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Chapter 4
“…Are you really saying you will join our knight order?”
“Yes. I want to.”
I nodded quickly, filling my voice with sincerity.
Jiscar’s face twisted sharply.
“Please think about it again. Life in the knight order is extremely harsh.”
“It’s fine. I’m not joining to live comfortably, am I?”
I shrugged my shoulders casually, looking slightly annoying on purpose.
“I’m going to fulfill my duty of noblesse oblige.”
“……”
Jiscar, who had gone blank for a moment, gritted his teeth and spoke again.
“If you join, you won’t be able to wear your usual luxury dresses. You’ll only be allowed to wear knight uniforms.”
“Oh, perfect. I always find it annoying to decide what to wear every day anyway.”
“No fine desserts, no tea, no sugar either.”
“Good. I’ve been thinking I’ve been eating too many sweets lately anyway.”
“What…?”
Jiscar looked completely stunned, as if he had lost his words.
Why? Is it a problem if I’m actually serious about joining?
Then why did you provoke me in the first place, huh?
I smiled faintly.
At that moment, Jiscar flinched and stiffened.
His eyes trembled as if he had witnessed something terrifying—no, was Cassia really that unpleasant to him?!
But I had already decided not to accept rejection.
“From what I know, the Blue Dawn Knights can accept members as long as the commander approves. Am I right?”
According to the original story, they didn’t need approval from the imperial court or command headquarters.
When Jiscar first founded the order, he demanded minimum independence.
“That is…”
Jiscar trailed off awkwardly.
I stared at him with burning eyes.
“So? Am I right?”
“…Yes, that is correct.”
Jiscar finally answered with a deeply twisted expression.
He looked like someone who had been forced to swallow something extremely bitter.
How does it feel to shoot yourself in the foot?
“Fufu.”
I laughed wickedly, and Jiscar quickly recovered and protested desperately.
“I do not want to serve in the military with a woman who might sneak into my bed! It will ruin discipline!”
But I had no intention of giving up my advantage.
“Lord Romanov, isn’t that a bit of a self-conscious assumption?”
I shook my head firmly and pointed at him with my fingers spread wide.
Then I began folding them one by one.
“First, I already apologized for being clingy.”
One finger.
“And I promised I wouldn’t act that way again.”
Two fingers.
“And as an apology for my past rudeness, I even agreed to supply urgently needed purification medicine.”
Three fingers.
Jiscar’s pupils began shaking like an earthquake.
“And to be honest, you were the one who first told me to enlist.”
I crossed my arms and looked up at him sideways.
“What, are you scared?”
When I added a final “scared?”, a vein popped on his forehead.
I smiled brightly and continued.
“If I become the administrative supply officer of the Blue Dawn Knights, I’ll basically be your subordinate, right?”
“That is… true, but…”
“Then you’ll have the legal right to punish me. What exactly is the problem?”
I stepped even closer to him.
And at that moment, fragments of the original Cassia’s actions flashed through my mind like a panorama…
Oh my god, Cassia.
Even if you’re a troublemaker, going straight for the lips is too much!
Ugh, this is so embarrassing!
I quickly composed myself and finished speaking.
“If I ever cause the disciplinary problems you’re worried about…”
“Then punish me under military law.”
Honestly, there was no way this strict rule-abiding man would ignore punishment just because of imperial pressure.
‘This should convince him.’
I looked straight at Jiscar confidently.
And then—
“Huh?”
I blinked in confusion.
Jiscar’s face was distorted as he glared at me.
Why is he making that expression all of a sudden?!
“Military law, huh. Your Highness is still living in a fantasy world.”
“Sir?”
“If this damn empire were a place where rules were actually followed…”
He clenched his teeth so hard his jaw trembled.
“I wouldn’t be standing here today.”
For a moment, I noticed dried blood stains on his military uniform.
‘Ah.’
I felt my heart turn cold.
“Ha… forget it.”
Jiscar let out a tired laugh while holding his forehead.
That smile carried—
deep exhaustion and resignation.
“Honestly, what am I even doing here…”
“Sir, wait—”
“I will take my leave.”
“Sir!”
With those words, Jiscar left, letting a cold wind sweep through the balcony.
His back looked so exhausted that I couldn’t bring myself to stop him.
Instead—
“Just you wait, Lord Romanov!”
In the quiet balcony with no one around,
my determined shout echoed loudly.
“I will make the Blue Dawn Knights the richest knight order!”
After sending Jiscar away,
I dragged my tired steps back to the princess’s palace.
“P-Princess?”
The maids froze stiffly as soon as they saw me.
Their faces turned pale as if they were being strangled.
‘Do I really look like a demon to them?’
I clicked my tongue inwardly, then immediately corrected myself.
Well, from their perspective, Cassia really was scarier than a demon.
She regularly bullied the maids, snapped at them over the smallest mistakes for hours,
and sometimes even resorted to physical punishment when she was in a bad mood…
So for the maids, the only peaceful time was when Cassia was out attending parties.
‘But that spoiled princess came back early?’
Normally, she would never return at this time.
She would stay out at high-society parties until dawn and come back almost unconscious.
‘Yeah, I’d hate that too if I were them.’
I waved my hand lazily.
“Enough. All of you, leave. I’m resting.”
“Yes!”
The maids hurried out with stiff discipline.
And then—
“Haah…”
Left alone, I let out a long sigh from deep in my chest.
Jiscar’s face kept floating in my mind.
That hollow expression, like he was abandoned alone in an endless winter.
Of course, he was extremely strict and the type of person who would even defy royalty if something seemed wrong.
If I were my old self, I would have hated dealing with someone like him.
But still—
“In the original story, Jiscar tried until the very end to save the world.”
He was rejected by everyone.
One by one, his precious comrades died.
Yet there were still so many people looking only at him.
So he couldn’t abandon them.
And his ending, where he lost everything and collapsed…
‘That’s just too cruel.’
So this time—
‘I won’t let Jiscar fail.’
My eyes shone with determination.
