The Grand Duke's Soulmate
Chapter 365: Revealing To The Knights

Chapter 365: Revealing To The Knights

[Half an hour before...]

The knights gathered in the lounge after their training session. Thanks to Maximillian’s earlier scene, they had spent significant time at the stables, allowing Anna to accompany the warhorse changing the horseshoes instead of continuing the training.

By the time they left the stables, the sun was already high, nearing noon, so Eric announced that the training would resume tomorrow instead. Anna reluctantly had to agree.

Knowing the knights were taking their recess in the lounge, Rafe made his way there. On his way, he encountered Ayden, the assistant healer, coming from the opposite direction and heading towards the treatment room.

Rafe stopped Ayden and asked, "Where have you been? I didn’t see you all morning."

The assistant healer smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck as he offered his excuse.

"Ah, I went out to run some errands," he said, carefully omitting the fact that he had gone to the royal laboratory to deliver Anna’s blood sample for testing.

"Errands? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought of asking you to observe our lady’s training, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. Even the servants didn’t know where you had gone. You should at least notify me in advance," Rafe grumbled.

"Sorry about that. I thought you would be watching over her since you’re around. Didn’t you?" Ayden asked.

"I would have, but I got kicked out of the training grounds," the healer replied, looking disappointed.

"Kicked out? By who and why?" Ayden asked, surprised.

"By our lady, of course. Actually, I was invited to a meeting between Kiev and her this morning before the training. Callis and Jessy, my wife’s nanny, were also present. Apparently, our lady was quite disturbed after it," Rafe explained.

"What happened?" Ayden asked, his curiosity piqued.

Rafe took a deep breath.

"Come with me. I’m going to address this to the knights as well. I finally know why Kiev is after our lady and why he doesn’t want to withdraw his claim."

"Oh, my gosh! This must be some fascinating news!" Ayden exclaimed.

"It is, and even I’m still surprised by the revelation. By the way, why did our lady call you last night?"

"Ah... nothing in particular. She just asked for some nutritious remedy for extra strength," replied the assistant healer, concealing the truth.

"I see... Fine then. Now, hurry up and let’s meet the knights!" Rafe said.

Together, they both hastened their pace towards the lounge to meet the rest. As soon as they entered, the knights seated at the table, enjoying their chatters, welcomed them.

"Ah, it’s good that you’ve come, Rafael! We were just talking about you. Come, have a seat! You too, Ayden," invited Eric.

"You were talking about me?" Rafe asked as he joined the group and sat down.

Ayden moved to sit beside the healer, his face alight with excitement.

"Yeah! We wondered what had put our lady in such a foul mood this morning. I assumed you might know since you and His Highness Prince Kiev pursued her," Eric added.

"Well, I do know. Brace yourselves, for I’m about to reveal something shocking," Rafe began.

"Oh, boy! This is going to be exciting!" Eli exclaimed eagerly.

The healer then recounted the tale of the meeting between the Mederians’ royal siblings and the princess, together with Jessy.

"She’s a Mederian?" Luke shouted in alarm.

The knights were stunned by the revelation. None of them had expected such news.

"Partly Mederian," Rafe corrected. "Our lady’s mother was a half-Mederian and once Kiev’s teacher in combat. He said she was one of the warriors who protected the Mederians’ islands. She passed away giving birth to Lady Raychard."

Eric’s eyes widened in realisation.

"Now I understand! That’s what she meant when she said ’she was a warrior too’. Our lady was referring to her mother!"

Ayden turned to his superior and said, "Oh my, I can’t believe our lady has the Mederian lineage! Wait until His Highness hears about this. Perhaps that’s why the alpha wolf bowed to her! She must have some kind of magic, like your wife and brother-in-law!"

Rafe shook his head.

"No, that’s not the case. According to Jessy, a Mederian’s magic only grows from birth until they come of age. After that, their abilities remain as they are. The previous king of Ardel locked her away to observe this development, but she didn’t inherit her mother’s powers. Kiev had threatened to attack the kingdom if the king refused to return her after he had gotten information about her whereabouts. Knowing she held no further value, our lady’s father agreed to the betrothal."

"Oh, poor our lady," Damon said, sympathetic.

"She feels guilty for not inheriting the magic and blames herself for the lives lost in the uprising against her," Rafe added. "However, I agree with Kiev. If she had the magic, it could have been disastrous. She might turn to be a living weapon by her ambitious father."

Eli cursed angrily, "What a scumbag! That king didn’t deserve to be a father. It’s good that he’s dead!"

Damon raised a hand, cautioning the young knight.

"Hey, be careful with your words. He was still our lady’s father, no matter how bad he was. It’s just a relief he’s no longer alive, thus he can’t hurt her anymore."

Eli quickly apologised. Eric then nodded thoughtfully.

"So the summary is that now she wants to be stronger like her mother. She said it herself. She no longer wants to be weak and useless."

Garin frowned.

"It’s not her fault these things happened. Even if she pushes herself in training, she’ll only get hurt because she’s not suited to it. We must stop her, Sir Navin."

"I know," the second-in-command replied, brow furrowed.

Luke glanced at him.

"What’s the plan? You said you could make her stop within three days, and tomorrow will be the third."

"His Highness Prince Kiev must have thought revealing this would change her mind. Instead, it’s only made her more determined. He made a wrong move," Eli remarked.

"No one can predict her thoughts. At least he tried for her sake, so don’t blame him. Now it’s up to us to halt this training. We should be thankful to Maximillian today for interrupting the session," said Eric.

Noah spoke up, adding, "And to Sir Henderson for his quick action that saved her from harm. Thank goodness nothing worse happened. But now, what should we do next?"

Eric considered for a moment.

"Sir Brooks, I believe our lady favours you the most since you were her first escort."

"Me?" Noah asked, surprised. "What makes you think that?"

"She defended you during our altercation at the camp and even called you ’her person’," replied the second-in-command knight.

"So what about it?"

"If you pretend to get hurt because of her, she’d definitely withdraw from the training," Eric suggested.

Rafe frowned, bothered by the idea.

"Seriously? You want to use the deceitful tactic again?"

Eric shrugged.

"Why not? It works like a charm. The situation has changed, and she is more determined than before. She wouldn’t quit easily this time. I don’t want to resort to harsh training as the last option to make her stop."

The healer shook his head, disagreeing, but the second-in-command knight continued, "Still, regardless of her stubbornness, our lady has a soft spot for the injured. Look at Mr Norman, for example. He didn’t even get scolded last time due to his injury, while the rest of us did during the fight between the couple, remember?"

All eyes turned to Ayden, who shifted uncomfortably under their gaze.

Garin nodded.

"You know, I think that plan could work. Our lady does seem to favour Sir Brooks the most," he acknowledged.

"Not you, too!" exclaimed Rafe, disagreeing with the plan.

Noah spoke to Eric after contemplating, "If it can bring goodness for our lady, then I’ll adhere to your plan."

Just then, a servant rushed in, panicked.

"Sir Brooks! Help! You must come with me!" he urged.

"What’s the matter?" asked Noah.

Everyone turned to the servant.

"It’s Miss Baker! She’s fighting with the other two servants because of you!" the servant explained.

"What? Why?" the knight asked, bewildered.

The servant hesitated, fear in his eyes to reveal the cause.

"Speak up! What’s the reason behind the commotion?" ordered Eric sternly.

The servant relented and said, "She heard them gossiping about Sir Brooks’s offence. She was so angry, and she scolded them. An argument occurred, and just now, she already kicked one of them in between his legs and pulled the other’s hair!"

"Oh, my God! Show me the way!" Noah exclaimed, rushing to the door and leaving the group. The servant hurriedly joined him.

Eric turned to the others.

"Why would Miss Baker suddenly defend Sir Brooks? She’s been here for quite a while. Hasn’t she known about the offence matter?"

"Perhaps no one told her yet," Luke guessed. "You might not know this, Sir Navin, but everyone has been talking..."

"About what?" asked the second-in-command knight.

"About their relationship. It seems like Sir Brooks has his eyes on Miss Baker. They’ve been quite close ever since the mid-autumn festival," added the knight.

"What?? You’ve got to be kidding me!" Eric exclaimed.

"Yes, it’s true. That’s why he kept changing shifts with everyone when we were on duty at the palace. He came back to the mansion to spend time with her," Damon said.

"D*mn it! He has started it again! I thought he had stopped that bad habit!" shouted Eric as he slammed his hand onto the hardened wooden table.

"What bad habit?" asked Eli, clueless.

"Ah... you must’ve never seen it since you joined our knighthood after Sir Brooks was demoted. He was a renowned womaniser and used to have affairs with many women," explained Luke.

"Haa... the infamous gossip about him. Yes, I’ve heard about it before," said Eli, nodding in acknowledgement.

"Last time, so many of them came to the duchy begging and crying for him. Some claimed that he abandoned them after getting bored with the affairs. Sir Navin had difficulty sending them away and covering him from His Highness. That time, Sir Brooks was the second-in-command knight, and Sir Navin was the third in rank," Luke added.

"The affairs were in the past before he joined the knighthood!" said Garin, defending his companion.

"It’s hard to believe the story. Moreover, our laws forbid such acts," said Eli.

"Sir Brooks was smart about it. He had affairs only with women from the other kingdoms, and his promiscuous acts only happened outside of Cassian. So, it was kind of hard to get him convicted without clear evidence. Though there were witnesses, their questionable backgrounds made their statements unreliable," Luke replied.

"Questionable backgrounds? Meaning?" asked Eli.

"Alcoholics, gamblers, pr*stitutes... those involved in shady businesses... So, they were not considered as reliable witnesses," added Ayden.

The young knight’s mouth formed a silent ’O’, understanding the explanation.

"He must’ve brought his old habit back! He couldn’t get his eyes on anyone else since there were no women here except for a few that he could not touch! Miss Baker is the only available, easy target for his play! I won’t let him hurt that young woman!" declared Eric furiously.

The brunette knight stood up and marched towards the door, determined not to let Noah have his way with Emily.