I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 417: The Great Escape

When Irene was only an apprentice and getting used to the aspect of knighthood that required her to escort nobles from one place to the next, there were a couple of interactions that always struck her because of how unusual they were to her. The first was being forced to dance with Her Highness because she wouldn’t dance with anyone else. The other was when Lady Rose Dethorn, niece to Baroness Dethorn, one of the Duke’s advisors, was acting too familiar with her.

Even then, Irene knew that she could not compare to Rose because, even as a child, Rose was charming. However, this charm carried on into Rose’s later teenage years and then early adulthood. She became known amongst the nobles as ’the chaser’ because she tended to gravitate towards those eligible with deep pockets. It didn’t matter their age either.

Of course, Duke Mattson was the one there with the deepest pockets and most well-stocked treasury, despite Earl Auden’s show of wealth during their entire stay. Even before going to the northeast, Irene had a feeling Lady Rose would appear before the Commander at one point.

It turned out to be far more pathetic than that.

As Irene sipped more mulled wine, she subtly observed Rose sticking close by even when Henry was dancing with various other women. She was a bit too slow compared to those eager enough to rush towards the Duke each time he had a free moment.

The red-haired knight was beginning to wonder if Lady Rose would ever catch Henry with her pathetic attempts to get his attention, seeing as her inappropriately low-cut dress wasn’t enough to make him look in her direction. All the while, it was making Irene feel a bit more fond of the man she had already certainly liked before.

Despite her own insecurities, maybe he really wasn’t like the other men who folded for this behavior rather easily. There were plenty of men in the knighthood she had seen suffer loneliness, and into the arms of someone who behaved just as Rose did. She couldn’t entirely blame them because she also got lonely as a knight, but she always hoped that they would show better self-control. Perhaps it was selfishly out of her worry that there wasn’t a person out there who would look at her with affection.

Then what did her Commander look at her with?

She agonized again over what he was going to say, hoping that he would return to her as he promised. It garnered another glance towards the man enjoying the company of seemingly every noble lady in the room except for her, but she had long since accepted that she would never be the same as them. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Rose did eventually catch the Duke because she changed her approach. The young lady asked her aunt, Baroness Dethorn, to introduce them, and it seemed he couldn’t ignore a request from one of his advisors.

Irene straightened herself out when she saw a maid arrive with more wine.

"More, my lady?" the maid asked.

"Please," Irene responded eagerly.

The knight’s attention subtly returned to the dancing, and she saw the Commander keeping an appropriate distance from the woman. His answers to her questions seemed short and polite. Beyond that, there seemed to be mostly silence as the Commander gazed over the woman’s head and she gazed at his face, hoping for a crumb of his attention.

Their slow dancing turned the Commander so that he was facing Irene, and she was shocked to see his eyes seek her. Even from far away, he could make her heart race. As if she weren’t a knight who didn’t even flinch at the sight of an ogre any longer.

At the look of thinly veiled misery he shot her, she couldn’t help returning his gaze more confidently. The alcohol inside of her allowed her to smirk at his misfortune. And then his smile became authentic, and she was only allowed relief when another couple got in their way and obscured her view. She broke her gaze and did anything to distract herself from the feeling he had elicited within her.

She couldn’t help wondering if it was on purpose.

Irene’s thoughts carried her long enough to realize that the music was slowing. It was a sure sign that the dancing was about over.

Oftentimes, the last dance of an event like that was reserved for those you cared about the most. Disappointment filled her, but despite being disappointed, she didn’t blame the Commander one bit. He hadn’t sat down the entire time, while she sat and enjoyed herself quite thoroughly. He had to maintain a perfect facade while no one even looked in her direction because she made sure to put up an unapproachable front.

However, opportunity presented itself because, shortly after her parents finished dancing with one another, they escaped to one of the rooms outside of the banquet hall so that they could cool themselves down. It seemed that it was her time to escape.

The only thing that had kept her there for so long was being able to dance with Henry again, but since she couldn’t, there was no point in wallowing in self-pity when the alcohol was making her feel a bit energetic.

With a final glance towards her Commander, who was facing the opposite way, Irene stood up and made sure to exit from the southernmost entrance because her parents didn’t go out that way in particular. She wasn’t interested in hearing their thoughts about the banquet or the person she danced with. Knowing her mother, she was likely hoping for the impossible, and Irene didn’t particularly want to face it at that moment.

Taking in her surroundings as she rushed through the hallways with a smile on her lips, Irene found quite a few drunk people wandering around either alone or in groups. A few more were caught in passionate embraces with others. She was sort of glad that when she drank it didn’t do something like that to her.

Her nose wrinkled in mock disgust before she passed by quickly.

Having to exit south, she was forced to go down two expansive hallways before she made her way to one of the doors that would allow her to escape to the practice yard, which was sure to be completely devoid of others during that time of day.

It was still quite amazing how easily her eyes adjusted to the darkness and how much light was still cast over the practice yard from the various rooms lit up in the Earl’s estate. The biggest light source was the banquet hall she had just exited from, and she was surprised to see that, while the banquet hall was directly over what were likely normally beautiful gardens, further out, it looked over the practice yard. Guests during warmer weather seasons could enjoy both the garden and the knights’ practice.

However, it also made her conscious of how she was going to get out of her dress, and she found a few bushes towards the northeastern end of the practice yard. Hiding herself away, she glanced up at the banquet hall and saw no signs of anyone outside on the balconies.

Testing the limits of her flexibility, she untied her dress and felt relief when her chest and waist were no longer tightly held. The quiet sigh from her lips said as much. However, as it slipped, she had to catch the neckline when it fell dangerously low over a part of herself she didn’t particularly want to reveal to the world, even if no one was there. That could change quickly.

She slipped the delicate sleeves off of her defined arms and finally seemed to realize just how cold it was. It was like she was numb to her surroundings from all the alcohol, but she could feel goosebumps on her skin when her fingertips brushed against her arm. After all, in the north, alcohol consumption rose during winter so people could stay warm and merry.

Fortunately, she wouldn’t be exposed and in the cold for too long because she lifted her dress and untied the thick tunic from her thigh before slipping it over her head and allowing the dress to fall to the ground in a heap. However, knowing how much effort her mother seemed to have put into forcing her into a dress, Irene picked it up, brought it to one of the practice dummies full of hay, and placed it on top of it.

She held out her hands, making sure the dress wouldn’t fall to the dirt ground, before she turned and rushed to the area where the practice swords were stored.

Even though she would have preferred to bring her regular sword, it would never have fit underneath her dress. This was going to have to do. All she wanted was to burn off some steam and swing a sword.

Irene remained entirely unaware that there were eyes on her all the while.