I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 316: Trust in Him

Chapter 316: Trust in Him

The weather warmed slowly but surely, as did the hearts of those in the Knights of Chemois. While Duke Henry spent much of his time in his study, he was the furthest thing from an absent commander.

Already there were improvements seen throughout not only the protection of the duchy but the Duke’s Tower itself.

Irene had been leading practices a lot of the time at Felix’s side and more knights were starting to show up to these practices. After Henry and Alix’s assessment that the whole order, save for Irene and the apprentices she practiced each day, were rusty, they had no choice but to join and reignite their passion for their weapons.

How wonderful it was to be there when the knighthood was at it’s lowest only to see it rise out of the ashes of the Monster War and breathe again. Each time Irene looked around, she felt a pang in her heart for all who didn’t make it far enough to see what they fought for come to fruition.

She also grappled with the fact that the mages were set to leave that morning and only Stanley was left. There was always a small response to cling to everyone who came through the Duke’s Tower, as if it was going to ever be as empty as it was before and after the war. free.w e bn.ov(e)l(.)com

Irene had gotten so used to the place being so crowded, it truly felt like they were building a community in the small strip along the mountains that were considered the Duke’s personal lands and the knighthood’s home.

Soon it would be time to say goodbye—in the next few days, if Irene remembered correctly. There was a lot of new information coming to her those days.

Everyone was busy. Beautifully busy, if that was possible.

As hard as it was to admit that they couldn’t do it on their own, everyone seemed to be warming up to the fact that the King had finally made a good decision for them.

However, Irene was a bit more clinical than that.

There were more fortified sheds for all of their practice equipment erected in such a short amount of time. To everyone’s surprise, Commander Henry was insistent that they do it all themselves without outsourcing. All he had done was get the wood from elsewhere.

Admittedly, it did give the apprentices something to do, especially because not a single one of them were assigned to a knight yet.

Before they could get to breakfast, Irene stood with Felix and looked around at all of the visual changes in the Duke’s lands within the vicinity of the tower.

"Didn’t I tell you?" Felix asked as they walked along the edge of the practice yard. "He has been good for the knighthood."

Irene cast a sideways glance at her superior but there was a faint smile that was admitting a lot. She let out a slow sigh as she went to count practice swords.

Before she could begin, she turned all the way to the second in command.

"May I be honest about what I realized?" she asked. "Whether it’s true or not is another story."

Felix hesitated merely because he felt protective of Commander Henry when it came to the naysayers within their knighthood.

"I suppose," he answered.

"Did His Majesty send the Commander here thinking he would fail?" she wondered. "Someone so inexperienced leading a complicated charge as ours... the vision doesn’t quite add up."

Felix knew she didn’t mean anything by it. It was a fair speculation. f(r)eew(e)bnovel.(c)o(m)

He glanced outside of the small shed where they both stood and turned back to the other knight.

"There are other theories as well," he admitted. "Some say the King is grooming our Commander to take his daughter’s hand. He would need a title as hefty as Duke to even put himself in the running."

Irene’s eyes widened. There were a variety of emotions that attacked her all at once. She couldn’t place a single one individually.

"The Princess...? In Chemois?" She spoke under her breath but still couldn’t hide her disbelief. "I don’t think she would last here."

Felix bit the inside of his cheek in contemplation. Nothing had ever been confirmed, but he knew what he saw when he visited the palace for a brief moment and witnessed the way in which Henry and the Princess interacted with one another. If he wasn’t pessimistic, he might believe there was a chance for those two.

There was a corner of his heart that needed to see a love story quite that great pan out. Perhaps someone could have the happy ending that he could never have. Who would have ever thought a peasant and the girl in the highest seat in the land could ever even acknowledge each other?

However, because the rest of his heart was as cold as stone, he realized that the theory of the King sending Commander Henry out to such an impossible place as Chemois could be so that he would never be able to prove himself worthy of the woman. As much as Felix wanted to believe, he also lived in a reality where people were killed for very little and the Royal Family could do whatever they wanted.

The second in command brushed a hand through his hair, relenting to his own thoughts.

"All I know is that whoever is wishing him to fail will have to eat their words once this very duchy reaches new horizons and our knighthood becomes the strongest in all the King’s lands," Felix explained. "Whoever he ends up with in the end, I merely hope they are worthy enough for Chemois. That seat deserves a redemption after what the Duchess did to taint it."

As Felix became more impassioned, Irene felt a bit bad for being the one who lit the fire.

She counted the swords by four until she got up to twenty before they were able to shut the supply shed until the following morning or if drills were needed to be ran at some point during that day.

"My mother says that the seat will be forever ruined," Irene admitted. "I believe with time he can redeem it to be the highest esteemed... Whether the Princess is the owner of it or not."

Irene seemed somewhat prickly and Felix knew he had taken her random inquiry a bit too seriously. He realized he should lighten up the mood.

"Why don’t you want to see Her Highness so badly?" he questioned. "A bit nervous she hasn’t outgrown her affinity for you? How interesting would it be if she came for the Commander and found you, her first paramour, laying in waiting?"

Irene knew what he was doing and she immediately felt irritated, but she calmed herself down.

"You have sick fantasies for a knight," she responded, not hiding her disgust. "Now let us get off of that before you yourself further taint that seat for the foreseeable future."

She couldn’t help herself, elbowing Felix in the side before she sped-walked away from him.

However, she didn’t get far before she saw the original topic of their conversation exiting the stables with a cold expression on his face. It wasn’t until he noticed his two highest in command underneath him that he wiped the look off and he suddenly looked more approachable.

At the thoughts she had been just having, she quickly bowed her head.

"Sir, Dame," the Commander greeted. "Where are you headed next?"

Irene was completely silent. Felix noticed.

"We are headed to breakfast," the second in command explained. "Would you care to join us?"

"That’s quite alright," the Commander responded. "I will be eating in my study. I have a bit to finish before I can move forward to other tasks."

Felix nodded but then he subtly stepped sideways and elbowed Irene as she had done to him before.

"You are very busy, Your Grace," Irene complimented him spontaneously, having nothing else to come up with. "I noticed earlier that you were breaking ground for the infirmary even if it is only for Stanley. The circumstances in which Stanley worked under before were poor at best and he spent most of his time locked up in his guest room with the other mages. It’s been nice seeing him as active as he was during the war..."

She cut herself off, realizing that she was rambling out of unfamiliar nervousness. Since she had, admittedly, not gotten used to the Commander, she had been doing what she could to remain busy at all costs. At least she would have something to tell him whenever they were in the vicinity of one another.

Henry had noticed the relationship between Felix and Irene and, each time he was treated so professionally by them, he felt a bit of coldness.

Even though it was subtle enough, he had noticed Felix elbow the red headed knight. He missed having such a familiar relationship with the knights he surrounded himself with. Oftentimes, he felt he was running to the Knights of Hydrogia who still remained each time he was feeling lonely.

As much as he wished to have that sense with the Knights of Chemois, he knew that things such as that took a while.

However, he went out on a limb, realizing that perhaps a commonality between himself and Irene was their appreciation for the mages.

"Actually, Siverly decided that he was going to stay behind."

And, for a moment, the Commander believed he had Irene when she unguarded her expression for a moment and her clear, green eyes widened.