[Ah, you mean the Zinion family head’s daughter, Taniel Zinion? Everyone else was against it, but they say the family head and his wife insisted on giving their daughter the best teacher available, so she ended up taking charge of the training. I heard she refused at first.]

[Honestly, that person is quite the piece of work. Isn’t she a little too proud? Who does she think she is, refusing the wishes of a sacred family? If it were me, I would have bowed and said thank you on the spot. Having the Zinion family head’s daughter as a student means a connection to a sacred family just fell into her lap.]

[Well, even if she’s low-born, she has every right to be proud. They say no one in the entire order has sacred power as strong as hers. Her swordsmanship is supposedly unmatched too.]

[That’s exactly why she has so many enemies. Her origins are humble, but her ability is exceptional.]

[Don’t you think she was deliberately assigned to this operation? Sent to infiltrate the underworld in hopes she’d get herself killed.]

[Yeah, that’s possible.]

Whatever people whispered, Mirha Elapha quietly obeyed her orders. Faithfulness to her mission was simply what it meant to be a knight.

But then she caused trouble. Less than a few months into the undercover assignment, she acted on her own and dismantled the slave auction house, beating the managers and customers there to within an inch of their lives.

As if that weren’t enough, she rescued a child registered as merchandise at the auction house and returned with him to the holy nation’s capital. It was an open act of insubordination against the order’s orders.

To formally question and punish the insolent Mirha Elapha, a hearing was convened the day after her return.

“Mirha Elapha, you used force against civilians of the holy nation without obtaining permission from the commander of the Elapha Order. Do you acknowledge this?”

“I acknowledge it.”

“The civilians of the holy nation you just mentioned did not harm you first, and the confrontation began with your unprovoked attack. Do you acknowledge this?”

“I acknowledge it.”

“You then left the scene and returned to the Moonlight Night Palace without authorization, again without permission from the commander of the Elapha Order. Do you acknowledge this?”

“I do not acknowledge it. I did not return without authorization. Although I was unable to obtain permission in advance, I did notify the commander of my return before leaving the scene.”

“But as you yourself just admitted, you did not seek prior permission. Do you acknowledge this?”

“…I acknowledge it.”

Mirha answered calmly. She stood in the center of the chamber, and the Senate sat around a round table encircling her.

The ground where Mirha stood was slightly lower, so she had to look up slightly while the others looked down at her. A rather familiar arrangement.

‘Tiresome.’

Beyond tiresome, it was so dull she nearly yawned. Mirha pressed her lips together and restrained herself from being rude.

“We will give you the opportunity to explain yourself. You are permitted to speak in your own defense.”

The middle-aged woman seated at the head of the Senate opened in a solemn voice. Mirha looked up at the stern face of a woman who resembled her beloved student quite closely, and spoke without expression.

“The auction house managers were abusing the child. They mocked him, saying his face was pretty enough that he’d fetch a high price when he was older. They made lewd remarks about whether they ought to sample him for themselves before registering him as merchandise.”

Mirha delivered the account with cold composure, exactly as she remembered it, and the faces of the senators who heard her blunt report shifted. Some showed anger. Others seemed to be suppressing nausea.

“Then, under the pretense of checking the merchandise for defects, they tried to undress the child. When he resisted, the manager struck him across the face, and after that the child went quiet. It appeared the situation would escalate to r*pe, so I intervened on my own judgment. Obeying orders is a knight’s virtue, but I believe that protecting the weak and upholding the holy nation’s convictions is a knight’s duty.”

Mirha’s composed voice was as cold as frost. So was the gaze she leveled at the chief senator without flinching.

Kelena Zinion, head of the Zinion family, the sitting chief senator, and Taniel’s mother, listened to Mirha’s report and was silent for a moment.

“…Whatever the circumstances, it is an undeniable fact that you defied the order commander’s orders. Disciplinary action cannot be avoided. Your punishment will be left to the order commander’s discretion.”

“Yes, Senator.”

“Where is the child you brought back?”

“He is currently resting at my quarters.”

“Since you are the one who brought him out, you are responsible for him. For the time being, step down from your duties, remain confined to your quarters, and care for the child. Until foster parents can be found to take him in.”

“I will comply.”

“Then we will close the hearing here. The information you gathered before you left the scene without authorization has already been passed along through the order commander, so we will forgo the report at this session.”

“Yes, Senator.”

“You are dismissed.”

The chief senator announced the close of the hearing, and Mirha bowed in respect. The other senators rose from their seats, murmuring among themselves.

Among them, one person spoke in a low voice with the senator beside her while stealing frequent glances at Mirha. Mirha felt the gaze but gave no sign of noticing and turned to leave the chamber.

For a while, no one called after her or stopped her. Mirha left Juhwa Palace in relative peace.

But the moment Mirha turned into a quiet corridor, taking a shortcut toward the Moonlight Night Palace, a soft voice wound itself around her ear.

“Beating down criminals, rescuing a child, and then a hearing the moment you return without so much as a breath to catch. You’ve worked hard, Dame Mirha.”

It was a familiar voice. Mirha turned slowly.

“It’s been a while, Senator Avelin.”

Avelin Pollach, a senior cleric and sitting senator. The woman with the gentle face who watched Mirha leave the chamber with quiet sideways glances. Her caramel-colored hair was streaked here and there with grey.

Not of a sacred family, but born into a reasonably respected noble house, she was known for her fine character and deep faith, and her reputation in the Senate was good.

Even Mirha, who held clergy and nobles in no great esteem, showed Avelin genuine respect. Avelin was one of the few people who never mocked Mirha for her origins.

“You’ve grown thin, Dame Mirha. I wonder whether you managed to eat properly while you were away.”

“Regular meals are a luxury during undercover work. But I didn’t go hungry too often, so please don’t worry.”

“So you did go hungry sometimes? No wonder you look so gaunt.”

“Gaunt, Senator? Anyone would say I look perfectly healthy.”

“No, your color is clearly worse than the last time I saw you. But you’re back in the capital now, so rest easy. Eat all the food you missed out on.”

Avelin smiled with the warmth of a neighbor’s grandmother and gave Mirha’s shoulder a familiar pat. The old senator’s gaze on the young knight was genuinely fond. Mirha returned the warmth in kind.

“Thank you for your concern, Senator. I hope you remain in good health as well.”

Mirha answered politely, and Avelin smiled. The senator added in a near whisper.

“The disciplinary action handed down to you is regrettable. As you said yourself, you did nothing more than fulfill your duty as a knight.”

The expression left Mirha’s face. She swallowed her discomfort and looked away from the senator’s gaze. Avelin seemed to understand her reaction and stepped back with a somewhat bitter smile.

“As a cleric who follows the will of the Senate, I cannot say this openly, but I believe the chief senator’s handling of this matter was deeply unjust. You rescued a child in danger. What act could be more in accordance with the will of God? You showed what a true knight looks like.”

“…Thank you for thinking so, Senator. But the fact that I defied orders is real. I don’t believe the disciplinary action is unjust.”

Mirha mixed truth and falsehood in equal measure. A few years ago, she wouldn’t have been able to deceive herself and others with such composure. She would have seethed for a good while, unable to contain her sense of injustice.

But thirty-three-year-old Mirha was a worn-down knight by now. She accepted long ago that the order was nothing more than a gathering of people born with sacred power, not a true assembly of those who followed the will of God.

The order, which maintained the holy nation’s security in the name of God, was not a particularly just or holy organization. Here, religion and politics were two sides of the same coin, and both were stained with more corruption than she could count.

So she had no intention of weeping and throwing a fit over the injustice of receiving cold disciplinary action without a word of praise for rescuing a child in danger.

“Yes, I thought you would say something like that.”

Avelin murmured with a bitter note. Her eyes on Mirha were full of sorrowful pity. Mirha met her gaze without expression.

“I’ve kept a tired person standing here too long. You must want to get back to your quarters and rest.”

“Not at all, Senator. I’m the one who fears I’ve taken up too much of your time.”

“You’re not particularly afraid of that, and yet you say it so smoothly. In any case, take care of yourself, Dame Mirha. Let’s speak again when the opportunity arises.”

“It would be an honor, Senator.”

Mirha bowed and turned away. Avelin stood for a moment, watching Mirha’s retreating figure, and only turned away herself once the sound of footsteps had fully faded.

At that moment, a flash of red briefly lit Avelin’s light brown irises, but no one was there to notice.