“Where and how does it hurt?”

“I think my head hurts.”

“Any other symptoms?”

Ian, who had been staring at me blankly, answered in a low voice.

“…Sometimes I have difficulty breathing.”

If he’s having trouble breathing, isn’t that serious?

Now that I think about it, he was clutching his chest last time.

“Shouldn’t you be the one seeing a physician, not me?”

“I was told there’s nothing particularly wrong with my body…”

“Are you sure? Let’s go to the infirmary first.”

“I…”

A small ripple passed through Ian’s eyes. Taking advantage of Ian’s hesitation, I pulled my hand away and draped the cloak on my shoulders over him.

“And you wear the cloak.”

“No, I…”

Is he sick but doesn’t want to go to the infirmary?

As I tilted my head slightly, I grabbed the arm of Ian, who was standing there blankly, and headed to the infirmary.

“No one’s here. Where did they go?”

The infirmary in the main building usually has a physician on duty, but today the door was just open with no sign of the physician anywhere.

“I think I’m fine now.”

“What do you mean you’re fine.”

I glanced at Ian’s slightly flushed cheeks and placed my hand on his forehead. He still had a slight fever.

“You still have a fever…”

At the end of my gaze, which had slipped slightly down from his forehead, were eyes of unfathomable depth. Just our eyes meeting was enough to make my fingertips involuntarily curl.

“Sorry, I did it again… I need to break this habit…”

Noticing that I was about to remove my hand, Ian covered the back of my hand with his own.

“I told you last time.”

“Huh?”

“That you can touch me as much as you want.”

Was it because of that steady gaze? Or because of the firm sensation of his fingers intertwining with mine again? I couldn’t speak readily.

Clearing my throat needlessly, I shifted my gaze slightly to the window visible beyond Ian’s face and said,

“Since we’ve checked your temperature, I think we can lower our hands now.”

“Senior… I like it.”

Huh? What did he just say?

His voice was so soft that all I caught was the word ‘senior’ and…

Like it?

“W-what did you just say?”

“I said I like the feel of your hand.”

“Ah.”

Goodness.

“It feels cool and nice.”

Ian closed his eyes gently and leaned his head slightly against my palm.

Seeing him like this, as if he was acting spoiled with me, a strange emotion welled up.

For some reason, I felt sorry for him. And also found him a bit cute.

“We can’t just wait here forever, how about going back to your quarters to rest a bit?”

Ian smiled faintly at my words and replied.

“I’m fine. I’m just tired because I couldn’t sleep properly yesterday.”

“Of course, the decision is yours, but if you’re in this state tomorrow, I won’t spar with you, so do as you see fit.”

That’s when Ian’s eyes flew open.

“Pardon? Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“You’re saying you’ll spar with me tomorrow?”

I nodded. I thought it might work, and sure enough, the card of sparring was effective.

“But if you still have a fever or are tired like this tomorrow, that would be troublesome. I want to stretch my body a bit after a while, and I don’t want to spar while looking after someone who’s sick.”

“Then I’ll take my leave for today.”

Life returned to Ian’s eyes as if he had never acted like a sick person.

“Alright, rest well and see you in good condition tomorrow.”

Ian nodded and seemed to head towards the infirmary door, but then returned to me.

“It’s not a cold, so you should wear this.”

After draping his cloak back over my shoulders, Ian tied the cloak’s knot neatly before hurrying out of the infirmary.

“…I’m fine too, you know.”

As I let out a small laugh, I looked down at my shoulders.

It doesn’t look much different from my cloak, but somehow it feels a bit warmer.

*

“So, you’re saying that we should use the title ‘Sir’ for the female knights of the White Knights as well?”

I was heading to the training grounds when I stopped abruptly at the sharp voice coming from somewhere.

Is it from the annex building?

“Aren’t female knights still knights? Is there a special title for addressing female knights?”

It was Renart’s voice. Is there a dispute within the Guardian Knights over the issue of titles?

Well, with about ten knights coming, it’s unlikely that they would all easily accept addressing female knights with the title ‘Sir’.

Renart was just a special case.

“That’s not the case, but…”

“No matter what, how can we use the title ‘Sir’ for a woman?”

“It seems you gentlemen have forgotten, but our Guardian Knights failed to subdue the monster and requested aid from the White Knights, and it was this very Rosebelia Winters of the White Knights who subdued that monster. Even His Majesty the Emperor addressed her as ‘Sir’, are you saying you can’t do the same?”

At the mention of His Majesty the Emperor, the murmuring grew louder. I was about to turn back, surprised by this unexpected information.

“I cannot address her that way.”

What? Even though His Majesty the Emperor addressed her that way, he says he can’t?

I thought it would be settled with that.

Sighing softly, I had no choice but to approach them.

“And what is the reason for that?”

“Sir Rosebelia.”

As Renart uttered my name, a great commotion arose among the Guardian Knights.

Conversations like whether this female knight really subdued the monster, how could that be possible, clearly reached my ears.

“Though this is a Guardian Knights matter, since it seems to be causing a disturbance over the title for a female knight like myself, may I have permission to speak?”

“Please do so.”

Standing next to Renart, I looked straight at the man with chestnut-brown hair.

This was the man who insisted he couldn’t address a female knight as ‘Sir’ even though His Majesty the Emperor had done so.

“What exactly is your reason for not being able to address a female knight as ‘Sir’?”

“Well…”

The man couldn’t say anything for a long time. Seeing his stubbornly closed lips, I couldn’t help but sneer.

“You have no proper justification, you just don’t want to address me that way, right?”

Their logic was always predictable.

Since the profession of knight had been the exclusive domain of men, they probably thought that the title ‘Sir’ was originally allowed only for men.

“That title should be based on respect, and I have no respect for female knights.”

“Why not?”

“Because they’re not strong.”

Ah, so you’re saying you feel respect for strong opponents.

Men deserve to be addressed as ‘Sir’ because they’re strong, but women, no matter if they’re knights, are weak so they can’t be respected and thus can’t be addressed as ‘Sir’?

This guy is really unbelievable.

A fire rose within me. As I was about to open my mouth, trying to suppress my anger, someone suddenly interrupted.

“Take that back! Sir Rosebelia is very strong!”

“Simon?”

Simon, who had approached my side, panting, said with his hands on his hips,

“Speaking of our senior, she achieved the youngest entry into the White Knights in its history, and to avoid any misunderstanding, I mean the youngest entry among both men and women. And right after joining, she went on a monster subjugation mission as a new knight. This is also a first.”

So it was true that he had been admiring Rosebelia after hearing rumors about her?

“And it was our senior who single-handedly subdued the monster that the Guardian Knights couldn’t handle this time. I had heard rumors about Sir Rosebelia even before joining the White Knights, and I entered here admiring her.”

“I can’t believe it since I haven’t seen it myself. It could be a story fabricated by the White Knights.”

“What did you say?”

I grabbed the edge of Simon’s cloak, who looked like he was about to lunge at the man. Noticing this slight force, Simon turned to look at me, his eyes drooping.

“I find it hard to believe that you admired a female knight after hearing of her reputation. It would be more credible if you said you joined after hearing there was a beautiful female knight, to see her face.”

“Sir Conrad, that’s enough…”

As Renart stepped in to mediate, unable to bear it any longer, I raised my hand towards him. Recognizing my gesture asking him not to intervene, he closed his mouth.

“Have you ever properly seen how a female knight fights?”

At my question, the man immediately shook his head.

“No. To be honest, I can’t understand why female knights even exist. There’s no way a man could be weaker than a woman, so why recruit female knights…”

“Then since you’re a man and I’m a woman, you think you’re stronger than me?”

“That’s obvious. The basic difference in strength between women and men…”

That mere difference in strength?

“Very well.”

“Pardon? What do you mean by…”

“What is your full name?”

“Conrad of the Pierce family. Why are you suddenly asking for my name…”

Without any response, I slowly walked towards Conrad. As I approached, looking him straight in the eyes, Conrad cleared his throat and slightly averted his gaze.

You’ll regret avoiding my gaze.

Drawing my sword from its scabbard, I thrust it down right at Conrad’s feet. The sword was embedded in the floor, barely missing him.

“W-what are you doing?”

I raised the corners of my mouth into a smile towards Conrad, who had jumped up in place.

“I hereby challenge Sir Conrad Pierce to a duel.”