I Will Be the Greatest Knight

Irene's lips fell open in shock before she realized it was unbecoming of a knight to be so caught off guard especially when what she was surprised for wasn't any of her business. She had to wipe the expression off of her face and greet the woman normally.

However, when she gained a bit more focus, Irene couldn't help noticing the woman was equally as shocked to see her. She had a familiar appearance that Irene couldn't quite put her finger on.

The woman's shock further caused Irene's mind to drift and wonder if it was something that the others, including herself, weren't supposed to have witnessed.

"Good morning," Irene settled with. "Is Commander Henry around? I was told I would find him here."

"Oh!" the woman responded, and seemed to be relieved. "Yes, he's right over there."

She quickly stepped aside, allowing Irene entrance.

However, as soon as Irene made it around the corner of the small alcove that hid the front door from the rest of the room, the last thing she expected was to see Commander sitting in a chair with a baby against his shoulder. It caused her to hold the helmet in her arms a bit tighter. Before the young Duke noticed her, his expression was almost serene. It caused Irene to further jump to conclusions all on her own.

Before she could control herself, words fell from her lips that she was sure to regret.

"Is that your child?" she asked abruptly.

The Commander's head snapped up, his serene moment suddenly ruined. Irene had never seen the man so flustered before.

"M—my…" The man was at a loss for words, enough that the free hand not holding the baby went to his forehead.

The woman whose house and child it certainly was uttered "Oh my…" under her breath.

Irene knew she had messed up, but she wasn't sure if it was due to her assumptions or having seen this situation in the first place.

"I'm so sorry, Your Grace," Irene managed, bowing her head in mortification. "That isn't any of my business."

Her head only lifted again when the Commander spoke once more.

"Wait outside, please," the Commander directed, his voice full of something Irene couldn't quite place.

"I apologize," Irene responded.

She went without hesitation, guilt eating her up all the way.

It truly wasn't any of her business, so why did she feel so alarmed by the entire situation?

The door was shut when Irene was finally out on the stoop and waiting for her Commander. She wondered momentarily if she would meet his wrath for the first time later. Perhaps he would swear her to secrecy after what she had witnessed.

At least that's what she expected would happen until she heard the woman's laugh through an open window, allowing the summer breeze to cool off the home.

She had guarded before, so she knew it was important to stick close to the door. However, it also forced her to hear the Commander's response to whatever the woman had suggested.

"I know better than to get caught up with someone in my order. It certainly helps that she doesn't see any of the men in the order as men but rather as sparring partners and brothers. I've had to learn not to treat her like the women I'm used to. Regardless, she keeps me at an arm's length and doesn't allow me to learn anything else, even in the most platonic sense."

Irene's head snapped up. Was this about her?

"These things take time, I'm sure she has a reason not to trust the others," the woman responded. "When I was feeling mistrustful in the Monster War, you were the only one who could get through to me."

Suddenly, everything fell into place. She thought she was being presumptuous, yet again, when she thought she recognized the woman. It was certainly Rosalind because the Commander had guarded Rosalind during the war when he was still only an apprentice.

However, the last time Irene saw Rosalind, she had thought that the innkeeper in this township was interested in her…

Her thoughts were cut off, and the knight's ears perked up again at the continuation of the conversation that she already felt guilty for listening to.

"I won't give up, but I also won't put any pressure on her anymore," the Commander continued. "I've been rejected by too many women lately."

Irene's gloved hand went over her mouth.

Rejected? She wondered. It didn't seem possible.

The voices got quieter, and Irene was unable to hear the rest. All she hoped was that they were no longer talking about her.

The red-headed knight's gaze went to the foliage above from the large trees that stood just outside the house. She tried to calm herself down in the wave of information that had been sent in her direction.

The Commander, feeling as if he had been somehow rejected by her, even though she thought she had been doing the opposite, made her feel awful. Had she made his time more miserable without even realizing it? Felix had told her that it was he who needed to get used to her, rather than Irene needing to get used to the Commander.

Was following orders simply not enough?

And now she had offended the man.

The knight let out one last huff before she heard the door open and stood at attention, moving to the opposite side where the window wasn't, hoping the Commander wouldn't think she was eavesdropping, along with her other mistakes that day.

He didn't acknowledge her when he came out of the door and merely shut it behind him, so she wasn't able to confirm if that truly was Rosalind or apologize for not recognizing her at first.

When he made it to the end of the yard in front of the house, he turned towards Irene and gestured for her to follow him.

"Come along," he ordered. "You've been traveling for a few days now. You might as well rest when you can."

She did as requested of her, but it didn't take the burden of guilt away from her at all. Rather, she felt even worse for having assumed that the Commander would have an illegitimate child in the village because he was being so incredibly nice to her, as if she hadn't insulted his character.

By the time they had walked back to the inn, Irene felt that the silence was extremely heavy, but the Commander filled it with words before she could take it into her own hands.

The man sighed.

"I don't know what you think of me, but I'm not the type of man who would leave his child in a village when he has the means to offer so much more than that," he explained to her, his voice quiet yet somehow sharp. He seemed to want to say more, but he kept his mouth shut as his dark eyes were fixed on Irene.

She was at a loss for how to rectify the situation.

"Commander, that's not—"

"You don't need to say anything further," he stated, his voice firm.

Irene felt she had been dealt blows as the Commander walked away and went into the inn, where Irene timidly followed, having lost the opportunity to apologize when he silenced her. While she normally wouldn't allow anyone to shut her up in such a way, she managed to keep her mouth shut.

Unfortunately, the Commander's kindness to Irene continued despite how awful she felt she had been.

"You might as well have a bit of peace to yourself before you're forced to travel with a bunch of men again," the Commander stated as he handed her a key to her room.

"Yes, sir" was all she could muster as she gingerly took the key from him and retreated for the rest of the night, knowing she was too cowardly to face a man who had been so nice to her despite the assumptions she had placed upon him.

However, even when Irene settled, she couldn't find sleep. She needed to apologize to the Commander and tell him that she didn't think he was such an awful man to ditch his own child; it was only that he held a baby so naturally that it was an assumption she had jumped to.

She lacked experience with babies. The only ones she had seen were ones being held by their mothers, which led to her assumption that women dealt with babies while men did not.

Once she had gotten into clothing more suitable to be seen in, she quietly exited her door. Only when she saw how dark the hallways were did she realize how late it was. Perhaps she could have a bit of ale and bread. Something heavy might make her finally sleep, and she had closed herself in her room early enough to miss supper.

As she slowly walked to the end of the stairs and managed to step down a few, she stopped in her tracks.

Yet again, she was met with another unexpected sight.

The Commander sat in the dining hall devoid of others except for a waitress who approached him slowly and then leaned into his table in a way that Irene could only assume was seductive. She was inappropriately close to the Commander for it to be anything but that.