Erica took off the dress she had been wearing and changed into the pants given to her by the butler of Duke Felix’s household. 

The clothes were of good quality but lacked embroidery or style. If it became known that she was wearing such things, the nobles would have plenty to laugh about.

‘But I decided to become a knight.’

She reminded herself of her goal again.

Before long, dusk fell and the corridor grew quiet. Soon, the butler closed the door and said:

“Then, good night.”

Erica always drank tea with milk before bed. Even if not necessarily with milk, she wanted to drink some warm tea.

“Um, where’s the tea?”

“It’s over there.”

Where the butler pointed, there was a tea set along with a glass jar containing tea leaves. Just as Erica was about to say something, the heavy door closed.

Erica looked at the tea set with a troubled expression.

“Hmm… How did they do this again?”

Due to her frail health since childhood, she had never made tea with her own hands.

Despite eating well, she was thinner than others and frequently fell ill. Because of this, she had never even boiled hot water herself. When there was no maid, her mother would make tea for her; when her mother wasn’t around, her father or sister would do it.

Still, she had seen it done before, so following the process wasn’t difficult. She put tea leaves in the strainer of the teapot and poured hot water over them. Then she waited for the tea to steep before pouring it into a teacup.

Erica took a sip, wondering if it would taste as good as what Murray or Ella made, but immediately wrinkled her brow.

“Bitter!”

‘The tea leaves look exactly the same as the ones we use at home, so why does it taste so different?’

It seemed she would need to properly learn how to make tea from Ella next time. Erica put down the bitter tea and went to lie on the bed. Usually she had one cup when she woke up and one before bed, not to mention all the tea she drank throughout the day, but today she felt she could do without it.

‘So sleepy…’

Fatigue washed over her even though she hadn’t done anything.

‘Oh right, I haven’t eaten dinner either…’

Her stomach growled rudely, but she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Erica fell asleep just like that.

At the loud sound of the reveille, Erica covered her ears while hiding under the blanket.

‘Who would do such a thing…!’

Just then, someone pulled at her blanket. Erica tried not to let it go, but the other person was too strong. Having lost her blanket completely, Erica looked up at the person while wearing the shabby clothes the butler had given her yesterday, called training clothes.

“Erica Mills. We need to start training.”

“…Huh?”

Erica stared at Duke Felix with a dumbfounded expression. He too was dressed simply and grabbed her wrist. Erica pointed outside the window with eyes still heavy with sleep.

“The sun hasn’t even risen yet! Your Grace!”

Duke Felix admired Erica’s snow-white skin visible through the thin fabric. Though covered by white cloth, her protruding n*pples made her body temptingly delicious.

The Duke turned his gaze away nonchalantly.

“We need to train before the sun rises. If you’re lazy, the enemy might attack.”

“What…”

‘In this peaceful Egria Empire where there hasn’t been a war for 100 years, who gets up at the crack of dawn?’

However, Erica had completely forgotten that small wars frequently occurred in the borderlands, away from the capital. Since she had never left the capital after growing up, she couldn’t fully grasp this reality.

“…Didn’t you say you wanted to become an apprentice knight?”

“Ah, I’ll do it. I will…”

Erica got up just as she had slept. Then she put on the worn shoes that the butler had prepared the day before. She usually only wore dress shoes, but these shoes, which commoners might wear, were quite comfortable. The clothes the butler gave her were also light and easy to move in.

“Shall we go then?”

“Let’s…”

Erica smiled brightly and extended her hand to Duke Felix. She meant for him to gently take her hand, but Duke Felix grabbed her wrist and dragged her outside.

“Aah!”

Erica’s face turned bright red at being dragged by the Duke like a criminal. Her wrist felt like it might dislocate due to his rough strength.

“W-wait! Your Grace…! Ugh.”

Outside the room stood Freddy Reynolds, Duke Felix’s left-hand man. He made a sarcastic comment while looking at the delicate wrist firmly gripped by Duke Felix.

“Duke Felix? Even without holding so tightly, Miss Mills won’t run away… And aren’t you gripping too hard? Miss Mills’s delicate wrist might break from your grip strength.”

“Ha. Shut up.”

At Freddy’s words, Duke Felix released Erica’s wrist. A red bruise had formed on her wrist. Erica sighed and wiped the cold sweat from her forehead with her sleeve. She was sweating just from being dragged along.

When they went out to the garden with the Duke, about 30 men were standing there wearing the same clothes as Erica. Upon seeing the Duke, they bowed their heads, evidently having been waiting.

“Duke Felix! Did you sleep well!”

“Everyone looks well-rested. …Today I’ll introduce a new face.”

Duke Felix brought Erica forward. The men murmured as they looked at her.

“…She’s pretty?”

“What’s this, why is the Duke introducing a woman to us? She doesn’t look like a pr*stitute.”

“A pr*stitute? Do you think this is a battlefield? Haha.”

“Could she be the Duke’s fiancée?”

“Then why would he introduce her to us? And if she were his fiancée, she’d be wearing a dress!”

“But she’s definitely a noble. You can tell just by looking at her skin that it hasn’t been tanned by the sun.”

“Well, it’s hard to say.”

The commoners seemed so innocent that they didn’t even realize what they were saying. Calling a noble a pr*stitute, if heard outside, would have landed them in prison for defamation.

Erica glanced at Duke Felix.

‘What is he thinking?’

After giving them time to speculate, Duke Felix continued.

“Erica is my apprentice knight. She will train with you from now on.”

“!”

Everyone’s movements stopped abruptly. They looked at Duke Felix with eyes that suggested betrayal.

Duke Felix was one of the few Sword Masters and had never taken disciples. He particularly despised noble children who only knew how to put on airs without any real ability.

Yet suddenly he brought a noble lady and introduced her as his apprentice knight.

Erica was somewhat shocked that she would be receiving the same training as commoners, but she was grateful to be introduced as an apprentice knight, so she waved her hand at them.

“Nice to meet you all!”

The soldiers created a chilly atmosphere without saying a word.

Duke Felix patted Erica’s back.

“Stand over there.”

“Yes!”

Erica stood at the very back of the group of men. She suddenly felt distant from Duke Felix.

“Now we’ll run 20 laps around the garden!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Twenty laps around the garden… Before coming here, she had only thought of it as a beautiful garden several times larger than the Mills estate, but she never imagined she would be running through it.

‘I thought I could enjoy tea time while staying here… No! I came here to become a knight, didn’t I?’

Erica gently put aside thoughts of tea time and ran hard, following behind the men.