Chapter 8. East Wing

Clack. I placed down my comb, restyling my hair into the half-up ponytail that it had been in. I had a few minutes to spare after changing into uniform before I was due for afternoon patrols. If I showed up even a little late, those damn knights from the morning shift would complain as though it were a common occurrence. 

Though after today, maybe they'll see me differently. Like Javier said. 

For a second, I contemplated deliberately arriving late to test it, before deciding it was a witless idea. 

But in the few minutes I had left, I watered my plants. With a pleasant feeling, I stood by my window, trickling water through a metal watering can over the leaves and soil in my small pots. I knew little about agriculture or farming, but taking care of a small plant shouldn't have been too hard, I had thought. Stumbling across an uprooted flower in the woods, I wondered if I could have nursed it back to health. To my surprise, the flower had really taken root. For the past few months, I had nurtured my tiny blue flowers, and suddenly, my quarters weren't so dull anymore.

Even though I was out for three days, they're still alive and well. I wondered if that was possible, for the flowers to still be upright and healthy without my watering them. 

Click. The door sounded. I turned around, eliciting a gasp from the small and surprised maid who entered. No, wait- wasn't she someone I knew?

'Ah! I'm sorry!' The maid bowed in a fluster, her brown pigtails bobbing. 'I thought Sir had left for duty already, so I came with laundry...' Her green eyes shimmered with coyness, avoiding my eyes. She hugged the thick, folded sheets to her chest, clutching. 

Oh, I remembered. It was Marie, who frequented the knight's quarters. 

'No worries. I'm about to leave,' I tried to say as amicably as possible. I placed down the watering can and headed for the door behind her. She looked at the plants on my window, and to my surprise, spoke. 

'While you were unconscious...!' She started, her head falling slightly. She spoke quietly. 'I watered your plants. I apologise for touching them without permission...! But I didn't want them to die... you seem to care for them a lot.'

I blinked in surprise. She had done that for me? A guilty nervous smile mentally stretched my lips. 

Well.. they're not all that important to me...

Despite myself, I found that I felt a little relieved. 

'I see... Thank you for that, Marie.'

I pasted a smile on my face. Marie seemed to be stunned for a moment, before turning slightly pink in the face.

'You remember my name...?' She mumbled something I couldn't hear, her eyes glimmering. With an awkward smile, I spoke.

'Then... I'll get going...' I turned on my heels. I could sense her lower her head behind me but she said nothing more. 

I made my way through the castle. Through tall corridors of whitish stone, skirted with a dark wood that looked almost purple. Windows scaled the walls with deep red velvet curtains. I headed down zigzag stairs, out towards the East Wing's back gate— my station for this afternoon's duties. The gate was facing the untouched forests beside the Benesse Castle. Land that belonged to Lucien when he ascended as Duke, still unused and now being treated more like a vast garden. The same forests enclosed one side of the training grounds in the east wing.

I headed to the gate. Where I would guard the entrance, a fellow knight would guard the exit. And if the rota hadn't changed, then I knew who would be standing behind the greyish stone walls of the gate. 

And yet, Rowan wasn't stood where I expected him to be. Instead in his place...

'Tsk.'

Ha, this kid?

I looked at Ezekiel. He was a familiar face. In my first year as a knight, and at the beginning of the novel, Ezekiel had joined as a trainee. By now he was probably eighteen. I had seen him many times, mostly at training. And while we interacted minimally, he wasn't someone unknown to me. 

More than that, his pink hair was hard to miss. 

Ezekiel Esteban. 

Villainess Yurielle's younger brother. 

And like her, he's similarly sour. 

Ezekiel scowled at me lowly, with teal-green eyes. 'Of all people, did it have to be you?' he muttered, not-so under his breath. 

No, perhaps more so. 

I held back a frown, stepping closer. 'Shouldn't that be my line? Where is Sir Rowan?' I asked.

"Why is a trainee on duty in place of a Senior Knight?" 

I held back from saying those words, like salt on an open wound. Ezekiel might have been a bitter and aggressive kid, but even he didn’t deserve such treatment. 

The brother of Yurielle, who had descended to villainy, followed her path of hatred. In the end, both were outcast.

For the last three years, Ezekiel hadn’t progressed to anything further than trainee. To Lucien, Ezekiel was no longer a trainee of the Benesse Guard, but another threat to Lunaria. And after he hesitated to protect the Duchess in an attack, Ezekiel had completely fallen out of favour with Lucien. 

It was only thanks to Javier’s insistence that Ezekiel was still here at all. Albeit reduced to more of a serving boy, doing menial tasks.

Though strangely, he was here now.

'... Vice Captain didn't tell you? The rota has changed; this post is mine to guard now.' Ezekiel replied begrudgingly, explaining Rowan's absence. I sighed inwardly. 

'Hah, I guess you're stuck with me once a week.' I scoffed, earning another disdainful scowl. ‘… The Castle has been pretty peaceful lately, so I suppose you should be fine.' I said quietly, more to myself than to him. 

'I don't need your counsel.' Ezekiel spat. I held back an eye-roll and a heaving sigh. This kid was still immature.

Standing on the outside side of the gate, while Ezekiel was on the inside, I took my place. My only task now was to confirm the identities of anyone that walked in. There was heavier security further inside the Castle. Though, I thought while staring into the forests ahead, there weren't many people that could roam freely the Duke's domain, no one that would even dare, that would emerge from those rippling green depths. 

I leaned back, folding my arms and crossing one leg over the other, my sword clacking at my side. I almost closed my eyes, when the echoing sound of hooves came. 

'Ah, Sir Asher?' A wondrous voice, leaving delighted smiling lips. Lunaira trotted forward on her elegant white horse— a gift from Lucien. In a braided ponytail littered with flowers, she wore a short, white and yellow dress, more similarly designed like a man's suit. Clothes more comfortable for riding, yet still fashionable for a lady. It was a familiar scene. Lunaria slowly got off the horse and I straightened, bowing my head. 

'Your Grace.' I greeted.

'I'm glad to see you are hale and hearty once again.' She said softly with an exhale. Looking closer, her face was flushed, strands of blonde hair were falling loose off her braid. Rather than most ladies that went for tranquil walks on horses, Lunaria was someone who rode with the wind rushing in her hair, galloping to an unknown destination. 

It was one of the inspiring experiences that Lucien had unlocked for her, one that made her feel like life was worth living despite the pain. 

Lucien, too. When Lunaria smiled under that brilliant sunrise, in the silence of dawn where none but Lucien held her, the sharp eyes of the fierce duke softened. His golden depths wavered, shimmering with enlightenment. The realisation that perhaps, he had fallen in love. 

Now Lunaria’s hobby of horse-riding was well-known. Every now and then, while guarding the outer gate in the East Wing, I would see her enter the castle after a chase in the wind. 

'I have recovered, thanks to Your Grace's great care and prayers.' I replied to her humbly. Again, I felt strange. Strangely noticed. Another attendant took Lunaria’s horse while she brushed its mane goodbye. Then she smiled at me, her coral-coloured eyes resting on me for a moment. I sensed hesitance.

'... Is there something the matter, my Lady?' At my words, Lunaria averted her gaze. So there was. Though exactly what I couldn’t even guess. A feeling of disquiet unsettled my heart.

With no novel, I could no longer expect anything.

'Sir Asher,' she started quietly. 'You went to the Temple this morning, right? I was wondering...' Her smile faded, and trouble was visible on her face. With a sigh, she continued. 

'Did you, by any chance, see Yurielle...?'