Chapter 8
“Is it men you’re afraid of, or the sword?”
Seirena lifted her head sharply. Surprise filled her violet eyes.
The most noble of eyes.
Ash thought it might be true that ancient knight’s blood flowed through the veins of the Hunter Earl family.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
With those words, Seirena pushed the completed application form toward Ash.
She had thought someone might notice.
But she hadn’t expected it to be this man.
Seirena considered him an unlucky bastard with sharp instincts.
It’s not scary.
No, it is scary.
No, it’s not scary.
A whirlwind of emotions swirled inside her.
It won’t happen. So there’s no need to be afraid. But even so, her body flinched involuntarily.
“Hmm.”
Sensing Seirena’s attitude that she didn’t want to talk anymore, Ash closed his mouth.
It didn’t seem like she’d tell him even if he asked. Instead, he took the application and the pen, saying,
“As Sir Balzac mentioned, the higher the division, the higher the pay. You’re in the twelfth division now, right?”
Seirena nodded lightly. She was relieved he wasn’t prying further. Her expression of relief showed plainly before vanishing in an instant.
“The twelfth division would be about this much.”
Ash pulled over a blank sheet and wrote down a number.
Did I earn that much?
Seirena frowned at the amount. She couldn’t remember how much it was. She wasn’t in the knight order to make money, after all.
The salary Serena had earned would have all gone into her savings. Before her return, her uncle would have spent it anyway.
I should check with the bank. As Seirena thought this, Ash wrote another number in front of her eyes.
“This is for the eleventh division.”
“So the pay differs by division.”
“Yes.”
Ash continued writing numbers as he replied.
“And this is for the fifth division.”
It was three times what Seirena was receiving now. Her eyes widened. Seeing that, Ash chuckled and wrote another number.
“This is what a chevalier gets.”
Seirena’s mouth fell open without her realizing it.
Ten times.
Exactly ten times.
Ash set down the pen, interlaced his fingers, and asked,
“Is the situation that bad?”
“What?”
“The Hunter Earl family, I mean.”
Seirena’s head snapped up from staring at the numbers.
‘What business is it of yours?’ Her intent was clear, and Ash raised both hands in surrender.
“That was my mistake. I apologize.”
It was none of his concern.
Seirena stood up abruptly and said,
“If the conversation is over, I’ll be going.”
“Ah, wait.”
Ash also rose from his seat.
He walked around the desk to her and asked.
“Is your reluctance to accept the role of guardian related to your fear of men?”
The Hunter Earl had a younger brother, he’d heard.
Ash recalled Dennis saying that if she had a guardian, it would be Sir Hunter. Perhaps her neglect of training was because she was afraid of men.
Ash’s thoughts wandered oddly.
The knight order was full of men. The ratio of men to women was about seven to three, or six to four.
If Seirena had a fear of men—assuming such a thing existed—it would be a difficult place for her.
Perhaps Seirena’s laziness wasn’t intentional, he thought.
“No.”
Seirena snorted in disbelief as she replied.
It was an answer that instantly shattered Ash’s whimsical thoughts.
“Then is it the sword you’re afraid of?”
“It’s none of your business.”
If that’s the case.
Ash extended his arm toward Seirena. As the distance between them closed, her body flinched again.
“So it is men you’re afraid of.”
Ash’s hand was on the doorknob. He had simply intended to open the door for Seirena. Realizing that, her face flushed red.
“I said it’s none of your business.”
At her impudent words, one of Ash’s eyebrows rose.
But Seirena had no intention of apologizing. She tried to push aside Ash’s arm on the doorknob and leave as if nothing happened.
“It is my business.”
Ash leaned his body toward Seirena. This time, prepared, she neither shrank back nor closed her eyes.
Ash’s black eyes lowered to her level.
“If you flinch like that while holding a sword, you’ll get hurt.”
“I didn’t flinch.”
If she was going to say that.
Ash released his hand and stepped back.
Seeing him raise both hands again, Seirena whipped around and stormed out.
Unlucky bastard. Her small mutter reached his ears, and Ash chuckled.
He didn’t know the reason, but Seirena had come of her own will to train in swordsmanship and declared she’d take the promotion exam.
Ash liked that change in her. There was nothing better than seeing a talented person put in effort.
She dislikes men, yet stays in a knight order full of them and even trains? That level of dedication was impossible not to welcome.
Ash closed the door, returned to his seat, and murmured,
“She dislikes men, and among them, she dislikes me the most.”
2. a turning point
After that day, Seirena’s figure was nowhere to be seen at the knight order’s training grounds.
Ash wondered if her absence was because of him, but he had no intention of checking.
“Her mind might have changed.”
Dennis said as he handed his sword to a page.
Ash, also handing his sword to a page, looked at him as if to ask what he meant.
“She might have tried it once and found it too hard, so she quit. If she hadn’t held one in a while, the muscle soreness would be no joke.”
Is that possible?
A wrinkle formed between Ash’s brows. The day he first held a sword was so long ago that he couldn’t remember the muscle soreness. What he could recall was a light stiffness. Or the unease from skipping training.
Dennis chuckled at his reaction. Monsters like you wouldn’t know. His gaze swept the training grounds.
The knights gathered for the promotion exam were wearily handing their swords to the pages. There were about a hundred knights here, excluding the pages.
Dennis and Ash had personally corrected postures and sparred a few rounds each, but it was the ones being taught who were exhausted.
“Or she might be busy.”
Ash said as he turned away.
Training over.
At the announcement that anyone who wanted to train autonomously could continue, most rushed out of the training grounds. Amid that, a few picked up their swords again.
They would pass.
Effort doesn’t betray.
Dennis slung his outer coat over his arm and followed behind him.
“Are you going to the memorial service?”
Word had already spread through high society. That a memorial service for the Hunter Earl couple was being held.
In the Thainmurth Kingdom, funerals were simple, followed by memorial services. Candles were lit for the deceased from morning till night. Not just immediate family, but anyone who knew the departed in life could visit.
Commoners paid a small fee to hold it at the temple, but nobles or the wealthy did it at home.
The refreshments and drinks for visitors, the candles and lamps lighting the mansion all night, required a considerable sum, so Dennis was curious how Seirena would manage the memorial.
“I have to.”
Ash said as if it were obvious.
It was the memorial for the Hunter Earl couple. Each noble house would send at least one representative.
Ash was not only the Duke of Graywind but also the commander of the knight order where Seirena and Ezra were, so of course he had to go.
“My lady, your uncle and his party is said to arrive soon.”
At the butler’s words, Seirena stopped swinging her sword. A white puff escaped with her exhaled breath. The butler quickly took the sword from her and opened her robe.
“How far have they come?”
Seirena asked as she slipped her arms into the robe.
A brazier had been placed in the center of the training area, but it was cold.
One wall adjoining the garden had been completely opened, allowing wind to blow in, making the brazier useless.
That’s why she’d gone to the knight order’s training grounds.
Seirena recalled the unwanted presence and frowned. Since it was the knight order’s training grounds, that man would naturally be there.
If she trained at the knight order every day, she’d run into Ash Graywind. Seeing him put her in a bad mood. They hadn’t really fought or had a proper conversation, but Seirena found him irritating.
Even before her return, when she was the queen, things had been awkward with him.
As queen and knight commander, it was hard to be close, but he was more formal with her than necessary, and she kept more distance than necessary.
A handsome young duke and a young queen who lost her old husband. It was a relationship ripe for gossip.
Their behavior was natural.
“They’ve arrived in the capital.”
Then they’d arrive in about an hour. To quickly wash and change clothes, Seirena nodded at the butler’s words and headed upstairs.
“Ezra.”
Before going to her own room, Seirena knocked on Ezra’s door. Her younger sibling still showed no response. She considered forcing the door open but recalled Ezra’s eyes filled with hatred and sighed.
When swinging the sword, her mind was clear, but as soon as she set it down, complicated thoughts flooded in. That’s why she’d become even more obsessed with the sword lately.
“Your uncle is coming. If you don’t want to come out, you don’t have to.”
She said only that and returned to her room. It didn’t matter if Ezra didn’t meet their uncle. She’d handle him.
The possibility of him not becoming guardian was next to none. Unless there was a special circumstance, the guardian was the closest relative.
With Anna’s help, Seirena washed and changed clothes, praying that her uncle would purely acknowledge there was nothing to gain from the Hunter Earl family and withdraw.
Though it was impossible.
“Seirena.”
Gail Hunter, arriving at the mansion, spotted Seirena descending the stairs and called to her. Poor niece.
Innocent, immature, foolish girl. An opportunity he never thought would come was right before him.
Gail had refined his plans over and over during the journey to the capital.
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