LUCIA

Chapter 11 Northern Territory (2)

"I will explain it for you. I am not of noble birth, nor have I been formally adopted by any knight companies. I'm a knight of commoner blood."

"So?"

Dean thought his words would be enough to convince Lucia, but he was taken aback when she questioned him instead.

"Because... Maybe Your Grace would feel uncomfortable."

"To put it shortly, you thought I would feel distrust toward a knight of common birth."

"...It is so."

"Your birth status does not decide your skills. I do not wish to break the regulations of knights. Sir Heba, please be in charge of leading the knight company."

Dean's eyes trembled as he gazed at Lucia, then bowed his head.

"Yes, Madam."

He answered with a lot more respect.

When Jerome let the knights leave, he expressed his shock.

"Madam, I didn't know you were aware of the knights' regulations. Truthfully, I was afraid you would feel uncomfortable with the knights and worried very much. Sir Heba is very talented despite his young age. He did not have to go through a probation period to be promoted into an official knight."

"Oh my. That's only possible after winning first in a fencing or horseback competition. He must be very skilled. How surprising. Based on his appearance alone, he looks very innocent."

"Madam, you surprised me once more. You are very knowledgeable."

Lucia answered with a slight smile.

She had not run the smithy for very long, but the experience had affected Lucia's life a lot. Count Matin had been obese, making his overall body frame appear very large. Despite his short stature, she had always felt intimidated by him.

While she ran the small smithy, the knights who visited her were much taller and bigger boned. Sometimes they had a frightening appearance, but they were all very gentle giants who couldn't be compared to Count Matin. Thanks to them, Lucia had been able to open up and trust others much easier.

Of course, there had been a fair amount of human trash among those people. They would demand repairs but put off the payments for later. Later meaning never. From time to time, the other knights would catch and beat up the trash for her. The difference between hired mercenaries and knights was like the ground and the sky. Knights held an exponentially higher amount of pride for their weapons than the other.

If the ending to that story was beautiful, life would have been perfect.

She had fallen in love with a man and gone bankrupt, losing her smithy. At first, she had believed he was a knight, but later she had found out that was not the case. He was a knight who had been fired for an unknown reason. The other knights had been enraged that the honor of knights had been disgraced, and had helped to track him down. However, the money that was gone couldn't be retrieved.

The man had been handsome and strong, she should have been suspicious of his intentions from the start. He had never demanded bodily pleasures and had showered her with platonic love. She had mistaken that man's heart as something pure and innocent.

"Sir Krotin will not be joining us?"

Jerome's face froze for a short moment.

"How do you know of Sir Krotin?"

"I saw him running to our estate just a few days ago. I thought he was going to join us."

"That's not the case. He has been commanded to protect the crown prince."