Innermost Feelings: Showdown at Castle Vance

"Innermost Feelings: Showdown at Castle Vance" is the twenty-first episode of the Queen's Blade anime and the ninth episode of the second season.

Story
Claudette and Risty are fighting in the courtyard of Vance Castle just as Vance's army is leaving in his bid to overthrow Aldra by conventional military force. Claudette is initially victorious, knocking out Risty with a lightning bolt. She tries to dissuade the Count from his attempted overthrow, saying that it will only breed war across the continent, and reveals that Lady Maria, Vance's wife and her adoptive mother, told her to heal Vance's pain if she did not return from the Queen's Blade, and she has been serving loyally to soothe Vance's emotional scars. Vance tries to convince her to serve him again in his bid to overthrow Aldra, but she refuses, and he tells her to leave. Risty then awakens, however, and it is now apparent that she was sent to kill the Count. Claudette manages to stop her, but is eventually defeated herself when Risty collapses a roof on her. As Claudette is teleported back to Gainos, she reconciles with the Count, who then withdraws his army. Aldra calls it a success: though the Count still lives, his coup was thwarted. Claudette warns Leina that Risty has changed. Meanwhile, it is seen that Nyx has found a job as a barmaid, and that Tomoe is training fiercely, now wearing Shizuka's old horned headband. Melona, Nanael, and Melpha discuss the mysterious Aldra, and Melona steals Nanael's sacred milk.