Chapter 63
After finishing a satisfying meal, Maya encountered Alec waiting outside.
‘What’s the problem this time?’
She wondered what Alec would say now.
“Maya.”
However, what came out of his mouth was a respectful tone she had never expected.
‘What is he thinking?’
Just as she was frowning, Alec knelt down.
Was he about to strike her foot?
Maya watched Alec’s actions keenly, on high alert.
“I sincerely want to apologize for my past actions.”
It would have been less surprising if he had kicked her foot instead of what he actually said.
At first, she thought she had misheard.
“I apologize for insulting and not respecting you. I have misunderstood you all this time.”
But the words that followed left no room for denial.
Alec recited in detail what he had done wrong.
‘This is new.’
Maya was bewildered.
To be honest, Alec’s actions hadn’t been severe harassment.
She knew his words came from genuine concern for Tristan, and he had always done his best during their sparring sessions.
But now Alec was kneeling and apologizing to Maya.
“I apologize.”
There had been many who had tormented Maya.
“In the future, I will not do so. As a fellow swordsman, I want to acknowledge and respect your skills.”
However, no one had ever apologized for their wrongdoings or recognized Maya’s abilities.
“Don’t you think it’s because I’m a Pendragon? That it’s only natural that I’m capable of this much.”
She asked Alec because he was a fellow knight.
“Of course not. As a swordsman, I could see it clearly. Your skills, beyond talent, are earned through hard work.”
Hearing this from a fellow swordsman made it even more genuine.
It was a sincere recognition of her abilities.
‘Good people surround good people.’
Someone who acknowledges their mistakes and knows when to seek forgiveness.
Maya began to understand why Alec was the captain of the knights.
“I accept your apology. Now, please stand up.”
Everything she experienced in the north was new.
Things she wouldn’t have known if she hadn’t lived a new life.
“If you want, you can hit me. Or even scold me harshly.”
Even after the apology, Alec muttered as if something was still bothering him.
Maya laughed and shook her head at his words.
“There’s nothing I’m holding onto.”
Maya’s straightforward answer finally seemed to reassure Alec, and he stood up.
“Then, may I make one request?”
And then he got to the point.
“A request?”
“You don’t have to grant it right away. Perhaps when you return to the north later.”
Alec gave an awkward smile.
He felt embarrassed to ask for something right after apologizing.
But the embarrassment was fleeting, and Maya’s skills were genuine.
“What is it?”
“I’d like to request a sparring session. With all of us in the knight order.”
She wondered what he was going to say.
‘To think he’d request something like this.’
She would have done it even if he had just asked.
Maya always welcomed sparring.
“Alright.”
Maya nodded readily.
“Let’s do it today. And you don’t expect me to go easy on you, do you?”
“Uh… I think it would be best if you go easy on us. With the increase in monsters to deal with, we’ll need some time to recover.”
Led by the eager Maya and Alec, the entire knight order, from trainees to the vice-captain, began a hellish sparring session with Maya.
And after this sparring, Maya became the living legend of the northern knight order.
***
Emperor Reserfield frowned as he put down the report stating that the northern monster had been dealt with safely.
“They said it was a pretty strong one, so hard to find?”
His sarcastic remark was layered with simmering anger that he couldn’t easily quell.
Since the meeting, things had seemed off. The Master of the Mage Tower, Sebastian, and Count Baker were nervous.
“Yes, that’s what we thought….”
“Useless.”
Click. Reserfield’s eyebrow twitched.
He had hoped that this incident would shatter the northern knight order, but it seemed the heavens were not on his side.
“Then, what do you plan to do now, Your Majesty?”
Reserfield’s obsession with the north was growing.
He had even killed his own brother to seize the throne. Anyone who posed a threat to him was eliminated.
…Except for House Bayarden.
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