“Wow, ‘that’ princess said that!”
“This is truly an incredible thing!”
Our knights chimed in eagerly.
Emboldened by this, Sir Rodrigo sneered and said,
“So, shouldn’t the ones who need to know their place and quietly back off be you, the 4th Knight
Order?”
A member of the 4th Knight Order’s lips trembled.
Then, trying to appear composed, he raised his chin and retorted,
“S-So, just because she memorized your names, doesn’t make you act all high and mighty?”
“Oh my, you really don’t know anything.”
Sir Rodrigo leisurely shook his head.
Then, crossing his arms proudly, he declared,
“The princess sees everyone except our Knight Commander as insects! I bet she doesn’t even know the name of the Northern Commander-in-Chief!”
…Excuse me, just how much of a misanthrope do you think I am?!
I know the name of the Northern Commander-in-Chief! I do!
Unable to contain my shame, my shoulders trembled.
Just what kind of life has Cassia been living so far?!
“The fact that such a person remembered our names means that we’ve become important people to the princess, doesn’t it?!”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“That bastard is actually making sense for once!”
At this shout, the knights of the Azure Dawn Order enthusiastically responded.
“She even had our quarters renovated this time!”
“Is that all? New furniture has been brought in too!”
As our knights grew more excited, the faces of the 4th Knight Order members became increasingly distorted.
‘Ughh……’
Watching that scene, I couldn’t help it and buried my bright red face in my hands.
This is strange.
I should be satisfied that our knights aren’t backing down.
Why is this so embarrassing?!
Then, at that moment.
“What is all this commotion?”
A serious voice was heard.
The members of the 4th Knight Order and the Azure Dawn Knights, who had been growling at each other like cats and dogs, simultaneously turned around.
A man met their gazes indifferently.
But his appearance seemed familiar.
‘Ah, that person is?’
I widened my eyes.
‘Isn’t he the deputy commander of the 4th Knight Order I saw last time?’
As he alternated his gaze between the opposing sides, he let out a deep sigh.
“Everyone stop and return to your rooms.”
At his low command, the Azure Dawn Knights obediently withdrew.
Even though he belonged to a different knight order, he was still a superior officer in the Northern Command, so it was natural.
However,
“……”
“……”
What’s this?
I couldn’t hide my surprised face.
It was no wonder, as the members of the 4th Knights stood firm with their mouths tightly shut. It was as if they didn’t hear the Deputy Commander’s orders at all.
“Knights, can’t you hear me?”
“……”
“Hey!”
The Deputy Commander called out to the 4th Knights several times, but they didn’t budge an inch. It was almost like they were treating him as if he were invisible. The Deputy Commander’s face twisted with humiliation.
Watching this scene, I frowned slightly.
‘Isn’t this ostracism within the unit?’
Ostracism.
In simple terms, a form of collective bullying within the military. It involves ignoring hierarchy and treating a superior as if they were a subordinate. Typically, it involves subordinates ignoring the orders of a superior who is being ostracized, disrespecting them, or looking down on them. In rare cases, they might even harass the superior.
Of course, for someone in the position of Deputy Commander, who is the second in command of the knights, it probably wouldn’t go as far as harassment…
‘Oh dear.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and stepped out from behind the wall. I hadn’t intended to intervene, but,
‘I guess I should help the Deputy Commander for now.’
No matter what kind of internal strife there was within the 4th Knights Order, they wouldn’t want to show their ostracism in front of another knights’ order. Since the Deputy Commander’s pride was being utterly trampled on, it seemed best to end this situation as quickly as possible.
“What is going on, everyone?”
I walked out among the knights with a bright smile.
“You’re having fun conversations without me?”
“Pr-Princess?!”
As soon as they saw me, Sir Rodrigo’s face turned pale.
Well, it’s not hard to understand why.
Despite having drawn a clear line with me before, he was now using our supposed friendship for his own gain in my absence. He must find that incredibly embarrassing.
“I’m not the princess, but Astrid, the Administrative Officer, Sir Rodrigo.”
By saying this, I made it clear which unit I belonged to. Then, I glanced sideways at the 4th Knights Order who were gathered together.
“Anyway, Sir Rodrigo was right.”
“Yes?”
Sir Rodrigo, who had looked at me with eyes wide like a surprised rabbit, quickly closed his mouth.
‘Is the princess really siding with me?’… I could see his thoughts clearly.
‘Oh my.’
I clicked my tongue inwardly and spoke indifferently.
“First of all, talking about me in such an exaggerated manner.”
At this, one from the 4th Knights Order hastily tried to make an excuse.
“Pr-Princess, that’s, well…”
“Are you perhaps suffering from senility? Is that why you have trouble hearing?”
I retorted sharply. The warm tone I used with Sir Rodrigo was gone.
My voice, giving a scolding, sounded icy even to my own ears.
The 4th Knight, at a loss, rolled his eyes.
“Yes? I, I…”
“I believe I said to address me as Astrid, the Administrative Officer, a moment ago.”
I sharply retorted again.
The 4th Order’s knight flinched and hastily corrected himself.
“Ah, Astrid, the administrative officer!”
But I had no intention of giving him a chance to make more excuses.
I stared at them with a cold gaze.
“The first thing you need to know is that I voluntarily joined the Azure Dawn Knights.”
At that, the entire 4th Knights Order fell silent.
They looked visibly at a loss for words.
“So, if we’re being precise, it’s not that I’m too good for them.”
I shrugged lightly.
“It’s that our knights are too good for me.”
“……”
“……”
As I blatantly defended the Azure Dawn Knights, the faces of the 4th Knights Order twisted with displeasure.
Meanwhile, our knights looked at me with complicated expressions.
In their eyes, I saw doubt and concern towards me… and a faint glimmer of hope.
In that case,
‘I should live up to their expectations, right?’
I pointed with my chin at one of the 4th Knights Order, who was desperately avoiding my gaze.
He was the one who had just bumped into Sir Daniel’s shoulder.
“Anyway, you over there.”
The knight I indicated straightened up, looking very tense.
“Mc… McG…”
“Oh, there’s no need to introduce yourself. I’m not interested at all.”
When I responded indifferently, his face hardened with humiliation.
Regardless, I asked coldly,
“It was you, right? The one who was talking about us being beggars and all that earlier?”
“……”
“……”
The atmosphere cooled down instantly, as if cold water had been poured over them.
I crossed my arms and continued.
“Why, do you have a problem with me cleaning up and polishing our knights?”
“Your, Your Highness.”
“My goodness, I was just doing my job as the administrative officer.”
I tilted my head.
Then, with eyes devoid of any emotion, I glared at them.
“I never imagined that my doing my job would cause trouble for our knights.”
At my leisurely tone, the faces of the 4th Knights Order turned ashen.
“But you know, if you had such a problem, you should have come to me directly.”
“N-No, we…”
“And.”
I cut him off mid-sentence.
“You even chose the moment when our Knight Commander and I weren’t around to pick a fight?”
I raised the corners of my mouth, though my eyes remained cold. It was a smile as sharp as a well-honed blade.
“Ha, how incredibly petty.”
As I muttered loudly enough for them to hear, the 4th Knights, unable to overcome their shame, turned red up to their necks.
But did I care?
Honestly, I wanted to rip all their hair out, but I was holding back.
* * * *
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Thank you for the chapters, cant wait to see how our fm will kick the 4th knights ass