I Will Be the Greatest Knight
Chapter 53: Something is Wrong

Chapter 53: Something is Wrong

Irene recalled a time at the end of her teens in her first life when her father no longer addressed her as his sweet girl. She felt she had lost his favor forever. The more she realized the distance between them, the wider it felt.

It was such a relief in that life to be so close to her father once again. He remained the sanctuary he always was and it was something she was committed to preserving the rest of her life.

She only then realized just how much she missed being taken care of more softly. There was only roughness in the knighthood and she was doing her best to get used to it.

"This is still what I want to do, father," she responded quietly but not lacking certainty. "I knew it wouldn’t be easy."

However, the more Irene spoke, the more her head felt hazy and she took her hand from her father’s. She then pulled her knees closer to her chest so she could lean into them.

Arthur took note of this and was on high alert.

"Are you alright?" he asked. "How are you truly feeling?"

Irene’s arms were over her knees and her cheek rested against them, her face was towards her father and she offered a tired smile.

"It hurts more than anything I’ve ever felt," she admitted softly. "Right now I’m tired. Is that okay if I go to sleep again?"

"Of course," Arthur said.

He stood up and laid his daughter’s pillows flat then he pulled the chair beside the bed even closer.

"I will be here until you fall asleep," he explained as he reached for her hand. "Then I will go to Sir Gunnar and see what he says about this entire situation."

He felt there was something to glean from it. Gunnar was the one who sent the letter to him and the way he worded it made him seem like he had a firsthand account.

Arthur needed to know if it was preventable that his daughter was injured. He was feeling angry and protective despite the gentle treatment he was giving his child.

"Alright, dad," Irene uttered. "Goodnight, then."

Even though it was morning, the girl still fell asleep easily as if she hadn’t only just woken up from a long, long sleep. That in itself made Arthur worry further. He wished he could see her wounds, but the bandage hadn’t been changed when her tunic was. Something felt amiss by the way she was so physically drained by a mere arrow.

He had faced a few arrows in his life.

Something is wrong, his instinct repeated. Something. Is. Wrong.

It was no longer deniable that the monsters were appearing much more often than they used to while the knighthood ran around like a chicken with its head cut off without the Duke there to hold the reins. Arthur wanted to overstep his bounds and lead with an iron fist but he knew that it wasn’t his place. His obedience and loyalty were faults.

He also knew that he didn’t desire to step up more than he already had because his wife expressed her anger that he was gone so often each time he was home. He also wanted to keep his family out of it but the moment his daughter wanted to be a knight just so happened to coincide with the Knights of Tenetium realizing that something strange was happening with the monster movement.

As he stared at his little girl with hair cropped compared to how it used to be just so she could pretend she was a boy, he was filled with the misery of a protective father. He didn’t want her to be involved with this hell the way she was at that moment. It seemed to slip his mind how often he was hurt in battle when Irene pleaded with big green eyes that matched his wife’s that she wanted to be a knight.

When the girl was fully asleep, Arthur placed her hand beside her body on the bed and he lifted the blankets higher so they were up to her chin. He hoped that it wouldn’t be bad considering she felt feverish and there was sweat gathered on the edge of her hairline.

As he said he would, the knight left the room, shutting the door as quietly as he possibly could, reminding himself of a time when she was a baby and a mere creak in the floor would send her into hysterics.

He then sighed and stalked down the hallway, retrieving his armor as he did so and replacing it on himself as he looked for Sir Gunnar who was likely somewhere with apprentices during that time of day in the morning.

As he went down the stairs that went outside the shorter northwest tower, he made it to the bottom and was relieved to see it was still breakfast. Perhaps the older knight would be easier to find than expected.

As he entered the dining hall, quite a few eyes turned his way and many were shocked to see the second in command there wearing a full suit of armor when he was still supposed to be on the winterization trip. However, it shouldn’t be such a surprise that he was there when his child was injured.

Without any hesitation, he spoke over the noise which caused everyone to be silent.

"Where is Sir Gunnar?" he asked.

"Likely in the library, sir," one of the dutiful apprentices responded.

With that, he turned on his heel and went to the circular staircase along the middle and highest tower in the Duke’s Tower. There he was able to access the library on the second floor.

Sure enough, despite everyone else being in the dining hall, he found Sir Gunnar sitting in the library with glasses sitting low on his face as he pored over books.

"You seem like the best person to ask about what happened to my child on the trip to the mountains," Sir Arthur began. "So, please tell me why Iro is so weak by a mere arrow. I would have thought someone who shared my blood would be much stronger than that."

Sir Gunnar immediately pulled his glasses off of his face and he sat at attention for the other knight.

"Sit down," the man who oversaw the apprentices said as he gestured towards a chair across the table from him. "I believe we have much to discuss."

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