Sharp red hair and eyes that shone even more vividly blue than them.

The moment Keslan felt the piercing gaze with her developed senses, she shivered at the back of her neck, even though she didn’t realize it.
As much as Keslan, a promising talent of the Imperial Palace Knights, had seen Princess Olivia directly many times, this was the first time she had seen her so up close.

Even when she glimpsed the princess from a distance during official duties, she had never once thought of her as ‘small.’ However, the actual princess in front of her was extremely petite and delicate.

Therefore, Keslan couldn’t take her eyes off Olivia with a feeling that couldn’t be expressed in words.

How could someone who looked so fragile, as if their hand would break if she held it with one hand…

How could she seem so big?

It felt like facing an impenetrable wall, so massive that it couldn’t be surpassed.

“Hmm. I did say you would soon become the vice-captain.”

Although Olivia spoke, Keslan didn’t register it in her ears.

She was overwhelmed by her.

The air surrounding Olivia, who could press Keslan down with just one glance, was indeed no exaggeration even if it was the ‘Emperor’s.’

Born with the blood of the Bolshevik from birth.

Experiences of going through insane wars multiple times that could destroy the continent.

Such things lurked around Olivia unconsciously, so Keslan, being just an imperial knight, felt overwhelmed by that momentum.

From Keslan’s perspective, not knowing Olivia’s background, she was simply awestruck and momentarily confused by the fact that the only imperial bloodline she should be loyal to had such a huge presence.

Until Olivia spoke again, Keslan continued to silently wait, trying not to let her loudly thumping heart take hold of her.

After what seemed like an eternity for Keslan, Olivia asked, “How is it?”

At the unexpected question from Olivia, Keslan found herself speechless.

Suddenly, a hand emerged from the darkness and gently pulled her hand.

While Keslan, still astonished, stared at the darkness, the glowing red light suddenly took on a complete human form and stared at her.

As if being looked at by a beast’s gaze, cold sweat flowed down Keslan’s back.

When exactly…? Since when had he been behind Princess Olivia?

If she hadn’t noticed the man behind Princess Olivia, she would be disqualified as a knight.

But Keslan’s shock was not only for that reason.

If it were just for that reason, she would have blamed herself, begged for forgiveness, and whipped herself even more…

Keslan’s throat began to dry up for a different reason than before.

That she hadn’t noticed the presence of the man who suddenly appeared from the darkness behind Princess Olivia, the renowned ‘Knight of the Princess.’
So, even if she hadn’t noticed, there wouldn’t have been any danger to Princess Olivia. However, if a person other than that man had hidden with the intention of harming Princess Olivia…

In front of her own eyes, Princess Olivia would…

Just imagining the horrifying outcome, Keslan’s heart throbbed endlessly, and Cryer twisted the corners of his mouth while hearing that noisy sound.

Ignoring Cryer, Olivia fixed her gaze on Keslan and asked again, “How is it? Is it okay to leave it as it is?”

“No.”

For Keslan, the listener, it was a mysterious question and answer, but Olivia and Cryer exchanged their opinions with just a word.

At the moment when Keslan was trying to alleviate her self-blame and desperately seek forgiveness,

“Can’t make any use of her.”

Cryer, as if he could read Keslan’s thoughts, taunted him with a single sentence.

And that overt and sarcastic evaluation reflected Cryer’s true feelings that had not been liked by Keslan since she got closer to Olivia.

That damned knight.

Since entering the princess’s palace, her heart had been beating fast unpleasantly from then until now.

As if she were in front of someone she admired, feeling excited and tense.

Although it was unlikely that the Imperial Palace Knight would do the trashy deeds like those self-proclaimed ‘knights’ forcefully pushed into the empire from the previous foreign country…

It didn’t please her.

Since a while ago, from the loud thumping heart in her ears to the excessive tension, she didn’t like everything from one to ten.