Chapter 19
“Come in.”
At Sir Chent’s permission, a man dressed in clothing bearing the crest of the Duke of Orleans opened the door and bowed toward me.
“I’ve come to see Lady Ventus.”
Me? Did Rayon send a servant? No, Rayon must be busy right now, right?
I spoke to the servant, who was still bowing.
“You can get up now. What brings you to see me?”
“The Duchess asked me to deliver this to you, my lady.”
The servant offered me a large fabric bag. I took it and opened it to find what looked like Rayon’s clothes neatly arranged with a small letter.
It was a letter from Rayon’s mother, Duchess Lizabetha.
As if to confirm it was from the Duchess, a sweet perfume scent wafted from the stationery when I picked up the letter. I took the letter out of the envelope and unfolded it.
“Ah…”
After reading the entire contents, I went to my desk and quickly wrote a short reply on a blank sheet of paper. At the end, I added a line telling her not to worry, then put the letter in an envelope, sealed it with wax, and handed the envelope to the servant.
“Please deliver this to the Duchess.”
“Yes, Lady.”
As the servant bowed and left, Sir Chent asked me with a curious expression.
“What did the Ducal family send?”
“Rayon’s clothes.”
“Clothes?”
“Yes, Rayon hasn’t been able to go home for several days. The Duchess was worried, so she sent some clothes and food.”
“But why did she send it to you instead of the knights? Oh, right. The Knights’ side is completely restricted now without a palace access pass.”
“Yes, and usually, access to the Imperial Knights is strict anyway. So when Rayon is too busy, I’ve delivered things for him a few times like this.”
“I see.”
“Then I’ll head to the knights’ quarter for a bit.”
“Alright. Well, you don’t necessarily have to stop by. We don’t have anything else to do, so let’s leave early today too.”
“Okay then.”
I should go home and get some good sleep.
I grabbed my bag and left the office.
* * *
The First Imperial Knight Order, where Rayon belonged, was located east of the Imperial Palace. The entire large building, operated as the knights’ headquarters, the Ordo Palace, was where everything related to the Empire’s military power was concentrated.
Unlike the Viatus Palace in the west, where small palaces were clustered, the Ordo Palace, with its large open spaces and forests, was distinctly different from the Viatus Palace in terms of size and construction.
Walking along a dirt path, not marble like the Viatus Palace, I soon saw the square-roofed eastern palace come into my sight.
As I approached the knights’ building, one of the two guards approached and blocked my way.
“Lady, you may not enter the knight order without special permission right now.”
“Oh, I can’t enter even if I have a palace access pass?”
I thought a palace access pass was enough unless it was an emergency… Has security been tightened further because of the envoy preparations?
“No. I apologize, but currently, you cannot enter with just an access pass. The security level has been raised.”
At the guard’s firm response, I looked at the bag in my hand with a bewildered expression. What should I do with this then? If people can’t enter, it was only natural that items couldn’t be brought in either.
No, seriously, what kind of performance are they preparing for the envoys that they’ve kept the knights tied up for days and now even tightened access control?
I had no choice but to turn away from the palace entrance.
“I sent a letter saying I’d deliver it… Hmm, what should I do?”
As I walked, considering if I should stop by the Duke’s estate for a moment, I saw Havel, whom I hadn’t seen in a week, approaching from the opposite direction.
Beside Havel was Rowan, the vice-commander of the First Knight Order, known as Havel’s loyal subordinate.
Red hair and orange eyes. He was a quite famous man, originally a commoner mercenary, who joined the Knights impressed by Havel’s reputation and rose to the position of vice-commander.
And.
“Oh, Lady Serira!”
He was also a man who kept trying to be friendly with me.
We’d only met a few times on dispatch missions, but after I saved his life once, he would strike up conversations every time we met.
If I had known someone so solidly built had such a chattering mouth, I wouldn’t have… No, it was a human life. Right, let’s not think like that.
I shook off my thoughts and greeted the two of them.
“Sir Rowan, Your Highness the Grand Duke.”
“Just call me Rowan, Lady.”
“No thank you. And Sir Rowan, I don’t recall giving you permission to use my name.”
“Aw, you’re my life-saver. Just be comfortable with me.”
I raised only the corners of my lips and stared at Rowan, strongly sending him a look that said, ‘I don’t want to be comfortable with you!’ Whether Rowan understood my feelings or not, he just laughed loudly, “Haha.”
Ah, I just want to hit him once.
Just as his boisterous laughter started to sting my ears, a low voice was heard.
“Lady Ventus.”
At Havel’s voice, Rowan’s laughter stopped abruptly. Havel strode forward, and was now a step closer to me than Rowan. Just as I reached for the hem of my dress to curtsy properly, Havel’s voice rang out.
“No need for greetings. What brings you here?”
“Indeed, Lady, what brings you here? Ah, are you perhaps here to see Sir Rayon?”
Before I could answer, Rowan’s loud voice cut between us. When Rayon’s name came up, a sharp glint flashed through Havel’s soft gaze.
Oh, this feeling isn’t good.
I looked at Rowan, telling him with my eyes to please shut up, but unfortunately, Rowan didn’t understand my meaning and spoke even louder.
“Well, I’ve seen Lady Serira come here to meet Sir Rayon a few times. Perhaps that’s why you’ve come? Isn’t that right, Lady?”
“…No, I just came at the Duchess’s request.”
“So you are here to see Sir Rayon.”
Havel’s heavy voice felt like it was pressing down on me. I thought it would be better to admit it now rather than denying it and having the truth revealed later, which would be worse, but perhaps not.
Havel’s dark, sunken eyes fell on the bag I was holding.
“Is that what the Duchess requested?”
“Yes… it’s Rayon’s clothes and some food…”
“Rowan, take it.”
“Me? Why me? No, wouldn’t it be better for the lady to go into the Knights’ headquarters and deliver it directly to Sir Rayon?”
“Have you forgotten that security has been raised?”
“Ah, but maybe the lady could be granted a special…”
“Rowan. Do I need to repeat myself?”
As if someone had poured ice water, the atmosphere instantly froze. Under Havel’s fierce presence, Rowan stiffly took the bag from me.
“Go in first and deliver it to Sir Rayon.”
“Understood, Commander.”
Rowan saluted rigidly and quickly disappeared into the Knights’ headquarters. I watched Rowan’s retreating back, then turned my gaze and met Havel’s eyes, which were looking at me.
“Um… I didn’t come that often…”
Perhaps it was my instinct to survive, but I found myself making excuses, looking at Havel’s deepened gaze.
“I won’t misunderstand your relationship with Sir Rayon further.”
Havel took another step closer to me, as I thought how fortunate it was that he didn’t misunderstand.
My eyes darted around at the surprisingly close distance, when Havel leaned in slightly and whispered to me.
“But I can’t help but feel jealous.”
Havel chuckled, seeing my flustered face, then took a step back as if he hadn’t said anything at all.
“You had a loose thread on your shoulder.”
Havel said loudly, as if for the guards to hear, and then returned to his impassive face, looking down at me.
“Ah… Yes. Thank you, Your Highness.”
“Then, I am busy too, so I’ll be going now, Lady. I’ll see you at the upcoming envoy party. My lady, just so you know, my dress code that day will be deep blue.”
Leaving a low, echoing sound as if scattering, Havel gazed at me intently, then turned and walked towards the Knights’ headquarters.
“Deep blue? What am I supposed to do with that?”
He’s going to wear it, so maybe he’s telling me not to? No, I’m not even wearing a suit… No, it would be harder to find a deep blue dress.
I tilted my head in confusion, then quickly walked away.
* * *
“Ugh, I want to go home, I want to soak in a hot bath.”
“Me too, I’m dying. Why was a group sword performance suddenly added to the envoy welcoming ceremony?”
Groans erupted from all over the First Knights Order’s training ground amidst the continuous practice.
As the knights swung their swords with haggard faces, a bright voice, unsuited for the training ground, called Rayon’s name.
“Sir Rayon!”
“Yes, Vice-Commander.”
Rayon, who had been sitting to rest from the grueling practice, sprang up at the call and rushed to the vice-commander.
The vice-commander smiled widely, looking pleased about something, and handed Rayon a bag.
“This, your girlfriend came to the front of the Knights’ headquarters earlier and dropped it off.”
Oooh-! Hearing the vice-commander’s words, the knights in the training ground moved their bodies like corpses controlled by black magic, letting out low cheers. At the word ‘girlfriend,’ Rayon momentarily thought of a woman, then shook his head.
“I don’t have a girlfriend. We broke up a long time ago.”
“Huh? Sir Rayon, weren’t you dating Lady Serira?”
Oooh-, cheers came from behind again. Rayon’s eyes widened at Rowan’s words, and he shook his head.
“No, Serira and I aren’t like that. We’re like family.”
“Hmm, really? I thought you two were dating since you’re always together… Were you really not?”
Rowan looked at Rayon with a somewhat disappointed expression. As the ‘ooh-ing’ knights seemed like they might spread false rumors, Rayon was about to firmly deny it when a heavy voice rang out from behind Rowan.
“How many times have I told you not to do this? Why do you keep spouting nonsense?”
