I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 223: All For Them

Chapter 223: All For Them

It was more than just a letter.

When the stack was handed off to her, she realized that more than a few had arrived for her. She wondered if they had gotten lost in the giant mess that their camp had turned into while the winter weather varied from freezing to snowing—when it was snowing being surprisingly warmer than other times.

Regardless of the reason for them all arriving to her at once, Irene was thrilled to see what her family had been up to regardless.

There was a point a couple of weeks after she returned with the mages where she heard another knight discussing having made contact with Sir Arthur. She knew her father would try to reach her. There was no way around that fact.

Irene was permitted to leave the cooking area when she was handed off a stack of letters from her father. She held them to her chest and grinned the entire way back to the tent.

However, her path was cut off and she looked up to see the stern gaze of Commander Lothian looking down at her. Behind him, there was an apprentice probably closer to Felix’s age who looked a lot like Commander Lothian.

She wondered if they were related. Then she recalled what Sir Gunnar taught her about peasants looking a certain way.

The girl ducked her head.

"Forgive me, sir," she apologized.

She thought for sure he was going to tell her to get back to work, but her head lifted when she heard his voice.

"There are knights sleeping in the tents," he reminded her. "You are permitted to use my personal tent if you would like to respond to the letters. There are very few places to write letters here."

Her look of worry turned into a smile.

"Thank you, Commander," she responded. "I will head that way right now."

Since he was someone who intimidated her, Irene quickly turned on her heel and escaped the area before the man changed his mind.

She couldn’t help casting a final glance before the Commander disappeared with the apprentice who followed him.

The apprentice was young, but he was tall. She wondered if all the peasants were tall.

The thought was fleeting as she tucked into the warm tent where a fire slowly died in the hearth. She then went to the Commander’s desk, which was devoid of much of anything.

From what she had observed of the man, he was someone who didn’t care for fineries. Even if he had the opportunity to be spoiled, he would rather lower himself and be treated exactly the same as everyone else at the front lines.

If only they could have a selfless commander like that...

The girl sighed. Wishing wouldn’t help. Praying wouldn’t either. She had done plenty of both, only to wind up empty-handed in an encampment surrounded by people who are just as miserable as she was.

She shook her head and placed the letters on the desk. There was something to live for—something to look forward to.

She had a family who was a safe distance from the battle. If she could toughen up and get through these difficult times, they would be her reward at the end of the path.

Sir Gunnar had her back, and now she needed to have his just as much.

Rather than dwelling further, she opened up the first letter and was engulfed in a familiar warmth that struck her in her heart. It was a feeling she thought she had lost in the life that she saw. Her father’s love was always infectious and all-consuming.

His endless questions about whether or not she was alright. His insistence that he would go to the front lines the second she asked him to. With each letter, he wanted her to know that she could get through anything after having already gotten through so much already.

She found herself moved enough that it was forming a lump in her throat, but no tears dared fall. After all she had seen, there was no reason to cry.

Amidst the letters from her father, there were ones from her mother and brother as well. It felt like she was being hugged from a distance. The bleakness of everything seemed manageable. If only they could figure out what they needed to do so that they could stop this war from escalating and take a break for a while.

However, the voices outside the tent made her remember that the duties of a knight were never finished. She had so much more to attend to before she could even think of the war being over with.

Feeling it was too greedy to respond to her family individually, she decided to pen a letter that was addressed to all of them.

All of her hopes and well-wishes were poured onto the page. She felt that if she was too honest with them, it would force her to be introspective, and that wasn’t something she wanted to experience when she was fighting to keep her sanity while on the battlefield.

She signed the letter "With all my love, Irene" but then had to scratch out her name and write "Iro" in case anyone intercepted the letter. The chance of someone else reading it was far too high a possibility. She didn’t even know how long it took for her family’s letters to reach her.

Hopefully, sending one back would be much faster.

With that, she was able to press on, knowing that they needed to prepare to scout the foothills above the Duke’s Tower. Her family knew she was alive, and that was all that mattered.

The morning that she met the others in front of the horse pen, she was surprised when Sir Gunnar and Sir Sven both came forth with armor in their arms.

"We need the two of you a bit more protected," Gunnar insisted. "If I could knight you myself and give you a full suit, I would."

He brought them helmets, shoulder coverings, and greaves. Even though it wasn’t quite that of a knight, it felt like a major stepping stone in the direction Irene wanted to be.

This was just her part in becoming a knight, she reminded herself.