SOTBW - 60

When Najane woke up, it was already noon. Realizing she had slept for too long, she hurriedly got out of bed. After picking up her clothes from the floor, she put them on and stepped outside, where a long table of food was set up. However, Maximón was nowhere to be seen.

Thinking she was late for training, Najane grabbed her sword and quickly ran down the hallway. She felt embarrassed that she hadn’t participated in combat for a few days, and she didn’t want to face the other knights. Although the reason she hadn’t been able to join the field battles was because of Maximón, she felt a strange sense of guilt and hurriedly stuffed her boots on as she left the residence.

The soldiers guarding the walls spotted Najane and gave her a slight nod. She accidentally exchanged greetings with them. Of course, she didn’t know why they were bowing, thinking only that these soldiers seemed very polite.

“Najane!”

At that moment, someone called her loudly. It was an unfamiliar voice. Turning around in confusion, she saw a knight running toward her, probably named Joshua.

“Where are you going?”

Josha’s question caught Najane off guard. She thought it was fine to leave the residence, but was it not? Seeing her face freeze in confusion, Joshua waved his hands quickly.

“No, I’m not trying to lock you up again... I just... I just wanted to know where you were going.”

“...What?”

Najane quickly checked her outfit. The sword was properly sheathed, and she hadn’t forgotten her gloves... Oh, maybe it was because she had rushed to put on her boots? Embarrassed, she quickly fixed her boots.

When she was in Elgort, she never imagined she would have to wear boots like this.

Najane, feeling awkward, looked up at Joshua. Her gaze silently asked if she could go now.

“...Oh, yeah, sure. Daniel is especially worried about you. Go ahead.”

Joshua seemed to want to say something more but, unable to, waved his hand. Najane, still puzzled by his reaction, hurriedly made her way down the path. As she ran quickly, nearly out of breath, she spotted the training grounds.

But there was no one there. She tilted her head in confusion and ran to the training area on the opposite side. That too was empty.

Najane blinked in bewilderment. Had the training been canceled because of the cold? No, that couldn’t be it.

Then, in the distance, she heard a loud “Najane!” echoing across the grounds. Startled, she turned toward the direction of the knights’ quarters. It was Daniel. As soon as Daniel spotted Najane through the lounge window, his face lit up like a child’s, and he rushed out.

“Najane! What happened? Are you okay now? What about the Commander? Are you both alright? Wait, are you really leaving the Order?”

Daniel panted, asking a barrage of questions all at once.

Najane, having run so fast, couldn’t help but laugh at Daniel’s curly hair, which was bouncing up and down.

“Did you worry?”

“Seriously, is that how you ask?”

Daniel was about to explode with frustration from Najane’s nonchalance, but then he paused, his face flushed bright red. It seemed like there had been fleas in the residence from not using it for so long.

Daniel thought about asking the maids to clean, but then noticed the red marks on her neck and stared at them for a moment.

Feeling his gaze, Najane rubbed her neck.

“What’s wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, it’s nothing, just, um...”

Daniel gently touched her neck. It was smooth, not like the typical bite marks from insects. Only then did he realize what the marks were and silently recoiled. These marks were definitely intentionally made. Najane must have done it to show others who she belonged to.

“What’s wrong?”

Najane asked, looking confused. Daniel forced a casual expression.

“It’s nothing. Uh, looks like you were bitten by a bug. Your neck is a bit red.”

“Really? A flea bite?”

“I’ll wrap a handkerchief around it. It looks kind of bad, hey.”

Daniel took out a handkerchief and tied it around Najane’s neck. Najane was about the same age as his half-sister, whom he had left back home. Though she was the first female knight of Romsoa, he felt a special sense of care for her, especially when he thought about his sister struggling with relatives back home who were obsessed with money and power. That’s why he felt even more compelled to take care of Najane.

...Wait, but you don’t think the Commander forced you, do you?

Daniel, pulling his hand back, furrowed his brows as he looked down at Najane. If it were Maximón, he wouldn’t have hesitated to do something like that. He was unreasonable in everything. But Najane couldn’t just ask her about it.

After hesitating for a moment, Daniel spoke very carefully.

“Hey, Najane. If—just, you know, if something really happened between you and the Commander, and it was something you couldn’t handle on your own, like if you really needed help, just tell me. You know, like... well, all sorts of things. You understand what I mean, right?”

Daniel stumbled over his words, trying not to hurt Najane’s pride. Najane looked at him with a puzzled expression but nodded as if she understood. Seeing that she seemed reassured, Daniel patted her back and then, with a sudden realization, asked with an almost shocked expression.

“Wait, but didn’t you get kidnapped? Is that true? When did that happen? Did someone just barge into the residence? What kind of crazy idiots tried to mess with you?”

Daniel’s questions seemed endless.

Najane honestly explained what had happened. As Daniel listened, he let out a dry laugh.

“Wow, those crazy bastards. What were they thinking, trying to kidnap a knight? Were they planning to ransom you or something? But we’re knights, right? I’ve been in combat for a while, but this is the first time I’ve heard of something like this. Wow, this is... crazy...”

“But why didn’t they use poison?”

“What?”

That wasn’t the kind of thing a kidnap victim would typically say. Daniel looked at Najane in disbelief, but Najane kept speaking in a calm voice.

“After kidnapping and dragging me off, it would have been much simpler to kill me at the residence or use poison than to drag me somewhere and kill me.”

“...Hmm, now that you mention it, that makes sense...”

“It still feels strange.”

Could it have been Venus who ordered the assassination? Or was it Kieron?

If not, maybe it was some third party whose name she didn’t know. Just recalling the abduction exhausted her, but Najane tried to stay as calm as possible. One thing was clear: someone “higher up” who disliked Najane knew she was fighting as a knight of the Romsoa Order and still ordered the kidnapping.

Anyone familiar with the situation at the Noctis Fortress might have ignored it or postponed the assassination, thinking about the upcoming battle with Seriths, even if Najane’s presence was a bit uncomfortable for them.

Even though many great knights existed in various orders, none could fight like Najane. There had been some minor disturbance in the black market due to Laura, but Najane hadn’t yet started tearing things apart in search of Luna.

What were the chances that Venus or Kieron even knew about Najane? If Venus really cursed her, or if Kieron had bought Najane and Luna from the followers of Powley, were they still paying attention to Najane’s every move?

In the end, they might just think a slave ran away and didn’t care much. If they had any power, they would understand how insane it would be to openly kidnap Najane from the Romsoa Order.

Daniel, now looking more serious, muttered, “Hmm, or maybe things got messed up halfway through. Maybe the original order was just to beat you up without killing you, but the ones who executed it misunderstood and tried to kill you instead.”

Looking at Najane with pity, Daniel patted her shoulder.

“Just forget about it. It’ll never happen again. We should go inside and talk. Everyone’s gathered in the lounge.”

Daniel pushed Najane gently from behind. As she walked, she hastily asked him a question.

“But isn’t there training today? Where is everyone?”

“Today’s a day off for the whole Order. We don’t train on days off.”

“Ah...”

Najane sighed softly with a look of realization. She had subconsciously thought that if she kept skipping training, the other knights might start resenting her. Maximón wasn’t the type to let his skills rust just because he missed a few training sessions, but Najane was a hard worker who gave her all.

Every day, she secretly trained with Mikael, tying sandbags to her wrists and swinging a wooden sword. Back then, she never imagined she’d end up using her sword skills in real combat.

Did Mikael expect this to happen? Despite Nellis’ stern warnings to stop teaching her how to wield a sword, Mikael had insisted that Najane had to learn.

Mikael was essentially Najane’s guardian. She truly thought of him like a father. She had spent much more time with Mikael than with Nellis. There were times when she couldn’t believe that Mikael was gone.

When she would whine that she couldn’t do something, he would approach her and encourage her, saying that she could do it, that it was something she could easily handle…

“Do you know how to fight?”

Najane asked Daniel. Daniel, looking a bit offended by the question, responded as if it were obvious.

“Of course. I’m a knight, after all. A knight of the Romsoa Order.”

“I mean hand-to-hand combat, not sword fighting.”

“Oh, you mean bare-handed fighting? Well, I’m not great at that… but why do you ask?”

Daniel tilted his head. As they walked toward the knight’s quarters, Najane spoke calmly.

“I thought I was strong, but when several men rushed at me, I couldn’t do anything.”

“Your pride’s hurt, huh?”

“A little.”

Najane lowered her gaze and admitted it honestly.

She walked into the dorm building with the most indifferent expression she could muster. Upon arriving at the lounge, the knights, who had been drinking heavily, suddenly shouted and came toward her with wild, animal-like sounds, clearly surprised to see her. Taken aback by the unexpected intensity of their welcome, Najane hesitated for a moment.

“Uh, um, have you all been well?”

The stares she was receiving were quite overwhelming. Najane awkwardly greeted them, scanning the knights to see if anyone had been injured. Belshua was nowhere to be seen, but fortunately, the others appeared to be fine.

The knights surrounded her like they were cornering a rabbit, bombarding her with questions.

Why had she tried to leave the Romsoa Order? What had happened with the Commander? Was she staying in the Order? What about the kidnapping? Had she heard that the Commander had cut off Nathan’s ear...?

Overwhelmed by so many questions, Najane stepped back, feeling a little flustered. But the knights showed no sign of letting her go. They stared at her with curious eyes, as though they wouldn’t let her leave unless she answered every question.

Daniel stepped in and tried to calm them down, but it was no use. It was difficult for Najane; she didn’t know how to respond.

“What’s all this commotion?”

At that moment, Jacob’s voice was heard from the hallway. The knights all turned to look at him as he entered the lounge. Upon seeing Najane surrounded by the burly knights, Jacob shot Daniel a glance.

Daniel shrugged as if to say he hadn’t had a chance to intervene. Jacob sighed. Though he didn’t have any strong bond with Najane, he felt a bit sorry for her being surrounded by such muscular knights.

After a brief moment of thought, Jacob grabbed Najane by the shoulder and spun her toward the hallway.

“Good timing. The Commander was looking for you.”