The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Elaine headed down to the vice commander’s office at the knight’s headquarters. His office was located past the central hall, in the room at the end of the hall on the left. As Elaine walked, she stopped at a door that was slightly larger than the others. She quickly approached and was about to grab the handle to open the door when she heard loud voices coming from inside.
“This makes no sense! Why are you doing this to me!”
“It was the Duke’s decision. I can’t do anything about it.”
Someone’s loud shouting voice and Lowell’s voice could be heard alternatingly. Someone shouted again.
“I was told this wasn’t the right job for me! Having a knight as a bodyguard would just be a hindrance! But you chose that woman!? Why can she do it, and I can’t?”
“…”
“Answer me!”
“That’s… Ah, Dame Sophia!”
Suddenly the door opened and Sophia Rozlis ran out of the room. Elaine and Sophia’s eyes met for a moment. There was both resentment and anger directed towards her. Her usual proud and bright appearance was nowhere to be seen, her face distorted with emotion. She shoved Elaine out of her way and ran down the hall, disappearing.
Elaine who had been staring silently down the hall where Sophia had disappeared, turned her head back towards the room, Lowell was standing there smiling embarrassedly.
“Vice-commander.”
“Ah… Dame Elaine, you’re early.”
“I didn’t want to be late on my first day as the Duke’s escort.”
She spoke with a slightly excited tone, seeming to have already forgotten about being pushed by Sophia.
Lowell’s expression as he looked at her became strange. He spoke as he left his office, taking the lead.
“Well, since you’re here, let’s go.”
As Elaine and Lowell walked toward their destination, the knights they passed on their way all paused to greet Lowell respectfully. The two people left the knights building and walked down the road toward the castle.
Lowell scratched the back of his neck as he spoke.
“Dame Sophia was rude to you, are you alright?”
“Yes, I’m okay. Did Dame Sophia apply to be the Dukes bodyguard previously?”
“Last year, around the time when Dame Sophia had just joined the order. At that time, it had been a long while since we’d had anyone apply to be the duke’s bodyguard… I eventually gave up because His Grace didn’t allow her to take the position.”
Sophia’s eyes, filled with resentment, came to mind.
‘It seems like your desire to become Ash’s bodyguard was sincere.’
Considering the negative reactions of the other knights she had seen at the ceremony, Elaine started to take a liking to Sophia, who wanted to become Ash’s bodyguard. Elaine had already completely forgotten what Sophia had done to her.
“Anyway, what happened with you two yesterday? Do you know how surprised I was when I received word from the Duke that he would accept you as his bodyguard?”
“I met Nix.”
“Ah, the black horse. How did you meet him?”
“I went outside yesterday and Nix was there. The horse came running toward me and as I was petting it, the Duke came looking for him.”
“Really? His personality is a bit off, he’s usually not the type of horse to show affection to anyone… Come to think of it, it snowed yesterday. If Nyx was out, His Grace was probably taking him for a walk.”
‘So that’s why Ash was out in the cold the other day.’
Still, going out in the cold like that, without a coat. What if he had caught a cold…
As expected, she couldn’t take her eyes off of him for even a moment. She shook her head, worried.
Lowell looked at Elaine, in thought. In fact, Ash didn’t need a bodyguard. Even without one, he had the ability to protect himself. And above all, Ash didn’t like relying on anyone.
Elaine was the first one that Ash had chosen to keep by his side. As for the rest, Lowell would select them and bring them in himself, then Ash would either leave them alone or get rid of them.
The Duke did not tell Lowell the exact reason why he choose Elaine, but he had a feeling that if she had been chosen by him, there was something special about her.
They soon arrived in front of a large castle. Elysium Castle was shaped like a fortress with pointed spires on the roof. The grey castle stood tall like a giant, showing traces of having withstood many storms.
“It’s a bit shabby, isn’t it?”
Lowell shrugged.
“It costs a lot of money to rebuild a castle that has been abandoned for a long time. When the Duke took office, Killiard was very poor. He said that stabilizing the territory was the main priority. He told me to use the money to feed at least one more person.
He then sighed.
“In fact, he told me to only do some minor repairs to the interior, where the people will be staying.”
“…”
“But now, the territory has stabilized a lot, and we have begun reorganizing work through a relief project for the unemployed.”
As he said so, voices of the people working on the back of the castle could be heard. Occasionally the workers could also be seen passing by.
“Haha, even though it looks like this on the outside, its actually really nice on the inside.”
