Noble Knight
“Mitina-san, you have it tough, being engaged to that Kyelse Beusen, I really feel sorry for you.”
“Stop talking nonsense. If you let your guard down, you’re bound to do something.”
Having somehow managed to escape the stressful mansion, Mitina threw herself into her morning work.
That being said, today’s schedule was to train her subordinates. Mitina, who had been forced to deal with a problem child, was paying close attention as she watched the young man holding the sword.
The problem child’s name was Vite. He was a knight with a strong sense of curiosity and was especially skilled in magic, but he made so many careless mistakes that it made you wonder if he was really born under that star.
“I’m better at magic, so I don’t think there’s any point in learning swordsmanship.”
“Don’t think you can always fight using magic safely from the rear. I always say that.”
“Oh no, I can’t believe my instructor is Assistant Commander Mitina, I would have preferred it if they were more lenient…”
“Hmmm!”
When Vite said something stupid, Mitina easily blew him away with her wooden sword. By the way, this is the daily life of the Black Iron Knight.
“If you don’t want me to, how about I ask Commander Zeffen to personally teach you? That way I think you can get rid of that weak-willed spirit.”
“N-no, it’s fine, I still value my life…”
Captain Zeffen, who leads the Black Iron Knights, is very calm and gentle during desk work, but when he picks up a sword, he becomes even more Spartan than Mitina. Rookies who are particularly unruly to the other knights are initially sent to Zeffen for harsh training that leaves them no room for rebellion.
Incidentally, Mitina was also one of the people who was taken care of by Zeffen soon after she became a Black Iron Knight. Of course, she was not taken easy on just because she was a woman.
“Come on, let’s stop stretching and start hitting each other.”
“Yeesss…”
Although she felt bad for Vite, she swung her sword as if to release the frustration of her stressful first day living together with Kyelse.
She probably likes moving her body. As she swings her sword absentmindedly like this, all of her dissatisfaction with the unreasonableness of the current situation is washed away. Mitina has come to like this nature of hers.
“Enough! I give up! I give up! Haaah…”
She sighed softly as she saw Vite collapse on the ground, exhausted and exhausted. She wondered if she’d gone a little too far, but perhaps the pleasant sweat had made her feel refreshed.
“If he’s so exhausted, who knows what will happen when I use my bayonet on him?”
“Ugh, I don’t like it, Mitina’s bayonet thrusts are too fast and the training magic bullets hurt and leave no openings, so please spare me…”
“Don’t whine, it’s embarrassing.”
I grabbed Vite’s hand and forced him to stand, but he was unsteady just standing. It seemed like he had moved too much and his legs were strained.
“Really? Maybe you just don’t have enough training? That’s not gonna happen–“
“Hey”
Then she heard a familiar “Hey” voice and Mitina froze for a moment. She turned around regretting not noticing the person approaching even though she was in training, and sure enough, there he was.
A handsome man, Kyelse, with a distorted, sullen expression on his face.
“Assistant Captain, I’ve come to complain about your beloved Captain.”
“Can’t you tell that to Commander Zeffen himself?”
“I hate that guy. I can’t even have a normal conversation with him!”
Kyelse, who seemed to have come to Mitina to complain, snorted and looked down at her, before lowering her gaze. It would be rare for a knight to be able to naturally make such a provocative gesture.
“I’m not happy about this engagement, but if I think about it, I can give you as many complaints about the Black Iron Knights as I want, whenever I want, so I don’t think it’s so bad that it’s just the tip of my pinky finger.”
“Hmm…I see.”
“So, about Zeffen, when will his documents be…”
From now on, I would have to listen to endless complaints and grumbling. Mitina sighed as she imagined this unpleasant future.
However, Mitina saw no reason to quietly listen to Kyelse’s complaints here, so she took off her shirt. Then, the upper half of her body was left in just a thin undergarment, covered in sweat.
“Wh-what are you suddenly taking off your clothes for? Are you a slut?!”
As expected, Kyelse remarked at Mitina for suddenly taking off her clothes, and recoiled in a rejection reaction to her sweaty body. For someone as obsessive-compulsive as him, even looking directly at Mitina in this state would be painful, even if they were a little far away.
“You’re interrupting my training, can you please go home?”
“Hmph! Even without being told, I can’t stand to have a sweaty, filthy, plain, ugly woman in my sight.”
“Yes, yes, please go away–“
“Wow.”
Mitina, who was astonished by his usual manner of speaking, heard Vite’s voice and felt a strong push on her back. She lost her balance completely and frantically tried to take a defensive position.
“Hk!”
However, her body was about to fall when something supported her and she stopped. Naturally, the only one who could do that was Kyelse, who was nearby.
The man’s hand was on her sweaty shoulder, and Mitina was stunned by the sight of his handsome face, now closer than ever before.
“Oh, thank you.”
“You must discipline your subordinates properly! There is no knight who would stumble at the sword you unleash!”
“picture”
As Kyelse quickly left the room, I turned around to see Vite collapsed on the floor. It seemed he had bumped into Mitina as he fell. As always, he was the kind of guy who would never let his guard down and cause trouble.
“Damn, it’s dirty… I need to wash my hands…”
Even through the gloves, Kyelse couldn’t bear it, her hands wriggling after touching Mitina, complaining, before running off somewhere.
As she stared blankly at his back, Vite stumbled to his feet and muttered in displeasure.
“Is it really necessary to talk like you’ve touched such filth? Seriously, Silver Knight-sama, especially Kyelse Beuzen, really have the worst personalities.”
Even though it was her fault, she was probably angry at how Kyelse had treated Mitina. However, it could also be said that it was inevitable, as few Black Iron Knights had good feelings towards the Silver Knight.
But Mitina had other ideas.
(Even though he knew I was covered in sweat, he would still support me without hesitation if I were to fall…)
Kyelse’s behavior was so unexpected that she continued to work in a state of shock.
That day, when Mitina returned to the mansion, she was stunned again.
She had helped him out during the day, so as soon as she got home she took a bath and froze when she saw the food lined up on the living room table. Naturally, one man was laughing at her.
「You have quite a dopey face. Well, what do you think? Compared to your cooking skills, which can hardly be called shoddy, my food is perfect in quantity and nutritional balance, and it even looks beautiful! Savor every bite of the joy of eating my home-cooked food!」
(Never)
I knew Kyelse was a man who could do anything. But I never thought she could cook so well.
Ignoring Kyelse who was still lecturing her, Mitina took a bite of the food. She was left speechless by how elegantly delicious it was, even though it had a light flavor.
“Fuh, it’s so delicious you can’t even make a sound? Of course. If you’ve realized how immature you are, then you should try your best.”
“Then Kyelse-dono will be in charge of cooking.”
“Wait! Why is that? Why do I have to keep cooking your meals from now on!”
“How long do you think it will take for me to be able to cook at this level? I do the cleaning and laundry.”
“Laundry?! Are you planning on washing your clothes and mine together? How filthy!”
(As always, you’re so noisy…)
But the food Kyelse made was still delicious. She also cleaned up after the meal, and did that perfectly too. Maybe Kyelse can do all the housework by herself.
(Now that I think about it, Kyelse-dono, your parents are no longer here… does that have anything to do with it?)
Thinking that far, Mitina quietly stopped thinking. This was merely a cohabitation under the secret orders of the king, and there was no need for her to pry into Kyelse’s circumstances more than necessary.
“Fu… I’m already sleepy… I had some delicious food, so I’ll go to bed early…”
Just as she was thinking of quickly retreating to her room and getting some sleep, she noticed Kyelse moving about again. They usually didn’t talk after dinner, but Mitina had been wondering what he was up to, so she decided to check on him.
“What are you doing all that nonsense about? Exercising before bed or something?”
Saying that, Kyelse looked around and saw that she was elegantly trimming her nails next to a box that had some small bottles neatly stored inside. It seemed to be her bedtime routine.
“Who would exercise before going to bed? Ha, why don’t you pay more attention to your appearance? You’re not planning on just going to bed like that, are you?”
“Your appearance…are those small bottles all cosmetics or something?”
It seemed that my guess was correct, as Kyelse gave me a mocking look that seemed to say, “So you know that much too, huh?” Some people would be so provocative that they would punch me.
“It must be tough if you love your appearance so much. Is it one of the perks of being a Silver Knight, being able to use your time and money graciously?”
Mitina said sarcastically to Kyelse, thinking she might as well poke fun at her. Since almost no one in the Black Iron Knights cared about their appearance, such little grooming measures seemed somewhat comical to her.
I was thinking she would refute it again in a furious manner, but surprisingly Kyelse replied calmly.
“My beauty is the greatest treasure in this world, and I have never felt that maintaining it is a burden. You too, instead of being so self-conscious and exposing your plain, ugly face, why don’t you try putting on some makeup?”
“…………”
Although Mitina wasn’t particularly irritated by this reply, she found herself pondering for a moment.
Kyelse was certainly an unpleasant man. She always looked down on others, and had no qualms about insulting them. And yet she praised herself and acted selfishly.
(……but)
With many things in her mind, Mitina went to bed. Then, ignoring Kyelse who had been making a racket since the morning, she headed to the royal castle to get to work.
(As you would expect from the captain of the Silver Knights, Kyelse is no arrogant fool. Even though she suffers from cleanliness freakouts, she naturally helped me out yesterday. She can do housework, and it seems like she puts in the effort to achieve her high ideals.)
Perhaps Kyelse was a little different from the unpleasant person she had imagined her to be. Or so Mitina thought.
But no matter how different Kyelse’s character may have been from what she had imagined, her role remained the same. In order to make Kyelse hate her, to destroy his ideal image of a woman, she simply had to take action.
“…Hmm, that is.”
While walking around helping with paperwork, Mitina spots a familiar figure. However, since her workplace is close by, she often sees him.
Kyelse, the subject of Mitina’s thoughts, was talking to a fellow female Silver Knight. Mitina listened carefully, hoping to find out her weakness, when she heard his voice sound very cold.
“Don’t ever talk to me so casually again.”
It seemed that he had been approached, and after spitting that out, he walked towards Mitina. While Mitina was shocked at his rather cruel treatment, Kyelse also seemed to notice her and stopped in her tracks.
“Eavesdropping is poor taste, odd job knight.”
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but the way you treat women, Kyelse-dono, is just too much to bear, so I ended up doing it.”
When I said that clearly, he glared at Mitina, as if to say that I had no right to interfere.
“If you treat me coldly like that, you’ll never get married.”
“I was just giving a lesson to a woman who didn’t know her place. I wouldn’t say such things to someone worthy of me.”
“Really? He looks down on everyone, and on top of that he’s an extreme clean freak…I can’t even imagine how he’s treated the women he’s likely dated up until now.”
The provocation came out of his mouth casually, but Mitina was surprised when she saw his face.
Kyelse had a truly displeased look on her face, and it was clear from her attitude alone that she was unhappy about something. She could also sense feelings of embarrassment and humiliation.
(…wait a second, he’s an extreme germaphobe.)
Mitina wonders why she hadn’t noticed this until now, and is astonished at her own lack of insight.
Kyelse’s obsession with cleanliness is deep-rooted. How could a man like that touch a woman, be touched by her, or even embrace her naked?
“Don’t tell me, Kyelse, you have no dating experience…?”
“…!”
Seeing that Kyelse’s expression had become even more grim as she had hit the nail on the head, she gave a slightly malicious smile.
He thought that if he felt embarrassed or inferior about being a virgin, then this might be a good motive to get Kyelse married.
“It’s quite surprising, I can’t believe that someone like you, Kyelse-dono, has no experience with women… I mean, even if you search the whole world, you’re the only person like Kyelse-dono who is an unparalleled handsome man with such a bad personality that he’s been a virgin for the same amount of time.”
“You look like you want to be cut to pieces, bastard…!”
Mitina’s provocation seemed to have completely irritated Kyelse, as he glared at Mitina in anger.
Of course, there was no way she could resist it. How could a man who was so confident in his own beauty not be irritated by someone teasing him about being a virgin?
“Oops, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were so worried about being a virgin.”
“Come on you nasty bitch, you really want to make me angry!”
“Hmph, what are you going to do if you get angry? Want me to punch you?”
Mitina, who had gotten into the habit of behaving in a way that would not be underestimated, ended up encouraging Kyelse to come at her.
Kyelse’s blood was boiling up. This was a blow from her fist, or even worse, she might get slashed. Or so she thought.
“Hmph! No matter what insult I receive, I will not resort to violence without reason!”
“!”
“It seems I overestimated you. So you were just a foolish imitation knight, just like the vulgar Black Iron Knight.”
With that said, Kyelse quickly left.
Mitina was left behind on the spot, and could only stand there in shock at his unexpectedly rational response.
Leave a Reply