Chapter : 2 – What Now…
It was a marriage contract that completely ignored her will.
It seemed the discussion between families had already ended—the man’s signature was already there. If anything, it made her even more frustrated that she burned it without even checking who it was.
“Ha! I should’ve at least seen the name!”
She was fuming, saying she should’ve gone and threatened them so they couldn’t even talk about marriage again—but there was no one to stop her.
“They tried to kill me just the other day, and now marriage? Trying to take a dowry too? Is that it?”
Left alone in the office, Cielie kept thinking about the contract until it was time to leave work. She rushed out immediately, determined to handle everything from home.
The next morning, the sun rose—but nothing changed.
Cielie woke up just before she was late for work and hurriedly got ready. She rushed to the Imperial Palace and, out of habit, went to the knights’ gathering place—only to get scolded by another comrade, Saha.
“Huh? Why are you here?”
“Hmm?”
“Aren’t you the Commander’s aide starting from yesterday?”
Cielie’s expression changed immediately.
It had only happened yesterday, but it already felt like something she wanted to forget.
And as all of yesterday’s events came back to her, her face darkened.
‘Aide position… and marriage…’
“Ha, damn it.”
“Watch your mouth! Be careful in front of the Commander!”
“I don’t want to go.”
Cielie hesitantly dragged herself into the knights’ meeting room. Her usual confident walk was gone.
She was supposed to go to the Commander’s office—but she did not want to.
Just as she was about to sit down in a gloomy mood, a glove suddenly flew at her.
She stepped aside and dodged it, then sighed at the person in front of her.
“Cielie Arius! I challenge you to a duel!”
It was Galael, a knight junior to her, fuming as he threw down the glove again.
“Ugh… what is it this time?”
Cielie waved her hand as if this place was full of insane people.
She even briefly considered taking out her frustration on him—but shook her head.
“Don’t make things worse, Sir Galael. I already have enough problems.”
“Grr! I said duel!”
“You missed, kid. And rank-wise, I’m way above you. Show some respect to your senior.”
Cielie glared at him.
‘Should I just hit him?’
Her pale hand began to glow.
Startled, Galael stepped back—only to bump into someone behind him.
“What’s going on so early in the morning?”
Seeing the man’s face, Galael looked deeply moved, almost teary.
At that moment, the deputy commander’s voice rang out.
“Everyone, attention! The Commander, who has been absent, has returned!”
Cielie didn’t look at the man staring at her, but something about him felt familiar.
‘Where have I seen him…?’
But she couldn’t remember.
If she knew him, she’d just recognize him later.
‘I don’t know. If I know him, I’ll say hi later.’
“I am Leonard Franz Lind. It’s been a while.”
As he spoke, everyone immediately saluted.
“We greet the Commander!”
The knights’ voices echoed through the room.
Leonard rarely stayed in the palace for long, and whenever he returned, Cielie was usually on leave. So this was actually her first time seeing him in person.
Other knights who recognized him looked at him with admiration.
Especially Galael, who had once been saved by Leonard during a mission.
“Knight Cielie.”
In the knight order, everyone was addressed by first name only, regardless of status.
Cielie nodded slightly at Leonard.
She heard Galael complaining nearby about her attitude, but responded by kicking his shin.
“Yes.”
“You will come with me. Everyone else proceed with today’s duties.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knights answered loudly again.
Leonard left the room, and Cielie quickly followed him.
Behind them, the remaining knights sighed.
“Who would’ve thought the Commander would show up like this.”
“I heard he’s the Emperor’s younger brother. Doesn’t look anything like him.”
“The Emperor resembles the former Emperor, and the Commander resembles the former Empress.”
“Still… why come back and immediately cause trouble?”
“Maybe he came to find Cielie since she wasn’t in the office?”
At Saha’s guess, everyone looked toward the door with pity.
They could already imagine Cielie being trapped under that strict Commander.
“Poor girl…”
“At least it’s Cielie. She’s tough.”
“I actually wanted that position!”
Galael shouted, but no one cared.
“She’s more qualified than you anyway.”
“Of course.”
“I heard the Emperor personally chose her…”
Meanwhile, Cielie felt suffocated under Leonard’s silent gaze.
He had been staring at her for three hours straight without doing any work.
At this point, it wasn’t just strange—it was absurd.
“Commander…”
“Leonard.”
“Pardon?”
“Call me Leonard.”
‘I know that already!’
She couldn’t casually use his name. He was the Emperor’s younger brother.
Pretending not to hear, she continued.
“Shouldn’t you be working?”
“Do I have to?”
‘What is this?’
Cielie forced a polite smile.
“Yes… work is important.”
“I don’t want to.”
He leaned his head on his hand and kept staring at her instead of documents.
Cielie blinked.
Then a thought crossed her mind.
‘Am I going to end up doing everything?’
She already imagined the exhausted deputy commander’s face—and then her own in the same state.
Terrifying.
She had escaped her duke family to live peacefully… and now this?
“Commander, please—just work!”
“Why?”
“There are documents that only you can approve! The knights’ operations can’t continue without it! And what about salaries?!”
‘My salary too!’
Finally, Leonard coughed awkwardly.
“Can I do it tomorrow instead?”
“No!”
Cielie stood up and walked straight to his desk.
She slammed her hand down.
“These need approval today.”
She handed him a pen.
Leonard finally picked it up—
“Knight.”
“Yes?”
“There’s no ink.”
‘How long has he not used a pen for it to dry like this?!’
And just like that, he casually decided to leave.
“I’ll do it later.”
Then he disappeared.
Cielie stared at the empty space, completely exhausted.
“…I should just go home.”
But even home was not peaceful.
When she arrived, someone was waiting at her house.
“Uh? Why are you here…?”
“Knight Cielie.”
“Yes. Did I forget rent? I didn’t, right?”
She politely greeted her landlord.
But the landlord looked apologetic.
“I’m sorry, but I urgently need money, so I decided to sell the house.”
“…Yes?”
“So I’ll need you to move out.”
“Move out?”
“In about a week.”
“A WEEK?!”
Her polite tone disappeared instantly.
“What do you mean a week?!”
“I’ve already informed you, so I’ll take my leave…”
“H-hey!”
But the landlord ran away quickly.
Left alone, Cielie felt all her energy drain away.
“One week… to find a new house?”
She wasn’t even angry anymore.
Just exhausted.
“What a wonderful day…”
First—the aide appointment.
Second—the marriage contract.
Third—the eviction.
All of it happened in just a few days.
None of it was something she could solve easily.
She wanted to run away.
She had left the Arius Duke Family thinking she was finally free…
‘This is too much!’
Her hard-earned peaceful life felt like it was collapsing.
Without even washing up, she fell onto her bed.
Tears almost came out.
‘Sleep first… think tomorrow.’
Exhaustion and sadness swallowed her whole—and she fell asleep.
