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n“Sir League, can I talk with you for a moment?”

n“Of course, my lady! ”

n“My lady, why are you favoring him. This is discrimination! ”

n“Right! We also want to talk with you alone.”

nI smiled awkwardly at the knights who complained that I was only talking to Sir League.

nThe only reason I called Sir League was I felt he knew something about my mother. I didn’t have any reason to favor him.

n“Well, if you don’t mind, you can join our conversation…”

n“Thank you, my lady!”

nWhen they approached me with a bright smile, I greeted them and sat in the shade of a tree. Then, I asked them first as they seemed to be curious about what I had to say.

n“I have something to ask all of you. I hope you can tell me the truth. ”

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n“Ask anything, my lady.”

n“If you have any questions, we will answer with sincerity.”

nThey spoke with great fervor. I was worried because they might tell me more than I wanted. Can I handle the matters related to the knights if I am weak? I may have to ask my father about it, but I had something more important to do right now.

n“Thank you. What I want to ask you about is my mother. ”

nWhen I mentioned my mother, all of them shut their mouth all at once. As they turned their eyes from me, I hastily looked around and talked to Sir League, “You have already told me about my mother. If you don’t answer me, I will tell my father that you broke his order to keep quiet about my mother.”

n“Oh my god, my lady. Please don’t!”

n“I’m sorry, Sir League, but I’m really curious. She is my mother, and I have the right to know. ”

n“That’s true”

nI felt sorry when I saw Sir League getting nervous. As this was an important issue for me, too, I didn’t want to give in.

n“Tell me please. What kind of family was my mother from?”

n“Your mother’s family?”

n“Yes, I mean my mother’s family. I don’t have any memories of my mother, but why don’t I have anyone on my mother’s side of the family?”

nI looked closely at the faces of Sir League and other knights. I thought that if there was something secret about my mother’s origin, they might make a slight change in their facial expressions, but they were not surprised, or they didn’t show any intention to hide their surprise, although they wondered why I asked such a question.

n“Well, as far as I know, your mother’s family are Baron Sonia’s family.”

n“Baron Sonia? I’ve never heard that name.”

nI memorized the list and family trees of all the nobles in the empire last fall when I took the empress classes in earnest. However, no matter how hard I traced my memories, I never read or heard about the name Baron Sonia.

n“Maybe you might now know because the Sonia family doesn’t exist now.”

n“Why?”

n“Because your mother was the last blood of the Sonia family. As I understand, your mother’s family was stripped of its baron title when your mother got married to Marquis Monique.”

n“Really? What was it like originally? ”

nWhen I asked, raising my head slightly, the middle-aged knight sitting on Sir League’s right replied, “As far as I know, Baron Sonia was originally a vassal of the Monique family.”

n“Vassal?”

n“That’s right. When Marquis Monique announced that he would break up his original engagement and get married to your mother, there was a big fuss in the family.”

n“Got it. What do you mean by his original engagement? ”

n“Did you not know that well-known incident? Originally, your father…”

n“Stop. That’s enough. ”

nSir League stopped the middle-aged knight trying to speak in excitement and said, “My lady, I think our answer so far was enough to satisfy your curiosity. It seems like we are late. Shall we go back?”

n“…Yes. Thank you, everyone. ”

nI nodded to them slowly. It was unfortunate that I couldn’t hear more, but I felt okay because I heard the essential part of the whole story about my mother. Now that I have found a clue, I can find out more by myself.

nAs soon as I returned to the mansion, I headed straight to my father’s study. Then I found the book among the tightly packed books.

nThe imperial family issued a nobles’ directory once every five years and distributed it to each aristocratic family, while discarding any list that was more than five years old. The directory dating back more than five iterations was only kept by the imperial family. The directory contained all the nobles in the empire, the crests of each family, the title, the location of the manor, the current head of the family, his successor and immediate family members.

nAlthough I turned the pages, I couldn’t find the name Baron Sonia in the nobles’ directory published by the imperial family every five years. In some respects, if the title of Baron Sonia was removed when my mother got married, it was natural that I couldn’t find it in the directory.

nI put the directory back in its original place and picked a book published about 20 years ago from the pile of books on the bookshelf.

nI already memorized the thick silvery book while taking the classes to become the family successor, but what I read was the latest edition. I never read the earlier editions published in the past.

nI didn’t have to memorize the vassal of the family that didn’t still exist.

n< Baron Sonia: He took over and managed a small village in the estate. His only legitimate daughter was Jeremiah Sonia. Her title was returned because of her marriage.>

nAlthough I found the information that I wanted, I was more curious. What is it?

nOf course, if the marquis was married to the daughter of his family’s vassal, it could be an issue, but given that she had the middle name ‘Ro’ she was obviously a baron’s daughter. It was far lower than a marquis in rank, but it could never be described as vulgar.

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n‘Was it mere slander? Then why was my father so angry? ‘

nI was perplexed, and there seemed to be no way to figure it out, except for asking my father directly. For now, I had to refrain from asking.

nIt was the fifteenth day of the first month in 962 by the imperial calendar.

nThere was a ceremony to officiate knights in the Imperial Palace . The black and navy blue uniforms of the new knights shone brilliantly in the training field where the snow had not yet melted. There were mixed feelings on the faces of the knights who saluted in time with the arrival of the emperor and the crown prince: joy and satisfaction, pride and envy.

nWhen the ceremonial trumpet rang, the first among the new knights came up on the platform. The deputy captain of the 1st Knights Division came forward to certify him. When the deputy captain pointed the sword at him and nodded. They fought a duel, and other knights exploded in cheers. In order to be officiated as a knight in the empire, it was necessary for knights to first spar with the knights with the rank of the deputy captain and above in front of everyone.

nAfter they were certified like that, the seven knight candidates stepped toward the podium where the emperor and crown prince were seated and kneeled. The maids who approached them cautiously put one shoulder strap on their shoulders, then draped cloaks embroidered with the crest of the royal family around their shoulders.

nThe emperor came down six steps and took up a ceremonial sword. It was a sword made of rubies, symbolizing the blood to be given to the emperor. The emperor knocked their shoulders lightly three times with the ruby sword, the newly commissioned knights shouted with a sword in front of their knees.

n“The one who gave me life is Vita, but the one to whom I give my life is the emperor. As I give the blood that flows through my body and the flesh that makes up my body, please take it as you wish. Loyalty to the lion, glory to the empire!”

n“Glory to the empire, honor to you!”

nAfter swearing an oath, they kissed the hem of the emperor’s robes lightly and stepped back three steps. After the first five repeated the same ritual and Carsein was finished last, the emperor declared that all seven men were appointed as the emperor’s knights. Thundering applause came out from other knights.

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