Who's Gustav?"

"He is a student from Helheim Academy," Derek answered. "You probably don't remember him because he didn't stand out as much. However, he put on a surprising showing. It was very impressive."

Caspian pressed a hand to his face and tried to remember the two that Derek had mentioned. Thinking back, he remembered them standing with him and the other candidates during the first dinner where they had been introduced.Gustav had quietly stood in the background, not saying anything to anyone else. He wondered if the boy was shy or just unsociable.

"If the matches are all over, does that mean the first day of the tournament is over?" Caspian asked.

Erica nodded. "Indeed it does. You were supposed to be there for the ending ceremony, but because you'd been poisoned, the headmaster and Sylvie gave you a pass. By the way, you're next opponent is..."

"Heracles," Caspian said.

Erica's lips curled. "Correct. How did you know?"

"Lucky guess."

Caspian wasn't sure what to think about that. He wouldn't mind putting Heracles in his place, but Caspian didn't know if he'd be able to actually defeat someone with that much raw strength, especially since Heracles wasn't just a brute but also a dirty fighter.

Still... I'm surprised that Heracles made it and not Perseus.

From the sizing up he'd done, Perseus should have been the stronger of the two. That was the feeling that he got anyway. For Perseus to have been defeated meant that someone out there was stronger than Heracles.

"Who did Perseus fight?" he asked.

"He fought against the one called Darin, that boy in the fedora," Erica said.

"I see."

So, the top ranking student of Arcadia's Knight Academy had defeated Perseus. That made a bit more sense. He could accept that.

"Well, try not to worry about anything else for right now," Erica interrupted his musings. "At the moment, you've got larger issues to worry about."

Caspian didn't like the sound of that. "Such as?"

"Such as the fact that everyone hates you even more now." His confusion must have shown on his face, because Erica sighed and, with a resigned air about her, said, "When you went down, Elincia displayed a great show of favoritism toward you. Many of the citizens and even the foreigners are upset by this. They believe that because you have the favor of this year's sorceress, none of the other candidates will even be considered as a potential knight for Elincia." Erica snorted. "They have completely forgotten that it doesn't matter whose favor you have. In order to become her knight, you must still win the tournament."

"So, people hate me even more now, do they?" Caspian chuckled, but there was no joy in it. "That's fine. It's not like this changes anything."

That was right. He'd been despised from the moment he set foot into the academy. His peers reviled him because of a perceived slight against their noble lineage, and peasants hated him because he entered an academy that they couldn't. If that hatred had increased, well, that was fine by him. He didn't need other people anyway.

"Well, not everyone hates you," Erica amended. "There is something of a divide, you might say. I heard from Akane that it's become common knowledge that you and Elincia are childhood friends. Some say that being the childhood friend of a sorceress inherently makes you a noble. Others believe that this is Sylvia's way of trying to undermine the nobility."

Thinking on that for a minute, Caspian eventually shrugged. "I don't care what the nobles think either way, so it doesn't matter in the end."

"Ufufufu, you can deny it all you want, Caspie, but I know that deep down you're just a big softie."

"Hmph."

Caspian huffed and turned his head. While he could no longer see it, he could very well imagine Erica's "cat that ate the canary" smile.

"Ngg..."

Cassidy stirred on the bed, perhaps as a result of their conversation being too loud. Slowly sitting up, she blinked several times before her doe-like eyes landed on him.

"M-Master Caspian!" she shouted in surprise. Then she was in his face. "How are you feeling? You're not hurt, are you? Has the poison left your system? Is there anything that I can get for you? Please do not hesitate to ask and I'll—"

"S-slow down, Cassidy." Caspian tried to get her to calm down. He would have raised his hands in a calming gesture, but Cassidy was currently grabbing one of them. "I'm perfectly fine. No, I'm not hurt anymore. Erica got all the poison out."

"I see." Cassidy placed a hand against her chest. "I'm glad to hear that. I was..." her cheeks turned pink, "... really worried."

"O-oh?" Dang it! Now his face was turning warm, too! "Um, thank you. A-anyway, could you let go of my hand?"

Cassidy's face became a mask of confusion as she tilted her head. "Your hand?"

Caspian looked down at his hand. Cassidy followed his gaze. Her face, which was already quite pink, grew bright red when she realized that his hand was clasped in her hand—the same hand that was currently pressed against her bosom.

"Oh, my," Erica mumbled.

"Hm," Derek hummed, "he works fast."

Cassidy looked back at Caspian.

"I just want you to know," Caspian started in a calm voice, "that you're the one who placed my hand there, not me."

There was a five second pause.

"Kya!"

Then Cassidy screamed.

The sound of Caspian being slapped echoed down the corridor.