Chapter 32
After finishing a satisfying meal, Maya came face-to-face with Alec, who had been waiting outside.
What’s the problem this time, I wonder.
She was curious what Alec was going to say next.
“Maya-nim.”
But the words that came out of his mouth were completely unexpected—formal, polite speech.
What is going through his head?
Just as she frowned in puzzlement, Alec went down on one knee.
Was he about to strike her foot or something?
Maya kept her guard up, closely watching his movements.
“I sincerely wish to apologize for my past behavior.”
If he had just kicked her foot in defiance, it would have been less shocking than the words he had just spoken.
At first, she thought she’d misheard him.
“I apologize for insulting you and failing to show you respect. I’ve been misunderstanding you all this time.”
But the words that followed left no room for denial.
Alec listed, in painstaking detail, everything he had done wrong.
Well, this is new.
Maya was taken aback.
Honestly, Alec’s actions hadn’t been that cruel. She knew they had come from genuine concern for Tristan, and even in their sparring matches, he had done his best.
But now here he was, kneeling before her and apologizing without hesitation.
“I’m sorry.”
Many people had harassed Maya before.
“From now on, I won’t behave that way again. As a fellow swordsman, I want to acknowledge your skill and look up to you.”
Yet none of them had ever apologized for their actions or recognized her abilities.
“Do you think I only achieved this because I’m a Pendragon? That it’s to be expected?”
She asked because Alec was also a knight.
“Of course not. Because I am a swordsman, I could see it clearly—skill born not just of talent, but of effort beyond it.”
Hearing it from someone who also wielded a sword made it all the more sincere.
These were words that fully and purely acknowledged her skill.
Good people really do attract good people.
Someone who could face their own faults and come at the right time to make amends.
Maya thought she now understood why Alec was the Knight Commander.
“I accept your apology. Please, stand up.”
Since coming to the North, everything had been a new experience for her—things she would never have known if she’d stayed in her old life.
“If you wish, you can strike me. Or speak harshly to me.”
Alec rambled, as if something was still weighing on him despite her forgiveness.
Maya just laughed and shook her head.
“I’m not holding onto any grudges.”
Her clean, straightforward answer seemed to finally put him at ease, and Alec rose to his feet.
“Then… may I ask just one favor?”
He got to the point.
“A favor?”
“You don’t have to agree right away. Even if it’s after you return to the North.”
He gave a sheepish smile—embarrassed to be making a request right after apologizing.
But embarrassment was fleeting, and Maya’s skill was the real deal.
“What is it?”
“I’d like to request a sparring match—with our entire Knight Order.”
So that’s what he wanted.
This is what he calls a favor?
She would have agreed even if he had simply asked outright. Maya was always up for a sparring match.
“Sure.”
She nodded readily.
“Let’s do it today. You don’t expect me to go easy on you, right?”
“Uh… maybe just a little. The number of monsters we have to deal with is increasing, so we’ll at least need some recovery time afterward.”
With an eager Maya and Alec leading the way, everyone from squires to the vice commander of the Northern Knight Order took part in a hellish training session with her.
After that day, Maya became the living legend of the Northern Knight Order.
***
Emperor Reserfield set down the report stating that the Northern monsters had been successfully dealt with, a deep frown on his face.
“So they were strong enough to be difficult to track down, were they?”
His tone dripped with scorn, layered over simmering anger that refused to cool.
Sebastian, the Tower Master, and Count Baker exchanged uneasy glances. They had noticed during the council meeting earlier that the emperor’s mood was dangerous.
“Well, yes, we thought so, but…”
“Useless.”
Tsk. Reserfield’s eyebrow twitched.
He had been hoping the Northern Knight Order would be torn to pieces in this incident, but it seemed the gods were not on his side.
“So, what do you plan to do now?”
His obsession with the North was only growing.
He had killed his own brother to take the throne. Anyone who might stand against him, he had eliminated—
…except for the House of Beiadin.
If the North had suffered a major disaster this time, he would have been satisfied and focused instead on purging the capital of the loyalists who kept trying to correct him.
But the monster had been eliminated far too quickly, and the House of Beiadin suffered no losses.
All thanks to the butterfly effect of Maya saving Alec.
“It’s irritating how they refuse to show their faces.”
No matter how severe their supposed illness, it was galling that the Beiadin family stayed solely in the North.
When you block all paths, sooner or later they’ll be forced to come out. With that in mind, he had cut off their resources, reinforcements, and even the Tower’s assistance.
“But I hear his new wife will be coming up this time.”
At last, his strategy was showing results.
“Please, let your anger go.”
Sebastian poured out flattery with all his might.
Though he possessed the skill to become Tower Master, Sebastian’s lowborn origins had left him with an inferiority complex, making him the perfect sycophant.
Count Carrion Baker, who had been studying Sebastian’s social maneuvering, boldly stepped in as well.
Being the second-most obsequious flatterer, he could hardly miss such a chance.
“Ahem, at the upcoming banquet, I’ll make sure to meet her and speak at length about Your Majesty’s greatness.”
Having bought his title with money, Count Baker had leveraged his connections to gain favor with the emperor.
A beautiful daughter, the honor of serving the emperor, and a prosperous merchant house—the Baker family was enjoying a golden age.
“I’ll be watching you closely, then.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Before the emperor, who could give them whatever they desired, pride had no place.
The two men answered loudly in unison and bowed deeply before withdrawing.
“Maya Pendragon…”
It was suspicious that two people with no apparent connection had married.
Pendragon and Beiadin, no less.
Isn’t this the kind of union that only appeared in ancient legends about the Dragon Houses?
Even if the Pendragons had declined and the Beiadins were like a toothless lion living quietly, it was still irritating.
“The banquet will be suitably grand.”
It was best to break someone’s spirit early—so deeply that it became an unshakable part of their memory, like brainwashing.
“The Beiadins have just held a wedding, and the wife is coming up. There’s no way I’m letting that pass.”
Reserfield smiled.
“Contact the Pendragon family.”
The sooner you had someone’s weakness, the better.
***
Even loans taken in the Pendragon name had their limits.
“Maya—where is that girl? Does she really think she can live away from home?”
Elise’s eyes flashed as she screamed at the top of her lungs. But there was not a single maid around to attend her.
She, Otto, and McGuire had been the ones to drive Maya out and erase her from the family register, certain she would crawl back.
After all, Maya had no one to help her.
But Maya did not return.
McGuire, having already lost all trust, was beyond redemption, while Elise and Otto used what little reputation they had left to borrow money in hopes of striking it rich.
But a big score was never as easy as they imagined.
In the end, they had to dismiss every servant and maid, pawn their furniture, and even resort to loan sharks.
Tonight’s gamble was truly their last chance—but, as always, they lost it all.
“We need money—money!”
With bloodshot eyes, Elise raged, while Otto nervously bit his nails. He was just as anxious.
“Mother, look at this!”
McGuire, rummaging through the nearly empty mansion for any possible invitations, came running in.
“Is it from Maya?”
“No, even better than Maya. Forget about her.”
McGuire grinned and held out a letter sealed with the imperial crest.
“T-The emperor sent us something?”
Elise and Otto gaped in astonishment at the unexpected sender.
They quickly cleared off a dusty table, tore open the envelope with trembling hands, and unfolded the letter.
As they read the imperial message, their eyes grew wide.
“I take back what I said about forgetting Maya.”
McGuire muttered in disbelief, and Otto spoke in a trembling voice.
“McGuire… the person we’re dealing with is none other than the Duke of Beiadin. Beiadin.”
At last, a gamble-like opportunity had arrived before them.
