Chapter – 18
“W-what did you say?”
At Rosanne’s sudden announcement of dismissal, all the knights immediately sprang to their feet. The burly men stood up at once, and the startled maids stepped back with a frightened squeak.
In an instant, the knights surged around Rosanne. But she didn’t flinch; she casually shrugged her shoulders as if this were completely normal.
“Why? Do you think it’ll be hard to find a job as good as this? A place where the salary comes in reliably and you don’t even have to work?”
“Hey, miss—”
“You, go call the steward. Tell him that I’m firing all the knights right now.”
Rosanne ignored the growling knight’s attempt at intimidation and commanded a maid instead.
The maid glanced around nervously, then hurriedly ran off to carry out Rosanne’s order.
“Hey!”
When the maid truly went off to fetch the steward, a knight scowled and stepped in front of Rosanne.
“Don’t call him.”
“What?”
“If we’re fired, I won’t have to see you again, so don’t call him.”
Rosanne’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
“Hah! You might not know this, miss, but only the duke has the authority to dismiss us…”
“If you need the duke, I’ll call him. Go, fetch the duke.”
Rosanne then ordered another maid to summon the duke.
She had always been afraid of the duke. When standing before him, she couldn’t even meet his eyes and would tremble so much that her shoulders shook. Sometimes it almost looked pitiful.
Naturally, she expected the knights to flinch at the mention of the duke this time as well…
“What are you waiting for? Go call him.”
“B-but the duke is currently busy—”
“Even if he’s busy, call him. He’s the one who brought these incompetent knights here, after all. If they can’t do their job, that’s their problem, not mine.”
“D-do I really have to deliver that message to the duke myself, miss…?”
“No. I’ll tell him when he arrives. Didn’t you hear me? He has to be here to fire you, right? Consider it as if you yourselves told him to come or not.”
The knights’ faces drained of color instantly.
“B-but…”
“If he doesn’t come, tell him I’ll sell off something again. That’ll bring him.”
Rosanne was firm. Seeing that she would not back down, the maid finally ran off.
A few maids ran off to fetch the steward and the duke, and the knights realized this was no joke.
“Why all of a sudden?”
One of the knights, thinking things might get dangerous if they stayed, stepped forward again.
“I believe there’s been a misunderstanding, miss. It was just a break during training.”
His tone was now much more polite.
But that was still not enough to satisfy Rosanne, who furrowed her brows.
“A break during training?”
Rosanne looked over the knights. Hm. There was no smell of sweat; their uniforms were spotless. These so-called knights looked fresher than the maids who had walked here and were already sweating.
“If you were angry because of our attitude, I apologize. …But it seems they were provoked by your comment about receiving a salary without working.”
“So you’re saying the cause is my words?”
“After not coming even once, you suddenly appear and the first thing you say is that we get a salary for nothing. Who would like that?”
“Do you even know how hard we train? You only see the briefest moment and say that…”
“Earlier, Sir Mark, the bodyguard of Brina Portlen, challenged me to a duel.”
Rosanne cut off the knights mid-complaint and got straight to the point about why she came to the training grounds.
The knights who had been protesting widened their eyes in surprise.
“Sir Mark? You mean that Sir Mark?”
“The one who was a candidate for the Golden Knights’ commander?”
“Who wins the annual swordsmanship tournament?”
Rosanne quietly stared at the knights and spoke.
“That’s right. So I need a knight who will duel Sir Mark in my place.”
The once-confident knights all avoided her gaze simultaneously, as if on cue.
“Anyone willing?”
The knights glanced around at each other. Not a single one dared to raise their hand.
Rosanne wasn’t disappointed.
“Training hard, huh?”
As if she had expected it all along, showing no hint of hope.
“So you see, the salary isn’t for nothing, right?”
Several knights blushed—not from guilt, but from the shame of being caught in a lie.
“Sir Mark is an exception, isn’t he!”
One knight shouted at Rosanne.
“Exception?”
“He was a candidate for commander of the Golden Knights! How could we possibly beat a knight who’s won the swordsmanship tournament?”
“Quite a long-winded way to say you’re scared.”
Rosanne’s ridicule made the knights’ faces flush with anger.
“They refuse to fight someone they obviously can’t beat! That’s inefficient!”
“They accept that they can’t win and hide, but when someone calls them out for being scared, they get angry? They choose their anger selectively.”
“What are you talking about! If it weren’t for Sir Mark, we would gladly fight to claim victory ourselves!”
“Really? To me, it looks like you’d probably lose even against a commoner.”
“What did you just say?”
The knights, suddenly demoted to the rank of commoners, muttered threats at Rosanne.
“Watch your words, miss.”
“There’s a limit to how much I’ll go easy on you.”
“Really?”
Rosanne nodded.
“Then I won’t go easy.”
The atmosphere became dangerously tense, as if they were all walking on thin ice. A lone maid tried to slip in between Rosanne and the knights to calm things down, but it was useless.
They’re full of holes.
Rosanne swept her gaze across the knights. She could sense their killing intent. Clearly, they were ready to draw their swords if needed.
Yet, looking at them, she didn’t even flinch.
This is their actual strength.
…Disappointing.
Even if they weren’t on Chayton’s level, surely there would be at least one who could mimic it to some degree. But no—her expectations were not met.
Rosanne furrowed her brows. If they faced Sir Mark like this, they’d likely just get beaten.
While the emperor tended to restrain the family’s guards, it didn’t mean the knights had to be this sloppy.
Even if they all combine their strength, they could barely protect one or two people.
This was not a knight squad meant to defend the family—it was more like a backup for the duke if something went wrong. Nobles often prepared people to die in their place in emergencies.
Looks like I’ll have to handle this myself after all.
Just as Rosanne was deep in thought,
“Miss.”
The knight who had been chattering all along ground his teeth and called out to her.
He had the feeblest aura, but among them, he was the strongest.
“If you’re bored, find another game. There’s no gain in stirring us up.”
The knight glared and gripped the hilt of his sword, as if ready to draw it at any moment.
The maid gasped and pressed herself close to Rosanne.
“Draw it?”
Rosanne stepped forward. Before the knight could stop her, she quickly reached out.
Whish!
Her palm pressed firmly on the hilt of the sword the knight was about to draw.
“Do you think I can’t stop you from drawing it?”
The knight tried to pull the sword with all his strength, intending to intimidate the small girl before him.
“I’ll show you I really c—huh?”
He tried again with all his might. The result was the same. The sword didn’t move.
He pressed with all his strength, but the hilt, under her tiny hand barely a span wide, wouldn’t budge.
Huh?
When he looked up along the small hand, he met Rosanne’s eyes—and flinched.
His legs nearly gave out without him realizing it.
What… was happening?
The moment he met her gaze, he felt an indescribable terror and, at the same time, reverence for something untouchable.
Her palm was now damp with sweat.
Ah.
He realized instinctively.
The one preventing him from drawing his sword was a small hand barely a span wide. This girl was the cause.
“Why?”
Rosanne asked lazily, as if she could see through everything.
“Can’t draw your sword?”
A cold sweat trickled down the knight’s back.
“What… why…?”
“Afraid of being fired? Show me your true strength!”
“You’re the strongest among us!”
The other knights, unaware, cheered him on.
Shut up!
The knight wanted to cry. With every cheer, the crushing force on the sword grew stronger.
Now, it wasn’t about drawing the sword but about maintaining his stance so he wouldn’t be crushed by the overwhelming force.
His arms trembled violently, bearing the full weight of Rosanne’s strength.
What… was this?
Since when had this girl—
Why…
Unrefined questions flooded the knight’s mind.
“Do you have anything to say?”
Rosanne asked, still calm.
As always, as if nothing had happened.
