~Chapter 04~
The sight of Sertien standing in front of the old man with his short arms stretched out caused the people around to murmur.
“Oh my, whose child is that?”
“Where are the parents?”
The leader of the gang briefly looked confused, unsure of the situation, then burst out laughing as if he found it absurd.
“Hah, this is rich… My status has really dropped, hasn’t it? Now, even a snot-nosed kid is looking down on me.”
“My dad said it’s wrong to hit people!”
“Hey, little man… or should I say, young master? You look like a rich kid, so go run back to your mommy before you get yourself into real trouble. We don’t go easy on kids, you know.”
“Then you should apologize to the old man!”
“Or what? What are you going to do about it?”
I couldn’t believe where Sertien was getting this courage from.
But more than that, I was worried. The gang in front of us wasn’t just any group of thugs—they were really bad people who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt even a child like Sertien.
I was about to step forward to protect him, but I was a little too late.
Before I could even say anything, one of the gang members, looking annoyed, dug his finger in his ear and said, “What’s the big deal? It’s just a kid. Or is the boss scared because this boy’s from a wealthy family? Since when did you get so soft?”
“Watch your mouth.”
The thug smirked, then kicked Sertien hard in the stomach.
Sertien was thrown backward, too stunned to even cry out in pain.
I screamed and ran.
“Sertien!”
“Who’s this woman now?”
I was furious.
Sertien’s small body couldn’t handle such a strong blow. Even a light hit would be bad enough for a child, but they had kicked him so hard he couldn’t even scream.
“From the looks of it, you must be some noble lady. Let me give you some advice: don’t get involved. Walk away before you end up like that kid.”
They had no idea who I was.
I mean, I was famous, sure. As the commander of the Imperial Knights, almost everyone had heard of me—Litya Alpress. But very few people actually knew what I looked like.
Without bothering to respond, I glared at them with a deadly look in my eyes.
It seemed that the gang finally realized something was wrong. I could see them flinch visibly.
Even the crowd around us, sensing the sudden tension, fell silent.
I turned to check on Sertien.
Luckily, it looked like the kick had missed its mark, so he wasn’t seriously hurt.
But he was still in pain, his clothes dirty from being thrown into the muddy ground. He was on the verge of tears.
Even though he was hurt, when he saw me, he stood up on his own two feet.
‘He must be in so much pain…’ I thought as I frowned.
“Who is she, his mother, or something?”
The gang leader seemed irritated that I was ignoring him.
I finally stood up and faced them.
“Yeah, I’m his mom.”
“What? Have you heard that? She says she’s his mom!”
The gang burst into laughter, mocking me.
Sertien, on the other hand, looked up at me with eyes full of admiration after what I had said.
The people around us all seemed to be looking at me with pity.
‘She’s going to regret this,’ their expressions seemed to say.
“A mother and son putting on a little show, huh? Listen, you need to know when to step in and when to back off. If you don’t want to end up like that kid, you’d better leave now. There are some men here who haven’t been around women in a while, if you know what I mean.”
How ridiculous.
They really thought they could do whatever they wanted to me?
“Do you really think you can do anything to me?”
I smiled as I answered.
The thug blinked, not quite understanding.
“What did this lady just say…?”
I wasn’t interested in waiting for him to finish his sentence.
Before he could even react, I punched him hard in the stomach. He collapsed, clutching his belly in pain.
“Who do you think you are, kicking my son like that?”
The people around us were clearly shocked. I didn’t exactly look like the type of person who could throw a strong punch.
But apparently, the other thug didn’t get the message, because as soon as his boss fell, he charged at me.
“Mom!” I heard Sertien shout from behind, worried.
Don’t worry. I’m not going to lose to someone like this.
I easily dodged his attack and hit him hard in the back with my elbow, sending him to the ground.
At that point, the rest of the gang realized the situation was serious. None of them dared to make a move.
I stretched my arms, feeling a slight stiffness in my shoulder from not having fought in a while. That’s when I saw a group of uniformed soldiers approaching from a distance.
It was the Lead City knights.
‘Took them long enough.’
They had arrived after I had already dealt with everything. They were way too slow.
I made a mental note to bring this up when I returned to the palace.
“We’re from the Lead City Knights. Please make way.”
That voice… it sounded familiar.
It wasn’t until they got closer that I realized the commander of the Lead City knights had come personally.
No wonder they took so long—they must’ve sent for him because it was a big situation.
The knights began arresting the thugs.
Normally, I would have left before the knights arrived, but it seemed I had caused too much of a scene to make a quiet exit.
“I’m sorry, but could you explain what happened? Wait… Commander?”
The commander of the Lead City knights had finally recognized me and looked shocked.
I couldn’t believe he didn’t realize who I was right away.
For the record, I used to be the commander of the Lead City knights before I became the Imperial Knight Commander.
Back then, I was the Lead City knight commander, and now Commander Zetton had been one of my junior knights.
So, it was only natural that Zetton and I were quite close and knew each other well.
When Zetton realized I was Litya Alpress, his face brightened with a friendly expression, and he said, “What brings you here, Commander? I never expected to see you in a place like this.”
“You sure took your time getting here. It’s been a while since this whole thing started,” I replied.
Zetton looked a bit embarrassed and answered, “That’s my fault. We’ve been letting our guard down lately since not much has been happening around here.”
“Commander, we’ve arrested them all. But who is that…?” A young knight who seemed to be a rookie, approached Zetton while we were talking.
Zetton pointed at me with his palm and answered, “This is Litya Alpress, Commander of the Imperial Knights.”
“Wha—what! I’m sorry for not recognizing you!” The young knight stammered.
It didn’t really bother me, but I found it amusing to see the rookie so flustered after hearing I was the commander of the Imperial Knights.
Zetton’s words caused quite a stir.
The crowd, curious about what was going on, started murmuring, and even the thugs I had knocked down looked at me with shocked expressions.
“The commander of the Imperial Knights… could she be from the Alpress duchy…?” They looked like they couldn’t believe it even after hearing it.
I scratched my head a little, feeling awkward about the attention.
I knew Litya Alpress was a well-known figure, but I hadn’t realized it was to this extent.
If word got out that I was here, it could complicate my mission to find Prince Ered, so I wanted to leave as soon as possible.
“So, what brings you here? I heard you’ve been quite busy,” Zetton asked.
“Well… it’s a bit complicated to talk about here. Could we discuss it somewhere more private?” I suggested.
“Would you like to come with me to our headquarters? It’s not far from here, and we can talk there if you’re okay with it,” Zetton offered.
I was about to agree, thinking it might be a good opportunity to talk about Ered, when Sertien, who had been fidgeting nearby, clung to my side and said something that stopped me in my tracks.
“Mom, who is this man?”
‘Oh no…’
I could see Zetton’s face turning pale in real time.
I began to sweat nervously.
“M-mom…?” Zetton stammered.
“No, no, I’m not his mom…” I quickly waved my hands, trying to deny what Sertien had said.
But Sertien, completely unaware of the situation, looked up at me with a confused expression and shouted, “What are you talking about? You just said you were my mom! You are my mom!”
That’s right… I did say that earlier.
It suddenly hit me—I had yelled that in the heat of the moment at the thugs.
Things were spiraling out of control.
Now it looked like rumors might start spreading that I had a hidden son.
“The boy looks pretty mature. When did you even have a child? Did this happen without me knowing?” Zetton asked in disbelief.
“No! It’s not like that!” I shouted, almost on the verge of tears.
