Chapter 51

Her head was ringing hard, and her throat was burning. With the first hangover she had ever had in her life, Leasis whined in bed.

Stretching out an arm, she managed to catch a glass bottle in her hand. When she put it on her lips, cold water flowed in.

When she woke up a little more and raised her head, she saw an unfamiliar ceiling. Was it a newly assigned room? Leasis was lost in thought, rubbing her red eyes.

The room she was assigned to was located at the very end of the 1st Division’s dormitory. Although it was a dormitory, it was cleaner and better than most noble reception rooms.

She did not expect to be the owner of such a clean room until recently. She was dazed because she suddenly felt like she was dreaming.

Looking blankly at the ceiling, Leasis raised her body halfway. It was her first day at the 1st Division of Imperial Knights, and she could not be late.

As she staggered while approaching the table, she saw a golden uniform of the Imperial Knights, pressed hard. Even that felt strange, so she only fiddled with the sleeves of the uniform. It was her first time wearing clothes that others had ironed. Leasis picked up the clothes a little awkwardly.

Her mouth widened as she saw her reflection in her full-length mirror. The uniform, which was harmonized in gold and black, suited her nicely. She murmured a little while looking in the mirror.

“That’s ridiculous. I can’t believe I’m a knight…”

She had been hoping for it so much, so she thought it was okay to feel a little tensed. Leasis wiggled her fingers and laughed like a fool.

It was a shame that she could not join Hizen’s Knights, but it was still good. It was very overwhelming to belong to such brilliant people.

She kept looking at the mirror again because she wanted to see herself, and she saw something for the first time. A blue rose brooch was pinned to her chest. Maybe she had got it as a present.

Leasis tilted her head and found something else. It was a sword on the table. The luxurious sword also had the name ‘Leasis’ gracefully engraved on it. She thought Max had given it to her.

I’ll have to thank you next time. Leasis made a vow inside and stepped out of the room.

‘But how did I get here yesterday?’

She made her way through the last memory at the party. She got drunk and apologized to Jason, and with Hizen on the balcony… She stopped walking and covered her mouth with her hands.

[Drink moderately from now on.]

“Ahhh… what did I do!”

She vaguely remembered being carried on Hizen’s back after drinking alcohol. In addition, Hizen had forbidden her tor use a real sword.

She shook her head greatly as she recalled Hizen’s order. This was not the time to think about him. To get to him again, she needed to be transferred. She had to stay alert and work with the 1st Division for three months.

Leasis clenched her fists and moved hurriedly.

She was really excited. Meeting her first colleagues. No matter who a knight was, they would need trustworthy colleagues. It kept tickling her heart to think that she would have such colleagues as well.

She even hummed when arriving at the training ground of the 1st Division of Imperial Knights. They were already training outdoors.

“Good morning!”

When Leasis greeted them, the Imperial Knights glared at her with disapproving eyes.

They were not pleased with her presence here. They could not like a maid with low status joining the Knights.

She had won the gladiator tournament and joined their Division upon Schwalnon’s request, but they could not accept her.

For them, Leasis’ existence was uncomfortable and even scary. They were not able to watch the gladiator tournament in person because they had been on a mission, but she was well known now. She was really talented with tremendous skills.

She even caught the crazy prince’s eye. Besides, she may now threaten their position.

Their heads were full of plans to get rid of Leasis. Their first plan was to give her the position of ‘trainee’ as a temporary knight, not an official knight.

They protested against Schwalnon, asking how he could have taken a mere maid from the Imperial Palace to work in the same unit as them.

Schwalnon ignored them not to offend Elnos, but in the end he was forced to accept their request of making her a trainee, as the knights were refusing to train.

The knights’ facial expressions changed grimly. Now they were going to make her roll in all kinds of hell. Their second plan had already begun as most of the maids assigned to the 1st Division had been sent back. They were going to force her to serve as a maid, mostly doing cleaning-like chores unrelated to the knights’ duties.

Of course, Leasis did not know about their plans. She was very embarrassed by the unexpected and cold atmosphere. She did not mean to ask for hospitality, but their gazes were very uncomfortable. It was a gaze that she had only felt in the orphanage, like they were looking at a bug.

Nevertheless, she bowed politely because she had to keep the basics.

“Good morning. I’m Leasis, a new knight.”

Despite today being the new knight’s first day, Schwalnon was unable to come to the training ground due to heavy drinking the previous day. As a result, the knights were even more excited. They glared at her and cursed, then threw a mop and broom on the floor.

Their hostility grew like a runaway locomotive. No matter how good she was, she could not get used to this situation easily.

Surprised, she looked at the mop that fell on the floor, and the knights laughed.

“Hey, maid. Just clean up.”

“Do you think a loach like you can be a real member of our unit? Wake up.”

They did not know Leasis very well. Before she was assigned to the 1st Division, she had to suffer all kinds of abuse by Hizen. She was not a person who would feel humiliated by such bullying.

Moreover, the training ground of the 1st Division was not clean. It stimulated her cleaning instinct. She could not stand a dirty workplace. She had work all her life, so it was natural to think so.

“Where shall I start?”

Leasis actively asked, picking up the mop on the floor. When she asked impudently, the knights looked at each other, embarrassed.

It was so different from what they had expected. She did not cry, and even rolled her sleeves up. She really looked ready to clean up.

The Vice Commander, a blue-haired man named Karma, folded his arms. He scrutinized her and said sarcastically.

“You said you were a maid, but don’t you have any pride? A knight is cleaning up. Do our knights look so easy?”

“Then shall I not?”

When Leasis asked with an innocent face, Karma frowned. He thought she was provoking him, but she looked serious.

She was more stupid than he had thought. Karma smiled viciously.

“No. Clean everything up. If you don’t clean up from now on, you won’t even be able to see our knights practice.”

It was unfair. It was ridiculous for Leasis to clean up, as a knight. Some of the surrounding knights looked at their Vice Commander, who was more aggressive than usual. If this was known by the Imperial Family, it would be difficult to avoid punishment.

Vice Commander Karma hated Leasis that much. In his eyes, Leasis was a woman who did not know where she came from.

It had taken him a deathly effort to join the 1st Division of Imperial Knights, as he was from the lower nobility. Starting at the knights training camp, he threw his head on the ground and rolled in the mud.

Karma stared at Leasis with cold eyes. No matter what tricks she had used, the maid-turned-trainee was something he could never accept.

However, Leasis was much more determined than he had thought. She saluted bravely.

“Okay, Vice Commander-nim.”

Karma frowned at the title ‘Vice Commander’. It was unpleasant for him to hear her call his title for the first time so clearly. She waved her hand holding the mop even though he was staring at her.

Of course, Leasis was a little nervous inside. Recently, Max had given her some information. It was about the actions and people she needed to be careful of in the 1st Division.

In particular, the blue-haired Karma was the man Max had talked about the most. He was the actual leader of the 1st Division. He was the Vice Commander, but was more active than Schwalnon, and he was a smart and strong man. And she had heard that he had a different attachment to the 1st Division.

Leasis could not accept all of Karma’s unfair treatment, but understood his feelings to some extent. It would not feel pleasant to see someone easily enter the place you struggled so much to reach.

Leasis rolled her sleeves up twice and looked around. At first glance, she could see many places that needed to be cleaned up, and some of them had clearly been messed up on purpose.

She started by quickly cleaning up the trash first. The knights opened her mouth as they saw how fast and accurate she was.

Karma, whose expression was twisted at the sight of her eager cleaning, bit his lips. He said aggressively.

“If you can’t clean up by the end of the day, you’re neither a trainee nor anything. It ends today.”

If anyone else heard it, they would shiver, but Leasis was calm. Was she not the one who survived despite the toughness?

“Yes, I understand.”

Leasis picked up the broom that had fell on the ground. Then she smiled at the knights who were watching her with a ferocious face.

“I’m sorry, but you’re interrupting my when I’m cleaning, so could you leave?”

“What, what?”

“I don’t want anyone else here when I clean up. It’s not good for your health if you breath dust.”

Frustrated by the unexpected counterattack, the knights looked at each other. When Karma coughed, the members bluffed as if they had waited.

“From a servant to a maid, so you think cleaning is fine. Let’s see how long you’re in high spirits!”

“Well, yeah! Do you think you can clean this big training ground by yourself?”

Leasis began sweeping the floor of the training ground pretending not to hear. Then Karma laughed at her.

“Hey, Newbie. Tomorrow, come out before the early morning training and clean the swords of the knights.”

Cleaning things was also something she had always done since she was a maid. Leasis did not show the response they wanted again this time.

“Yes.”

Karma’s blood pressure rose at her obedient attitude. What kind of crazy girl was that? When things did not go as planned, he left with harsh curses.

Leasis walked past the lawn and began to brush hard on the plains. Even though she was alone, this much was nothing compared to the Imperial Elite Knights’ facilities.

Then, she could hear the knights laughing at her.

“I can’t believe he took that stupid woman as his own maid. Count Dratius has no eye for people.”

“I mean. Isn’t he the best knight on the continent or something?”

At that moment, Leasis stopped moving and stared at them. A blue energy rose like a fire from the broom she was holding.

*

Max was walking on two narrow lines. One was the endless trust of the weakened Emperor, and the second was Elnos’ dangerous interest in swaying the Empire.

Max earnestly took care of what Elnos ordered. But he could not get caught by Hizen, so he could only move in his absence.

However, there was not even a small gap these days. Hizen did not leave the Commander’s office, like he was stuck to it. Max sought an excuse to draw him out. Which one would be good?

Max, who was agonizing over it, bit his lips. Most of all, what was bothering him was Leasis’ identity. She had told others that her healing ability was learned from the Commander Ramashter. But it was weird that she could treat a Cerberus and use a blue aura. It was a situation that could only be described as strange.

‘What the hell…’

At that time, the door of the Commander’s office opened without notice. Max smiled nonchalantly, casually hiding one of the top secret documents in between general documents.

“Jason. What’s going on?”

“Miss Leasis… Miss Leasis!”

Jason approached the desk with a white face. Max became troubled when he heard Leasis’ name.

Jason still had not given up on Leasis. He had asked a friend from the 1st Division of Imperial Knights about Leasis, and heard what happened.

Max remembered that one of Jason’s colleagues from the knights training center was there. One who especially had an impressive motivation to spread stories and rumors.

“Vice Commander-nim, listen to me!”

“I’m listening, so tell me.”

“No, I don’t know. Miss Leasis…”

Jason spoke in an exasperated voice, telling that the situation was mostly bad, that the Knights were openly discriminating her.

He could not hear any more. Whatever her identity was, she was a cherished little sister to him.

Max jumped up from his seat.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes! I’m going to break into the 1st Division…”

“Let’s go training.”

“What? What about Miss Leasis! Vice Commander-nim!”

Max forcibly dragged Jason by the neck, as he continued begging. His destination was an outdoor training ground for the Imperial Elite Knights.

The knights were conducting one-on-one combat exercises under Hizen’s direction. Max forced Jason into it and approached Hizen.

Hizen, who was checking the knights’ posture, gave them a slight look. Max asked so quietly that only Hizen could hear him.

“Commander-nim. Do you think Miss Leasis will be all right?”

“There’s no reason she would not be all right.”

Hizen was calm, but Max was anxious. No matter how outstanding Leasis was, how could she survive in the den of a problematic group with leaders like Schwalnon, Karma, and other crazy people? He could not relieve his anxiety.

He had only heard it from Jason, but it was vivid as if he was there. He was sure they would bother her terribly.

The 1st Division of Imperial Knights was famous for its unusual appearance. In the past, a knight of the 2nd Division left the Imperial Palace running away after switching to the 1st Division. This was because Karma, who saw him grudgingly, would make him trembled every time their eyes met. Anyway, they were not normal.

‘Don’t tell Jason. I’ll sneak up there later.’

Max was thinking to himself, but Hizen said lowly.

“Don’t go.”

“What?”

“It doesn’t help at all to go to Leasis now. She’s the only one who can solve her problems with the 1st Division.”

Hizen spat out the words and pressed the handle of his sword. He was the one who wanted the most to run to her now. But he had to endure it for her.

Leasis was not yet an official knight. In order for her to get a place, she had to prove herself and get recognized.

Perhaps she had had to join the unit as a trainee because the knights and some aristocrats thought it was inappropriate for a maid to become a knight.

In addition, she had to be more cautious because it was clear that the nobles, who were usually not happy with her, would watch her every actions.

Max could not speak anymore because he understood the situation. Still, when he could not help but sigh, Hizen said low.

“Trust Leasis.”