“Mary, hello!”
“Elena, hi!”
A maid with long, neatly tied hair responded enthusiastically to Elena’s greeting. Some male servants lingered around her curiously.
“Are you already heading to work?”
“Yes, my evening training is in the afternoon, so I need to finish my tasks quickly.”
“Good luck!”
“Thanks, you too.”
Mary, whose slender frame wasn’t concealed by her maid uniform, headed toward the main building while the others exchanged greetings.
“Mary’s in charge of the young lord’s room, right?”
“Yes, why do you ask?”
“No reason.”
As Mary passed by, Elena’s nose twitched slightly. That strange scent was emanating from her again. From what Elena knew, this wasn’t the first time she’d caught that mysterious smell. Her physical energy reacted to it, signaling it wasn’t something good.
“The young lord is a sword master; it wouldn’t be easy to harm him,” Elena thought.
The less she knew, the safer she’d be. Elena quickly shook off her thoughts about Mary and focused on the meal in front of her.
“See you tonight!”
“Rowen, good luck!”
Elena waved goodbye to Rowen. While the main headquarters was bustling, Elena recalled the tranquility of the side wing and couldn’t hide her smile. If she got too busy, she might be summoned to the main building, but not yet. The complexion of Elena, who took an extra nap daily in the side wing, was gradually improving.
Good food, proper exercise, and enough sleep—it couldn’t get better than this. Elena began to feel happy at the thought of soon holding a sword and perhaps participating in training matches.
—
*One week later…*
The duke and his wife arrived in the capital. The welcoming festivities lasted three days, and all the servants were busy with preparations.
Even Elena couldn’t avoid the event, receiving intensive training and rushing to the banquet hall. Each night, she returned to her room, barely exchanging greetings with Rowen before collapsing from exhaustion.
The parties continued late into the night, but training persisted on its brutal schedule. By the end of the festivities, the dark circles under the servants’ eyes were strikingly noticeable.
After the parties, the servants were granted a day off as a reward. Elena and Rowen agreed to take their break on the same day. They spent the entire morning lounging in their room, completely at ease.
“Oh, are you two spending your whole day off in the room?”
“Yes, I think we need to rest today,” Elena replied.
“Bessie came to visit us in our room!”
Elena greeted her, leaning back on the bed.
“Rowen, don’t you want to go to *that* place?”
“That place? Oh! *That* place?! Elena, you’ve never been there!”
Bessie and Rowen exchanged a secretive glance. Rowen caught her meaning and suddenly leapt from her spot.
“Where’s this place?” Elena asked.
“There’s an amazing place with breathtaking views. Let’s go!”
Rowen jumped up quickly, pulling Elena along. As they moved, Elena was surprised to recognize the familiar path they took daily.
“Don’t you mean the knights’ training grounds? But it’s training time now!”
“Exactly!”
Bessie nodded in confirmation, while Elena tried to hide her excitement at the prospect of watching the training. Bessie’s face held a serious expression.
“Isn’t it forbidden for anyone to enter during training?”
“If we watch from a distance, they don’t say anything. The knights actually like having an audience!”
“I don’t want to go!”
Rowen said innocently, “Oh, so innocent! Tons of girls sneak over to watch them!”
Bessie and Rowen grabbed Elena’s arms, preventing her escape, and they started running.
“Shhh!”
When they reached a corner of the training grounds, Rowen put a finger to her lips, signaling silence. The three crouched behind the bushes.
“Rowen, don’t you think the knights have noticed us?”
Elena asked nervously, noticing the knights’ occasional glances toward the bushes.
“As long as they don’t catch us outright, it’s fine. Look, there are other girls hiding behind that window and that tree!”
“It seems a lot of maids came to watch the training on their day off,” Rowen and Bessie pointed out the hiding spots of other maids while finding a place for themselves.
Seeing other heads peeking out from various spots, Elena ducked behind the bushes too.
The knights were in the midst of training. This was their private time, without servants around. The intensity in the courtyard was palpable. With every sword swing, their light athletic clothing clung to their bodies, revealing well-defined muscles.
“Kyaah~!”
With each movement, faint squeals echoed from a distance. Maids were hidden all over the building, stealing glances at the knights. As senior maids, the three were bolder in their movements. They sat near the bushes, watching the knights with ease.
“Are these the breathtaking views? No need to go far!”
“Exactly!”
Elena’s eyes followed the knights’ movements. She observed how their shoulders shifted during strikes and studied their footwork during sparring.
“Can we really watch other people’s training this clearly?”
It was a pleasant surprise Elena hadn’t expected. When she expressed her satisfaction with a smile, her companions seemed to share her sentiment, calming their flushed faces as they watched the training.
“Oh, the duke’s knights aren’t bad at all!”
Elena nodded in agreement.
But when the onlookers started making loud comments without caution, the knights noticed their presence and began shooing away the spying maids. Among them, Mary appeared, receiving the knights’ glances as she was chased off, yet she maintained her radiant smile—so captivating that even the knights couldn’t resist looking at her beauty and elegance.
Strangely, though, the knights didn’t approach the hiding spot of Elena and her companions.
“Are we actually allowed to stay here? Even Mary, who serves in the young lord’s room, got chased away!”
Elena asked, bewildered.
“Are we like her? We’re high-ranking maids serving in the duke’s own wing!” Bessie replied confidently.
Everyone’s attention suddenly shifted when Rowen exclaimed, “It’s the young lord!”
It was as if light had erupted at the entrance to the training grounds. Elena stared in awe, her eyes sparkling at the sight.
“Can a human really be that beautiful?”
Elena whispered unconsciously. The stifled giggles of her companions confirmed she’d said it aloud without realizing.
In her entire life, Elena had never seen someone radiate beauty like Carl. Even when she’d glimpsed him from afar before, the impact hadn’t been this strong.
“Is he… a fairy?”
“What?”
Rowen didn’t quite catch her words as they whispered softly. Why didn’t he look like an ordinary human, even in the same knight’s uniform? Elena was utterly captivated by his otherworldly appearance.
“Are we really allowed to stay here?”
Elena asked, her excitement evident. Her companions looked at her in surprise at her uncharacteristic glee.
“You’ve fallen for the young lord!”
“Of course, our lord has a magical charm!”
Ignoring their comments, Elena focused entirely on Carl. His long arms, powerful triangular frame, and athletic legs—he had the physique Elena had always dreamed of.
“This is a body blessed by the gods themselves.”
She had no complaints about her own body, but compared to Carl, she suddenly felt deeply inadequate. It was clear she’d lose in any test of strength against him.
“I’ll need to rely on speed and technique to win,” she thought.
While Elena was lost in her own world, her companions exchanged meaningful glances.
The knights began gently shooing away the other sneaking maids, then organized their ranks. From their formation, it seemed they were preparing for a group battle rather than individual sparring.
At the signal of each group’s leader, the knights moved in astonishing harmony, as if they were a single entity.
“Wow, this is incredible! I’ve never seen anything like it,” Elena said.
“You’ve never seen a knights’ group training before?” Bessie asked, her eyes sparkling as Elena watched the training in fascination.
“No, our fief is small, and we don’t have knights. The soldiers train in groups, but this is completely different.”
Elena downplayed the truth. In reality, the Lewis fief faced frequent raids, and its civilian guards received systematic training. Her father couldn’t afford knights, but he knew how to train his men well.
“Oh, you’re from the Lewis fief! It’s really a rural area. But aren’t there royal knights stationed at the border?”
“The royal knights are mostly in the Heron fief. One comes every two or three months for training.”
Rowen nodded at Elena’s explanation. “The Lewis fief is really small.”
“But it seems safe, at least.”
Rowen and Bessie expressed relief, imagining the borders must be dangerous.
“Wait, you haven’t watched knight training the whole time you’ve worked here? My gosh, Elena, you can’t work *that* seriously! You need to enjoy life!”
“Rowen! Be quiet!”
Bessie pulled Rowen down as her voice grew louder. They felt the knights’ cold glances pass over the bushes.
“We almost got caught!”
“We came today specifically because we knew the young lord would be at training. We can’t get kicked out!”
The three cautiously peeked out as the knights resumed their training.
“Usually, they’d be cracking jokes, but today they’re really serious.”
“Yeah, they love our cheering but pretend otherwise!”
“Does the young lord not attend training often?”
“Not much. Since becoming a sword master, he mostly trains alone,” Rowen explained, noting that this might be their only chance to see his skills.
