I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 143: A Warning

Chapter 143: A Warning

Three sets of eyes stared at Sir Gunnar as he stood at the head of the meeting table with his arms crossed over his chest. In front of him were the apprentices he trusted the most out of the entire knighthood, but he felt that he couldn’t go on without giving them even further warning and a chance to ruminate over their past actions. They weren’t inherently bad teenagers, but they were untrained in the eyes of the Royal Family.

He sighed, knowing he would be coming down harshly and perhaps a bit unfairly.

"I need the three of you to be on your best behavior," Sir Gunnar began. I understand the urge to joke in uncomfortable situations, but please refrain from doing so in front of Her Highness. Not only is the King overprotective of the Princess but the Crown Prince is known to be his ears and eyes on these sorts of trips. His Highness is not known for his kindness or discretion and is as protective of Her Highness as much as the King if not a bit more."

"Yes, sir." The words were spoken in unison, none of them missing a beat.

Irene thought of the Princess. Was she truly beautiful? She had heard rumors before that the girl was the most beautiful in all of the kingdom. The sheltered versions of events she seemed to have received in her past lifetime paled in all she was presently learning.

In the future she saw, she hardly knew about peasants, only that they once existed when Chemois was its own kingdom. She knew that the Princess was beautiful and informed a lot of the style choices of even the noble circles in the north, but was it simply because of her status? Was she really anything special to look at?

Gunnar continued.

"While I doubt it is likely any of the Royal Family will request any of your presence, I say these things out of concern for your well-being," he explained. "People have been put to death for merely looking at a Royal wrong. That is the type of people we will be dealing with."

"I understand, sir." Irene was the first to say.

"Yes," Leif agreed. "Your concern is an honor, sir."

However, it was Felix who had to lighten the mood in the worst of ways. The oldest apprentice merely crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don’t have to worry about me," he insisted with a large grin. "Couldn’t care less about what she looks like or how she acts. I’m only here to worry about monsters and thieves."

Considering a mere couple of months before, Felix was obsessing over how a noble girl was fawning over Iro, all other heads turned towards him, and looks of disbelief flitted across their faces.

Felix merely raised his hands. His thoughts were full of Agnes and what they had been up to lately.

"I suppose that is a good outlook to have," Gunnar relented. "Please keep that at the front of your thoughts from the moment they step into this tower this evening."

Since all the apprentices who were tasked in going on the journey were in mutual understanding of their behavior and representatives as the knighthood, they were finally allowed to go finish the last of their duties.

However, that meant a final sweep of the stables and ensuring all the horses were kept well. Not only that, but they had to rearrange all of the horses so that the Royal Family’s horses could be in the middle where it was warmest—something Irene thought was unbelievably picky but she was working on not speaking her mind to avoid trouble.

When the apprentices were finished with the stable, they stood in the middle under one of the small cages full of fire that kept the place warmer than outside. As they looked at each other, Irene was the first to notice how they looked.

"We’re all covered in hay," she realized. "Sir Gunnar won’t be thrilled if we walk around indoors and shed hay all over the clean floors."

"He said the maids are making warm water for us to bathe in all day," Leif recalled. "We better take advantage before the focus is put on the guest rooms."

The three of them agreed and put away their brooms in one of the store areas where they kept tools. They then bounded over the practice yard and disappeared into the barracks where the hallways had been swept better than normal.

As if the Royal Family will wander out here, Irene thought with a huff.

The image she had of the Princess was someone who hardly stepped foot on the ground outside. Perhaps she had a knight carry her from one place to the other while she was still a small child.

These thoughts took Irene through washing herself in a shallow basin with the water a maid brought for her. Luckily, she also had a clay pitcher on her stove that was full of even hotter water so she had a satisfyingly warm soak in water that only went up to her waist.

After her hair was brushed and she was in fresh clothing, she made her way to the hallway.

Realization struck her and she paused before she could close her door.

Surprisingly, Irene never made her way south in the future she saw, otherwise, she would have probably been forced into the group that fawned over the Princess and emulated everything she did. She never made it south because the man she married was a noble from a far eastern kingdom but they kept their residence in Tenetium. However, he always pushed the thought of them possibly returning. She never made it that far in her life. The goblin got to her before it could ever be decided for her.

She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts.

"You’re going to let all the warm air out of your room," Leif reminded her as he pushed Irene to the side and closed the door. "What’s got you agonizing over it? Nervous to meet the Royals?"

Irene glanced up at Leif and she shook her head, wordless for a moment.

It felt strange to remember a man she would never see again.

"I’m not nervous," she insisted.

Before Leif could ask further, Felix soon showed up and they were all forced to go to the Duke’s Tower where final touches were being made. They were asked to help finish organizing the dining hall where the smell of celebratory foods being cooked came from the kitchen.

The food stores underneath the Duke’s Tower were endless. If they needed to, they could probably survive a whole other year without having to hunt or forage anything, but it was all precautionary.

As the final tablecloth was placed over the tables, they heard Sir Gunnar enter the dining hall.

"His and Her Highness have arrived."