⚔️ Chapter 11
The day after the memorial service, Ash went to work at the Knights’ Order, replaying what he had witnessed.
Seirena Hunter truly disliked her uncle. “Dislike” was almost a euphemism. To be precise, it was closer to **hatred**.
“Should I be grateful there’s a man she hates even more than she hates me?”
Ash let out a wry chuckle, finding the thought ridiculous even to himself.
Dennis, who had spotted him and hurried to catch up, widened his eyes and asked, “What is it?”
“Hm?”
“You just mumbled to yourself. Something about a man she hates more than you?”
“Oh, I was talking about the young Hunter.”
“The Hunter Lord?”
Which Hunter Lord? Seeing the confusion in Dennis’s expression, Ash grinned and added,
“The younger one.”
“Ah, the prettier one.”
Ash raised a single eyebrow at Dennis’s comment. Seeing the look that seemed to ask, ‘**Are you serious?**’ Dennis clapped a hand on Ash’s shoulder and replied lightly, as if joking.
“What? I’m not wrong, am I?”
If he was serious, that was gross. Ash shrugged his shoulder to dislodge Dennis’s hand and said,
“The Hunter Count’s family seems complicated, too.”
“Well, of course. A niece who hasn’t even turned twenty-one and an uncle. Besides…”
Dennis looked around, lowered his voice, and continued.
“I checked briefly during the memorial service yesterday, and it seems the Hunter Count’s family is genuinely not in great financial shape.”
“How did that happen?”
Dennis quickly rolled his eyes. Most of the debt had been incurred by Gail Hunter. He spoke euphemistically.
“It seems the late Hunter Count was too soft on his brother.”
“Ah.”
That made sense. Ash nodded. Gail’s attitude at the memorial service provided excellent support for that conclusion.
It was clear he was trying to act as chief mourner, not Seirena. And his daughter, who hadn’t even prepared a black dress despite the death of her aunt and uncle.
Adriana’s absence and Gail’s behavior were enough to remind people that the Hunter Count had been too lenient with his younger brother.
“Everyone is saying that if Gail Hunter becomes the guardian, he’ll marry off his niece immediately.”
Ash’s face briefly tightened before returning to normal at Dennis’s words. He intentionally spoke in a detached manner.
“To a higher-ranked noble?”
“That’s the most likely scenario. Then the title would pass to the Hunter Lord’s younger brother. Since the brother is only thirteen this year, Gail could remain his guardian for another eight years…”
“He’d be able to control the Hunter County.”
Especially the assets.
Ash finished Dennis’s thought, recalling the image of Seirena he had unintentionally witnessed the previous night: the way she brushed off the shoulder Gail had touched after he left, and the voice she’d used to utter her disgust.
“I seem to be seeing many sides of her unintentionally.”
Ash murmured this as he grasped the doorknob to the training hall. With the promotion exam two weeks away, the hall was noisy even early in the morning. Dennis, walking behind him, hadn’t heard his last remark and asked,
“Speaking of which, how was your look at the training grounds?”
He was asking about Ash’s trip to the Hunter mansion’s training area last night.
Ash gave a slight shrug and said,
“It was cold.”
“You said one wall was missing? Seriously?”
Hmm. Ash nodded and opened the door. A warm rush of air flowed out, generated by the braziers placed by the attendants and the heat of the training knights.
“And she actually trained there?”
Ash paused just as he stepped into the training hall at Dennis’s question. Dennis, following, stopped too. What is it? Did I say something wrong? Ash gave the puzzled Dennis a slight grin.
“You’ll see.”
Seirena was in the training hall. With her long braided hair hanging down her back, she was holding a sword and facing off against a knight.
Dennis looked at Seirena and the knight opposite her, then commented,
“Isn’t that a little too uneven?”
**That’s** your focus? Ash laughed wryly, dumbfounded.
Her opponent was Sir Eugene Lambert, a Knight of the Sixth Division. Ash recalled his background: a hard worker who had steadily climbed up from the Fifteenth Division.
Though his grandfather was a count, his father was the third son, making the possibility of Eugene inheriting the title slim.
The title only passes to the first son. From the second son onward, they are merely the children of a noble. And the children of the second son are commoners.
Sir Lambert did not wish to remain a commoner. He had entered the Knights’ Order, became a knight, and transitioned from Mr. Lambert to Sir Lambert.
***
“Miss, this is the Knights’ Order training hall.”
That morning, when Seirena came to the training hall, Eugene greeted her with a mocking smile.
Who was this? She didn’t remember him, but he knew her. This was sarcasm.
Seirena, unaware that Eugene was being sarcastic, answered honestly.
“Seirena Hunter. I’m a Knight of the Twelfth Division.”
“Ah, a knight, were you? I thought some young lady just came for a visit.”
Now, Seirena understood he was being sarcastic. She let out a small chuckle and said,
“If ‘some young lady’ could come and go as she pleased, the discipline of the Knights’ Order would need to be reviewed.”
‘Ooh, she’s got a bit of fire,’ the knights who were watching the exchange muttered in admiration.
Someone shouted toward Eugene,
“See? Why did you step up just to get hit back?”
Eugene’s expression crumpled after being scolded by a colleague. He tightened his grip on his sword and said,
“Why don’t you try to straighten out that discipline, then?”
“Why would I?”
Seirena shrugged. Her goal was simply to become a Chevalier. The discipline of the Knights’ Order was none of her concern.
But Eugene wasn’t the same. He spoke to Seirena as she was about to turn away.
“Why? Are you worried your beauty might be damaged?”
Seirena flinched and froze. In the life before she returned, Adriana had visited the imprisoned Seirena once.
She had looked down at the distraught Seirena and scoffed,
> “Your only asset was your looks, and even that will soon be ruined.”
That was when she realized why she had been chosen from the three candidates to become queen.
The King had been fond of her blonde hair.
“That’s not something you need to worry about,” Seirena said, drawing her sword toward Eugene. Should she attack first?
It had been so long since she had sparred with anyone that she couldn’t remember.
“Come at me first.”
Eugene casually beckoned with his hand, an easygoing look on his face.
It was considered proper for him, a Sixth Division Knight, to concede the first attack to Seirena, a Twelfth Division Knight.
Eugene was curious about Seirena’s skill. He had heard rumors that she had entered the Order with the top score on the entrance exam.
However, since her page days, Seirena hadn’t sparred with anyone, nor had she practiced her swordsmanship. *She figured she’d get the title anyway*, he thought. As someone from a noble family with little chance of inheriting a title, Eugene resented this.
Since rumors of the Hunter Count’s financial troubles had only recently begun to circulate, Eugene still thought of her as a wealthy countess, and he saw this as a chance to humble her.
Just then, Dennis and Ash entered the training hall.
“Hoo.”
Seirena raised her sword, then pointed it downward. Her feet began to move slowly.
Ash and Dennis, without any thought of interfering, crossed their arms and began to watch.
*He told me to come*. Seirena stared intently at Eugene and charged forward.
She felt the now-familiar ache in her muscles. Her sword sliced a long arc.
“Clang!” The swords collided. Eugene had blocked it.
An instant silence fell over the training hall.
The slight amusement on the faces of the knights, who had been discussing how many bouts Seirena could endure, vanished.
As Eugene pressed down, Seirena instinctively tried to hold her ground. But she, the smallest in the Knights’ Order, had no hope of overpowering Eugene with strength alone.
As Seirena barely managed to disengage her sword and retreat, Eugene gave a smug smile. An easy opponent. Even if she had passed the entrance exam with high marks, he had never seen her train after she became a knight. *She must be banking on her title*, he thought.
Eugene’s sword lunged, aiming for Seirena’s back.
Dennis, feeling Ash tense up, glanced at him. Again, “Clang!” A sound followed. Then, “grrrk…” came the sound of the swords scraping, but this time too, Seirena managed to block it.
“How foolish.”
Ash muttered without thinking. A difference in physique translates to a difference in strength. Seirena could block Eugene’s sword, but she couldn’t endure the force. If he were Seirena, he would have lunged and retreated. But Seirena was honestly trying to meet his strength head-on.
Seirena heard Ash’s comment about her being foolish. *I really hate that man.* Her face tightened in a grimace.
She had tried all night to remember why she hated Ash but couldn’t recall. She wondered if she had forgotten something, searching her memory, but she had never clashed with Ash before.
She had come to the training hall planning to react less sharply if she saw him today, but she had unexpectedly gotten into a spar.
“Quite the air of leisure you have, don’t you?”
Eugene noticed Seirena’s focus wavering and lunged, taunting her. Seirena twisted her body by a hair’s breadth to dodge the sword, but it lightly grazed her arm.
Dennis gripped Ash’s shoulder as he flinched again. Getting hurt during a spar was an everyday occurrence for a knight. He found Ash’s repeated flinching, simply because it was Seirena, strange.
“Stop flinching.”
Dennis whispered to Ash, watching Seirena roll away to avoid the sword. Seeing dust cling to her clothes and hair, he thought he should order the cleaning staff to do a better job.
Ash unconsciously clenched his fist, then crossed his arms and retreated. Knights sparring was a constant occurrence. To stop it now would be laughable. But…
His gaze drifted to Seirena’s forearm. The shirt she was wearing was starting to soak with blood. He knew it was a light injury. She’d only been grazed, and the blood soaking the shirt made it look worse than it was. Even so, Ash couldn’t simply stand by and watch as if it were none of his business.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
Seirena retreated, then lowered her body and darted into Eugene’s space, speaking as she did so.
*What wouldn’t she be sure of?* Eugene realized her comment was a reply to his taunt about her having an air of leisure.
“Clang!” This time, Eugene barely managed to block Seirena’s sword. But the instant the swords struck, Seirena quickly pulled back and retreated.
*What the…?* Eugene’s eyes widened.
“She figured it out.”
Dennis grinned and whispered to Ash. Seirena Hunter had figured out how to attack.
Ash, feeling a little more relaxed, answered quietly,
“I told you she has talent.”
