As Hakin said, she could’ve just ignored it. But if she did, she would be no different from those who spoke ill of her.

“I simply didn’t want to become as cowardly as you.”

Since deciding to stay here, she had made one firm resolve in her heart.

“If I have to prove my worth, I’ll do it with my own skills. I can’t change the fact that I’m from Aodin, but I can at least do that much.”

Her gaze showed strong determination, tinged with a trace of sadness. However, that was only for a brief moment.

“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to get close to any of you. People with such pathetic skills are not needed on my side. The same goes for apologies. If it’s not sincere, I’d rather not receive it. However, I promise not to make disrespectful remarks like earlier, if you are indeed knights.”

“You think you’re something just because we’ve spared you? If it weren’t for that ability, you’d be dead by now! How can you be so arrogant!”

Hakin and the first knight order approached in a threatening manner, as if they wanted to teach her a lesson. It was as if they had forgotten the outcome of the duel.

‘Such despicable people to the end.’

At that moment, a voice halted their movements.

“Stop right there.”

Upon seeing all faces turn solemn, Evenel Istella was also startled. Shuher, Demil, and even the knight order were all present.

“Since when have you been there? Don’t tell me you heard everything?”

No one answered, but their expressions said it all. Moreover, the atmosphere of the knight order felt as if they could charge at any moment.

It was about time they could no longer tolerate it.

Aware of their own words, the first knight order hesitated.

“Your Majesty, let us first explain…”

Hakin attempted to clarify the situation, but it was futile against Shuher, who had heard the entire conversation.

“Pathetic.”

Frozen by the cold word that dropped from above, their mouths clamped shut.

“I’ll make sure to recondition that mindset of yours.”

With that, Shuher turned his back. Evenel Istella hesitated for a moment, then followed him.

Although they had left the training grounds, a heavy silence strangely flowed among the people. It was then that Shuher broke the silence.

“It’s quieter now compared to earlier.”
“No, I wasn’t aware you were watching.”

Evenel was annoyed that despite being observed, no one had intervened sooner. A glance at the knights following her revealed they were all avoiding eye contact.

“Never mind what I just said, Lord Demil. Such words are unworthy of even being heard. Though you probably know that better than I do.”

In truth, this was a familiar situation for Demil and his knights. They knew what was being said about them behind their backs. That didn’t mean they weren’t angry.

Had Shuher not intervened, a major conflict would have surely erupted.

‘I guess my stepping in didn’t sit well with them.’

Evenel felt uneasy at the lack of response. She had created unnecessary chaos, potentially coming off as a know-it-all.

However, she did not regret her decision. Should a similar situation arise, she would make the same choice again.

She stopped walking at that thought, and the knights following her naturally halted as well.

“Don’t worry about them; they’ll only have something to say about me. I’ll go on ahead.”

With that, Evenel slowly distanced herself from them.

Something about her behavior bothered Shuher. Normally, she would have stepped in for the sake of the knights, so it would have been more natural for her to seem self-satisfied or grateful.

“You were watching us properly, then.”

At that moment, Raul’s voice broke the silence among the knights, and they all looked at him. Caught under their gaze, he awkwardly shared the feelings he had felt listening to Evenel.

“So, that’s why you could say that. You knew how we felt approaching the training.”

Shany spoke up next.

“Yeah, we were the cowards… We called her horrible, yet she took our side.”

When they thought about the conversation they had with Harkin yesterday, and saw her standing alone against the first knight squad, shame overcame them—both as individuals and knights.

“Both of them are right.”

“We didn’t even thank her for coming back from the extermination mission.”

The knights had felt uncomfortable all day, like a thorn stuck in their throats, especially after agreeing with the first knight squad’s words yesterday. Hadn’t she saved them from monsters multiple times?

“So that’s why you didn’t come to the training ground yesterday.”

Shuher listened to the knights’ conversation, but his eyes remained fixed on the gradually distancing Evenel. She never looked back even once.
“Your Majesty, may I go and greet them? We also… don’t want to be cowardly like this.”

Shan mustered the courage to ask, and Shuher, reading the resolve in their eyes, opened his mouth.

“Why are you asking me that.”

Taking the unspoken permission, the knights hesitated for a moment and then all headed toward where Evenel was.

“I will also go and see.”

After Demil left, he who remained alone watched them from afar.

As the knights bowed their heads, she quickly waved her hand with a puzzled expression, and soon her face brightened up.

When a smile of genuine happiness clearly entered his field of vision, Shuher couldn’t turn his head away from Evenel’s face.

‘Is a mere thank you that pleasing?’

He felt an indescribable emotion when he heard what Evenel had said to the 1st Knights. It was similar to when he saw her overturn a sacrificial offering right before his eyes.

‘Why does it keep bothering me.’

It doesn’t matter if he gets hurt using her, who he so despises, like a tool.

Why can’t he take his eyes off her even now?

At that moment, their eyes met, and Evenel suddenly approached Shuher. She took a moment to catch her breath and then asked him.

“Your Majesty, they say they are practicing shooting now, may I go as well if it’s not a bother?”

“It doesn’t particularly matter.”

“Thank you.”

Having received his permission and about to turn away, she looked at the gathered knights with a serious voice and asked.

“Is it really alright for me to go? Inside there….”

Muttering those words, Evenel hesitated for a moment and then moved away with a bow. As she distanced herself, that last sentence kept circulating in Shuher’s mind.