Return of the Female Knight

“How…how are you two together?”

Mirabelle used every resourced she could to find Kuhn, when all this time he was by Elena’s side. Suddenly, she remembered that he had wanted to enter the palace as Elena servant. Was there a connection between the two that she didn’t know from the start? Come to think of it, Mirabelle had first met him at the lodging Elena reserved for them. The suspicion in Mirabelle’s mind gradually grew into conviction.

“The person that made Kuhn leave me was elder sister Elena?”

“What are you—”

Elena stared at Mirabelle incredulously. She suddenly realized that there were other people around them, which included the nanny, the maid who came to attend her, and the guards. She looked around and spoke in an authoritative tone.

“I would like to speak with Mirabelle privately.”

Everyone around her bowed at her command.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The escorts moved away at a certain distance from Mirabelle, Elena and Kuhn. Although not explicitly ordered to, they also kept other people clear of the area. It was only then did Elena look back at Mirabelle with a more composed expression.

“Mirabelle, I don’t know what you’re talking about, so please explain it to me.”

“You should answer my question first. Did you know Kuhn before I did?”

Mirabelle’s expression tensed. It was the first time Elena had seen her little sister so angry. While Elena pretended not to know Kuhn when he came to Blaise mansion as a servant, in truth she knew him well before Mirabelle did. It was another in a pile of secrets, including her contract marriage and her previous life.

Elena found herself unable to answer, when Kuhn spoke up.

“Young lady, it’s nothing like that. Her Highness did not pull me out of Blaise mansion. I came here on my own volition.”

Mirabelle’s eyes trembled even more. Kuhn, who usually displayed little interest in other people, suddenly took Elena’s side. It was clear that there was something between Elena and Kuhn.

“I didn’t speak to you, Kuhn. Tell me the truth, sister.”

The two most important people in the world to her—Elena, her most precious sister, and Kuhn, the man who had taught her what love was—were standing before her, denying their secret betrayal.

Elena had no idea why Mirabelle was being so confrontational, but she had no choice but to answer honestly.

“It’s true. I’ve known Kuhn for a while now.”

Mirabelle’s expression sank as she heard the confession directly from her sister’s mouth.

“Why were you dishonest with me?”

“It’s because His Highness—”

“Is it because you like Kuhn?”

“What?”

Elena stopped mid-sentence. While Mirabelle might have suspected some form of connection between her and Kuhn, Elena never dreamed that it was romantic.

“You think I like Sir Kasha?”

“Yes. Do you enjoy lying to me without me knowing anything? You always do. You never tell me what’s really important. If you weren’t thinking about getting married, you would have kept Carlisle secret until the end.”

Mirabelle was upset that Elena always kept secrets from her, not only about her relationship with Carlisle, but about all her work. Mirabelle was always the last to find out about it from the mouths of other people. While she always spoke to Elena before anyone else, her older sister never did the same. All the heartache of being left out finally exploded out of Mirabelle.

Elena’s eyes turned towards Kuhn standing next to her. He had never mentioned a single word to Elena about this.

“Have you two been going out together without me knowing?”

Kuhn shook his head with a confused expression.

“…No, Your Highness.”

“No?”

Elena thought that no matter what man asked for Mirabelle’s hand, they would never be enough for her precious younger sister. It was even more undesirable for Mirabelle to meet someone in Kuhn’s profession. But what she didn’t like more than that…

Kuhn kept a blank expression in front of Mirabelle’s devastation.

“Surely…Mirabelle, do you like him?”

Elena’s red eyes widened in surprise, then she turned her head sharply towards Kuhn. For a moment, it was as if a fire had risen within her. Elena couldn’t let Mirabelle be hurt at any cost, and had suffered tremendous hardships on her own to protect her. The fact that Mirabelle would recklessly give her heart to someone distressed Elena greatly.

“Mirabelle, are you a fool? Why would you desire someone who doesn’t care for you?”

“…Huh?”

Shocked tears started to stream from Mirabelle’s large, doe-like eyes. Elena’s chest tightened at the sight of it, but her anger only continued to mount.

“What are you lacking for you to be crying over a silly thing!”

Elena’s voice rose to a shout, her blood pounding loudly in her ears. Mirabelle looked at Elena with resentful eyes.

“You don’t have the right to say that to me.”

“Mirabelle…!”

Mirabelle turned heel and fled, leaving Elena and Kuhn alone. As Elena watched her younger sister run away with her face in her hands, Elena’s heart shattered into a million pieces. The wound on her back was aching like hell. Had she let her emotions turn her irrational?

“…Ugh.”

Elena clutched her chest in pain, and Kuhn looked concernedly at her.

“Are you all right?”

“How can I be alright? How…”

She couldn’t understand why Mirabelle loved Kuhn. She had meant to turn her anger towards Kuhn, as the human mind did not always react the way one wanted to. Mirabelle’s affection for Kuhn, and his disregard of it, was not a matter for Elena to intervene. What Elena had done wrong was beating down the person she cherished the most and making her cry.

“Ah…”

Elena doubled over in agony. It was worse than being stabbed with a sword. She didn’t know if the pain in her was because of the wound or a sore heart. Kuhn looked at her in alarm.

“Please wait here. I’ll call someone.”

“No, I…”

Elena was about to refuse, but Kuhn interrupted.

“And I’ll bring the Young Lady back.”

Kuhn’s gray eyes turned in the direction where Mirabelle disappeared.

“I’ll explain to the Young Lady myself what I haven’t been able to say.”

“If this is because of me…”

“No. I’m saying it because I want to.”

Kuhn stared at the distance a moment longer, then soon turned back to Elena. Somehow, his eyes looked darker before.

“Please let me take care of this with my own hands.”

“…”

In the end, Elena finally nodded.