Damn it.
He not only heard me badmouthing him but even held grudges! What a petty bastard!
Swallowing the swear words, which was about to bubble up my throat, I answered like an obedient and responsible civil servant.
“No one is above the law. Those who disregard the laws set forth by the great Emperor Hexen III, I couldn’t hold any goodwill towards them as a knight, who has sworn her allegiance to the empire.”
Hearing my answer, dripping with my utmost loyalty to the empire, Ludger nodded his head towards Commander Geloic.
“…Seems like you have some outstanding subordinates, Sir Geloic.”
“That’s right. This is the reason why I entrusted the Heilbroner case to Sir Clara. hahaha!”
My honest thought at Commander Geloic’s mindless rambling which should have been kept brief to discuss in spare time, away from the party involved.
‘Ah… I want out of this place.’
Ludger, whose stare on me was nothing but calculating, smiled brightly.
“I wish you success, Sir Clara.”
“…Yes.”
It would have been better if he had cursed at me and said that I would never achieve success in what I had set out to do in my life.
“Then I will take my leave. I apologize for my disturbance while you’re busy.”
“That’s all right. Well then, good luck.”
“Hope we can meet again, Sir Clara.”
‘I never want to see you again!’
Although it was what I was screaming inwardly, on the outside, I greeted him like a disciplined knight and left the Commander’s office with heavy steps.
‘…Please. Please, don’t hold any grudges against me or blame me for taking this job.’
My past mistakes weren’t enough for me to be stomped on the ground and shredded to pieces.
I have been working faithfully in a small position of the Knights Templar, fulfilling my role as a nameless extra of the original storyline, and an ordinary citizen of the empire.
Muttering an earnest prayer in my heart, I headed to the Diamond Knights’ outdoor training grounds.
***
Ludger stared at the departing figure of Clara, which left through the door. When she couldn’t be seen anymore, he turned to Commander Geloic and opened his mouth.
“Commander… Are you sure about that? She seems too young to carry the burden of such an important task.”
“Haha. Well, things turned out to be like this. There have been some special circumstances.”
“Special circumstances… ?”
Stroking his well-maintained beard, Commander Geloic replied with furrowed eyebrows.
“Well, you may not be aware of this. Although the ranking of the Knights Templar should have been based on merits, the truth is, it’s divided into two factions: one side which has a strong family background, the other side which doesn’t.”
“….”
“I suppose it wouldn’t be something that the Young Duke is interested in, would it?”
“Don’t worry about that. I would love to hear everything from you more than a thousand times. Please feel free to be comfortable.”
At Ludger’s assurance, Commander Geloic leaned against the back of his chair. Stroking his well-tamed mane, he started.
“Not a few years ago, in one of the knights’ orders, there was a person who held a rank similar to Sir Clara. He was the son of one of the ‘higher-ups’, whose father holds an important position in the Imperial Palace.”
“….”
“However, his subordinate, Sir Clara, whose rank was similar to him, surpassed him pretty quickly with her outstanding skills, although she was just a commoner knight… Well, what follows was the usual foul story. The situation was cleverly changed and arranged in a way so that she would be seen as incompetent.”
“Hmm….”
“Then in the end, she was demoted to one of the lowest positions. However, given the contributions she had made so far, the idea of her being kicked out without a title didn’t seem to appeal to the higher-ups. That’s why she was given the position of the Captain of one of the low-ranking knight factions.”
“…I see.”
“This old man also started as a commoner knight in the past, so I was interested in her story. However, it was difficult for me, who earned his title just a few years ago and a new noble in the capital without any supporting factions, to lend her a helping hand.”
Ludger quietly stared into Geloic’s eyes before opening his mouth.
“Lord Geloic, do you believe that Sir Clara has the ability to capture Heilbroner?”
“Yes. Because she has excellent talent. The best of all the knights who have passed through my hands.”
At Geloic’s high praise, something flashed through Ludger’s eyes.
“However, Sir Clara tends to underestimate herself. Perhaps it’s because of the circumstances that have occurred up to this point, she seems to try her hardest to not come off as displeasing to her superiors.”
“….”
“Well, I suppose this ends this old man’s chatter for today. I have been holding on to you too long.”
“No. Perhaps the main point of why Lord Geloic summoned me… was for this reason.”
“….”
“To request me to cooperate with your beloved subordinate knight.”
Geloic laughed at his claim, neither confirming nor denying those words.
Ludger’s gaze, that turned to the door for a moment, was deep. Those eyes were sharp, as if assessing something.
“… I understand, Commander. I will also watch over her.”
Unfortunately, Ludger’s last words were not very welcoming news for Clara.
***
‘What do I do now?’
As I climbed down the stairs to the first floor, my head started to spin in worry.
The task of capturing Heilbroner, which should have been assigned by the Diamond Knights, has been handed over to us.
For a moment, I couldn’t help but recall the information which I got from the original storyline.
《I Became the Baby Prince’s Maid》, which was 《Baby Prince》 for short, was, as the title suggests, a reverse harem novel.
The female main character became the exclusive maid of the Prince, who had been despised and abandoned by his parents, and raised him with care from an early age. However, as both of them turned adults, the Prince began obsessing over his maid, the female protagonist, and the rest of the plot went down the road of your typical romance fantasy story.
Currently, the novel’s storyline was in the middle of the early chapters. The Prince had just passed his childhood and became an adult.
It was during this time that the male protagonist, who was also the Second Prince and had been despised and frowned upon by others from childhood, proved his worth to the emperor. To restrain his growth, Duke Ludger Kassen, who stood with the First Prince’s faction which was the opposition force of the male protagonist, began to work behind the scene as the Phantom Thief Heilbroner.
Then, in such a situation… I…
‘Is it really necessary to risk my life just to capture Heilbroner?’
It was already very unexpected that our knights were assigned the role that the Diamond Knights were supposed to play. However, even in the novel’s storyline, Heilbroner was not caught until the epilogue.
‘Then all I have to do is just pretend to chase Heilbroner.’
This world revolves around the main characters, who work together and have a happy ending. My role was neither a villain nor a cannon fodder who had to twist the original storyline to survive. Therefore, why bother going down a different path from the original?
In any case, no one would have expected a group of incompetent knights such as us to capture Heilbroner.
Then, the day would come when the work would be transferred to the Diamond Knights, just as it was described in the original plot.
‘Male Lead, Female Lead. Fighting.’
I would dutifully play the role of the captain of an incompetent knights’ order and lead a long, long life of civil service.
Having decided on a goal without ambition, I hurriedly left the knights’ headquarters. By the time I stepped outside, it was already getting closer to 3 p.m.
“Huu… Overtime is confirmed.”
There were still piles of documents to be worked on, but I had to run after my subordinates and clean up his mess. On top of that, a bomb suddenly landed on my head…
‘Thanks to the novel, I had been interested in Heilbroner for a long time and reading as well collecting all the articles related to him. Now it turned out to be helpful to me.’
Otherwise, it would have taken me more than a year just to detect the movement of Heilbroner.
Sighing heavily, I headed to the outdoor training ground of Diamond Knights.
As Commander Geloic instructed, I must meet with the knight who was in charge of the Heilbroner case previously and gather necessary case materials from him.
As I approached the outdoor training area, a female knight near the entrance saw me and began to approach me.
‘Wow… pretty.’
Her light pink, flowing hair was neatly braided. A neat knight cape was adorning her well-shaped body. She also seemed to be slightly younger than me.
Although she had a reserved appearance that was unsuitable for the profession of a knight, the movements of her limbs with well-developed core muscles was the evidence of her knighthood without a doubt.
‘Wait a minute, a beauty with light pink hair and a member of the Diamond Knights….’
Approaching me, the beautiful knight smiled softly at me before saying.
“By any chance, are you a servant who has come here to convey a message from the Imperial Palace? I apologize, but entry into the training grounds is prohibited except for those who are given permission.”
“….”
Was my outfit that shabby?
I looked down at my clothes and checked my appearance before reacting. hmm… I do look a bit shabby.
‘If I had known it would be like this, I would have come wearing the cloak even if it was annoying.’
Wearing the cloak was cumbersome, so I usually don’t have it on me unless I’m on a mission. However, I never imagined that I would be mistaken for a servant.
I smiled bitterly to myself and shook my head.
“I apologize but I think Sir has misunderstood me. Perhaps because I came here without the cloak because I’m not on a mission.”
“Yes?”
“My name is Clara Weyburn, Captain of the Ruby Knights. I was assigned to the Heilbroner case, so I stopped by to inquire about the matter.”
“Ah!”
As soon as my message reached her, the beautiful lady’s face turned bright red and she bowed at 90 degrees.
“I deeply apologize for my ignorance, I was rude!”
“No, it’s okay. I am also at fault for dressing in a way that could cause misunderstanding.”
Standing up straight, she introduced herself along with her repeated apologies.
“My name is Lan Meyflora, a member of the Diamond Knights. I apologize once again for my rudeness.”
‘Ah…’
As soon as I heard the name Lan, I was once again certain of my hunch.
She was the knight who had a role similar to that of the sub-female protagonist in the novel.
‘She was often assigned with escort duties for the male lead, which made the female lead subconsciously jealous.’
In truth, Lan was nothing but a loyal knight who held utmost sincerity towards her superior. She held no particular feelings for the male lead.
For now, I assured Lan by waving my hands that I wasn’t offended.
“No, I’m really fine. So-.”
However, before I could even finish speaking.
A sturdy knight approached us with a grim face.
He had a muscular build that seemed to be towering over 190cm tall along with an impressive rugged appearance.
Before I could comprehend, he stood in front of me, blocking my view from Lan as if protecting her.
“Who are you? Are you a servant from the Imperial Palace? Why have you suddenly appeared here and started making a fuss?”
He put emphasis on the word ‘servant’ with a growling sound, as if warning me to know my place.
“Squad Leader Krosner! Don’t behave like this, this person…”
“Lan, please say no more. Your weakness is that you are too kind, even to those who don’t deserve it.”
The man called Krosner brushed his hair back, stood up even straighter than before as if to intimidate me, before letting out a mocking laugh.
“I have seen Lan bending over and apologizing from afar. What on earth happened that you have to make her apologize like this? Is it because she didn’t agree to your unreasonable request? How dare you, a mere servant.…”
T/N: Hello readers! Hope you’re enjoying the story so far. Do let me know if you like my work or not. Thank you for reading this.
Happy reading ❤️❤️
I love this story, very interesting ❤️