Chapter 312: Showing Off
Despite how curious Irene was about this person who had convinced Felix that he was worthy of the hefty title he had been bestowed, Commander Henry disappeared into his room or study for the rest of the day. Each time she thought she might be able to get to know the man she was only two positions below, she didn’t see him another time.
It had occurred to her early on that he may be unaware of her existence entirely. The times they worked alongside each other as apprentices, he thought she was a boy. Even when they were in the practice yard together, she had been wearing her armor.
However, she came up with another conclusion that Felix must have explained the situation to him, she decided. They had traveled with one another for nearly twenty days. There was no way he wasn’t filled in on the fact that one of his highest-ranked was a woman.
How she wished she could have been a fly on the wall while that conversation happened.
She had been warned about men from the south and the way they perceived women. If Chemois had only just had their first female knight, she could imagine that Hydrogia wouldn’t have one for another hundred years.
Since Commander Henry hadn’t voiced any qualms about the situation so far, she hoped that it was because he was accepting of who she was. Even if he disagreed, she hoped he was honorable enough to allow the already established hierarchy to remain. After all, someone couldn’t come in and turn their world upside down without any pushback from others.
With her own conclusion to comfort her, Irene was up bright and early with her armor ready. It was time to practice with the others and show the Commander and a few of the Knights of Hydrogia just what they were made of.
While she couldn’t speak for the others who had been off on all sides of the map and practically only living to survive after the war’s conclusion, she had kept up with practicing. Even when she was in the far north, she would occasionally swing her sword just for the satisfaction of it and because it would make her feel a bit warmer.
To show the new Duke her sword skills was something she was looking forward to. Perhaps then he would have no room for doubt within him that she wasn’t equally, if not more, capable than all of the other men on the practice yard that day.
Before, she had noticed that the practice yard had been cleared and carved out a bit more properly. She hadn’t seen it that way since far before the war. Everyone’s priority stopped being to practice but to try and keep the apprentices practicing.
Eighteen knights in full armor stood closest to the Commander, and their apprentices were along the back of them—a few more than they had before, considering the rest of their apprentices were brought back from the south. They looked forward at the man who had Sir Felix on his left and to his right Sir Alix, Sir Maximus, and Sir Trenton.