He furrowed his brow at the illusion of her sweet scent lingering at the tip of his nose. The memory of that night becoming more vivid with each passing day was even more bewildering.

He deliberately shook off his thoughts, believing there was no need to assign any meaning to just one night.

He turned his head at that moment. The voices of the maids had reached his ears.

Among all the maids, Flora was the first one he noticed.

The maids took fearful steps backward under the Duke’s gaze. He briefly glanced at Flora’s face.

Their eyes met for a moment. Whatever thought crossed his mind in that instant, the Duke moved his finger slightly.

It was a signal for her to come here.

* * *

Though she came to the training grounds at his command, Flora stood somewhat awkwardly in the middle of a space packed with men.

Being a maid came with many restrictions on movement. They could only enter areas they’re permitted to, and the training grounds were completely off-limits.

Although the Duke had previously said she could visit occasionally when no one was around, she had never actually done so since he didn’t seem particularly keen on her using a sword.

“Why is a maid suddenly here?”

“It’s our lord’s order, so how would we know?”

The knights exchanged puzzled looks, wondering what thought had prompted him to call a maid.

After some contemplation, Claude spoke up.

“Hatsen!”

“Yes.”

A knight stepped forward, having been called unexpectedly. He was the vice-commander managing this place in the absent commander’s stead.

“Have a match with Flora here.”

At this unexpected order, not only the knight who was called, but all the surrounding knights looked bewildered. Understandably so, as the woman before them was clearly dressed as a maid of the mansion.

Heriot immediately turned his head slightly and asked with a smiling face, moving only his lips.

“Your Grace, what are you doing? If you’re tired of looking at the knights, why don’t you just go to your office and work? If you need more documents, I can bring as many as…”

“I’m just curious about Flora’s skill level.”

“Even so… Can’t you see how confused the knights are?”

After driving the knights hard since morning, now he was ordering them to cross swords with a maid. Heriot looked at his superior as if questioning his sanity.

The only one at ease in this situation was the Duke, who roughly knew Flora’s abilities. Though even he wasn’t entirely convinced.

Meanwhile, Flora was also somewhat taken aback by the sudden order.

Now she understood why the Duke had called her. He wanted to gauge her abilities to see if she really had handled the assassins alone.

While she could do it, she couldn’t help feeling bitter about it.

Heriot was restless in this absurd situation.

Hatsen was currently the strongest senior knight present, excluding the Duke. Even just considering physical build, there was an enormous difference between him and Flora.

Even if Flora had extensive battlefield experience, how could a mere fragile body stand against a formally trained knight?

Having completely forgotten about the incident from a few days ago, Heriot once again earnestly tried to dissuade the Duke.

“Look at them. Everyone thinks Your Grace has gone mad!”

“Honestly, you don’t believe it, do you? Neither do I.”

The aide roughly ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Regardless, Claude wanted to confirm her abilities with his own eyes.

“My lord… Are you serious about this?”

Though even Hatsen asked in disbelief, the Duke’s response was specific instructions for the match.

“The match will be won by whoever survives three exchanges first.”

The knight who suddenly found himself having to cross swords with a woman sighed with an expression of wounded pride. He thought the Duke must have some serious grudge against him.

Though reluctant, he couldn’t defy his lord’s orders. Besides, he had no room to speak since he had failed to notice any signs of the intruders a few days ago.

With no choice, Hatsen gripped his sword and stood facing Flora, who remained quietly standing. Seeing the woman looking around at the wooden swords, his arms went weak as if another sigh might escape.

He spoke condescendingly.

“If you’re scared of real swords, we can use wooden ones.”

“Can I use a real sword?”

The woman turned to ask the Duke. Claude firmly shook his head.

“No. Use a wooden sword.”

As Hatsen started to walk away to choose a wooden sword, another order fell.

“Hatsen, you use a real sword.”

Gasp.

Exclamations erupted from all around.

The knights’ minds were filled with thoughts that their lord had finally gone mad from lack of sleep.

Hatsen felt the same way. Risking looking like a fool, he asked once more.

“My lord, are you truly serious about this?”

The Duke’s eyes grew sharp, seemingly irritated by the knight’s repeated questioning.

In the end, their lord did not withdraw his order. By this point, Hatsen began to wonder if it was the woman who had committed some grave mistake rather than himself.

Finally, the woman who had chosen an utterly ordinary wooden sword showed her stance before him. As if the Duke’s order wasn’t strange at all, her expression remained blank.

“You start first.”

“No. I don’t want to hear about attacking a weak woman first, so you start.”

Hatsen retorted in a thoroughly condescending tone. In a match that would bring no praise even if he won, he had no desire to attack first.

The woman nodded silently, showing no gratitude.

Though her stance, with right foot forward and left foot back, looked somewhat proper, it didn’t change his impression.

Seeing the woman’s small frame made him feel exasperated again. He felt like a large bear facing a tiny rabbit, and it filled him with complicated emotions.

‘Still, she is a woman after all.’

Hatsen reminded himself of his chivalrous principles.

The woman’s platinum blonde hair swayed in the incoming wind.

“Then I’ll begin.”

The woman spoke calmly.

Just as he felt something odd about the strength in her voice, suddenly, the long wooden sword thrust toward his face.

* * *

“Gasp!”

Hatsen exhaled sharply as he barely managed to block the wooden sword that had flown at him unexpectedly with his hastily drawn sword.

He had been careless.

As expected, his years of training hadn’t been in vain, as he managed to dodge just in time to escape what could have been a shattered jaw.

Was it really just carelessness?

No, even if he hadn’t been careless, he keenly realized he couldn’t win against this woman.

Though Hatsen desperately blocked the incoming sword, he was increasingly being driven into a corner. This wasn’t right. Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

The woman relentlessly sought out his openings, making it overwhelming just to block her sword. Moreover, her speed was indescribably swift, forcing him back five steps in an instant.

It was utterly unbelievable. He, the vice-commander of the Heinst Knights, was being cornered by a small woman wielding just a wooden sword.

“How… is this… possible.”

Since the two began their match, Heriot had been muttering with a dumbfounded expression, his mouth hanging open.

She completely dispelled Heriot’s concerns with her perfectly composed face. The knights watching were equally shocked at the sight of a renowned knight struggling against a small woman.

As he confirmed Flora’s abilities, Claude’s expression grew increasingly cold.

To think he couldn’t even properly engage in one round, let alone three. Highly displeased by this sight, Claude clicked his tongue.

“Huff… huff…”

While everyone watched in breathless amazement, Hatsen, focused solely on defense, exhaled roughly. While he felt on the verge of retching, the woman displayed no signs of fatigue—not even irregular breathing.

Still, he couldn’t lose without landing at least one proper attack. The moment he saw the wooden sword targeting his abdomen, he shifted his center of gravity backward while slightly twisting his waist.

And just as he was about to thrust his sword toward what should have been an opening in her flank, the woman suddenly lowered her upper body and struck his wrist with her opposite hand.

The sword flew from Hatsen’s hand and stuck into the far edge of the training grounds. The maid’s movement, which had easily deflected even his final strike, finally ceased.

Hatsen, now wearing a bewildered expression, dropped to his knee.

“I yield.”

The training grounds were instantly buried in silence as if doused with cold water.

Behind the knights who couldn’t hide their shock, the Duke watched her with an unreadable expression.

Without needing to go to three rounds, the match was over.

The news that Flora was second only to the Duke in skill spread throughout the mansion the very next day.