I looked at Ember standing behind Yezar, wondering what the situation was, but she subtly avoided my gaze.

“What do I do now? I can’t even defend myself if they think I’m a pervert…”

With a completely crestfallen expression, I waited for Yezar’s words with a miserable feeling. But he seemed unfazed, as if he hadn’t heard what I said.

“My lady, you were here. Your clothes might get dirty from the dust. Is that alright?”

“Could it be that he really didn’t hear what I said? That can’t be possible.”

Thinking that, I quickly approached him.

“Ah, yes, yes. It’s fine.”

Then I slightly turned around and signaled to the maid girls to be quiet. They nodded, indicating they would never speak of it.

Feeling relieved, I conversed with Yezar.

“Isn’t the training tiring? I’m worried that I might be a hindrance to the training.”

“There’s no way you’d be a hindrance. As someone who has also wielded a sword, you should know. When someone is watching, the knights train even harder.”

“That’s true. When I was at the earl’s estate, the knights who used to slack off trained diligently when I was there. They were probably afraid I would tell my father. Even though I said that would never happen.”

“It would be scary. No matter what, you were still the daughter of the lord they served.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his natural response.

“But the Blue Knight Order of the Perhaem Duchy has an impressive reputation. Would there really be anyone who slacks off?”

“Every group always has one or two slackers.”

“Still, I believe you, as the captain of the knight order, will handle them well, Yezar.”

He smiled pleasantly at my words. As we chatted amicably like that and entered the training grounds, the knights greeted us in a booming voice.

“Welcome, Madam!”

Their voices were so loud that it almost hurt my ears.

“Thank you for the warm welcome. But next time, I’ll have to decline such a boisterous greeting. It’s burdensome to receive this kind of reception every time we train together.”

Their eyes widened at that. I glanced at Yezar for a moment.

“Did you not tell them I would be training together with them?”

“There are many cheeky fellows here, so I didn’t mention it separately in case they committed any rudeness.”

Just as he said, one of the knights raised his hand.

“Madam, does that mean we can spar with you as well?”

“Exactly like that.”

Unlike his usual self, Yezar’s eyes were cold as he answered. It was as if he was saying that if I disappeared, he would thoroughly train the knight who had just raised his hand.

“I guess what he said was true.”

Thanks to trying to converse for even 20 minutes before going to bed, I learned a lot about him. Even in the conversation we had on the first night while drunk, I heard that he was strict with the knights, but the actual episodes I heard were quite interesting.

He said that when he first led the Blue Knight Order of the duchy at a young age, there was a lot of opposition, and some knights would challenge him. However, he properly broke their spirit through sparring, and when they wouldn’t listen, he led them sternly. Even when I heard the story, it didn’t quite match his usual demeanor. Moreover, in the novel that focused on romance, only his kind aspects were mentioned.

But the more I observed Yezar, the more I realized that besides the devoted and kind sides emphasized as the sub-male lead’s characteristics, he was surprisingly strict with others and just as thorough with himself.

Yezar spoke fiercely to the knight who had raised his hand.

“I will deal with you separately.”

Realizing his mistake, the knight immediately backed down.

“Ahhh! Please spare me! I apologize!”

“Haha. It’s alright.”

“My lady, you shouldn’t let it slide like that. They are serious, so if you’re not careful, you might get hurt.”

I understood why the stories he occasionally told about the knight order were interesting. In the novel, he was always looking at Bertisha’s back, but here, he looked only forward and led without hesitation. He didn’t deceive his own feelings for the sake of being considerate to others, and if they made mistakes, he scolded them and guided them… That was the kindness he displayed as the captain of the knight order.

“He’s really an amazing person.”

Yezar was truly someone deserving of respect and the most impressive person I knew.

“Is that so? You don’t think they’ll actually stab me with a real sword, do you? It seems they’re curious about my skills.”

I turned my gaze to the knight who had asked if he could spar with me.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have the skills to face the knights of the Blue Knight Order. I can keep up with the training, but if it’s a one-on-one spar, I’ll definitely lose.”

Some of the knights looked a bit crestfallen at that. Yezar’s eyes became even sharper, but I was happy.

I thought they would dismiss me right away when I said I wanted to train together. But the attitude of sincerely asking if we could spar meant they considered me a knight who had learned the sword.

“But if you still want to spar, we can. Though it may not meet your expectations.”

I occasionally sparred with the knights at the earl’s estate. It was with wooden swords, but they took it seriously, and I tried my best to keep up.

I had no intention of becoming an official knight, but swordsmanship was quite fun.

If my father and older brother had known, they would have definitely stopped me, saying it was dangerous. But I made the knights keep their mouths shut, and they were rarely even at the estate, busy as they were, so there was no way for them to know my daily routine. Wizlet encouraged me, saying it was better than being cooped up in my room.

“My lady, it’s dangerous. If that unrestrai… no, if that ignorant bastard makes a mistake and hurts you, what will you do?”

“Of course, I know there’s a difference in skill. I’m not saying we should use real swords either. Wouldn’t wooden swords be fine?”

“No, it’s not allowed.”

I pondered at his resolute answer that came from his usually soft-spoken mouth. Still, the Blue Knight Order was such an impressive place that even the knights of the earl’s estate said they wanted to face them at least once.

“I do want to cross swords at least once… But I don’t have the skills to properly spar either.”

As I groaned, a good idea suddenly came to me.

“Then, Yezar, would you like to spar with me? If it’s you, you can control yourself so that I won’t get a single injury while facing me.”

They say that the knights dream of facing him at least once. Before coming to the duchy, I had been pestered by the knights of the earl’s estate.

“Young lady, is that true? The rumor that you and the captain of the Blue Knight Order, Duke Perhaem, are in that kind of relationship!”

“It somehow ended up being a secret. Yes, that rumor is true. We’re getting married soon.”

At my nonchalant answer, the furious knights rushed at me regardless of age or gender.

“How could you do that! It was my dream to face the captain of the knight order at least once. Please take me with you when you go to the duchy!”

“No! Please take me with you!”

“Me too! Young lady!”

Their gazes, insisting on following me in succession, were burdensome, so I didn’t bring anyone along. How much they wailed back then.

“When the time comes for me to return to the earl’s estate, I’ll have a story to tell the knights. How envious will they be when they hear that I sparred with the captain of the Blue Knight Order, whom they wished for so much? Of course, it’s only possible if Yezar agrees.”

“How could I dare point a sword at you, my lady…”

As expected, I knew he would refuse like that. But this time, I didn’t want to back down either.

“I did properly learn the sword, you know? You know from touching my hands.”

“Of course, your hands are those of a knight who has wielded a sword, my lady. But didn’t you say so on our first night? That with your soft body without muscles, you couldn’t do anything to me.”

“That’s true, but it was relative! I meant I’m not as firm as a trained knight, as in your body, Yezar!”

“That was before you touched my body, wasn’t it…”

He stood firm like an iron fortress, not backing down, and I was the same. I was so focused on trying to spar with him that I failed to notice the rapidly heating atmosphere around us. Yezar, who had become serious, was the same.

While we were bickering for a while, the one who finally interrupted our conversation was one of the knights whose face had turned bright red.

“Ahem. Uhm… Wouldn’t it be better to discuss the matters of the night when we’re not around?”

The moment only our voices were heard, another voice chimed in like a splash of cold water, bringing me back to my senses.

The conversation abruptly stopped. I looked around to assess the situation and felt the knights avoiding our gazes.

Clearly, they don’t know about our contract marriage. So they must think we got married out of burning love for each other.

So from their interpretation, we had unabashedly brought up the intimate matters of our first night in front of other people. The matters of touching and caressing each other’s bodies!

“…It’s not what you’re thinking.”

As I mumbled softly with reddened eyes, they smiled awkwardly and whistled.

“We understand.”

“Yes, of course we understand.”

“It must not be what we’re thinking.”

Ah, now even the knights will talk about us? That we’re not just an ideal couple, but so passionate that we make our surroundings hot.

How did it come to this? It’s good to be seen as an ideal couple, but being an ideal couple and being passionate regardless of location are different!

While I was in confusion, Yezar came to his senses and commanded the knights.

“From now on, run around the training grounds. Begin!”

At his command, the knights tensed up and started running.

“Yezar…”

As I called out to him in a tearful voice, he carefully approached me and guided me out of the training grounds. The maids tactfully didn’t follow us, and we were left alone after leaving the training grounds.

The more I recalled the earlier conversation, the more embarrassed I felt and just wanted to forget it. He also scratched his cheek, looking troubled.

“So what’s the harm in sparring with me? We, we were misunderstood again… We didn’t even have our real first night…”