‘I decided to do it alongside Mother’s return ceremony because it seemed meaningful, but…’

Watching Ashili actively working outside made him more than a little envious. He even regretted not starting earlier…

“If you’re conflicted, come watch the exam with me. You can go see for yourself, right? Even Sister Ashili canceled all her appointments today to observe.”

Lucia rambled on about the exam in an excited voice. Her eyes sparkled with unusual vitality, and her body perched on the edge of her chair like she’d leap out at any moment.

“…But didn’t you say you had history class today?”

“The teacher will understand. How could I miss the entrance exam for the Lacrel Knights, the pride of our family?”

“…”

‘So dragging me here this morning was for this all along.’

Cardel’s expression turned sour at his sister boldly declaring she’d skip class. He marveled at the tolerance of the teachers who instructed Lucia with tremendous patience.

Cardel and Lucia headed to the training grounds. The knight order entrance exam had only just begun.

“Oh my, Cardel, what brings you to observe?”

Ashili looked surprised to see Cardel, then noticed Lucia beside him and realized Lucia’s scheme had worked.

“…Don’t look at me like that. Lucia gets even more full of herself.”

“What did I do? Brother, you don’t seem to know—every year the knight order participants go crazy wanting to see your face. This is getting off cheap.”

“Can you do something about your word choice? It’s not like you lived in some back alley, your speech is really…”

“What’s wrong with my word choice? It’s classy.”

“Enough, enough! Everyone sit down. We can’t be chattering during the exam.”

At the duke’s intervention, Cardel plopped into his chair with a disgruntled face.

Lucia, seemingly having picked her moment, sat right next to Cardel and began quietly chattering.

“Brother, watch carefully.”

“Watch what?”

“I told you earlier. That girl, Evolaine. Watch her carefully.”

“Why are you so obsessed with her?”

“You’ll see. Why I’m telling you to grab that girl.”

Cardel shrugged and let Lucia’s nagging go in one ear and out the other.

Yet ironically, his gaze followed Evolaine. Even though he wasn’t trying to follow Lucia’s words.

“…”

From her well-established form to her natural stamina. Evolaine easily overtook and surpassed people who applied and failed every year.

Leopold’s face bloomed with smiles, and Father’s mouth occasionally twitched like he was holding back a grin.

‘What exactly is so special about that girl?’

Leopold led the knight order, so naturally he’d pay attention to the talented Evolaine.

But he couldn’t understand why Father showed such keen interest in Evolaine.

‘At first, they said he brought her to adopt her.’

Then Evolaine received sword training from Leopold and immediately took the Lacrel Knights entrance exam.

It wouldn’t have been possible without Father’s and Leopold’s influence.

“There must be a reason Father brought that girl specifically. And that reason would be because he saw something in her.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Simply my intuition. But you have to choose an escort from among the knight squires anyway. If you’re going to choose, wouldn’t it be better to go long-term with good talent?”

Cardel glanced at Lucia sitting beside him. Lucia was watching Evolaine, who was taking the final sparring test. Her eyes followed Evolaine’s every movement.

Just like the two of them were keeping an eye on Evolaine, was Lucia in the same vein?

“…”

No. Lucia was different. Lucia’s reason for watching Evolaine was different.

Cardel’s intuition shouted that.

He had no evidence to offer as reasoning, but his instinct said so.

“If that girl enters the knight order, choose her as your escort.”

That confident tone. Lucia spoke with certainty that Evolaine would be admitted. And she specifically designated Evolaine as his escort.

‘Lucia knows something.’

That was something Cardel had suspected and doubted for a long time.

Lucia’s actions popped out at decisive moments like mismatched puzzle pieces.

“The outcome seems decided. Evolaine wins!”

The moment Cardel finished his thought, the final sparring test also ended.

* * *

To calm the breath that had risen to the top of her head, Evolaine walked—practically crawled—to the edge of the training grounds.

She collapsed into a sitting position, crushing the grass beneath her, and a few sparse blades of grass around her stuck up like they were protesting.

‘I did it.’

The victory she grasped for the first time made her whole body tingle. The participants she faced weren’t as skilled as she’d expected.

This was partly because Evolaine was born with natural talent, but unfortunately, she herself didn’t know that fact.

“Evolaine, congratulations on passing.”

Leopold approached Evolaine, who was alone in the corner. He’d already given brief congratulations to the other successful candidates to prevent attention from focusing on Evolaine.

“Thank you, Commander.”

“…Yes, you worked hard.”

Leopold patted Evolaine’s shoulder a couple times and held back welling emotions.

Though it was a short period, passing the exam in that time alone was incredibly admirable.

‘This child is a talent destined for greatness.’

Where had the duke discovered such talent? Leopold continuously harbored expectations for the happy future ahead.

“His Excellency wants to meet you, so wash up and come out. Your knight uniform will be in your room, so change into it.”

“Yes.”

“I need to make more rounds, so if I’m late, go up to the second floor of the main castle and enter the room at the very end. That’s His Excellency’s office.”

Leopold quickly finished his explanation and released Evolaine.

Heading straight to the dormitory, Evolaine washed and began putting on the knight uniform piece by piece. Fortunately, the knight uniform was divided into stages for easy dressing.

Looking at the note Leopold left, Evolaine succeeded in putting on everything from the innermost white shirt to the black jacket.

She roughly positioned the other accessories according to the picture he’d drawn, then left the room.

“…Hasn’t he arrived yet?”

Leopold was nowhere to be seen. She thought about waiting a bit longer, but since it was already quite late, Evolaine headed to the main castle alone.

The Lacrel Knights dormitory was attached right next to the main castle. The two buildings were connected by several passages. Evolaine asked a passerby and found the nearest passage to enter the main castle.

“Wow…”

Though she’d entered the main castle on her first day at the duke’s castle, she realized that had been only a tiny part.

Even the height of a single floor wasn’t standard, and the walls were decorated with antique landscape paintings or portraits placed in golden frames.

‘How much does each one cost? Probably well over 100 gold coins.’

As she stopped in front of a painting and blankly estimated prices, a familiar voice called Evolaine.

“Oh my, Evolaine?”

“…Head Maid?”

The head maid nodded with a face so sad she looked ready to cry.

“I heard you passed the entrance exam, and it’s really true.”

“…”

While straightening the crooked accessories and wrinkled hems of her clothes, the head maid made an expression between crying and smiling.

“Head Maid… you cry whenever you see me.”

“…”

“…I prefer when you smile.”

The head maid’s eyes widened, seemingly not expecting Evolaine to say such a thing.

“…I’ll smile from now on. I promise.”

Evolaine smiled slightly and nodded. Her complexion had brightened and she showed more expressions than before. The head maid sniffled at her stinging nose.

“You came to see His Grace, right? I’ll take you. Follow me.”

“Yes.”

The head maid went up to the second floor via the stairs, just like Leopold had described, and took Evolaine to the room at the very end.

“Master, I’ve brought Evolaine.”

“Come in.”

When the door opened from inside, the head maid gently pushed Evolaine’s back.

“Aren’t you coming in, Head Maid?”

“The person who needs to talk isn’t me, it’s you. If you want to see me, come to the general affairs office on the first floor of the main castle. I’m usually there.”

“…Yes.”

“Don’t be nervous! Got it?”

She looked like an overly enthusiastic parent. The head maid cheering until the door closed was different from her image when they first met, making it awkward but not unpleasant.

“Have you become close with the head maid too?”

“…We just talk.”

“The head maid would be disappointed to hear that. She probably thinks she’s become close with you.”

“…”

Is this being close? She couldn’t grasp it, and her thoughts spun round and round.

“First, congratulations on passing the entrance exam. Now that you belong to the Lacrel Knights, you’ll officially receive knight training from now on.”

“Thank you.”

“And one more thing.”

“…?”

One more thing? Is he talking about Kelic?

“I’d like you to take on the position of escort knight for my son, Cardel.”

“…What?”

Only then did Cardel enter Evolaine’s field of vision. He looked exactly like when he’d been reading in the library that day.

Jet-black hair and golden eyes shining like the sun. He exuded a cold atmosphere and was looking at Evolaine.

“I’m Cardel de Radelica.”

“…I’m Evolaine, Young Lord.”

She couldn’t understand how things were flowing at all. What was this about an escort knight all of a sudden? For a ducal heir, no less?

“Cardel will help with your Kelic training. You’ll serve as Cardel’s escort while receiving training.”

“…The young lord will take charge of Kelic training?”

“Yes, more precisely, ‘control.’ We’ll need to start with awakening your Kelic.”

But information about Kelic was like La Voletta’s classified secret. That meant there was almost no information other families could access.

So how could Cardel help her?

“…A mage capable of controlling Kelic must possess considerable skill.”

“How do you know that? Do you know instinctively?”

“…”

It was something she’d learned through two regressions, but Evolaine chose to close her mouth instead of explaining.