I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 184: Somewhat of an Answer

Chapter 184: Somewhat of an Answer

"Then does that mean—"

"Enough," Gunnar interrupted Irene before she could say more.

Even though they were seeking information from Rosalind, he didn’t know if he trusted the girl, as cruel as it was. Who knew her loyalty to the Duchess?

"Another maid is convinced that you were also the last person who saw the Duchess before she disappeared," Gunnar continued.

Rosalind had been careful to keep her eyes downcast, but her gaze snapped up when it sounded like she was being accused of something that was entirely out of her control.

"Sir, I merely served her before she went to bed," she defended herself. "She requested tea, stating that her head hurt and her stomach was upset. The following morning, when I went to make sure that she was alright, she was nowhere to be found."

"Gone without a trace?" the knight asked.

"Just that," the girl confirmed. "Even the knights who were on patrol that night didn’t see anything that would suggest the Duchess left the Duke’s Tower. There was fog in the early morning that cleared quickly enough not to give someone too much cover. Some suggested she’s still in here hiding somewhere, but we’ve checked every corner."

Her head bowed again after realizing she was becoming defensive. It was the only thing she could do when it felt like people were accusing her of things that weren’t her fault.

Since Irene felt sorry that the girl had so many fingers seemingly pointed at her in accusation, she decided to speak up.

"The plains do get quite foggy this time of year," Irene admitted. "Even if it doesn’t last long, it’s certainly thick enough for someone to get through undetected."

The maid merely nodded. She had lived in the plains her entire life and knew that the fog got bad, especially during late winter and early spring.

Rather than waiting for them to accuse her of something else, she spoke up.

"I imagine you also want to know about the sword," Rosalind asked the knight.

"Yes," Gunnar confirmed. "The Chemoian sword and what Duke Arlin used as his nameplate in confirming his identity and ducal seal whenever he sent a letter. That sword has great importance to him. For it to be gone..."

The knight stopped himself before he could reveal anything further.

"Sir, I only ever heard about the sword," Rosalind admitted. "I never saw it, but the Duchess talked about delivering a sword before. I’m not sure if that’s of any importance, considering I have no more information than that."

Gunnar tapped his fingers against the tabletop in contemplation for a few moments.

"You have given us more than enough," the knight relented. "Thank you for your cooperation. Do you believe any of the other maids will have useful information for us?"

Rosalind shook her head.

"We were all sworn to secrecy," Rosalind admitted. "But I don’t think what the Duchess did is correct, which is why I was convinced to let all of you know as much as I do. I hope it can help the knights."

"We appreciate your cooperation," Gunnar said. "You are free to go. If Ingrid permits it, I think you would make a fine maid for the greater Duke’s Tower. You will still be under our protection that way As for the others, I’m not sure what use an uncooperative maid has for us. What do you think, Agnes?"

"I think you’re right, sir," the older maid agreed with a smile. "The others don’t seem to want to stay for much longer anyway."

Since it was the evening, they all decided to go their separate ways from there. Gunnar had information he wanted to give to the other knights in case they had any more information that would tie up loose ends in his mind.

Rosalind didn’t answer much for him, she merely caused him to have more questions.

When Irene got to the main level of the Duke’s tower, she sighed with relief. Things were supposed to go off much more normally from that point forward—at least as normally as they could without a true leader and constant threat of the dreadful monsters who kept coming and pillaging towns.

As long as she could simply keep fighting monsters and honing her skills to get better, that’s all that mattered for her.

Since it seemed the other apprentices had already turned in for the night, Irene let herself out of the Duke’s Tower and went right to her barrack. She knew that morning practice would resume, and she was going to be tired as it was.

With her clothes in a folded stack on her chair and nightclothes covering her body, the girl climbed into bed, and sleep came to her easily despite how intense the day had been.

+

"She insisted she wasn’t going far," Arthur explained to Rochelle from where he sat at his desk in his study. "But what am I meant to do when I see the Commander’s wife sneaking away in the middle of the night?"

Irene hid just outside of the study door, knowing she was eavesdropping on her parents, but her father had just gotten home. She wanted to spend time with him before she realized he was talking to her mother in there. She was wearing a nightgown, there was a hand over her mouth as she muffled the shocked gasp that escaped her lips.

"That’s quite awful," Rochelle admitted. "I wonder what she was getting up to."

"You know how she is..." the knight trailed off. "Ah, well, I was given this for stopping her and returning her home."

There was a clanking as Arthur held up a prize that Irene couldn’t see.

+

The girl was up with a start. The gasp she had muffled in her dream came out as she woke up.

Her heart was racing as she faced a truth she knew had been just under the surface.

In the life she saw, her father had stopped the Duchess from leaving and was rewarded for it. She couldn’t believe she had only just remembered that.

The Duchess said she wasn’t going far. Did that mean she was still in the duchy?

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.