Chapter 53: Special Appointment

“Hmm-hmm. Sir Elaine, even though you are injured and uncomfortable, it’s truly beautiful to see you visiting your subordinate. I must learn from this.”

“Thank you.”

Perhaps aware of Weasel standing behind her, Grace covered the situation with some theatrics, and Elaine responded with her usual stoic expression, bowing her head.

Since the Northern Duke himself had come to visit, I should rise to greet him as well, but—

“Stay lying down. I’ve heard about your condition as well.”

Thanks to Grace’s consideration, I was allowed to stay in bed.

By the way, this scene felt strangely familiar.

“Just like during the Silver Sabertooth incident, it seems you always lie down and greet me after a fight.”

I wasn’t the only one who found it familiar.

Grace chuckled and spoke to me, but noticing Elaine’s serious expression, she cleared her throat and changed the topic.

“You don’t look so well, so I’ll keep it brief.”

Did she have something to discuss beyond visiting me?

I focused my ears as Grace began speaking.

“I had planned to tell you after you were discharged, but since I thought you’d be concerned, I wanted to discuss it now. It’s something Elaine should know as well.”

“What is it?”

“You’re probably wondering about the results of your knight exam.”

Ah, right.

I must be really ill if I’d forgotten that.

My original goal was to stop the Snowflower Tower terrorist incident, and the appearance of Lowe, one of the main villains in the novel, and the battle with him were so shocking that I had momentarily forgotten about it.

When the explosion occurred at the Snowflower Tower, the knight exam was naturally suspended.

Even after the incident was settled, due to the aftermath, the exam had not resumed.

As a result, the third and final trial of the knight exam had been left unresolved, but I still had my bet with Grace hanging over me.

Become a knight within two months.

This was an important matter, especially since it affected my relationship with Elaine and my position in the guard.

Even if I lost the bet, my feelings for Elaine wouldn’t change, and I had declared that I would eventually become a knight and return to the Winter Palace. But I still needed to know the outcome of the bet.

“Let me cut to the chase. After much discussion, it was officially decided that the knight exam will be suspended for now.”

“!”

“Surprised? But let me finish.”

Grace’s story went like this:

After the incident was settled, the North Duke presided over a discussion about how to proceed with the suspended knight exam.

Though they didn’t intend to make it too grand, it was suggested that they would continue with mock duels to determine the outcome.

However, the issue was with the soldiers from the Guard.

While the regular soldiers who participated in the exam were unscathed because they were protecting civilians during the incident, the Guard soldiers had sustained injuries.

I, who still couldn’t stand, and Jimmy, along with the rest of Guard Squad 3, had been injured during the battle with the Black Crow assassins in Caliber Village.

It wouldn’t be fair to proceed with the exam with only the healthy participants, and it didn’t seem fair to hold separate exams for the healthy and injured either.

It also wouldn’t be right to simply cancel the exam entirely after all the way to the third trial.

Since the Northern Knight Exam was a major event, if handled quietly, rumors might start circulating among the citizens.

After a complicated discussion, it was decided:

“Officially, the knight exam has been concluded for now. However, a separate exam will be held for those who reached the third trial.”

Since this knight exam had been so large-scale, the exam next month would be postponed.

Therefore, the third trial that was postponed would be held then.

By that time, the injured should have recovered, and the exam would be more rigorous than usual due to the one-month delay.

‘Not bad.’

The exam participants were happy since they got an extra month, and the public was pleased to be able to watch a

sporting event. There were no Northern nobles planning to skip this month’s tough competition to become a knight

and instead target next month’s open slot.

No one was losing out.

‘Then, what about me?’

Given the flow of the conversation, I wondered if I, too, would be getting an extra month.

“This is not the end; the main point starts now.”

“The main point?”

Grace cleared his throat, changing the atmosphere.

In an unexpectedly serious and weighty tone, I, though still lying down, stiffened my gaze.

“The purpose of the knight exam is, as the name suggests, to select knights. We can’t just tell who qualifies based on

appearance, so we aim to confirm it through specific evaluation processes. That’s why, in addition to physical

strength, character and leadership are also evaluated.”

I knew this already.

The fact that he mentioned it again… Wait, could it be?

“However, not all knights are appointed through exams. Even I wasn’t appointed through the knight exam. If someone has sufficiently proven their qualifications, the Northern Duke has the authority to appoint them as a knight, regardless of the exam.”

“What do you mean?”

Elaine, surprised, stood up.

“Guard member Luke, you scored exceptionally well in the first two rounds of the exam, ranking high among the participants. I also heard about your actions during the Snowflake Tower battle while you were visiting. You quickly identified the enemy, set up the perfect strategy, used your abilities to block their techniques, and most importantly, sacrificed yourself to inflict a critical blow on the enemy. No one disagrees that you were the greatest contributor in this battle.”

“!”

Grace paused and looked at me silently.

Then, his stern expression softened, and he smiled proudly.

“Therefore, after discussions with the senior officials, it was decided that you would be appointed as a knight by the Northern Duke’s authority.”

“!!”

Even with my injury, I couldn’t contain myself and suddenly jumped out of bed.

I didn’t feel any pain, even though I had risen abruptly.

“I apologize, you should have been included in the discussion, but due to your injury and the urgent need to deal with the aftermath of the knight exam, we had to exclude you.”

“No, it’s alright.”

Elaine, too, was clearly shocked by the decision. Her usual composed demeanor cracked, and her true feelings showed.

“Thank you… so much.”

“Pfft, I should be the one thanking you.”

Grace nodded at me with a smile.

“I’ve been expecting this for a while, but to see such results—it’s truly surprising. I’m proud to have you as one of my subordinates. Thank you for joining the Northern Army.”

“Thank you!”

“Starting a new knight’s journey in a hospital bed is a bit ridiculous. Once you’re better, we’ll hold the official knight ceremony. Rest up and recover quickly.”

Having finished speaking, Grace was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

“Oh! Now that you’re a knight, I suppose I can’t call you so casually.”

“Then…?”

“Heh. Sir Luke, congratulations. Do well.”

He waved his hand at Elaine and me before leaving with Weasel.

Once they were gone, I felt the pain set in, but I didn’t lie back down.

‘I’m… a knight.’

Not a civil engineer, not a construction worker, not an electrical technician, but a knight.

Knight.

And not just any knight, but one who has earned the title of the kingdom’s most prestigious northern knight.

Becoming a knight means…

Whoosh.

“!”

Elaine approached and hugged me.

She didn’t say a word, but I could feel her emotion and joy strongly from the force with which she embraced me.

‘I did it.’

Special appointment.

Of course, I was aware of the system, and when I connected the knight exam with the Snowflower Tower terror incident, I had considered it as a trump card.

If I could apprehend the villain who would cause great harm to Snowflower Tower and protect the northern region in advance, I might have the chance to aim for a special appointment.

However, when Gadi was apprehended, I found it difficult to claim credit for my part, so I gave up on that and decided to aim for the knight title through the regular process.

‘Well, stopping Row was a bigger accomplishment than Gadi.’

The former was simply a Snowflower Tower terrorist, but the latter was someone who could have massacred not only the Snowflower Tower but also the talented people from the northern region who were present there.

‘And with Wizel, we didn’t directly say it, but…’

There was one flaw in the bet between Elaine and me.

The bet wasn’t about “passing the knight exam within two months,” but rather “becoming a knight.”

Although I didn’t complete the knight exam until the third round, I was still appointed as a knight through the special appointment, so I had successfully fulfilled the conditions of the bet.

As a result, Grace, on her way out, waved to Elaine and me, acknowledging my victory and our relationship.

Well, judging by the way she had been treating us, she didn’t seem to oppose our relationship.

Anyway, even if talk of our relationship comes up later, the Duke of the North will be my shield by saying, “I acknowledged it, so what’s the problem?”

That’s a good thing.

However…

“Luke.”

Elaine released the hug, held my cheek, and leaned her face closer.

“Do you know? Right now, we’re in a hospital room, and we are not in a superior-subordinate relationship. We’re just patients in adjacent rooms.”

“Ah, right.”

“So, I think this is fine.”

Kiss.

Elaine gently kissed my cheek.

It reminded me of the question she asked me after the second round of the exam.

She had asked if it was a normal act for a captain to kiss the cheek of a tired subordinate, and at the time, I had answered no.

Kissing the cheek of a tired lover, however, was a normal act.

“Your body isn’t well, so let’s stop here.”

Elaine, blushing, pulled her face away, ran her fingers through my hair, and gently lay me back down on the bed.

Since the pain had returned earlier, I gave her a grateful glance.

“I think we can at least have a conversation. If we go back, we’ll be bored.”

“Well, I was thinking… since His Excellency has recognized us, shouldn’t we be allowed to share a room?”

“Haha, that’s a bit much. I look like this, so it might be embarrassing for you.”

“Are you talking about meals? Don’t worry about that. Feeding you… hmm, that sounds cute.”

“…Not that.”

“Oh, you mean… urination?”

Elaine, belatedly realizing, responded.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind touching or cleaning up after you. After all, haven’t I put things in my mouth before?”

“…”

Could Grace’s recognition of our relationship be making her excited? Or was it the long-awaited physical closeness?

Even though she wasn’t in armor or a uniform, Elaine’s active approach in private mode made me a little dizzy.

Still, I too hadn’t had a chance to talk so comfortably with her in a while, so I was feeling a little giddy.

We spent a pleasant time together, chatting until the sun set and even after the sun had set.

Of course, I barely managed to avoid talking about sharing the same room.

Even though it was hard to move, I could still handle things like urination on my own.

Instead, until Elaine returned to her own room, she sat by my bed, gently caressing my head, kissing my cheek, and sometimes lying next to me, holding my hand, gazing at me.

She enjoyed herself as much as she could before leaving.