Chapter 90
Seren and Ophraje fell silent.
“Only the two of you are supposed to be here today…”
Following Doshen’s advice, even the ordinary workers had all been sent out.
‘So, it’s inside here?’
Everyone held their breath, but Seren and Ophraje heard nothing.
What sound were they supposed to be hearing?
Maya only realized her mistake when she saw their puzzled faces.
‘They don’t know my senses are sharper than most.’
Well, it made sense—nothing was known about the Pendragons.
“Pendragons have sharper hearing than others. That’s how I knew.”
Only then did Ophraje nod in understanding.
How fascinating.
Was it because of the blood of dragons in her lineage?
Learning about the Pendragons, whom she had only ever heard about in legend and rumor, was a strange, wondrous process.
And since Maya was someone who would be an ally in the future, Ophraje felt reassured.
“Who is it that’s coming?”
“Graham. He won’t dare take it out on His Majesty, so he’s coming to vent his anger on me.”
Riserfield must have dismissed Graham the moment he returned, and of course Graham would not understand that Maya had simply outmatched him.
‘Especially since I deliberately lost to him in our last sparring match.’
From the dessert shop of Red onward, Seren and Maya had drawn unusual attention.
Word of where the two of them had gone was bound to spread.
‘But to come barging in like this…’
It was unlike Graham, who always boasted of being a noble and valued face and reputation above all.
It was, in fact, behavior more fitting of Maya herself.
Mulling it over, Maya gave a short laugh.
“Perhaps he made some kind of bet. That if he beat me, he’d regain his post as Captain of the Knights.”
If the two of them fought, attention would naturally be drawn, and word would spread that Maya had awakened the power of the Pendragon.
Everyone would then understand why Riserfield had appointed her as Captain of the Royal Knights.
Riserfield had always been adept at dumping his problems onto Maya.
‘Predictable.’
Instead of facing Graham’s complaints himself, he had chosen to pass them onto her.
But what he hadn’t realized was that he could no longer use her like that.
“It’s fine… I’ve beaten him once before. I can do it again. That bastard is nothing I can’t handle.”
Graham had been immensely proud of his title and honor as Captain of the Knights.
And Maya had toppled all of it in an instant.
…
In a way, it was unintentional revenge on the man who had tormented and belittled her in her past life.
‘…Maybe this is the chance to have a proper fight.’
Unlike last time, this would be a real duel.
A good opportunity.
‘Though to White Dragon, it’ll be little more than a yawn…’
Maya tied her hair high.
“In any case, we needed to discuss Seren’s dress, so this works out. Please continue. I’ll go deal with him.”
“…But he is the Captain of the Knights. Are you sure it’s all right?”
Ophraje asked with a worried expression.
He was, after all, the royal captain.
‘I should ease her worries.’
Ophraje had declared her support for them even before seeing Maya’s strength.
So at least this much she could show her.
Maya summoned White Dragon into her hand and presented it to Ophraje.
“This is the reason I was able to become Captain.”
She grinned, holding the sword.
“Because I awakened the power of the Pendragon.”
Maya strode out of Ophraje’s shop.
Just in time, Graham arrived, his eyes flashing the moment he saw her.
“…So you’ve come out. I don’t know how you bewitched His Majesty, but it won’t work on me.”
“If I had the talent to bewitch His Majesty, wouldn’t that be worth acknowledging?”
“You insolent wretch! Your tongue is long indeed for someone who was utterly crushed in our last duel!”
Graham shouted so loudly his face turned red. Naturally, nearby gazes turned toward them.
“Then why not fight again?”
Maya replied calmly.
“If you defeat me here, I’ll give up the title of Captain of the Royal Knights.”
“His Majesty said the same thing.”
Graham immediately drew his sword.
“I’ll teach you what true knightly virtue means.”
“That’s exactly what I was going to say.”
Maya drew her own sword.
Graham lunged first, his blade aimed at her throat.
‘So he really means to kill me.’
The intent was written in the arc of his sword.
How pitiful, to thrash about in ignorance of the fact that someone truly capable of killing him was before his eyes.
Like a rabbit before a lion.
Maya deftly dodged his strike and hooked his leg.
“Wha—”
Thud, crash! Graham’s body sprawled to the ground in a noisy heap.
“If you thought the last spar was real, that’s your mistake.”
“Ugh…”
Maya bent close to his ear and whispered.
“If you’d like, I can let you get beaten bloody for an hour or two in front of everyone. But you value your honor, don’t you?”
“…How could you possibly manage that?”
The faint smell of alcohol made Maya wrinkle her nose. He wasn’t even sober enough to recognize the Pendragon’s blade properly.
“You can see what I’m holding, can’t you?”
She pressed the gleaming white blade against his neck.
“Think about what my surname was before I married.”
Smiling brightly, Maya looked every bit the reaper come to cut his throat.
The sight of the sword—and the memory of the Pendragon legend—drained the blood from Graham’s face until he was paler than the blade itself.
“Th-that…”
“You challenged me, so I will give it my all. Of course, accidents do happen when one can’t control one’s full strength.”
It was Graham who had so boldly demanded their first duel, and Graham who had come here to confront her.
‘I could die…’
He immediately understood the meaning hidden in Maya’s words.
“L-lady Maya, I must have been drunk out of my mind.”
“That’s none of my concern. I always give my best in a duel.”
Still smiling, Maya pressed the sword harder to his neck. Blood trickled down.
His body went stiff, unable to move.
It was the sheer force of her presence, combined with the aura of the White Dragon Sword.
“W-what do you want! I’ll do anything you ask!”
Maya despised ruling by fear. That was no way to win hearts.
But the opposite was also true—if someone’s heart wasn’t worth winning, then it didn’t matter.
‘And this kind of garbage certainly isn’t.’
Maya’s smile broadened.
The moment she’d known Graham was coming, she had already decided on the real topic she wanted to raise.
“Graham, your family runs a trading company, doesn’t it?”
That was why Riserfield had placed him as captain in the first place.
“I think it’s about time we opened a line of business with them.”
Graham was the only son of the Cortten family, the largest merchants in the capital after the Bakers.
Even so, this time Riserfield had decided that the benefits of appointing Maya outweighed those of leaving Graham in place.
‘He must have planned to win Graham over later…’
But sending him to fight Maya in the first place had already been a mistake.
“…Pardon?”
“Better to discuss this inside.”
With a flick of her wrist, Maya dismissed the White Dragon, then seized Graham by the collar and dragged him to the shop door.
Dignity as a noble? Reputation? All of it vanished as Graham was hauled inside, helpless.
The day of the investiture ceremony arrived.
It had all happened in such a short time, but news that the appointment would be held publicly brought crowds flocking to the capital just to see Maya.
With monsters appearing more frequently, people longed for someone they could rely on.
Someone like Maya Pendragon.
In the royal palace, Maya was given the new white uniform of the Captain of the Royal Knights.
She stood before the mirror, clad in the white-and-gold attire.
With her curly hair neatly tied back and the White Dragon summoned in her hand, she looked as though she had stepped back into the past.
‘The place I once loved.’
In this life, she had chosen a different path to avoid repeating her mistakes, yet here she was again—returned to the captain’s post.
As if this was where she truly belonged.
‘Yes, I can do this.’
Thinking of it as a chance to become a different kind of captain than before—one without regret—Maya clenched her fist and stepped out of the room.
“Maya.”
Waiting for her was Tristan.
Between his wedding preparations and Maya’s constant coordination with Ophraje and Seren, they had scarcely had a moment together—not even to hold hands, let alone share a night.
Tristan pulled Maya into a tight embrace, seeing her in uniform at last.
Only now did he feel he could breathe again.
“It’s time we go.”
At her words, he reluctantly let her go.
“I’ll be watching from afar with Wyvern.”
“Yes, don’t worry.”
Maya smiled, as if to chase away his concerns.
Even in uniform, she was dazzling.
