Chapter 103: The Foolish Knight and his Obsession

After the knights responded to Luka’s enthusiasm and drive, he stood in the centre of the training field with a smile on his face.

The morning sun had climbed above Babylon’s manor, casting a pale gold sheen across the uneven yard, the cracked posts and the sweaty-faced men before him. The old knights slowly lowered their hands after saluting, but their eyes remained fixed on him with a subtle change from before.

Though he hadn’t earned their blind loyalty or worship, there was a deep sense of expectation and curiosity towards him.

Luka felt this was enough for now.

Luka lowered the wooden sword and tossed it toward the weapon rack. It struck the side with a hollow clatter before settling among the other practice blades.

"Sir Randel."

The older knight straightened despite the sweat running down his temple.

"My Lord."

"You will oversee the knight training with Gerard upon his return. Several new men will be added to our numbers, though they will not become knights. I want them to endure the same harsh training. Focus on their stamina and swordsmanship first, drive them to exhaustion, and beat the arrogance from their bodies."

Randel placed one hand against his chest.

"As you command."

"Zack will help with the younger knights once he returns from Amol. Anyone who complains that the training is too harsh may request permission to retire from service."

Several knights stiffened.

Luka smiled faintly.

"Of course, if they do, I shall assume they prefer farming."

No one made a sarcastic comment or response; they remained still and focused.

Behind him, Vaun had already taken the archer recruits toward the side of the field. She spoke softly, yet the men listened far more carefully than before.

The young man whose bow she had taken stood red-faced at her perfect shot, but he forced himself to stand with a straighter posture than anyone else’s.

Luka tapped his chin at the sight. ’It seems that embarrassment can be useful too.’

Luka was about to step toward Vaun when a maid hurried through the side entrance of the training yard. She looked young, perhaps sixteen or seventeen, with her apron clutched tightly between trembling fingers. The moment she saw him, she almost tripped over her own feet before bowing.

"My Lord."

"What is it?"

"Lady Galatea has awakened."

’Finally...’

He’d never expected a woman with the same stamina and ability as Galatea to remain out of service for so long. But it seemed that their passionate night had taken its toll on her far more than he expected.

His atmosphere changed as he smiled at the maid.

Most of the knights knew Galatea well as the new captain; normally, she would never be late or sleep in.

’She’d even train them while sick...’ Luka recalled one of his faint memories.

So when the maid spoke, many of the older knights glanced at Luka with knowing smiles and vulgar grins. Luka heard a faint cough from one of the knights. When he glanced at them, their heads snapped away, with fake whistles.

’Ah... so they clearly understand...’

He’d wanted to keep it a secret, but the wolfish eyes of the old, crafty knights revealed everything to him.

Galatea probably thought she managed to enter his room without being seen.

Yet Luka knew the truth...

At least five maids and several knights guarded the passage to his room from various angles, and there was zero chance Galatea could slip past them all without being noticed.

A beautiful knight wearing next to nothing entering his room at night, then failing to appear at morning training, was not something servants would ignore. Even if none of them knew the details, imagination would do the rest.

"How is she? Are there any issues?"

"N-No, my Lord."

The maid’s face turned bright red.

"She said she was fine, but when she tried to stand, she..."

The girl stopped as her face became an even deeper shade of red.

"What’s the matter? What did she do?"

"S-She struggled to walk... and moved with a slight limp."

"Ah..."

The words travelled faster thanks to the lack of wind on the hot day, causing the older knights to turn pale as they saw Luka’s face. One of the younger knights bit the inside of his cheek to hold back his comment.

Luka closed his eyes for a moment, a smile growing on his lips.

’That foolish woman.’

He could already imagine it as Galatea woke up to find herself in the messy room, slowly remembering what had happened, and, in her shame, she tried to stand and hurry back to her room. But for a woman who’d spent six hours being thrashed around by her Lord, that plan was thoroughly ruined.

"Did she ask for me?"

The maid shook her head quickly.

"No, my Lord. She told me not to disturb you."

"I see, that sounds like how she would react..."

Luka rubbed his chin before glancing at the young maid and nodding to himself.

"From now on, you are to serve Lady Alverain as your mistress. Help her bathe, feed her something warm and hearty and find her some clean robes. Tell her she is not to join the training for today, let her take a rest."

The maid hesitated as he continued.

"Although she may become angry, or reject your actions. Tell her this is an order from her Lord, and even Galatea should come to her senses."

"Yes, my Lord."

Before she could leave, another figure appeared at the yard entrance.

Levi.

The old steward moved with his usual careful steps, but Luka saw from the set of his mouth that the matter was not simple. He approached and bowed only after glancing once toward the gathered knights and archers.

’Has he found that annoying knight yet?’ Luka thought as he watched the old man’s determined stride.

"My Lord."

Luka’s expression cooled.

"Report."

Levi lowered his voice.

"Sir Cedric has been found."

The irritation that had been simmering in Luka’s chest since breakfast sharpened further into something deadly and cold.

"Where?"

"He was trying to enter the Lord’s bedroom, obviously seeking Lady Galatea."

’This bastard wants to die, after I spared him!’

"Did he reach my chamber?"

"No, my Lord. The knights on duty managed to intercept him along with a pair of Ironhold knights serving the young mistress.

’I have another debt to Vivienne....’

"Why was he there?"

Levi’s face hardened as he seemed to struggle or hesitate to speak, before slowly and quietly whispering into his ear.

"He was questioning servants about Lady Galatea’s room and her usual routine."

There was a moment of silence after he spoke. Luka’s chest thrummed with a powerful thud as his heart sped up, beating faster and faster. A hot flash of pressure grew in his abdomen as his Miasma leaked like a veil of mist.

It was dangerous.

Even the knights who had been amused moments earlier straightened. Some looked offended, others uneasy. Sir Randel swallowed as he watched Luka’s calm expression slightly shift, the other knights instinctively taking a step back when Luka drew one of the training swords.

"Good work, Levi."

Cedric was not merely a guest wandering where he should not.

He was a foreign knight who served the queen, currently under Babylon’s roof, searching for the room of Babylon’s guardian knight after looking at her like meat the previous day.

"Where is he now?"

"Lingering around the lower hall, we have him surrounded, and it seems he has understood the situation after a little coercion."

"I see, you’ve done well... guide me there."

"M-My Lord?"

Though he wouldn’t betray Luka, the moment he saw his face, Levi turned pale, unable to endure the dense Miasma lashing against him. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Luka turned toward the knights, "Continue training. I will come check on you in a short while. Anyone who doesn’t maintain the same level of effort will be punished... Though the ones who Sir Randel thinks did the best will receive a reward."

At first, the knights looked shunned, but upon his second words, they all became more keen, with sharp eyes and determined faces.

Randel saluted.

"Yes, my Lord."

Vaun, standing with the archers, met his gaze from across the yard. Her silver eyes held quiet concern, but she bowed without asking unnecessary questions.

Luka looked toward the manor.

The warmth from the morning had vanished.

He approached the Lower Hall with a strange heat growing within him.

...

Meanwhile, Galatea was now awake after being thrown all over the bed and manhandled; her body throbbed with a dull ache from the intense exercise and his monstrous weapon. She struggled to her feet before gasping for air.

A burning heat spread from her crotch as she collapsed back onto the soft bedding.

"Ngh.... that damn.... Luka.... It’s so swollen and painful..."

She covered her face with both hands the moment she remembered it was she who begged him to keep going, to ignore her pain and completely paint her insides with his colour.

’What the hell was I thinking...!?’

"He’s the size of a horse, I should have known better!"

However, despite her complaints, she slowly managed to stand and, using the wall, she hovelled back to her room, quietly glancing back at his room with a faint grin as she reminisced about what happened over the long evening.

"I cannot believe we actually...."

Her voice trailed off as the vivid and intense memories replayed in her mind: his warm touch, the stiff pressure as his thing pushed deep inside her from behind... how it pressed against places she didn’t know existed inside her.

Galatea stopped in the corridor, pressing one hand against the wall, while the other covered her burning face.

Last night, she had gone to his room as his knight.

By dawn, she had become his woman.

That kind of thought used to frighten her.

Instead, it made her smile.

"...Idiot."

Whether she meant Luka or herself, she no longer knew.

By the time she reached her room, her legs trembled badly enough that she nearly cursed aloud. She leaned against the doorframe, breathing through the ache, then reached for the handle.

Before her fingers touched it, a man’s voice came from farther down the corridor.

"I merely wish to offer Lady Galatea my concern. Surely a knight of her beauty deserves proper courtesy."

Galatea’s smile vanished.

The heat in her face cooled into something sharp and dangerous.

She looked toward the end of the hall.

Cedric stood blocked by two maids and knights, wearing the same fake smile he’d polished and shown in the courtyard when they met.

For a moment, the pain vanished from Galatea’s body as she reached for her sword.

Luckily, it wasn’t there.

"...Ah."

Her blue eyes narrowed as she sank into her bed, "How unfortunate..."