Chapter 26

“You look troubled, My lady.”

I was startled and turned around. Venus was standing there, hunched over with a troubled look on his face. I quickly checked behind Venus. Fortunately, Sir Baloch was not there.

“I’m sorry for being late.”

“It’s okay. You must be busy.”

“A bit.”

Lately, the whole family has been quite busy, and Venus has also dressed in the uniform of Lefevre Knights.

“Indeed…”

Venus was a handsome knight, to the extent that even the maids would steal glances at him. However, none of them dared to confess their feelings to him, I could understand why.

Venus is not someone you want to love, but someone you want to admire…. Of course, I didn’t tell him about this for fear of hurting his feelings.

After all, he was dazzling every time. That is why I always order to have someone paint his portrait every year.

“You haven’t forgotten that you need to be painted tomorrow, have you?”

“Of course not.”

The painters changed every year. That was because everyone’s heart seemed to stop when they first saw Venus especially his long, beautiful hair would shine brilliantly like a ray of divine light whenever it caught the sunlight.

“Venus, how’s Opats?”

“It’s doing very well. Thanks to it, the casualty rate has dropped to less than 90% in the past six months.”

“That much?”

“Yes, there’s still much to work on… But the knights consider it a gift from the gods.”

“Enricor is truly remarkable.”

“Yes, he’s truly remarkable.”

Indeed a true genius. However, I was slightly concerned about something else.

‘When he joins the army, he might have to take a break from his research.’

I knew why Enricor couldn’t sleep and was so devoted to his research. Opats was an exclusive Lefevre family technology. Once he joined the army, he would have to temporarily suspend his research for security reasons.

So, he probably wanted to finish it before that, but there were undoubtedly things that couldn’t be accomplished solely through human effort.

Certain tasks required a guaranteed amount of time, just like how Enricor relentlessly pursued his research until he nearly collapsed.

“Even in the royal family, shows a lot of interest in the young master’s Opats.”

“That’s why people from the palace visit every day”

I was well aware of that. If Enrico asked for help with Opats research, the royal family would never turn him down. They’d be more than happy to accommodate him, but that would require the transfer of some of Lefevre’s technology to the Crwon

Enricor had been sleepless and dedicated to his research.

I looked up at the sky. Spring was approaching, and the weather was getting warmer. It would be best for Enricor not to join the army. However, as a direct descendant of the Lefevre family, there was no way he could avoid it unless other direct members went instead.

I have no talent for research. Perhaps I’ll discover an unexpected talent in the future, like I did with the Holy Sword, but for now, it doesn’t interest me.

‘Enricor’

I was born Vlandea, and I fought tooth and nail to survive, and I hurt Schloitz terribly. It was something I would carry with me for the rest of my life.

But even in the midst of all that, I had received love from my family, and I always wanted to give it back. Enricor and I had gotten along very well. It was a well-known fact among the servants that we were close siblings. I wished for nothing but good things to happen to Enricor.

Especially when he’s working so hard on the Opats to death.

“Venus.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“Schloitz… Will he recognize me?”

“Well…”

“Do you think he won’t recognize me? Should I try to see if he does?”

“Perhaps you should act differently from how you used to be in the past, My Lady.”

“How was I in the past?”

“You were very confident. So this time, maybe you should act more reserved. But don’t be too reserved from the beginning, or it might seem suspicious. Show your true self a bit on the first day of the reunion, like a precious young lady from a noble family. Then, gradually, act as if you’re being crushed by the ice-cold atmosphere of the Commander from the next day.”

“…”

“Why are you asking My lady?”

“It’s nothing. it’s just that you’re being very specific, it surprised me.”

Venus chuckled slowly.

“I saw how nervous you were that day.”

That night, at the dinner table where Enricor still hadn’t shown up, I said to my mother and father,

“I’ll join instead of Enri.”