I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 50: Secrets Make Friends

Chapter 50: Secrets Make Friends

"Your secret is safe with us," Agnes persisted. "I understand why a girl wouldn’t want to reveal herself in a knighthood full of men and boys, but I also can’t help feeling horribly sorry that you’re hiding yourself. You were in danger of being revealed without anyone else able to protect your secret."

It was an aspect Irene hadn’t fully considered before considering her excitement to simply barrel forward into the knighthood and become someone who wasn’t weak.

She treated herself as invincible since her strength was growing and goblins were no longer the biggest threat in her life—ironic considering a goblin was the reason she was in that bed in the first place. It was hard to remind herself that she was still a person just as before with a life to lose.

Felix acted as if she was close to death when he was there. Before he joked, he looked truly miserable at the sight of her.

"I don’t know what to do about it now," Irene admitted. "Will I be afraid to risk my life in the chance I get hurt again and my secret is revealed?"

Agnes’s smile was sympathetic and she reached towards Irene’s right hand, gently squeezing it in hopes it comforted the hidden girl.

"We don’t know each other well, but please know you can rely on me," she persisted. "What you’ve chosen to do is quite honorable. There’s not another person who knows?"

Irene wasn’t used to physical comfort from anyone outside of her father. She had to resist the urge to pull her hand away because it made her feel nervous. Her father’s method of comforting her was forcing her to smile by handling her roughly, the same way a bear might cheer up its cub.

Although she figured the two of them were truly more wolf and wolf cub.

"My family knows," she admitted. "My mother hates it and my father is worried, but I don’t want to be weak. I like this better than the life that was going to be mine."

Her ramblings made no sense to someone else who didn’t know what she had been through but the words fell out so easily.

"I am familiar with Sir Arthur," Agnes admitted. "You must take after his personality quite a lot to persist despite all of the obstacles ahead of you."

"I hope I do because even if I’ll never have his height, I’ll have his courage."

Before Agnes could respond, a gurgling sound was heard and Irene placed her hands over her stomach. She felt dizzy at how hungry she was.

"Shall I get you something to eat?" Agnes asked. "A healer has been summoned but they won’t arrive until much later. Sir Gunnar said that all we can do for now is offer you broth in hopes that your body doesn’t reject it."

"Can’t I have bread?" Irene asked. "I could eat a whole cow by myself."

Agnes shook her head.

"We will start with something lighter," she persisted. "You were quite sick while you slept."

She wouldn’t tell the girl that she knew firsthand because she was the one tasked with cleaning up the sheets and clothing the girl wore every time her body tried to purge itself of whatever ailed it.

"A-alright," Irene responded, not feeling in the mood to argue.

The girl bowed lightly before leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

When Irene was alone, she had to hold her side so she could lay back down and not feel like she was going to tear open her wound further.

Since no one else was there, the girl decided to look at the wound but she was disappointed when she pulled up the loose tunic and found bandages wrapping around her body. She huffed and decided to shut her eyes.

She was so hungry it was making her feel sick.

Time passed and Agnes returned with a bowl containing the broth that was promised. She wouldn’t tell Irene that in the pocket of her apron was a roll in case she successfully ate the light meal and had an appetite.

The maid adjusted the pillows and helped Irene to a place where she could sit up. Another maid was waiting in the hallway and Agnes took it from the older woman before thanking her and gently pushing the door shut with her foot.

She placed the wooden tray on Irene’s lap.

"Please, eat," Agnes requested. "You will gain back your strength in no time and be able to join the others before the winter snow falls."

Since the direction they faced was towards the plains rather than the mountain, Agnes didn’t want to tell Irene that snow had already fallen on the highest peaks while she slept.

It was probably lucky that the knights and apprentices were forced out of the mountains because one of them was badly injured otherwise, the path down being frozen would be even more precarious than it already was with lack of visibility through thick clouds the higher they climbed and freezing wind.

Irene sighed as she looked down at the food. It seemed unappetizing but she didn’t want to ignore her body when it was pleading for food.

With a shaky hand, she lifted the bowl and took a small sip of the foggy, light brown liquid. When it seemed to agree with her taste buds, she took a gulp and then a bigger one.

Irene felt strange and placed the bowl back down on the tray. She felt her lips tremble as she squeezed them together.

Her body started to feel hot.

"O-oh no..."

The girl grabbed the bowl and vomited the few contents of her stomach into it. Her aim wasn’t perfect as she coughed and she ended up making a mess more than she meant to.

Her eyes were watering and she noticed that the vomit was grey despite not having eaten anything like that.

"Not again," Agnes uttered.

However, the maid sprung into action. She wasn’t squeamish, fortunately. She joked a lot that one day it would make her a good mother.

As she cleaned off Irene with one of the towels that had been stacked in the corner, there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Give us a moment!"

Whoever was there wasn’t taking no for an answer.

To both of the girls’ surprise, Sir Arthur barreled in. He had heard news of his daughter and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Even with vomit on her shirt, the knight sat on the bed and hugged his little girl, immensely relieved to see her at least awake.

Agnes caught the tray before more disaster could befall them. It seemed they would have to wait to eat the bread later on.