Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Even after that day, the unbeaten Hizen’s losing streak continued.

His patience was over when it exceeded fifty.

“Get her out of here!”

“Commander-nim, she’s only guilty of hard work. There’s no reason to kick her out.”

“I said, get her out of here!”

It was the first time he saw him like this. His anger was clearly expressed by the visible blood vessels on his neck. Embarrassed, Max spoke carefully to him.

“If it’s because of the stable incident, wasn’t it Commander-nim’s mistake?”

“It’s not because of the stable, but because of a shower today! That perverted woman, my body…”

“What? A shower? What with your body?”

Hizen’s face suddenly blushed. There was no other insult like this. No matter how bad it was, it was an accident. But the shameful memory, that he could not tell anyone, was a nightmare.

He was red from his face to his long neck. He said, tossing the papers down.

“Is she the only maid in the world? Throw her out at all costs.”

What’s wrong with him, acting childish? Max spoke in a soft voice, as if to soothe the child.

“That’s too harsh. She came up from the country to see you, and she even gave up what she had been doing well in the capital.”

“She gave up what she had been doing? Hoh. You speak like you know everything.”

The target of his anger turned. Jeez. Surprised, Max turned to him.

“Anyway, Kasha likes her very much, so she won’t be able to separate from her easily. You have to admit what you have to admit now.”

“…I won’t admit it.”

Max, in trouble, sighed. He was tired now. He murmured in a gloomy voice.

“I’m out of this. If Commander-nim wants, you can persuade Kasha yourself.”

“What?”

“Honestly, Kasha-ssi is a little…”

The devil’s grandmother herself. Max trembled, recalling the headmaid Kasha. Her cold eyes and harsh tone were just the female version of Hizen.

“I’ll be on my way. From now on, please call me just for the knights’ business.”

Thud.

Max went out and closed the door. Hizen, who was looking at his back, bit the inside of his gums.

Click, click.

Tired, Hizen opened the drawer. He saw a picture with a little bit of a worn-out tip. He took it out with trembling hands. Two children in the picture stared straight ahead. Their age looked very different. Little Hizen looked displeased, and the red-haired girl next to him was smiling broadly.

Hizen could not take his eyes off the girl. It was a girl that everyone loved, and everything about her shone. Red hair, red eyes, mischievous personality, and wide opened lips.

The blue eyes looking at the picture shook greatly. He could not stand it and closed his eyes tightly.

[Hizen, don’t do that. You have to be fair.]

A rose-colored wave and a sweet smell fluttered in the breeze. The red eyes that swallowed the light bent finely.

[We’re just knights.]

The girl’s words lingered in his ears. It was a gentle, but scolding voice.

Hizen, who had been in conflict for a long time, jumped up. There was a determined will on his face.

*

Leasis, who was pulling weeds from the training ground, sighed. She had been a little tired lately.

Hizen’s cold eyes were more on her mind than the intensity of the work. Their relationship showed little sign of improvement. She thought it was like breaking a rock with an egg.

Neren had been worried before he died. A letter of recommendation for joining the Imperial Elite Knights was just a piece of paper. It was only possible to melt his frozen heart after several warm springs.

He was right. Despite countless attempts to approach him, Hizen rarely opened his heart. There was not even a minute gap.

Was he also the most powerful knight on the continent? Leasis murmured inwardly. There was no iron wall like this. She could not show her swordsmanship without permission, and she could not make up anything without permission. There was little opportunity to speak. It was frustrating.

“Miss Leasis, take a break.”

“Hello, Max-nim!”

Leasis sprang to her feet. She bowed her head when she received a cup of coffee from Max.

“Thank you.”

“You’re going through so much trouble.”

“No, I’m not. Of course it’s something I have to do.”

The warm coffee melted away her fatigue. Max, watching her, asked carefully.

“Miss Leasis. Until when are you going to challenge the Commander-nim?”

Her red eyes got bigger when he asked an unexpected question. She could not answer right away.

“I’ll tell you the truth.”

Max did not say it again. He thought this was the best way for Hizen, who was poor at expressing his emotions.

“You are aware that some of the orders you were following were from the Commander-nim.”

“…Yes.”

Max sighed. He looked at the Commander’s office in the distance. It was tightly closed.

“To be honest, I don’t know the reason either. I don’t know why he’s doing that.”

“Is my method wrong?”

When Leasis fiddled with her coffee cup, Max smiled bitterly.

“Haha. The person who manages to break the stubbornness of the Commander-nim could probably easily catch a dragon.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. Well, actually, I want to cheer for Miss Leasis.”

“What?”

“I wasn’t living in a good place before, either. I come from a family on the outskirts of the country that was going bankrupt.”

Max’s calm-spoken tone was a little bit bitter. It was not a good memory. He took a sip of coffee and smiled faintly.

“It’s been a challenge since I got into the knight training center. Even if I selled the house, it would cover nothing but the admission fees, and I could never dream of buying textbooks. There have also been multiple times of discharge crisis…”

“…Ah.”

“In conclusion, I was able to survive thanks to the current Commander-nim.”

Max’s story was amazing. He went through hell and his skills were poor. From the starting line, it was a big surprise that nobles living in other regions would catch up with the nobility in the capital.

As the eldest son of a poor nobleman, he could not concentrate entirely on the sword. On Max’s shoulders were his younger brothers. He wanted to learn swordsmanship, but he had to take responsibility for his siblings.

It was a series of hardships. During the day, he learned swordsmanship at a knight training center, and at night he worked at a blacksmith’s shop near the training camp, beating iron.

There was someone who looked at such a poor noble boy. It was Hizen. At first, it was only Hizen’s outrageous duel request. Of course, the result was Max’s defeat.

Max’s self-esteem was hurt when he was defeated by a much younger man than he was. So he asked for a duel again, and the confrontation between the two was repeated.

Hizen provided Max with money and meals instead of playing against him. To the extent that his pride was hurt.

“Thanks to that, my skills improved a lot, although I was beaten to death.”

He rolled up the sleeves of his black uniform to show his scars. There were large and small scars made by a sword. Max was proud of them.

“Did he say high-intensity training? Still, I was able to make it to this place by clenching my teeth. Well, thanks to the Commander-nim.”

“You’re amazing.”

“That was great. Well, though, I’m glad I only got injured from bumping into the Commander-nim. It’s a problem that Miss Leasis is injured where it’s not noticeable.”

“What?”

“The heart. Miss Leasis’ heart.”

His sweet brown eyes captured her. He could see everything. The heart with fine cracks, the hard work.

Max’s brothers were as young and kind as Leasis. Thanks to them, he could easily see through her.

“It’s a problem because it’s not visible even if it hurts too much. If you had bled like me, the Commander-nim would have refrained from continuing, but you’re pretending to be okay, so he doesn’t notice at all.”

Leasis, who had been found out, lowered her eyes. Somehow she felt like she was facing Neren.

“But it won’t be all pointless. Please be a little more courageous.”

“Ah…”

Her lips open and closed several times. She wanted to thank him. But she was so grateful that she could not say anything. Max patted her on the head.

“Take a special vacation for the time being. I’ll tell Kasha-ssi separately, so take a break at Liduré.”

“But…”

“When a warrior is in a battle, morale is also very important. Miss Leasis needs to boost her morale now.”

“Thank you.”

Leasis nodded as she wiped her eyes. She raised herself up, saying she would greet the headmaid in person.

Together, the two moved to Kasha’s office.

*

Meanwhile, an unexpected visitor rushed into Kasha’s office at that time. The uninvited guest’s request was to change the placement of a new maid.

Kasha, who was sitting at her desk and looking at her duties, snorted.

“What? A switch of placements? Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Hey, maid.”

Thack. Casha stared at the handsome blond man in front of her and put down her papers loudly. He was a busy man who usually could not even take his nose out of his office.

Who was it? He was the war hero, Count Hizen Ben Dratius. Kasha snorted. Everyone was praising him, but he was just a hindrance to her.

The most important thing for Kasha right now was her plan to clean the back of the Imperial Palace. Even if the Emperor came, her priorities would not change.

“The area is finally stabilized. Do you know how much trouble I’ve been having with the Imperial Elite Knights? I’m glad she’s here. For a while, all the maids had run away!”

“No, I mean…”

She got more feverish as she spoke. Kasha said in a fit of anger.

“When I go there, I feel like my soul is rotting away.”

“Hey, maid. I mean, that maid…”

“That’s enough! Anyway, Count Dratius-nim’s knights are filthy!”

Hizen’s face distorted. Having a conversation with Kasha was impossible. The red-haired girl and that woman seemed to be on the same side.

But he could not give up. Hizen had to open his mouth again to resolve the misunderstanding.

Creak.

At that moment, the door opened and someone came in. It was Max with a perplexed face and an expressionless Leasis. Her red eyes gleamed ominously. It was the first time he felt this atmosphere, so Max standing next to her flinched.

Max blamed Hizen with his eyes, ‘Why did you do that?’ Hizen could not understand. Why was everyone looking at him like that? He frowned.

“Oh, you’re here. Do you have work here?”

The devil’s grandmother was acting cute. Her unexpected sweet voice gave Hizen and Max goose bumps on their forearms.

Of course, Leasis was familiar with it. She was a ‘real hero’ who transformed the dirty Imperial Elite Knights. Leasis raised the corners of her mouth.

“Yes, headmaid-nim.

The Count-nim is dirty.”

‘Don’t tell me you’re covering for me.’

Hizen looked surprised at the unexpected development. His ears rang with a sweet voice.

“Count Dratius-nim…”

‘What about you, Count-nim?’

“You’re dirty.”

“Quite a lot.”

Natural enemies. Hizen had these big words in front of him. His eyes grew bigger seeing the word ‘dirty’ for the first time in his life. But he felt strange. Rather than being angry, he had an unknown question first.

In the meantime, he did not want to see her smile. It was also uncomfortable to see her talk shamelessly beyond being nice. But today, Leasis was not like herself. She had not a welcoming voice, nor was she smiling. In a way, it was what he had hoped.

However, seeing her like this made him feel low. He even thought that it would be a little better to see her smiling face. Hizen’s question mark in his head grew bigger.

Leasis’ breath became rough as she closed her eyes tightly. She took a few deep breaths and asked in a low voice.

“I just overheard it. You mean my transition arrangement, right?”

“That’s right.”

When Hizen softly affirmed, her eyes and mouth opened at the same time. A fierce criticism fell on Hizen.

“Where are you going to send me? I don’t think this is at all the due process you were talking about.”

She stressed the words ‘at all’. Leasis had always been active, and so was she arguing.

It did not matter if she was in front of Hizen and the headmaid. Leasis was so sad and angry. Even if he did not recognize her efforts, she did not expect him to give up like this.

He was in a dilemma. Max covered his eyes with both hands. He never looked at Hizen.

Then, Hizen burst into a light laugh. Because he figured out the cause of her anger. She was completely mistaken about the current situation.

Hizen felt strangely rewarded. Even though he was just told that he was dirty, he was more pleased than angry. He felt proud that he finally gave her a blow.

Is he out of his mind? Max was so worried, but a peaceful voice was heard.

“Everyone must be mistaken. I’m here today to ask for due process.”

“…What?”

“Kasha. I want this red-haired maid to be my direct maid. In the meantime, her performance is very fair to be promoted to a maid of honor.”

A head-on breakthrough.

It was Hizen’s last game.