CHAPTER 47
“Bbaek!” Dietrich shouted. Irene flinched.
It was surprising that the news had reached Dietrich’s ears so quickly.
At his words, Chloe and Mikhail, who had been training, stopped what they were doing and came over.
“What recommendation letter?”
At Mikhail’s question, Dietrich replied.
“Didn’t you say so, Sis? That she got a knight candidate’s letter of recommendation!”
So it wasn’t that Dietrich found out himself—it was Chloe who told him.
But it was strange. Why had Chloe shared that with Dietrich in the first place?
“Was it the First Prince who wrote you the letter?”
Mikhail quickly saw through the truth.
Irene hesitated for a moment under their stares, then nodded.
‘It’s news that will be known sooner or later anyway.’
There was no point in denying it.
But soon, discomfort welled up inside her. Their faces darkened in an instant.
“Do you really have to go?”
Dietrich asked. Chloe and Mikhail looked just as troubled, waiting for her answer.
“Weren’t you trying to live well here too?”
Dietrich’s words struck right at the heart of the matter, and Irene faltered.
‘From the outside, it must look like that.’
But in truth, her focus hadn’t been on becoming close to them. Rather, she’d been trying to strengthen her standing in Lycaon.
Yet through her conversations with the Duke of Lycaon, she had realized that befriending them wasn’t connected to her position at all.
After all, from the start, she was in no position to build a lasting foundation here.
“Were you… trying to use our relationship as a stepping stone for your goal?”
“……”
Chloe’s sharp words pierced her. Irene was secretly shocked, but she didn’t answer. Dietrich’s eyes widened.
“Is that true?”
“…Yes.”
Seeing the shock on his face made Irene’s discomfort deepen.
Her answer was followed by a suffocating silence.
Everyone kept their mouths shut, gazes heavy as they stared at her.
When no one could bring themselves to speak—
“…Fine. I don’t know what your goal is, but I don’t care.”
Chloe said coolly. Irene wondered if she had heard right.
Those weren’t the kind of words a prideful Chloe would normally say.
Apparently, the others thought the same. Dietrich’s mouth hung open, and Mikhail widened his eyes at Chloe.
“But let me make this clear. I want you to stay here.”
Chloe tilted her chin up with a shameless face.
“Sometimes honesty is necessary, isn’t it?”
Just then, Mikhail suddenly cut in.
“I trained at the imperial palace before, so I know—there’s nothing to learn there.”
He spoke passionately.
“The training conditions are terrible. Without a master, you’re left to train alone and figure everything out yourself.”
Irene, more than anyone, knew that was a blatant lie, and she let out an involuntary laugh.
After all, she had risen all the way to vice-captain of the Imperial Knights. Mikhail’s lies and intentions were obvious to her.
After a brief silence, Irene opened her mouth.
“I’ll think about it.”
Then she resumed her sword practice.
It was her way of showing she had no intention of continuing the conversation.
The three retreated with faintly crestfallen faces.
“…Phew.”
Before long, Irene couldn’t focus on her training anymore and threw her wooden sword to the ground.
Damn it, why is no decision ever easy?
A week passed.
Irene still hadn’t given her answer. The family dining room, where everyone gathered, had taken on a strangely solemn air.
The Duke had attended every meal since that day.
At first, Irene thought it was coincidence, but gradually realized he was doing it deliberately because of her.
‘It’s about time I decide.’
There was no deadline written on the recommendation letter, but from Reinhardt’s perspective, it was a significant gesture.
With that letter, he could have placed another noble’s child and forged an alliance with that family.
The weight of the matter meant she couldn’t postpone her reply forever.
On top of that, the longer she delayed, the paler the faces of the Lycaon household seemed to grow.
“Where are you going?”
When Irene, after finishing her meal, headed to her room instead of the training grounds, Dietrich asked.
“To my room.”
“To do what?”
“To write a letter.”
“To whom?”
Mikhail, who had come up beside her, asked. Irene realized she was suddenly surrounded by the three siblings. She knew very well why they had come.
Sighing, she answered.
“To His Highness the First Prince.”
Their faces froze like ice.
She brushed past them and entered her room.
Inside, Irene picked up Lepidore.
The Duke had said it was dangerous and asked her to hand it over, but she had refused.
‘It’s time to use this.’
Sitting down, Irene began to write her letter.
The First Prince’s palace.
Even at dawn, one place was brightly lit: the office, where Reinhardt worked from the early morning.
With a faintly tired face, Reinhardt fiddled with a golden fountain pen.
“It should be arriving soon…”
Ever since sending the recommendation, he’d found it hard to concentrate on work.
‘I should’ve written a deadline for her to respond by.’
He slightly regretted it, but he hadn’t wanted Irene to feel pressured into making such an important decision.
“She’ll come someday…”
It was that very afternoon, not long after he spoke, when—
“Your Highness! The Lady has replied!”
His aide came rushing in with a letter in hand. His face was bright with relief—after all, he’d been suffering too from the Prince’s slowed pace of work.
Finally, it was over!
“What?!”
Even without specifying which lady, Reinhardt knew at once it was from Irene.
Thump-thump.
His heart beat faster than usual as he took the letter.
But as an unwelcome guest drew near, Reinhardt’s face hardened.
“…Why are you here.”
It was his guard knight, Ron, grinning from ear to ear.
“I’m curious too!”
“Go away.”
Reinhardt waved him off like a fly, sighing deeply as Ron left with a sulky look.
On one hand, he couldn’t believe he was reacting like this over something as small as a recommendation letter.
She had said she wanted to be his close aide and knight—so surely she would accept.
‘Then why am I so uneasy?’
He soon realized the source of his anxiety.
If she had intended to accept right away, wouldn’t she have replied sooner? Somewhere deep down, that thought had taken root.
He swallowed hard and opened the letter.
[Your Highness, I am deeply grateful for your recommendation. However, I still have unfinished duties here, so for now it will be difficult. In the future, when time has passed, I shall take the exam alongside the others and enter properly.]
It was a tactful refusal, just as he had feared. His pupils trembled at the unfamiliar situation.
For a moment, he was dumbfounded.
“Surely… that’s a rejection?”
Ron asked in shock. Reinhardt didn’t even have the presence of mind to answer.
He only bit his lip, unable to comprehend.
‘She said she wanted to serve by my side…’
And yet her actions contradicted her words.
She had acted like trust was paramount—yet now, given the chance, she refused?
Her straightforward letter felt almost cruel, and it made him slightly angry.
‘Liar.’
There was a postscript below, but Reinhardt couldn’t bring himself to read further, his vision blurring.
Then—something dropped out of the envelope with a small thud.
A stone. Reinhardt stared at it in puzzlement, wondering if it had been enclosed by mistake.
But thinking it might be something she had sent on purpose, he forced himself to read on.
[The enclosed stone is Lepidore. I used it in my territory to track down dark mages, and I believe Your Highness will also find it useful one day. Please take care of it.]
As expected, it was information about the stone. Reinhardt hurriedly looked back at it.
‘Lepidore?’
He knew what it was.
In his theology lessons, he’d learned of a sacred relic capable of detecting corruption.
There was only one in the entire world, making it nearly impossible to obtain.
‘If she used it in her territory…’
Recently, in Lycaon territory, two dark mages and their spies had been exposed.
This must have been referring to that incident. Which meant this was the genuine relic, not a fake.
“…Ha.”
Reinhardt let out a sigh without realizing it.
Truly, it was a string of shocking revelations.
