Prologue : That’s Unfair, Captain!

The Imperial Palace Knight Order. Among them, the office of the captain of the Red Knights who serve the Crown Prince. The large clock hanging on the wall ticked incessantly.

‘At this rate, I’ll be late today as well.’

Lena anxiously shook her legs. She bit her nails anxiously and decided she couldn’t go on like this, so she glanced at her superior for a sign.

“Lena Leshuriel.”

A chilly voice, imbued with coldness, sharply cut through the air. His keen eyes pierced through the luggage bag she had sneakily lifted.

Lena quickly straightened her back and looked at him. Meanwhile, she tightly gripped the bag, determined not to let go.

“Yes, Captain. What is it?”

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m getting off work.”

Having been caught, there was no point in retreating. She puffed out her chest and spoke clearly.

The captain, Alhendoree Lengester, let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.

“What time do you think it is that you’re talking about getting off work?”

“It’s seven o’clock.”

Lena blinked her round eyes. Though it was clear he wasn’t pleased with the answer, Lena had nothing to hide.

“I worked overnight, you know.”

It was seven o’clock in the morning, not in the evening. Even if it were the evening, it would be extremely unfair since the normal quitting time was five o’clock.

Alhendore stroked his chin as if seriously considering it. However, having worked under him for three years, Lena knew that he wouldn’t back down just because she argued a bit.

“That’s true. But didn’t you work overnight yesterday, not today?”

‘Of course!’

“Even if you worked overnight yesterday, you should be thinking about coming to work today. What are you thinking, trying to get off work first?”

“Well, that’s because….”

“What time do you start work?”

“Seven o’clock… huh?”

“See, it’s not quitting time, it’s starting time.”

“Well….”

‘That’s true… no, it’s not!’

This was outright exploitation. More importantly, she had a reason why she absolutely couldn’t be held back today.

“I have an appointment!”

Not just any appointment, but a lunch date with her fiancé. It was an appointment she had barely managed to secure after repeatedly canceling it unilaterally.

The Red Knights, to which Lena belonged, primarily dealt with ‘monster subjugation,’ and recently, due to the monster breeding season, they were particularly rampant.

Although she didn’t wield a sword herself, she played a crucial role as the ‘strategist’ and aide to the commander.

Naturally, whenever the knights went on a subjugation mission, she had to accompany them. Each time they set out, her appointments with her fiancé would inevitably be canceled.

“Anyway, today is absolutely impossible!”

“Overruled, sit down.”

“Why do you always make me work overtime on the days I have appointments? On other days, you let me go even if the work isn’t finished!”

“You know well. You need to make up for all the times you left without finishing your work. Lena Leshuriel, do you think the knight order is a playground?”

‘The nerve of this guy.’

She felt incredibly wronged but couldn’t think of a proper rebuttal. Lena trembled with frustration and eventually put down her bag.

As if waiting for this moment, Alhendore piled up the documents he had prepared in front of her desk. She stared blankly at the papers stacked high enough to obscure her view, then widened her eyes.

“What is all this?”

She worked every day, so there was no way the documents could have piled up this much.

It wasn’t possible that the captain, who would die if he didn’t work for a day, had let things pile up like this.

This was clearly a petty scheme to prevent her from keeping her appointment.

“These are the subjugation reports from the past three years.”

Three years. Exactly the time Lena had worked as the captain’s aide. No wonder the handwriting on the documents looked familiar.

“Compare and analyze the past records and summarize the improvements.”

“So, you want me to write a reflection paper?”

“Exactly, a reflection paper.”

Alhendore raised his chin and wiggled his eyebrows. With a face that seemed to ask what her problem was, Lena screamed.

“Do I have to do this right now? I need to go!”

“The next subjugation schedule is in three months, so when do you plan to do it?”

‘This is driving me crazy!’

She glared at him with all her might.

The stone-faced captain didn’t care about her gaze. The longer Alhendore’s calm expression persisted, the more it hurt her eyes to stare at him.

After a tense standoff, Lena finally surrendered. There was only one way to beat a captain who clearly had no intention of letting her go.

Finish the work quickly.

‘I swear I’ll finish this before my appointment time, even if it kills me!’

There was still some time before her appointment, so she planned to finish it quickly and leave. The captain’s stubbornness was something even the Crown Prince couldn’t overcome.

Fueled by determination, she stared intently at the papers. As her pen scratched rapidly across the pages, Alhendore’s lips gradually curved downward.

“You should always work that hard.”

“I always do work hard!”

“You’re working twice as fast because you’re thinking about meeting your fiancé. If you worked at that speed normally, the guard assignment for the Crown Prince’s birthday would have been done faster.”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

At Lena’s indifferent answer, Alhendore tilted his head.

“…Come to think of it, I didn’t set a page limit for the report.”

“Oh, come on-!”

“A report should be at least thirty pages long. Don’t you think?”

“No, it’s not! Absolutely not!”

Unable to stand it any longer, Lena shouted again. Only then did Alhendore let out a satisfied chuckle.

“Overruled, just write it.”

“This is so unfair!”

She vented her anger, feeling utterly frustrated. No matter how much she protested, it was unreasonable. If she shouted any more, the thirty pages might turn into forty. She opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words to argue further and picked up her pen.

‘Ugh, seriously!’

One minute felt like one second, and one hour felt like one minute. She lost track of time as the papers piled up, and the clock hands pointed to eleven-thirty.

“No, this can’t be!”

Her desperate cry echoed in the quiet room.

‘I’m only halfway done!’

Hearing the loud noise, Alhendore looked up leisurely at the clock. He then turned back to Lena’s teary eyes and smiled brightly.

“You’ve worked hard. Since you worked overnight yesterday, you can leave now.”

“What a quick decision!”

“So, you don’t want to leave?”

“No!”

Cursing him inwardly, Lena hurriedly left the knights’ quarters. Her anxious steps echoed through the corridor.

Once again, her appointment with her fiancé seemed destined to start with Lena being late.

“Captain, you’re so unfair!”