Chapter 1 – That’s Childish, Captain! (Part 2)

Meanwhile, Alhendore, who had been laughing heartily, suddenly had a peculiar expression.

He didn’t particularly like sour things either. Despite that, the candies piled up in his desk drawer were something he had enjoyed since childhood.

Eating them when he was tired or losing focus made his nerves stand on end due to the sour taste. It was a kind of awakening effect.

He had tried smoking cigars, but they made him feel relaxed rather than alert, which wasn’t helpful for work.

‘Still the same as ever.’

Even back then, Alhendore, burdened with his studies, always carried a couple of these candies in his pocket. It was the very same candy he had given to the little girl that day.

“Ugh!!”

The image of a tiny girl tearing up with a sour candy in her mouth overlapped with the present Lena.

‘You really have a poor memory.’

He felt sad for a moment, but then he noticed something on the current Lena that the little girl didn’t have. Alhendore’s expression twisted for a moment.

‘A ring…’

It was the very ring he had noticed during the second test.

“What’s with that ring?”

“Pardon?”

“On your left ring finger.”

At Alhendore’s words, Lena, who was rolling the sour candy in her mouth, looked at her finger.

“Ah, it’s a ring I share with my fiancé.”

“……You have a fiancé?”

“Yes.”

Alhendore looked at Lena, who was fiddling with the ring she shared with her fiancé, with a very displeased expression.

The shy expression she wore while talking about her fiancé irritated him immensely.

“Who is he?”

Lena shifted her eyes reluctantly.

‘Why does he need to know that?’

Although the question rose to her throat, she didn’t want to offend her superior. Instead of beating around the bush, she decided to introduce her fiancé.

“He’s Lord Galverd of Paraton Earldom.”

“Paraton, Paraton…”

Alhendore, mulling over her fiancé’s family name, rustled through some documents he had stashed away.

‘If I remember correctly, that side is for discarded documents.’

According to interim aide Ronver, the papers piled in the corner were supposed to be taken away by the disposal team.

‘But why is he suddenly looking there?’

After rummaging through various papers, Alhendore returned with a bundle.

As numerous questions bubbled up, Alhendore twisted his lips into a smirk.

“Ah, yes. Galverd Paraton. He failed the first round of the knight selection exam six times, so I revoked his eligibility.”

Lena blinked in surprise at the unexpected news. 

My fiancé had taken the knight selection exam?

“The first exam… He couldn’t even pass the basic physical test. What do you see in such a man? Lena Leshuriel.”

Why would he badmouth my fiancé right in front of me?

Lena frowned.

Though she hadn’t known her fiancé for long, she wore a serious expression, disliking her superior’s attitude of mocking Galverd.

“No matter what, I think your remarks about my fiancé are too harsh.”

“So, are you mad at me?”

What does that mean now?

“You shouldn’t be getting angry over something like this already.”

“Pardon…?”

“This is just the beginning.”

His gaze, fixed on her eyes, flickered lowly. Even though he was the one who said the harsh words, his eyes had a faint, sorrowful light, as if he was the one hurt.

The reason for his inexplicable meanness marked the end of their first encounter.

***

“It’s been a while, Miss Leshuriel.”

“It’s been a while, Lord Paraton.”

“Haha! We’re about to be married; you can just call me by my name.”

“Oh, alright then. I’ll do that, Galverd.”

After a hectic first day at work, Lena met her fiancé, whom she hadn’t seen due to the knight entrance exams.

Since their engagement was still fresh, the atmosphere was awkward. Lena briefly recalled their first meeting.

Galverd was a very delicate man. She had never met such a fragile man before and was a bit unsure how to treat him.

He felt almost like a familiar neighborhood friend.

Her hometown, the small port city of Ferdando, was a place where many pirates and mercenaries lived. Hence, everyone there had tanned skin and robust physiques.

Yes, just like the Captain.

‘What am I even thinking!’

Shaking her head quickly, Lena pondered what to say to break the awkward silence.

Starting with a light greeting would be good, right? A suitable greeting that wouldn’t be answered with just ‘yes’ or ‘no’.

“Is the business Earl Paraton promoting going well?”

“Yes, it’s all thanks to Earl Canabella.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Galverd Paraton. Her relationship with this man was complicated in many ways.

Her father, having lost his wife early, wanted his daughter to grow up without lacking anything.

He didn’t want her to marry into a poor rural baron’s family and suffer as he had. He wanted her to live as a noble lady from a distinguished family in the capital.

Her aunt, who shared the same sentiment, pushed for Lena’s engagement to the Paraton family. Her uncle, Earl Canabella, personally supported the Paraton family’s business.

Thanks to this, Lena, despite being the daughter of a baron, was able to secure an engagement with an Earl’s family. However, all the financial aspects of the engagement were borne by the Leshuriel Barony.

‘No matter how poor a baron is, they should at least have that much money, right?’

Earl Paraton demanded an absurdly extravagant engagement ceremony.

‘The Lavetai Grand Shrine.’

A place where high-ranking nobles got engaged, it wasn’t easy for a baron to casually rent it.

In the end, the Leshuriel Barony took on a massive amount of debt for Lena’s engagement. She couldn’t stop her father from doing so.

She knew all too well that he didn’t want his daughter to be humiliated for being a baron’s daughter without a few pennies to her name.

Lena felt she had no right to stop her father.

“So, you’ll be living in the capital from now on?”

Galverd habitually swept his bangs aside. Lena, who was about to reach for her teacup, quickly clasped her hands together at his question.

“Yes, I’ll be staying at my uncle’s house.”

“You couldn’t find a house for yourself?”

“Pardon?”

Lena, lost in her thoughts, couldn’t grasp the meaning of his words and blinked stupidly. Galverd laughed heartily and lifted his teacup.

“I’m happy that I can see you every day, haha!”

His booming laughter brought back a sense of unease. It felt like he had just made a very pointed remark.

‘It must be my imagination.’

She tried to ignore the strange stinging sensation. Galverd was her fiancé, after all. She didn’t want to start off on the wrong foot with the person she would spend the rest of her life with.

“It might be difficult to see each other every day.”

“Is there a problem?”

“I have to work. I don’t think I’ll be able to see you often.”

“Work? Why?”

He seemed genuinely curious, so she chose her words carefully.

“Because I lack a lot in many areas. I wanted to gain more experience.”

“Oh, no need.”

“Pardon?”

“May I ask what kind of work it is? It sounds quite intriguing!”

There it is again.

Although he was smiling, there was a strange discord. His lips, strained as if mocking, were deeply wrinkled.

Ah, he’s looking down on me.

Lena clasped her hands under the table.

She hadn’t wanted to say this, but she decided to tell him exactly what she did, as he seemed to insist on knowing.

Was it petty pride? 

Lena bit her lip.

“I’ve been appointed as the aide to the Captain of the knights.”

“What?”

The smooth, oily look on his face cracked slowly. The word ‘knight’ made his facial muscles twitch particularly hard.

Of course, it would. ‘Knight’ was the title Galverd had failed to obtain six times. It had become a hopeless dream he could no longer even attempt.

‘The Captain said he had revoked his eligibility to apply.’

Galverd forced a trembling smile, struggling to keep his expression in check.

“Do you really have to do that job?”

“Yes, it seems so…”

“Why?”

“Pardon?”

“Why the knights’ order, of all places?”

His face began to crack again, losing its composure. It seemed like a simple case of jealousy over something she could achieve that he couldn’t.

“Is there a problem?”

“Well, of course…! Ha…”

Galverd swallowed his rising frustration, seemingly trying to control his harsh words.

Lena’s mind was getting muddled with thoughts of whether she had hurt his pride unnecessarily. He finally spoke with a very displeased look.

“There are only men there.”

“Ah…”

That’s right. Yes, that’s true. Only then did Lena realize what she had overlooked.

In the current conservative empire, being a knight was naturally a man’s job. Female knights weren’t completely nonexistent, but they were extremely rare, perhaps one in a hundred.

‘It’s natural for Galverd to feel uncomfortable.’

Even if their relationship lacked love, he couldn’t help but be concerned if his fiancée was in a place filled with men.

Lena nodded once and began to speak.

“I won’t have much contact with the knights. I’ll always be by the captain’s side-.”

“Isn’t the captain a man?”

Thud.

Galverd cut her off, slamming his teacup down violently.

Seeing him blatantly display his displeasure, Lena desperately searched for an excuse.

‘But… what should I say?’

She couldn’t just reveal the truth that it was an unavoidable choice.

There was a significant reason Lena had joined the knights’ order.

Although they had already accumulated a lot of debt for the engagement, the dowry was a separate issue.

Her aunt had offered to lend her the money, but Lena didn’t want to burden her family any further.

For Lena, who lost her mother at a young age, her aunt was like a mother to her. A person who treated her like a daughter even though she wasn’t her biological child. That’s why she didn’t want to ask her aunt for help even more.

‘I’ve already relied on her enough.’

Just having her aunt be her ‘mother’ was already a huge debt.

And that’s not all. Her aunt’s money was also her uncle’s money.

The money invested in the failing business of Earl Paraton had already exceeded the amount of the dowry.

Lena wanted to save money on her own, without relying on her father, aunt, or uncle.

She couldn’t fill the dowry with her in-laws’ money. Lena wanted a job that could give her the highest possible wages among the jobs she could do.

A maid’s job?

‘Who would hire a baron’s daughter from the countryside as a maid, when they don’t even know her?’

Then, a servant’s job in the imperial palace?

‘It would be a miracle if I didn’t break any expensive antiques.’

Even though her family was poor, she was still a noble who had been attended to, so she couldn’t possibly do menial tasks.

Above all, she didn’t just need ‘money’; she needed ‘a lot of money’ in a short time.

After much consideration, she decided on the imperial knight order. Specifically, the Red Knight Order of the Crown Prince, which offered substantial hazard pay.

The Red Knight Order was also known as the ‘Monster Subjugation Squad.’ There was no better place to earn a lot of money in a short period.

“Well, for now… I understand. If that’s what you want,  Miss Leshuriel. Hmm, yes.”

“I’m really sorry.”

Although she felt she should offer some sort of excuse, she couldn’t think of any.

Moreover, although he didn’t look very pleased, he seemed to understand for now, so she ended it with a simple apology instead of a lame excuse.

She felt both grateful and sorry.

Looking back, she should have made some excuse instead of ending it with just an apology.

The relationship, which had started to go awry, was steadily cracking with invisible fissures.