Dawn’s Day
The day when humanity sealed the portal and finally regained their freedom from the clutches of the demons.
At the celebration party commemorating Dawn’s Day, Giscard had confronted none other than Prince Fernando, the first prince.
To protest the unfair treatment his knights were receiving under his command.
‘Really, wouldn’t it be better if you acted up like that now too?’
Giscard only ever expressed his anger for the sake of his knights, and he didn’t seem to care at all about being ignored himself.
And I…
‘That makes me angry.’
I clenched my molars silently.
But then.
Someone greeted me in a sly voice.
“Greetings, Administrative Officer Astrid.”
Who is this this time?
I narrowed my eyes and glanced over.
A man dressed in the uniform of the 4th Knight Order smiled brightly at me as our eyes met.
A strangely awkward demeanor.
A self-assured smile that revealed his bloated sense of self-importance.
His face itself was fairly shiny, but his expression, which looked mean for some reason, was very annoying.
It was a type of person I had encountered a lot of in the past.
So…
‘A spoiled noble who grew up pampered.’
Even acting as if being a knight commander made him the most important person in the world…
‘Ugh, I really hate this guy.’
I sneered inwardly.
“I am Bailey. I am currently serving as the Knight Commander of the 4th Knight Order, despite my lack of ability.”
“……”
Instead of answering, I glared at the Knight Commander with fire in my eyes.
Apparently sensing my hostility, he hesitantly greeted Giscard as well.
“Good to see you again, Commander of the Azure Dawn Knights.”
“Yes, hello.”
The Knight Commander openly showed his disdain for Giscard.
Even so, Giscard remained as indifferent as ever.
‘Ugh, this is really annoying.’
I gritted my teeth inwardly.
Oblivious to my inner turmoil, the Knight Commander stuck to my side with a poker face.
“Administrative Officer Astrid, it’s a real pleasure to meet you like this.”
And then he grinned brightly, revealing his teeth.
‘…Ugh, why are you smiling so unpleasantly?’
As if to say, ‘I’m pretty good-looking, aren’t I?’, this creep was subtly making eye contact with me.
Has he gone crazy?
“Ah, yes.”
I replied curtly.
My lukewarm response seemed to fluster the commander of the 4th Knight Order a bit.
But he quickly resumed his sugary tone with me.
“Speaking of which, I heard that you volunteered to join the Azure Dawn Knights personally this time, Administrative Officer.”
“Yes, I did.”
Then the commander of the 4th Knight Order looked at me with a somewhat worried expression.
“Who could doubt your noble intention to dedicate yourself to the country, Administrative? However, I do have some concerns.”
“Concerns? About what?”
“Well… it’s just that with the Azure Dawn Knight Order, it’s likely…”
The commander glanced sideways at Giscard, looking him up and down with distaste before giving me a sly smile.
“It’s likely that your noble intentions will be difficult to realize.”
Eh?What nonsense is this?
I stared at the 4th Knight Order commander, trying to convey my disbelief.
He shrugged his shoulders dramatically.
“As you know, the Azure Dawn Knight Order hasn’t achieved any significant results in joint training for the past three years, has it?”
Wow, people can be this shameless?
My mouth fell open.
‘Hey, why do you think there haven’t been significant results?’
The Northern Commander-in-Chief openly favors the 4th Knight Order, and our knights couldn’t perform well because of the favoritism!
On top of that, they only provided them a pittance for the purification elixirs.
So, what the hell is he even talking about?!
“I truly hope you can fully display your abilities, Administrative Officer.”
Whether he knew I was at a loss for words or not, the 4th Knight Order commander continued in his honeyed voice .
I sensed Giscard glancing over at us.
Meanwhile, the commander’s voice became even more suggestive.
“So, Administrative Officer Astrid, have you ever considered transferring to another knight order?”
“……”
For a moment, I doubted my ears.
Wow, the saying that you can be too shocked to speak.
it was true, huh?
Giscard is standing right here with his eyes wide open, and this guy is openly asking ‘Have you ever considered transferring to another knight order?’
How can someone be so utterly lacking in ethics?
I was about to retort immediately, but someone else spoke up first.
“Refrain from inappropriate behavior, Commander of the 4th Knight Order.”
The cold voice that drew the line was none other than Giscard’s.
‘Huh?’
Despite my indignation, I was taken aback by the icy tone.
So Giscard was now…stepping in to defend me?
Just yesterday, he had been treating me like a temptress, eagerly eyeing my purity!
“Administrative Officer Astrid belongs to the Azure Dawn Knight Order. Moreover, I…”
His ice-blue eyes, as if carved from a glacier, stared directly at the 4th Knight Order commander.
“Have no intention of letting the Administrative Officer be taken by another knight order.”
Somehow, the surrounding air seemed a bit colder.
If I felt it standing next to him, imagine how the 4th Knight Order commander must feel, receiving the full brunt of Giscard’s intensity.
The commander’s face turned pale, and he started to sweat profusely.
However…
“From a broader perspective, Administrative Officer Astrid also belongs to the Northern Command.”
The commander’s pride and ambition for connections were far greater than I had anticipated.
“So, isn’t it possible to reassign her within the command?”
Despite Giscard’s pressure, the commander managed to ask this.
At his response, Giscard’s eyebrows twitched.
He was about to retort, but…
‘This could turn into a real fight.’
I decided it was time to intervene.
I clicked my tongue internally and raised my hand.
“Excuse me?”
All three—Giscard, the commander of the Fourth Knight Order, and the inspector—turned their gazes to me simultaneously.
I waved my hand nonchalantly for all to see.
“I didn’t expect you all to show such an overwhelming interest in my position. Honestly, I’m not really in need of that kind of attention.”
I shrugged and continued.
“Shouldn’t we at least consider my opinion, since I’m the one directly involved?”
“……”
“……”
Giscard and the commander, who had been locked in a tense standoff, both looked stunned.
‘Oh, dear.’
Internally shaking my head, I looked at the commander of the 4th Knight Order.
“Commander, I’ll have to decline your offer.”
“Why is that?”
The commander looked genuinely taken aback by my response, as if he hadn’t even considered the possibility that I might reject his proposal.
In contrast, Giscard seemed oddly relieved.
‘Really?’
My eyes widened in surprise like a rabbit’s.
Was he really relieved? Or was it just my imagination?
“Please reconsider. If you truly want to fulfill your intentions, our knight order would be much more suitable.”
Despite my focus on Giscard, the commander of the 4th Knight Order kept trying to persuade me.
‘Haah.’
I let out a sigh internally.
The truth was hard to convey.
The Azure Dawn Knight Order is the only one capable of preventing the future rampage of the portals, and for my own survival, I need to nurture them to combat that future threat.
But I can’t just spill out such detailed reasons.
If I explained, they’d probably just look at me like, ‘Wow, this princess is out of her mind.’
And coming up with a more reasonable explanation to persuade them is just…
‘Annoying.’
I had absolutely no intention of joining the 4th Knight Order, so I decided to act like the unruly villainess I was known to be.
I simply told a blatant lie.
“Actually, I have an incurable disease.”
* * * *
If you want to support the Translator, Translator’s Ko-Fi:
Oooh that lie sounds like it will bring her troubles haha thank you for the chapter
Wait why would she lie instead, also will cause a misunderstanding