The Way That Knight Lives As A Lady - Chapter 1

The stone floor that touched her cheek was cold. However, the coolness gradually began to fade. Blood was leaking out of her mouth and she felt a burning sensation in her stomach as if a fireball was about to burn her insides.

The blood dripping from it was soaking the floor slowly. She tried to speak, her lips trembling, but no voice had been heard because her vocal cords were not functioning. All Estelle could do was to ask through her eyes.

Why?

Why?

Why?

Why the hell?

Estelle opened her eyes and looked at the killer who had killed her. Her vision was blurred, but she could see the man’s legs standing. She tried to look at his face, but the strength to lift her head disappeared.

“You’re still alive even with a poisoned sword. After all, you’re the leader.”

His voice, as always, was soft and sweet. His long fingers swept her hair over her slacken face.

“Kha… … Li… … .”

“Shh, talking makes it more painful Estelle. You have to die quietly.”

His finger, which had stayed in her ear, quickly touched her blood-stained lips, feeling the last breath of those lips. Death had come upon her if the day came when she could no longer breathe. She vaguely thought that she might have some lingering feelings, but she could not afford any regrets because nothing was more important than the betrayal that she had suffered now.

The traitor was gently touching her lips. The last breath she was trying to exhale became even harder as her body shook in pain.

‘Khalid, why did you..? Why did you find me? Why?’

She thought it would be worthwhile to risk her life. It was him who made her hold the sword. It was him who turned her into a knight, and he was a friend and a comrade with whom she had shared life and death.

He was the only brother with whom she did not share a drop of blood, and the man who had been engraved in her life with vivid light.

‘But you betrayed me, Khalid!’ Her vision darkened as if she had lost her sight.

“Farewell, my Ishtar.”

(tl/n: Ishtar is a Babylonian and Assyrian goddess of love and war.)

And with his gentle farewell, Estelle closed her eyes.

***

‘Damn old man.’

Zed ground his teeth together.

‘What am I going to do now that you came back dead after fighting with the demons?’ 

Zed’s reddish-brown eyes flashed as his mood worsened. However, there was no one in the world to blame. In other words, he had run out of time in the life that God had allowed and simply died from an illness.

The damn old man was Zed’s father. The former patriarch of Duke Heint, Gaspar Heint. Before he went on duty, the sudden obituary that flew from the battlefield felt strange. First, he had to resolve the feelings of losing his father, perform the funeral, receive the titles, receive a greeting from the vassals, and pledge allegiance to the emperor. It was also annoying to inherit the title at the young age of twenty-seven, but the problem was the duke’s will.

(tl/n: 27? Bruh..u a man-child? Jk.)

A will that was sealed with beeswax, with the signature of the predecessor and the family’s mark. On the glossy parchment paper, there was not one, but three seals from the high priest’s crown, along with the seal of the family’s crest. As a matter of fact, no one can deny the fulfillment of the will which was written by the damned honorable retainers. If he refuses, he has violated the will of God, and will not have the name of an imperial citizen, let alone having a title.

The statement of the will was quite simple. To marry the young lady of Count Aydin. Unlike the simple statement, the contents inside the will were not that simple at all.

Zed’s fiancé was afflicted. It is not that he dislikes women, in fact, he is coveted by women. Of course, Zed, who was being coveted by pretty women, assumed that Count’s Aydin young daughter must be beautiful. She was rumored to be beautiful enough to be called the “Morning Star” of Jansgar as she was named Lucipella. She had long hair like that of a night sky, a pure white face, and blue eyes shining like stars. Moreover, she was now twenty years old.

She was seven years younger than he was, but she was old enough to get married. Usually, women will start to get married at an earlier age. But the reason she could not get married was due to her personality. The Countess died when she was still a child, and so Count Aydin only had his daughter. And the problem was Count Aydin pampered his daughter like a porcelain doll as if she would break by touch and fly away when blown by the wind.

Thus, she grew up being spoiled, at worst, she has a skittish personality. Her temperament and beautiful appearance had spread among the nobles. Recently, ‘there was a question with his majesty, the Crown Prince.’ The phrase ‘I have a question’ was simple, but its meaning was quite enormous.

First of all, it was not just a fresh love affair, but the fact that is, it contained the downfall of men and women. If the circumstances of their affair were enough to be heard by his ears, he might have known what it feels like.

The result of the meeting between the ferocious prince and Count Aydin was a disaster. She was eventually abandoned miserably by the prince and became a laughingstock. When he was too busy to breathe because of his father’s funeral, he had heard that at the imperial palace banquet, she tried to kill herself by jumping in the palace’s lake to protest the rejection from the Crown Prince.

Until now he was still losing his mind when he remembered, laughing because he was dumbfounded by the rumors he had heard.

Someone else’s father died, and his life became easier.

‘What a stupid person.’

He saw one of the articles saying that he would commit suicide as a last resort to cling to the woman he had dated. Of course, hanging them upside down and beating them to death, will encourage their will to live. The principle is the same for both men and women.

Most people were extremely romantic, but it was ugly to cling to that kind of emotion. Zed had hated that kind of thing.

The woman who had been abandoned by the prince and was criticized in society was his fiancé. His father was also nasty when he once insulted her father.

“He woke up a few days ago.”

“Who?”

“Count Aydin.” Said Deputy Bernard. Meanwhile, Zed twisted his face and wished he had not woken up as he does not want to think about the conscience that he had for him.

“Does Count Aydin know about the engagement?”

“The will has just been disclosed and has been delivered by the priest. As long as the will is given, it must be executed.”

‘Damn it.’

It was highly likely that Count Aydin did not know about the engagement until the will had been released. If not, he would be not playing with the Prince while the Duke of Heint is engaged to his daughter.

‘Count Aydin.….’

Zed was lost in thought.

Count Aydin was the cousin of the deceased empress, the mother of the Crown Prince. In other words, he is one of the families that officially supports the Crown Prince. Is it because the father wants her to support the Crown Prince? Still, the reason was unknown.

‘What a fiancé!’

He sighed.

“I can’t break it anymore.” He murmured in a disapproving tone. Bernard also sighed with his own concerns. There was a way to break the engagement, but it was only possible when the two families agreed. Count Aydin who bit the Duke of Heint, would never break the engagement.

(pr/n: I have no clue what it means by ‘bit’ tbh, maybe it means a grudge, idk but I doubt he actually bit him lol)

“Tell him that I’ll be visiting him in two days.”

***

When she opened her eyes, she saw the bright sunlight and a colorful chandelier.

Estelle blinked, and then she recalled what happened to her. She and Khalid went into the conference room and talked, saying they would talk about the operation. After all his stories, Khalid suddenly said that he wanted to hold her. It was a literal hug. Right then, Khalid’s poisoned sword pierced her belly when she tilted her head to hold him with her arms wide open.

But she is alive. She, herself was alive. At that time, she felt joy.

‘Khalid, this guy. You pretended to kill me!’

‘When I think about it, he couldn’t have killed himself. What kind of guy is he?’

Estelle laid down and smiled.

‘Khalid was always like that.’ He tests her trust and acts to disappoint her, revealing that she was not necessary anymore, and then he enjoyed watching her changing facial expressions because of his nasty personality. One time, she was so angry with him that she threw a fist in his face, and then he stopped doing it.

‘Anyway, this must have been away for him to save himself. He deliberately pretended to kill me and took me away. Don’t tell me he forced himself to go to the battlefield?’

At that time, she was clearly preparing for her death. She thought there was no chance of surviving. But then, he must have taken her out of the battle to save her. No matter how she looked at it, that was the only conclusion she could make. If that was the case, you are dead to me Khalid, she thought.

Estelle grabbed her blanket and got up from her seat. She did not notice that her hands were white and fine and did not have any calluses. Estelle saw the red blanket over her body.

‘My God, this is another noble mansion!’

The futon was silk with a subtle apricot gloss. Estelle swept the blanket with her hand without realizing it. It was pleasantly soft.

‘What kind of rich aristocrats would be so extravagant in the time of war?’ Estelle groaned and frowned.

‘Besides, where is my sword again?’ It was obvious. It must have been hidden somewhere by Khalid, who feared that she would run wild. It was then that the door burst open, and a maid entered. The maid’s outfit was somewhat exotic, but she was not bothered by it and smiled. However, the maid looked pale when she saw Estelle’s smile.

“Oh, my lady, I’m sorry! I didn’t know you had woken up!” She saw the terrified maid’s face. But something was more important to Estelle than that.

‘What did the maid just say?’

“My lady?” She asked.

Of course, she has never heard “lady” since she entered Khalid’s house at thirteen. No, she had in fact heard it a few times, but it was bothersome so she personally stopped the person who used that word.

“I am guilty. I should have waited in advance.” Upon seeing the maid on her knees, a frown formed on her face.

‘What, why is she so servile?’ She thought that it was not so sweet to see a younger girl do that.

“Get up.” As she spoke with her soft voice, the maid’s face flushed red. She did not save her life, so what is so great about what she did?

“Thank you.” The maid got up and noticed that she seemed polite.

(pr/n: the ‘she’ is referring to Estelle, it’s the maid thinking this btw)

‘Anyway, she is a commoner.’

(pr/n: this is Estelle now)

On the contrary, she had a look on her face as if she were seeing something rare, but it was the first one of its kind.

(pr/n: as in it was the first time she had made that face, this is the maid again)

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“You’ve been out for three days.”

“Really? I have slept a lot.”

“The master was very worried.”

“Master? Who was he?”

Estelle, of course, was asking for the owner of the mansion. But the maid was taking it differently.

“Your father.” Estelle tilted her head. The maid seemed to be completely mistaken.

“Father?”

“Yes, the Count……. Miss?”

Seeing Estelle’s face, the maid’s face was blurred with anxiety. It was because Estelle had a face as if she knew nothing. She has no father. No, she does not know who her father is. But what kind of father was he? She thought that they were talking about different things. Suddenly, she felt the black silk fluttering on her shoulders. She held the silk in her hand and it scattered. She shortly panicked after realizing that it was her hair. Estelle’s hair was short and gray. There was no such thing as long black hair.

Estelle struggled to find her reason.

“……Could you bring me a mirror?” She tried to speak softly, but her lower lip was shaking.

“My Lady, that’s your most cherished hair!”

“What have you done to me? Khalid, get Khalid!”

“Who is he?”

“Khalid, Khalid Gabline!”

“Who is he? Lady, there’s no one like that!”

“Tell me, what have you done to me?”

“Oh, you’re behaving weirdly! Jessie! Jessie! Come on, get the Count!”

Everything was going wrong. She struggled to keep her head above water.

‘Come to think of it, this place where I’m staying, the maid, and everything was unfamiliar. Also, the maid used a Jansgarian accent.’

“Where am I?”

“…… it’s your home.”

“I’m talking about the country.”

“Jansgard. The Imperial Jansgard. This is Greenhill, the capital of Jansgar.”

‘No way. Jansgar is a kingdom, to attach the term “imperial” is blasphemy.’

In addition, Jansgard was an enemy country that she fought in a war with until she collapsed.

‘Was this an enemy camp? Then I need to find the weapon quickly.’

The maid was so embarrassed that she did not seem to know she was using a Jansgarian accent. She was now in the middle of an enemy country and thought that she needs to find Khalid and go back. However, such a goal had to be destroyed shortly afterward.

“What happened to the battle against the Kingdom of Ersha?”

The maid seemed to feel the seriousness of her words.

“Lady, you must see the senator. The kingdom of Ersha has been destroyed!”

“Ersha is destroyed?”

It was her own country. It was a country that she wanted to protect. Estelle sat with a shocked face.

“What year is it now?”

“It’s 729 Yans, my lady.” Fortunately, the maid was replying to her words. She calculated with a dazed head.

‘It’s been three years. Three years from when I was fighting.’

“When did Ersha fall?”

“That was three years ago, too.”

“No way!”

“My Lady?”

‘No, it can’t be like this. Khalid, where’s Khalid? Where am I?’ Estelle looked around and got off the bed. She wanted to deny it all, that it was a lie.

“My Lady, where are you going. You have to rest!”

“……Let me go!” Estelle reached out and tried to push her, but the maid was strong.

‘No, it wasn’t strong. But that this body was just too thin and weak.’

Of course, she couldn’t have power with a body like that, so she was caught by the woman. She was out of breath when she struggled with her body. She tried her hardest, but it was not easy. Even though she was struggling, the need to go to Ersha was evident.

“Lucy!”

The door opened and a man came in and grabbed her. Even a woman cannot resist a man…In the end, she ran out of strength.

“Oh, Lucy, it’s okay. Dad is here.”

“…….”

“Lucy.”

Her heartbeat, which was pounding with excitement had slowed down.

Estelle blinked her eyes. She was embraced by his warm arms, and she can see the woman’s reflection in his eyes that resembled her. He had blond hair, but his eyes were the same color. She could feel the eyes of a man who looked warmly at her with affectionate eyes.

“Who are you?” Even though she knew the answer, she asked. Because she wanted to check.

The man’s face was distorted with grief and Estelle has never received such a loving gaze because she never remembered seeing her father in her life.

“Don’t you remember Dad?”

“…….”

Estelle began shaking very slightly. She was wondering if she did not remember this person or if she was still dreaming?