RNB 06

Chapter 5

Yvenne froze when she saw two young noble ladies standing boldly in front of the First Knight Order’s entrance, then hurriedly hid behind a huge tree.

Then she suddenly realized something.

‘Wait. Why am I hiding?’

It had been pure instinct to duck out of sight the moment she saw noble girls nearby, but thinking about it now, there was absolutely no reason for her to hide.

‘It’s not like I committed a crime. Why am I hiding? Seriously.’

Despite that confidence, she still remained behind the tree.

With only her eyes peeking out.

“Thanks to you, Miss Jibon, getting all the way to the knights’ headquarters was easy. You’re amazing! The imperial checkpoint guards let us through the moment you mentioned your name.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. My father happens to know someone at the palace checkpoint.”

“But that’s not something just anyone can pull off.”

“Well, I suppose. By the way, Miss Aye, when do you think Duke Roeln will arrive?”

“He should be here soon, Miss Jibon. We’re keeping our promise, remember? Whoever ends up with the duke, the other will support her.”

“Of course.”

Just from those few lines of conversation, Yvenne immediately understood the situation.

They were camping outside because of Duke Roeln.

But Yvenne became furious for an entirely different reason.

‘What the hell?! When I come here on official business from the Magic Tower, they make me show documents stamped with the Tower Master’s seal and still inspect me for thirty whole minutes through three separate checkpoints! But girls with blatantly impure motives get waved right through?! Meanwhile I’m the only one treated like a criminal?’

Memories flashed through her mind of being thoroughly searched every single time she visited.

Even when she smiled sweetly—thirty minutes.

Even when she subtly offered cookies from a famous bakery—thirty minutes.

Even when she spoke in a cute nasal voice—still thirty minutes.

At first she had even thought, ‘Wow. These people are really dedicated to their jobs.’ Which was both irritating and oddly admirable.

Apparently that dedication only applied to her.

Denied the benefits of their “professionalism,” Yvenne glared resentfully toward the imperial checkpoint before kicking the tree beside her for no reason.

‘I’m absolutely tattling to the commander today.’

Yvenne firmly believed that tattling was most effective when done to someone powerful. She stopped kicking the tree and calmed herself down. Just deciding to report them already made her feel better.

Meanwhile, the noble ladies continued praising each other.

Listening to them, Yvenne unconsciously shook her head.

‘Unless Commander Roeln has lost his mind…’

She didn’t know the duke particularly well, but from what she had seen so far, he seemed like an extremely reasonable man.

Which meant there was no way he would welcome women barging into his workplace like this trying to flirt with him. They would probably have better chances cornering him at an imperial ball instead.

“But Miss Jibon, did you hear?”

The moment one of them lowered her voice and glanced around cautiously, Yvenne perked up.

‘Hm? What? What is it?’

“What are you talking about, Miss Aye?”

“I heard some fresh gossip this morning from a lady who attended Countess Serena’s tea party.”

“Oh my. What is it?”

“Apparently Duke Roeln gave Lady Nine a handkerchief embroidered with his family crest!”

“What?! Really?!”

“They say Lady Sara, who was sitting beside Lady Nine, saw it clearly. Lady Nine apparently got something on her hand and pulled out a handkerchief to wipe it off, and it was a man’s handkerchief embroidered with the Roeln family crest! If the duke didn’t give it to her, then who else could it have been from?”

“Oh my goodness!”

‘A handkerchief embroidered with the Roeln family crest? Wow. That’s practically a direct confession!’

Yvenne was slightly shocked by the boldness of the usually stoic Duke Roeln, then slowly nodded to herself.

Come to think of it, rumors linking Julia Nine and Duke Roeln had been circulating for years already. And now Julia Nine was twenty. It seemed natural things would finally progress.

‘The wedding will probably be held at the ducal estate, right?’

There would definitely be incredible food.

And desserts went without saying.

It might even be the only opportunity to taste dishes prepared by the legendary chef.

Yvenne unconsciously swallowed.

‘I’m technically a coworker of his, so surely I’d get invited, right?’

Granted, whenever she visited, she spent more time devouring snacks than actually working, so calling herself a coworker was a bit questionable.

Still, starting today, Yvenne decided to firmly believe she counted as one.

“So, Miss Jibon, we absolutely have to succeed today. We can’t just let Duke Roeln be stolen away like this. Even if he does have feelings for Julia Nine, they can’t be that deep. We still have a chance.”

“You’re right. That’s why today I brought the December—”

‘What are they talking about?’

Yvenne had been listening with growing fascination, but the last part was whispered too quietly for her to hear from behind the tree.

“So no matter which one of us succeeds and becomes duchess, we’ll stay friends forever.”

“Yes, of course!”

Apparently done whispering, the two girls loudly reaffirmed a friendship that clearly wouldn’t survive reality.

Yvenne had no idea what they had whispered about, but she suddenly felt sorry for Duke Roeln.

Future duchesses had already appeared without a single consideration for the man himself.

Watching this unfold, Yvenne gained a newfound respect for him.

‘Commander, you actually have an amazing personality.’

A true saint.

If it had been her, she wouldn’t have stopped at simply throwing them out.

She would have made such an example of them that no noble lady would ever dare approach her workplace like this again.

‘The reason girls keep coming must be because he only throws them out politely. I should help make sure nobody ever dares loiter around his workplace again.’

For example, by reporting the palace checkpoint.

Or perhaps by reporting the palace checkpoint.

For today, Yvenne decided she would become a righteous citizen of the Empire who could not tolerate corruption.

After these girls left, of course.

* * *

Sir Dan Brown of the First Knight Order had been patrolling the nearly empty headquarters while the knights were out training.

As he descended from the third floor to the second, and then to the first, the voices of noble ladies became clearer and clearer.

Dan let out a deep sigh.

‘Again?’

Things had finally quieted down for a while.

Their commander was simply too popular for his own good.

Muttering internally about “Duke Roeln this” and “Duke Roeln that,” Dan headed toward the entrance to throw the girls out.

‘I told them to crack down on the checkpoint guards already. Everyone knows they’re accepting bribes and favors to let noble ladies in, so why does the commander keep ignoring it?’

Then a thought occurred to him.

‘Unless… he secretly enjoys girls showing up? Like proof of his popularity?’

But the moment he recalled his superior’s icy expression, Dan immediately shook his head.

‘No way. Not our commander.’

It was far more believable that the duke simply couldn’t be bothered dealing with it.

Still, after kicking these girls out, Dan resolved to strongly recommend another crackdown.

With that thought, he threw open the doors to the headquarters.

* * *

Yvenne watched with sparkling interest as a giant bear-like knight with red hair stormed out and began absolutely grilling the noble ladies in an extremely polite yet devastating tone.

The knight introduced himself as Dan Brown of the First Knight Order before launching into a barrage of questions.

Who were they?

How had they gotten in?

How exactly had they passed the palace checkpoint?

Unable to admit they had entered improperly, the girls faltered helplessly.

“Sir Brown, we’ll just see Duke Roeln briefly and leave.”

“That’s right! Just for a moment!”

The girls clasped their hands together and pleaded desperately.

But instead of sympathy, Dan only felt irritation.

And then there was the woman hiding behind the tree.

‘How did she get in too?’

Dan had noticed the edge of a cloak sticking out from behind the tree the moment he came outside. While pretending to focus on the noble girls, he had carefully observed it.

At first he wondered if it might be a spy.

But after seeing someone repeatedly peek out with only their eyes visible before ducking back again, he dismissed the idea.

No spy could possibly be that terrible.

And the long hair that kept appearing and disappearing only confirmed it.

Which left only one conclusion.

‘This place is crawling with stalkers.’

Stalkers at the front gate.

Stalkers behind trees.

Dan was so dumbfounded by noblewomen’s behavior that he almost lost the ability to speak.

Meanwhile, seeing his silence, the girls mistakenly assumed he was softening and continued pleading more aggressively.

“If you just pretend you didn’t see us, Sir Brown, we’ll never forget your kindness.”

“You can do that for us, right?”

Dan sighed heavily.

“I cannot.”

Then, in a firm voice, he shouted toward the owner of the cloak peeking from behind the tree.

“And the young lady behind the tree—come out as well!”

Yvenne froze.

‘Young lady behind the tree? Me?’

No way.

Impossible.

‘I’m excellent at hiding! I go to the Magic Tower, after all!’

Desperately denying reality, Yvenne was interrupted when Dan shouted again:

“The lady in the gold cloak, come out!”

Yvenne looked down at her cloak.

It was gold.

Clutching the document pouch in her arms like a lifeline, she slowly stepped out from behind the once-reliable tree.

Seeing the pretty young lady emerge, Dan inwardly lamented.

‘She looks perfectly normal too. Why become a stalker?’

“Stand over here beside the other ladies.”

Yvenne obediently shuffled over and stood next to them.

The noble girls immediately scanned her from head to toe with hostile eyes.

‘I’m literally just here on an errand…’

Why were they glaring at her like that?

Sweat trickled down Yvenne’s back beneath the murderous stares.

Apparently the girls had mistaken her for another rival here to pursue Duke Roeln.

‘This is exactly why I was hiding.’

To be fair, after hiding behind a tree and then emerging suspiciously, the misunderstanding was perfectly understandable.

Yvenne tried to explain herself.

“Actually, I’m here today because—”

“Young ladies!”

Dan’s booming voice instantly drowned her out.

“You must not sneak into the knight order headquarters like this! Do you honestly think behaving this way will let you meet our commander? Absolutely not! And even if you somehow did meet him, this would only have the opposite effect. I guarantee it. Do you think you’re the first noble ladies who’ve tried this?!”

Dan Brown continued firing off relentless scolding after scolding.

Yvenne was moments away from mentally checking out completely.

She had never experienced this much nagging in her entire life.

‘Why am I even included in this?’

The injustice nearly brought tears to her eyes.

Every time she tried to explain herself, Dan’s lecture flowed so seamlessly there wasn’t even a gap to interrupt.

“…and therefore, I sincerely hope you ladies never attempt to approach him like this again.”

At long last, the endless lecture seemed to have ended.

Yvenne hurriedly gathered her scattered sanity and prepared to correct the misunderstanding—

But failed again.

Because Dan spoke first.

“By the way, my lady… what’s that?”

Dan pointed toward the small basket hanging from Miss Jibon’s wrist.