The Abandoned Empress

“Are you Sir Monique?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

I hesitated for a moment when I was called by that unfamiliar title, ‘Sir Monique.’

It was right to call me that way because an apprentice knight like me was still a knight, but I felt awkward since I wasn’t yet accustomed to it.

There were many changes in the organization of the knights as the regular knights division, which were as many as five during the late emperor’s reign had been reduced to three after the current emperor took office. Ten years ago, when the Duke Heidel and Duke Laurel families were ruined, the 2nd and 3rd Knights divisions whose leadership they had maintained for generations were disbanded, and the 4th Knight Division that our family was in charge of was promoted to the 2nd Knights Division.

The emperor ordered the dissolution of the 2nd and 3rd Knights, and selected only those who were loyal to him to join the 1st and 4th Knights, currently the 2nd Knights, for reinforcement. In the process, the number of both knight divisions increased somewhat, but the total number of all the knights was reduced. Therefore, it was very difficult to be appointed as an official knight in the empire because the selection standards were strict, and the overall quota was also reduced.

In order to become the aide to the captain of the 1st Knights Division, I had to be an official knight first, so I took the test to obtain knighthood a few days ago. I was not competent enough to be a knight, but thanks to my hard training, I became an apprentice knight and as a result, I was fortunate enough to be the captain’s aide.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Sudin Dillon. ”

Sir Dillon greeted me with a very happy expression. Initially, I was worried that he would ignore me because I was a woman or young or I took away his job, but he didn’t. I felt nothing like that in this man who had a good and generous impression.

“Thank you for welcoming me instead of belittling me, Sir Dillon.”

“Belittling you? No way. You are my savior.”

“Pardon?”

When I was a bit puzzled, he replied with a smile, “You will find out if you come to work as his aide.”

“Ah… ”

Suddenly, memories of the past I had forgotten came to my mind. Duke Lars was one of the teachers in charge of my empress classes in the past. Unlike his cool impression, he valued his principles. He was so meticulous in everything that I was always nervous when taking his class.

So, I felt I could understand he must have been stressed out while working as his boss’s aide.

“Come to think of it, it looks like the captain is not an easy-going boss.”

“You bet. By the way, as my boss is a close friend of your father, I guess you met him often, right?”

“Yes, I see him sometimes.”

“Oh I see. What a relief! Shall we start now? ”

Touching my throbbing head, I wrote down the gist of his points in a small notebook. Even though I learned from my father over the winter, it was harder than I thought to understand lots of stuff that Sir Dillon explained in detail.

There were lots of things assigned to the 1st Knights. They were in charge of the guard of the Imperial Palace, collective combat training as well as maintaining the security of the capital. Besides that, they were responsible for supervising the training of the soldiers and sometimes dispatched to local provinces.

As a member of the 1st Knights and the captain’s aide, I had to understand all the tasks, so I had to handle a lot more work than an ordinary knight. I felt Sir Dillon took this kind of heavy workload into account when he described me as his savior.

“You are new to this job, but you understand quickly, Sir Monique. Well, I think I’m satisfied with you taking over my job at this point.”

“Oh, really? Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. As you understand quickly, it was easy for me to explain it to you. If you have any doubt, please feel free to ask. ”

“Yes, I will. Thank you.”

I smiled softly at the young knight looking at me in satisfaction, breathing a sigh of relief.

Then, I suddenly heard the door opening and saw two men with red hair coming in. They were Duke Lars, and another man familiar to me

“Oh, daddy… Well…” Carsein, who said something with a frown, opened his eyes wide.

I didn’t see him for a few months, but he changed a lot. His red hair, which was not so short, already grew down to his shoulders. He seemed taller than before.

“It’s been a while!”

“Hi, Carsein.”

He walked up to me with strides and turned me around after grabbing my hand.

“Daddy, let’s talk later. Let me talk with her for a moment.”

“… Sure, I’ll talk later. Sir Monique, thanks for your good job today. ”

The moment I said, ‘Oops!’, I was already taken out of the office by Carsein.

When I looked up at him with an embarrassed expression, he said with a smile, “How have you been?”

“Yes, I’m fine. How about you, Carsein? ”

“Well. Just soso.”

“What do you mean?” I pouted at his indifferent reply.

Then Carsein put his fist on my forehead gently with a smile.

With my forehead smarting a bit, I frowned, staring at him.

“What the heck are you doing, Carcein?”

“Hahaha, I’m your senior, so try to be polite to me. Got it?”

“Huh? Senior? ”

“Didn’t you know it? I’m going to be officially appointed as a knight next month.”

“A regular-status knight?” I looked up at him in surprise.

While I was spending a lot of time with him, I forgot that Carsein was a genius swordsman. Nonetheless, his knighthood was too fast. To the best of my memory in the past, he became a knight at the age of eighteen after his coming-of-age ceremony, which was also an unprecedented record in the history of the empire, but now, he was only sixteen.

Given that I observed my birthday only a few months ago, he became a knight two years earlier than I remembered him.

“Huh. You know that no matter how long you spend your days as an apprentice knight, you are still a regular-status knight’s junior, right? That’s why I’m your senior. Got it?”

Carsein spoke to me playfully, stroking my hair.

“Call me senior, my cute junior, will you?”

“… ”

“Oh you might be in trouble if you don’t listen to me.”

“Well, you’re not officially a knight now. You said you would be officiated as a knight next month, right? ”

As he teased me in a playful tone as if he was treating me as a child, I was annoyed.

When I suddenly turned and walked a few steps, I heard him calling me with an embarrassed voice, “Hey, let’s go together! ”

I chuckled at his embarrassment. At the same time, I was amused by the unusual side of me that I usually didn’t find when I was with Allendis. I felt delighted with it. Strangely enough, I felt young when I was with Carsein.

“By the way, did you grow your hair, Carsein?”

“Yes. Do I look strange? ”

“Well… ”

I tilted my head to the side to check his appearance carefully. His red hair, which was always neither short nor long, was covering his shoulders. As if reflecting his character, his hair was let down freely, but I thought it looked good on him though it might have looked messy to others.

It looked like flames swaying in the wind.

“No, it suits you.”

“Really? I like it.” Carsein laughed, sweeping over his long hair.

Then, he stopped walking a few steps and asked, “Hey, did you eat?” Only

“No, not yet.”

“Good. Originally I thought of sparring with you. As you’re well dressed and look pretty, let me give you a pass today. Let me treat you to celebrate my full status as a knight. ”

Carsein just pulled me along without giving me a chance to answer.

Escorted by him, who walked with big strides, I headed for the most popular restaurant in the capital.

While glancing at me silently, he giggled suddenly. It was the first time I saw him smiling at me genuinely, not sarcastically. At that moment, I stared at him because I was touched.

Smiling at me again, he said, “Let’s go back.”

“… Okay, Your Majesty. ”

With strange feelings, I walked back with him.