Chapter 12
Seirena had it: **a natural feel for swordsmanship.**
What followed was a moment where Seirena, having dropped into a low stance, rolled right behind Eugene and thrust her sword at his shoulder.
“Ugh.”
Eugene stumbled as he twisted his body to evade the blade. Seirena didn’t miss the opportunity. Her sword was swiftly withdrawn, and this time, it swept low in an arc.
Falling with a crash, Eugene scrambled backward to avoid Seirena’s weapon.
When he looked up, what he saw was the tip of Seirena’s sword right before his eyes.
Seirena’s hair was a mess. It seemed the tie holding it had come undone when she rolled on the floor.
The knights stood frozen, centered around the panting Seirena and Eugene. Sir Hunter of the Twelfth Company had defeated Sir Lambert of the Sixth Company.
At that moment, Dennis began to applaud.
“That was a **great spar**, both of you.”
Ash spoke. The Commander’s words brightened the sunken atmosphere. The watching knights followed Dennis’s lead and started clapping.
Seirena offered her hand to the fallen Eugene.
“I’m fine.”
His pride was smarting. Eugene slapped her hand away and stood up. He was annoyed; he had naturally assumed he would win. It was because he had let his guard down.
As he was about to voice his frustration, Ash spoke first.
“Sir Hunter, I suggest you **tie your hair more securely** before training in the future.”
He was pointing out Seirena’s disheveled hair.
The watching knights snickered and commented,
“Yes, or your **pretty hair** will get cut off.”
Seirena’s face instantly hardened. The phrase ‘pretty hair’ felt like a curse. She raised the hand that was holding her sword. The blade caught the light, gleaming brightly in the air.
Next, Seirena grabbed her own hair with her free hand. The arc of the sword, sweeping through the air, came down between her hair and her hand.
*Shick.*
Simultaneously with the slicing sound, her hair—now short as if it had been poured out—framed her cheeks. Her violet eyes shone intensely amidst the flamboyant golden strands.
A startled silence descended upon the training grounds.
“Is that better?”
Seirena held out the severed hair to Ash and spoke.
Ash’s eyes widened, then narrowed. Seirena’s flowing golden hair, which had reached her waist, was now **chopped short** up to her neck.
Her expression was set.
Her chin was tilted up, almost in a challenge.
Due to the drastically shortened hair, Seirena’s neck appeared much more slender.
“No.”
All he had wanted was for her to tie it up more tightly.
Ash took a large step toward Seirena and placed his hand over hers.
“I didn’t tell you to **cut it**.”
“Then I don’t need to tie it either.”
A sharp answer flowed from Seirena’s lips. The excitement that had started with the spar had not yet subsided. Coupled with that was her anger at the stupid life she had been living.
The anger turned straight into **self-loathing**, and she couldn’t bear it. The air in the training hall felt suffocating.
Seirena forced the severed hair into Ash’s hand and looked around.
*Go on, say it again.* Faced with her clearly intentional posture, the knights closed their mouths.
“I think you’ve made a mistake, there.”
As Seirena abruptly turned and strode out, Dennis scratched his head and approached Ash.
Eugene and the other knights watched the door Seirena had exited, their eyes wide.
Ash looked down at the hair in his hand and then spoke.
“Sir Lambert. As punishment, you will **clean the training grounds**.”
What? The gaze of everyone in the room shifted to Ash.
Eugene didn’t even try to hide his annoyance as he spoke.
“Is that because I lost?”
“No. It’s because you sparred with **live steel**.”
Ah. Everyone’s eyes turned to Eugene’s sword. Sparring could be done at any time, but live steel sparring required permission.
Seirena and Eugene, having started the fight suddenly, had sparred with the swords they were carrying.
“Then, Sir Hunter…?”
Eugene asked, as if he still harbored some lingering hope.
*He just doesn’t want to be punished alone.* Ash’s eyes narrowed.
“She will be punished separately, so stop your pointless worrying.”
At the cold reply, Eugene bowed his head deeply.
Once Ash stepped away, the watching knights chuckled and approached Eugene, chiding him.
“Hey, I told you not to let your guard down!”
“Yeah, why did you start something?”
Embarrassed by the fact that he had started the fight only to lose, Eugene shouted.
“You’ll see. Next time, I’ll knock the air right out of you!”
As Eugene and the knights headed out to clean the training grounds, Dennis looked at Ash and let out a small laugh.
“I wonder.”
Ash, too, was watching Eugene with cold eyes. *Next time, is it.* Both men spoke, sounding baffled.
“Next time he tries, he’ll lose even harder.”
“Will there even *be* a next time for him?”
Currently, Seirena had won by a thread. But they had both seen it: the way Seirena had trained on her very first day in the training grounds.
“That, I suppose, is the difference in **talent**.”
Dennis said, smiling wryly. He understood why Ash had been so displeased with her. If someone with that level of talent didn’t make any effort and just idled around, even he, were he Ash, would have been annoyed.
Dennis scratched his head and said to no one in particular,
“So why did she suddenly **come to her senses**?”
“I wonder.”
Ash’s gaze dropped to his hand. A surprisingly heavy clump of golden hair was gripped in his palm. She had even suddenly cut her own hair. The image of Seirena from last night flashed through his mind.
“What a **waste**.”
Dennis looked down at the blonde hair in Ash’s hand and sighed. It was quite long. Of course, it reached her waist.
*Doesn’t she feel bad?* Dennis thought of how many women were attached to their hair and said,
“You could make some money if you sold it.”
At that moment, Ash glared at him. Startled by the chillingly cold look, Dennis stammered,
“What, why?”
“So? Are *you* going to sell it?”
“Ah, who said *I* would sell it? I’m just saying that since the Baek faction’s finances aren’t great, it would have been better for *her* to take it and sell it herself than to give it to you.”
“A Count’s daughter sells her hair?”
Ash laughed as if the idea was ridiculous. Selling one’s hair was a symbol of poverty. He carefully placed Seirena’s hair into his pocket.
***
“Ah, I should have **sold it**.”
Walking down the corridor, Seirena suddenly remembered and muttered to herself.
What a waste. Since she had carefully grown it all the way to her waist, she could have made some money by selling it. If she was going to cut it off like that anyway, she should have just sold it. Her heart ached thinking about her family’s finances.
“Should I go back and ask for it now?”
Seirena muttered that but then shook her head. Ash Greywind would have already thrown it away.
Her short, bobbed hair slapped against her cheek when she shook her head. *At least the time it takes to wash and dry it will be shorter,* she thought, just as she was about to exit the building.
“Seirena?”
Moana, who was just entering the building, shouted in surprise at the sight of her friend. One sleeve was drenched in blood, and her hair was so short that her neck was completely exposed.
Moana froze for a moment, then grabbed Seirena’s hand and cried out,
“**A healer!**”
“Uh, wait, wait, Moana.”
“Lie down, Seirena. Oh my god. How could no one call a healer when a person is bleeding this much?”
Moana’s fussing continued.
Watching the healer rush over, tear her sleeve, and examine the wound, Seirena said awkwardly,
“I told you I’m fine.”
“How did you get hurt like this? And your hair! **Who cut your hair off?**”
“No one cut it off, well, someone did cut it off, but that person didn’t cut it.”
“What are you talking about?”
Moana slapped Seirena on her uninjured shoulder.
Seirena hesitated, then said, “Um…”
“The Commander told me to **tie up my hair**.”
“Told you to tie it up?”
Moana’s brown eyes widened. Seirena avoided her gaze and replied,
“So I cut it off and **gave it to him**.”
Moana’s brown eyes became so huge it felt like they might roll right out of her head. *What?* Unable to speak, Moana simply gaped, then took a breath and asked,
“The Commander **cut your hair**?”
*No, that’s not it.* Seirena tried to explain that it wasn’t, but it was already too late.
The servants and knights passing by had overheard Moana’s words. The rumor immediately snowballed.
***
Gale’s good mood slowly **nosedived**. He rummaged through the safe in disbelief. *It’s not here.* The gold and jewels he expected were missing.
The safe was empty. No, it was as good as empty. All that was inside were the **deeds to the land and house**.
“These are completely **useless!**”
Gale was so angry that he threw the deeds down. He had naturally assumed there would be gold and jewels in his brother’s safe—family heirlooms passed down through generations. But all the safe contained were the deeds to the house and land.
What good were these? Even he couldn’t just sell them off.
Gale sprang up and called for the butler.
“Godwin! Come here for a moment!”
Godwin, who was assessing the situation from the hallway, let out a quiet sigh. As soon as the memorial service ended, Gale had come to the house at dawn and started poking around everywhere. He had also tried to gently coax Seirena, all to find out the safe’s password.
However, Seirena had simply said she didn’t know the safe’s password and had gone to work at the Knights’ Order. In the end, Gale had been struggling to open his late brother’s safe from that morning until now.
“Did you call for me?”
Entering the Count’s study, Godwin tried hard not to show any expression upon seeing the wide-open safe.
*He finally opened it, then. How persistent.* Gale shouted at him as the butler inwardly shook his head.
“There’s another safe besides this one, isn’t there? Isn’t that right?”
“I wouldn’t know, sir. I’m not familiar with the master’s safe arrangements.”
“There is! Where is it? Huh? The bedroom? Is it in the bedroom?”
Saying that, Gale started running toward the Count and Countess’s bedroom. The servants peeked their heads out to see what the commotion was about, hearing the pounding footsteps.
“Go back to your duties.”
Godwin sent them back to their work and then followed behind Gale. *The young mistress will be displeased.* He had already begun to worry about Seirena’s reaction.
“A safe?”
The first thing Gale asked Seirena when she returned late from work was not about her injury, her clothes, or her hair. It was about **the safe**.
Seirena gave him a look that asked, *What are you talking about?*
“Yes, the safe. There’s another safe in this house, isn’t there? Aside from the study and the bedroom.”
***
