<br/><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/XopnDVT.jpg)<br/>(https://i.imgur.com/54HhFiQ.jpg)</div><br/><strong>"That's it folks! Lord Blackcrest's champion submits! The young Sera Blackcrest has bested her father's fighter! And that means the winner of this duel is Countess Carmilla Feratti!"</strong><br/><br/>The crowd cheered as Katra finally surrendered, marking the end of the duel and Sera's triumph. The people were cheering, applauding, and chanting the young woman's name, and Sera was happy to soak in some of the adoration. Carmilla as well rose from her seat and gave a wave to the audience, who had mostly turned over to her side after Sera's rant against her father.<br/><br/>Katra's attempt to save face mostly fell on deaf ears. Few cared to listen to the loser of a duel, especially one who suffered such a decisive and humiliating defeat. Sera herself rose a brow at the girl, as if to say "really?", before shaking it off with a roll of her eyes. However while the crowd's reception wasn't particularly warm, the embrace waiting for her back at the entry tunnel was (well it was actually more cool to the touch, but that's besides the point), "You did it!" Cass'andra exclaimed as she threw her arms around Katra, giddily jumping up and down, voice beaming with happiness and pride, "I knew you could pull it off! That was amazing! You looked completely outclassed the whole time! And losing your sword twice!? What a brilliant move!" she said, sounding 100% sincere in her praise even if the words themselves might be a bit condescending. Pulling back she reached up to cup Katra's face, smiling from ear to ear, "You did great. We're gonna live like Queens after this. Gosh Katra, I swear if I didn't have a crippling fear of intimacy I'd kiss you right now" she cooed, "Come on, let's head back" she said, escorting her on the long walk of shame through the backstage area. They had to pass by all the other arena fighters on their way back to the stands, all of them giving Katra looks, ranging from pity to mockery.<br/><br/>The announcement of the duel's conclusion went over<div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">about as well as you'd expect</div><div class="spoiler_body">(https://i.imgur.com/PexSmGU.png)</div></div>with Lord Blackcrest, "Just....just go away...please..." he muttered to Valna, sounding absolutely haggard. He didn't have any words left, reduced to a spent shell of a man, occasionally twitching as the announcer declared the results of the duel, and reiterated that Sera would belong to Carmilla from now on. Of course with the revelation that the two were lovers the announcer had recontextualized the story, turning it from the tale of a concerned father saving his daughter from a vile vampire, to the inspirational story of love overcoming a bigoted patriarch's tyranny. Everyone cheered Carmilla's victory. They had all taken her side. They had all abandoned him.<br/><br/>A few moments later Cass'andra would poke her head into the balcony, sucking in a silent "yikes" through her teeth when she saw the state of Lord Blackcrest. Realizing it would be best not to stick around too long, she wordlessly waved Valna and Juro over to her and Katra, nodding towards the exit.