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"But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." —Romans 8:25
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"HEY! YOU have to win! How could you let yourself be defeated easily when it was I who picked you?" Lantana said loudly which made a lot of knights glance at her direction.
Even the duke was surprised that his daughter could cheer someone like that to the point where he didn't immediately notice how his lips made a teasing curve though in the end he didn't let it be seen by his child.
Siegrain, after he heard what Lantana suddenly shouted, he didn't know why but he suddenly had the urge to smile at her and to win the battle for her.
Filled with the burning desire to not make the person who chose him disappointed, Siegrain chose to gamble with his mana. With a humble smile on his lips, he suddenly ran as far as he could away from the captain.
The sudden action of Siegrain confused many people including Lantana who was losing her hope in having a handsome personal knight.
However, losing wasn't something that Siegrain was planning to do at that moment. How could he lose if there was someone as pretty as the lady who was wishing for him to win?
When the distance was far enough for him, Siegrain smirked as he dashed towards the direction of the captain who was startled at the expression on his face—he had a look as if he was enjoying the fight.
Siegrain took the chance that was given to him and while he was dashing, he forcefully placed his mana to come out on his hands to let it all flow on his sword.
But he was having a hard time. The only thing that he really knew about mana came from the academy where he studied. And although he was a top student back then, he didn't really know much yet for after he graduated, what he prioritized was to find a job to support himself and his brother who needed extra care.
He lacked the actual experience.
Desperate, he uttered a prayer in his mind.
'Please. Let me reach it. Let me reach the highest peak. I need it to win. Right now, I need it so that I won't disappoint the expectation placed on my shoulders. Please, God—Adonai, listen to my prayer.'
Suddenly, Siegrain felt as if something cracked inside him as the slow flow of his mana took a wild turn. As if a surging river in the wild, Siegrain's mana flowed out of his body violently as more of it covered his sword and made a violent bright light. Soon enough, more mana gushed out of his body that made his body suddenly feel a lot of pain. However, Siegrain did not let it stop his legs from running nor did he let it stop his continued reckless use of mana until his white mana slowly became mixed in a blue light that looked as if flame, burning with the same compassion that its owner had.
Everyone was too shocked at the sudden turn. They couldn't believe how fast the rookie knight grew. Some even rubbed their eyes to see if what they were witnessing was real. Unfortunately, the blue light enveloped around Siegrain's silver blade was still there and becoming more and more ferocious as seconds passed by.
However, Lantana was more like a kid amazed at a simple magic trick. Her eyes twinkled in delight when she saw the light around his blade changed. It seemed foreign and interesting for someone like her who was from another world. The moment she saw the knight's blade turned blue, she immediately felt that his power increased ten times higher than it was before. At that moment, she felt that the knight's power was already on par with the captain though it felt a little clumsy. And that sudden plot twist was definitely in favor of Lantana.
Without wanting to waste any more time, Siegrain ran faster towards the captain who was still lost and surprised at the sudden growth of his knight. In a blink of an eye, Siegrain was already behind Orlando, caging him in his left arm with the back of sword aimed at the captain's neck.
When Orlando reverted back to reality, he already lost. He lowered his sword and put it back in its case. With a smile, he surrendered which automatically declared Siegrain as the winner.
"You won. It was such a nice fight. Make sure that you will protect your master well from now on," the captain said with a gentle look on his face.
No one was able to move at first at how fast the scenes changed and no one was able to react immediately either. Even the duke was frozen in his place for quite a while. Only Lantana was the person who immediately excitedly clapped at the victory of her chosen knight.
However, just as when the duke was about to announce who the winner was, an unexpected occurrence happened.
"Yes, cap—tain…" Siegrain replied weakly with a genuine smile plastered on his lips.
Only seconds passed by and the lips of the victorious knight was already bloody. Thick blood kept gushing out from his mouth like spring water which horrified everyone who witnessed it.
Soon after, Siegrain lost all his strength on his legs and almost fell on the ground. Good thing, the captain was near him to assist. Though he was filled with worry upon seeing Siegrain's current state, he was still able to clear his mind and helped him stand.
"What happened?!" the duke, who was also very surprised, rushed to their place and asked the young man who was barely standing.
Siegrain was about to speak when another set of blood flowed out of his mouth. Then, the pain in his heart earlier that he ignored, tripled as if his heart was being torn into pieces. Unable to withstand it any longer, he collapsed.
Lantana trembled in fear and worry. She was right with her guess earlier while watching the fight. Though she wasn't exactly sure, based on the shocked faces of everyone at that time, she guessed that it was because of the color changing. The fact that the light of Siegrain's sword changed very quickly gave him a huge amount of damage in his body.
Siegrain's heart was still very weak and unstable. His heart being his core where his mana got stored, was still feeble and not something that could reach the peak yet. However, because he pushed himself too much and broke through, his body, especially his heart, took a lot of damage. In the end, instead of a victory party, Siegrain had a two weeks of hospital arrest instead.
"BY THE way, Emily, who is Siegrain?" Lantana whispered to Emily who was standing behind her and fixing her hair, while looking at her knight.
"Huh? You picked him without knowing his background, my lady?" Emily replied, startled.
"Yes. Like the reason I said during the battle, I picked him because he looks strong… And handsome," Lantana shamelessly replied which made Emily's mouth gape in shock while the guy they were talking about had his face painted in red.
"My lady…" Emily uttered as she faced her palm. Then, she sighed in defeat as she leaned towards Lantana.
"Well, from what I learned from the other servants, Sir Siegrain graduated in the top ranks when he was still studying at the academy. Though he was a commoner, that didn't hinder him in making a name for himself and gaining a lot of admirers. Regarding his family, I heard that his parents died early in his town and only his brother was left with him. After they died, Sir Siegrain became a working student to support his brother while he was a scholar. Aside from that, they said the reason why he chose the Montgomery duchy was because it had the highest pay while also allowing him to bring his sickly brother along," Emily whispered.
Oh. Somehow, she felt like she just discovered a new layer of the life of her chosen knight.
"Thanks, Emily," Lantana said with a smile before she turned to her knight.
"Hey, Siegrain. Say, why don't you bring your brother with you whenever you're guarding me, especially now that you're still in your resting phase after the incident last time. What do you think?" the lady said to him with hopeful eyes which surprised the knight.
"I politely decline, my lady. My brother is very nasty. Who knows what he'd suddenly do or say to you?" he replied.
"Well, I don't really mind but if you say so. Just in case you change your mind, he's always free to tag along with you. Who knows if he might be lonely?"
After she said those words, the entire library fell into silence. Lantana even wondered if her wordings weren't appropriate, that was why Siegrain wasn't saying anything.
Then, knocks on the door broke the silence.
"My lady, this is Reuben. Baroness Leticia is already at the mansion," the butler announced which made Lantana stand up excitedly and ran towards the door.
"My lady, please stop running," Emily reminded her, which only made her laugh.
However, before she managed to hold the doorknob, Siegrain's voice stopped her and made her smile.
"Thank you, my lady," the knight said with a charming smile that only Emily was able to see and made the latter give the knight a knowing look.