CH 3

By the next day, word had spread quickly throughout the duchy that Rosalie had lost her temper with Bella. Aaron was the first to come to the office when he heard the news.

“Dolan!”

Aaron greeted Dolan, who came to the office with a tea cart. Seeing Aaron’s happy expression, Dolan smiled.

“It’s been a while, Commander Aaron.”

“I guess the rumor that you’ve returned was true.”

Dolan chuckled at Aaron’s disbelieving tone and finished pouring tea before leaving the room.

“Now let’s talk about work.”

Rosalie said, taking a sip of her fragrant black tea as she sat down across from Aaron. He gave her a small nod.

“I’m going to reinstate the Knights’ support that was cut off, and I’m also going to raise their salaries  by 1.3 times.”

Aaron’s eyes widened and Rosalie got up to hand him a pile of papers from a shelf drawer.

As Aaron read the papers, his eyes began to tremble slightly. The paper was densely packed with the details of a new training program. 

At first glance, the training seemed grueling and intense, and Aaron made a sound of distress.

“Is this why you’re raising their salary?”

“Starting next week, I’ll personally lead the training.”

Aaron scratched his head awkwardly. 

Even though they were lazy knights, they had been wild horses originally, so it wasn’t easy to tame them. 

To make matters worse, Rosalie’s reputation as a Duchess had hit rock bottom among the Knights for some time.

“I’ll admit that you’ve changed, Duchess… but it’s not easy to train the Knights, and I’m sure they won’t listen to you since your public image hasn’t been good so far.”

Rosalie put down his teacup and stared at him intently. Her gaze was unwavering.

“Sir Aaron.”

“Yes?”

“The Dukedom of Judeheart was known for having an excellent Knight Order. But how about now?”

Aaron couldn’t easily answer Rosalie’s question.

“Starting from next week.”

Although Aaron’s mouth twitched, he shut it when he met Rosalie’s eyes. 

The strangely determined look in her eyes made it impossible for him to say anything more.

“I understand. Well, then, I’ll go now.”

Aaron stood up from his seat and left the office. 

Soon after, Emma came in, cleared the empty cup he used, poured new tea into Rosalie’s cup, and slipped her a letter.

“A letter has arrived.”

「Sonia Amins.」

Rosalie’s fingertips twitched ever so slightly at the sender’s name on the envelope. 

It was the name of Rosalie’s friend and the heroine of her novel.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve last seen Lady Sonia~.” 

Emma exclaimed excitedly. Rosalie, who was timid, had been avoiding social parties held in the capital and had not ventured outside the territory.

As a result, she hadn’t visited the Duke of Judeheart’s mansion in the capital for a while, and she never saw Sonia unless she came to the Duchy to see Rosalie.

“What does it say?” 

Rosalie, who had read the letter, said calmly.

“The guests will come in two weeks. Make preparations for their arrival.”

In the original version of the story, Sonia’s visit to the dukedom leads to Rosalie being ignored by Bella, and she decides to take action. 

At the behest of her childhood friend, the Crown Prince becomes involved, and the novel begins.

‘But they won’t have to help me.’

Unlike the original story, Sonia will have nothing to do with helping Rosalie. 

As far as Rosalie was concerned, whether those two started a love affair or began the novel was irrelevant to her.

Rosalie gave a small yawn, and Emma looked at her with concern.

“Duchess. Don’t you think you’re pushing yourself too hard?”

After holding Bella’s wrist, Rosalie immediately started personal training. Although it was not as strenuous as when she was in the army, Rosalie’s body complained of fatigue.

“It’s okay. What about what I’ve told you to prepare?”

“Butler Dolan said it’ll be here the day after tomorrow!”

Rosalie left the office with a stiff body and headed for the deserted third training ground, intending to work out her sluggish body with exercise.

⊱⊱⊱────── {.⋅ ✧✧✧ ⋅.} ──────⊰⊰⊰

A week later, Rosalie, dressed in comfortable training clothes, was making her way to the first training ground as scheduled. A dagger was strapped to her thigh, along with a black leather belt. 

Emma followed behind her, looking uneasy.

“Commander Aaron.”

Aaron ran towards Rosalie as soon as he saw her in the training ground.

“Your Grace… what’s with the outfit?”

Aaron looked at her in confusion. 

She looked like a mercenary in her black leather pants, walker, and dagger. 

The knights behind him sneered.

“She even dressed up for training.”

“Haha, that dagger could be a toy.”

Their snickers reached Rosalie’s ears. Aaron and Emma began to look at Rosalie with embarrassment on their faces, but she paid them no mind, her face expressionless.

“Gather at the training grounds. The training is about to begin.”

Aaron quickly began to gather the knights. 

As Rosalie reached out to Emma amidst the assembled knights at the training ground, Emma handed her a long-brimmed black octagonal hat. Rosalie took the hat and pressed it to her head.

“What’s with the hat?” 

Aaron asked Rosalie, whose eyes were barely visible under the hat.

“I prepared it for the training,” she replied.

Aaron’s expression showed that he did not understand her response. 

The hat she had prepared, as Rosalie had explained to Dolan, was for the purpose of increasing the tension of the Knights in training.

She had made it as close to her own experience in the military as possible.

“Now, we’re going to do fifteen laps around the training grounds! Commence!”

Rosalie commanded, leaving the knights confused as they began to run. 

Rosalie’s eyebrows furrowed as she watched them run without paying any attention to their formation.

“Ugh, why are we training with a Duchess who doesn’t even know the basics of training…”

Even the knights were openly expressing their dissatisfaction with Rosalie’s training. 

Rosalie called out to Aaron, her eyebrows still furrowed.

“Commander Aaron!”

Aaron, who was running at the forefront, quickly ran forward when he heard her calling his name.

“Who is the oldest Senior Knight here?”

“Ah… Toronto is the oldest knight here. Why do you ask?”

“Stop running and bring him to me.”

“If you tell me what you’re trying to do, I can…”

“Commander Aaron.”

Rosalie’s low voice cut off Aaron’s words. Her voice was cold enough to make his ears go numb.

“Are you disobeying my orders now?”

“No, (1)Sir.”

“Is the person in front of you right now in a position to ask your permission?”

Under Rosalie’s piercing gaze, which peeked out from beneath her deeply pressed hat, Aaron said nothing. 

For some reason, Aaron felt a cold sweat run down his back.

“No, Sir!”

“Then stop talking and bring him here.”

“Everyone, stop! Toronto, come here!” 

The knights stopped running, and Toronto stepped out from among them. 

As he slowly walked out, Rosalie shouted.

“Hurry up!”

With a spring in his step, Toronto came in front of Rosalie. At Aaron’s gesture, the rest of the knights slowly gathered around.

“Are you not following my orders because of your poor skills?”

When Rosalie openly looked down on the knights, their eyebrows furrowed. 

Some knights tried to open their mouths recklessly, but shut their mouths when they saw Aaron with a stern face next to them.

“Are you the oldest Senior Knight?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Bring your sword at once.”

Rosalie said as she drew the dagger from her thigh, and Aaron beside her began to panic.

“Duchess! Are you planning to have a duel with Toronto? Toronto is a Senior Knight!”

Rosalie remained silent against Aaron’s objection. Toronto brought a practice sword, brimming with mockery.

“Bring a real sword.”

“Pfft— fine.”

Toronto laughed loudly and brought a real sword.

Rosalie took off her hat and bent over, her posture prompting Toronto to speak in a sneering tone.

“Are you going to block my sword with that dagger?”

Toronto’s words caused even the watching knights to burst out laughing.

“Shut up and come at me. I’ll fix that pathetic thinking of yours.”

Toronto pulled out his sword in an instant and attacked. Rosalie quickly bent down to avoid the sword and plunged into Toronto’s arms with her small stature.

“Eek!”

Toronto tried to pull away, but she was faster. The tip of her dagger was already producing small drops of blood on his delicate neck.

“Ha, I surrender.”

Feeling the sharp pain in his neck, Toronto raised his hands in surrender. The sword he had been holding fell to the ground with a loud ‘clang’.

“What a quick surrender. Is a knight supposed to surrender so easily?”

Toronto’s fingertips began to tremble at Rosalie’s fierce gaze.

“If this was a battlefield, your head would already be separated from your body.”

As Rosalie sheathed her dagger and Toronto breathed a sigh of relief, his back hit the cold floor with a sharp pain in his stomach.

“Ugh!”

Toronto coughed and gasped as Rosalie’s (2)walker pressed down on his chest. She looked down at him with an emotionless gaze and gestured to Aaron.

Aaron took the octagonal cap that had fallen on the ground and handed it to her, and she put it on again before opening her mouth.

“There is no surrender unless you die in the future. Do you understand?”

Rosalie spoke, looking around at the Knights. Her foot remained on Toronto’s chest.

“Yes, yes!”

The stunned knights stuttered their response.

“Answer briefly only once!”

“Yes!”

Rosalie nodded in satisfaction at their eager response. She looked at the crumbling Toronto beneath her feet and muttered in a low voice.

“Answer.”

“Yes!”

Toronto answered, barely managing to find his voice while being pressed down.

Rosalie’s satisfied smile made Toronto feel like he had seen a little devil for the first time in his life.

[Collection of Footnotes]

1) “Sir” 

– I used “Sir” here since the scene had a military setting, and Aaron was responding to Rosalie, who had a higher position than he had.

2) “Walker” 

– Most probably a heavy type of shoes used in the military, similar to combat boots.