BlueButterflyRose

Echinacea “Eckie” Roaz passes the preliminary test to become a Firmament Knight, in a dress fit for a ball. Most countries barely have any swordmasters, but the Order of Firmament is made entirely of swordmasters that can imbue their blades with mana & use aura. At the top are the Kiosa Owners. Eurien, the current captain is the youngest person in history to become leader of the Firmament Knights and owner of the Holy Sword, Lang Kiosa. Vardere Kiosa, the cursed sword that forces its wielder to kill & caused Echinacea to kill everyone she loved in her first life with her own hands, including Eurien, the only person who believed in her. Vardere taught Echinacea how to turn back time, so she’s gone from 35 to 20; she doesn’t know that Eurien remembers. In Echinacea's first life, she killed her loving family, territories fell, & it took 4 Kiosa knights to take her down. Eurien knocked her out because he believed she didn't want this & was still inside. Vardere's bloodlust side eventually tricked a guard, escaped, killed everyone there, & Eurien when he returned. Echinacea continued to wander, kill, & suffer for years before reclaiming her body. Vardere then explained how to turn back time. 9 years later, she succeeds & returns to the day she first held Vardere, because a maid accidentally picked it up & was taken over by it. Sword myth/lore in 4 & 5 (1-5). Echinacea asked Nicole Sizton, a sister-figure, mage that House Roaz sponsored, & the only person to actually hurt her once possessed to look into things & protect the family while she's gone. Alice Winterbell, Echinacea's roommate accuses her of being extravagant & unknightly then challenges her to a duel. Ian Pelletro offers to oversee. Ian also tells Echinacea about clubs, the ranking system, & that Eurien picked her as a squire; she’ll train under Ian for the 1-month probation before being formally assigned. Echinacea remembers that when she was taken over by Vardere, Ian threw civilians in her path to escape & offered to send more people her way if spared. Echinacea wins the duel against Alice. Eurien runs into Echinacea in town (6-8). Eurin says he saw Echinacea at the banquet last year, asks why she wants to be a knight, asks for a spar, & says he’ll tell her why he picked her after they spar. Ian introduces his fellow third-year, pervert Brad Von Fohm (9). Third-year Varaha Islaf offers to be a witness to Echinacea being sexually harrassed & offers to guide her instead because he’s the squire to Vice-Captain Baron Tillius. Echinacea realizes he dies during the upcoming hunt & decides to save him, so she has to rank in the top 3, & might as well be first (10-11).

Nicole writes that “I caught a glimpse of the white lion’s tail” to say that someone in the imperial family sent Vardere to House Roaz. A few days later, while Echinacea is brushing Sylphid, Eurien’s favorite horse, Varaha tells her not to worry about the rumors. Eurien sees Varaha & Echinacea being close & tells him that Baron is looking for him; Varaha has started calling Echinacea by her nickname “Eckie”. Echinacea asks Eurien how he remembered her, he says she caught his eye out of personal interest, & he’ll answer more after their spar. Vardere wants to go against Lang or for Echinacea to outright ask Eurien if he remembers. Second-year Fatima Toya asks Echinacea to join Wisdom Club; Fatima’s the only one still asking Echinacea. Fatima wants Mikhail, Alice, & Echinacea, even though Alice is in a slump. Echinacea & Alice spar & become friends. Ian brings Echinacea the lots to draw for the ranking bracket & it’s somehow rigged, as she’s set against Mikhail, Teresa Von Fran Almari’s younger brother; Teresa holding her dead brother still haunts Echinacea. Ian adds that Brad wants to apologize & Eurien joins, who actually saw Brad, & asks what happened, but Echinacea says it’s personal. Eurien tells Echinacea not to push herself & gives her some medicinal items. The Fran Almari family specializes in defensive swordsmanship. Mikhail thinks Echinacea got in by cheating to flirt with men & is extremely embarrassed that he 1. Gets flustered by her & 2. Loses, learns how skilled Echinacea is, & thinks she’s like his sister. Echinacea ranks first. Ian is suspicious & clearly jealous. Echinacea tells Alice she’ll spar with her any time & they hold hands on the way back to their door (12-16).

For final rankings, the top three first years that will join the hunt are Echinacea, Alice, & Mikhail. This year’s hunt is at the White Raven Canyon, which was a battlefield last year. Dietrich Sarla greets Echinacea; in the future, he’ll have a Kiosa, but right now he has a normal rapier. Dietrich explains to Varaha that Echinacea isn’t his lover & he shouldn’t help set up her tent, especially because people are already whispering & she didn’t ask for help. He also says that geniuses like Eurian (& her) are crazy, he likes her dress, she looks pretty, & he hopes they get along. Eurien gives Echinacea an affectionate smile & she thinks that’s an insult to him because she killed him. When it looks like it will rain, Eurien has everyone return to base camp, he goes out alone to kill a bunch of specters, which can attach to & control humans. A rift opens up back at camp, which didn’t happen or Eurien would have known. Ian stabs Varaha & pushes him into the rift, & Echinacea sees. Echinacea pulls Ian in with her. Rifts are dimensional breaks believed to be remnants of the divine sword Raqia Kiosa, forged from space, unlike Kyros which observes time. Ian says that Varaha & Echinacea “snatched away what should have been mine without putting in the effort”. Echinacea realizes he won’t change & kills him with Vardere. She revises her resolution: she doesn’t care if someone targets her, “but if anyone lays a finger on one of my people, I’ll never forgive them.” Echinacea finds Varaha, who pats her on the head & promises to protect her, even though he shakes & is worried. Varaha launches Echinacea so she can pierce the break in the rift, but the monsters notice. He catches her & starts running, but she knocks him out to kill the monsters with Vardere. Varaha wakes up to see the half-transformed Echinacea; he’s honest about it. Echinacea says she doesn’t want to kill him, so he can’t tell anyone, that she’s trying to become owner of a different Kiosa (that’s the only way to keep her memories), she lies by saying it’s the only way to abandon Vardere, & explains a 20-year-old swordmaster would attract too much attention so she’s waiting until she’s 23. When Varaha says she came in to save him & it was a hollow threat to kill him, Echinacea knocks him down, straddles him, & puts her sword by his neck. He pats her head & says not to worry because he won’t tell. He realizes he likes her. Vardere says the rifts might be related to Kyros, & that the more Echinacea changes, the more rifts might appear. Baron wonders what Echinacea means to Eurien because of how worried & fragile he seems when she’s in the rift, when he’s normally very cool & collected. When Echinacea gets out, Eurien runs & hugs her with a look that makes her think he might love her (17-27).

Two days later, on May 17, 1629, they return safely to Azenka; it’s been exactly two months since Echinacea returned to the past. She gets a fever & Alice & Fatima help nurse her. Fatima gets them to agree to join the Wisdom Club because they’ll be the only members right now. Nicole says she’s on escort duty to Azenka. Fatima shares that Eurien is getting engaged to someone in Ducal House Diasante that also produced the current Crown Princess. Echinacea organizes the timelines by what has & hasn’t happened, including Eurien’s engagement. Next, Ell Kiosa is discovered & a saint is murdered; In Winter 1631, the imperial task force formed to take down the demon of the cursed sword is annihilated; Autumn 1632, Azenka falls. Echinacea reflects that maybe it’s a butterfly effect or that Eurien did this because he has his memories & regretted not confessing when he died. She realizes she considered a future with him. Echinacea is officially appointed as Eurien’s squire. She congratulates him on his engagement. Eurien asks if her happiness means a peaceful life or if she can give up peace for something she truly desires. They talk past each other because Echinacea says “Happiness for me is living peacefully with those I hold dear” & she wouldn’t make a choice that risks losing that. Eurien says Echinacea’s duties start in 3 days & to rest. Lady Diasante doesn’t want to marry Eurien, but considers it her duty as a noble & there are worse people to have to marry. She asks “will you declare this a forced engagement & draw your sword against your blood?”. He asks for time. Lady Diasante says she hopes that he’ll refuse. Eurien reflects alone that he knows what he has to do, but can’t control his heart & needs time (28-30).

Nicole explains that Eurien's mom died in childbirth with him, his father hates him, people still consider Eurien an heir to the throne, & Eurien shines brighter than his brothers. House Roaz was sent Vardere as a scheme for the Imperial Family to take down someone with a Kiosa to say it's not that big of a deal & lower public opinion of Eurien, but everyone died in her first life & no one died (aside from Ian) in this life, so the Imperial Family is suspicious of House Roaz who received the sword. Eurien accepting the engagement to his sister-in-law, Lady Rosalyn, would put him in the crown prince’s faction (Kruen De Harden Kyrie) & ease their mind about House Roaz, but Echinacea realizes she loves him (31-34). Echinacea challenges Brad to a duel after he insults Fatima & threatens her. Brad grovels & apologizes. Eurien tells hisLady Rosalyn to stay away from Echinacea. He asks Echinacea to join him on a trip & she agrees to go. Theresa is guarding Lady Rosalyn (35-38). Varaha tells Echinacea about the upcoming festival & realizes Eurien intentionally gave him paperwork to keep him away from Echinacea. They leave & she wonders what it'd be like to face things together & lovers (39). Eurien says he can't disclose how he knows, but the saint & Ell Kiosa will be found in a small village in the criolla region. He gifts her an enchanted sword called Amethyst (40). Eurien & Echinacea set up camp near an empty house in the area used by passerbys. It will happen in 3-10 days. He makes stew. Echinacea learns he carves wood. Echinacea agrees to a spar for answers. He drops his sword. She has a panic attack of sorts. They're stopped by villagers dragging the saint (41-43). A rift opens when Echinacea tries to rescue Shai, a Sol child; the Sol are nomads. Eurien dives into the rift (44). Echinacea finds Shai being dragged by a monster. When she breaks the core, she learns there's a person inside. Shai summons the healing sword, Ell Kiosa, to heal him.