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"I thought it was the same for all of you, but apparently not." Lynnette held up her half-gauntled hand, though it was currently somewhat concealed beneath a glove. "I can only imagine that this thing somehow interfered with Hanton's abilities."

Hector stared at her in disbelief.

Everyone else was apparently speechless as well.

She took the opening to keep talking. "Honestly, is it so difficult to believe? This is Hector we're talking about. Do you think he'd make something like that up?"

Diego tried to scratch his neck, but his armor was in the way. "Er... hmm."

Hector was grateful for his own armor as he felt his face grow hot with embarrassment.

"In that case, I should very much like to meet Hanton again," said King William. As he spoke, however, his gaze continued to search up and down at his own armor. He hadn't actually mentioned anything about it yet, but he seemed somewhat transfixed by the suit Hector had made for him.

"Well, he said he would drop by Warrenhold soon," said Hector.

The King perked up at that. "Ah, is that so? Then perhaps I have reason to extend my stay again!"

Hector could hear Lynn sighing inside her helmet.


Chapter Two Hundred Fifteen: 'O, flittering interloper...'
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It felt good to fly. The wind beneath her wings was the most natural thing in the world. She could hardly believe that her siblings used to fear this so much when they were younger. Birds afraid of flying? How absurd.

No doubt, it had been due to the consistently terrifying stories that their father used to tell them about... well, everything. He'd obviously been trying to instill a wariness of the outside world in his children.

And Pauline Gaolanet couldn't help resenting him a little for that. He'd always made her out to be the troublemaker of the group, but to her mind, she was the only normal one in the family. Living in constant fear--that was abnormal.