Chapter 5

— Click. 

After Rodella left, her head clearly full of strategies to “tame” the Azure Knight Order—  

“She’s full of fire.”  

Ameris gently touched her now lukewarm teacup, a smile playing on her lips.  

She liked the girl. Promising, astute, tactful, and highly competent.  

The kind of person adored by those far above, but often resented by the greedy, insecure superiors just one rank above her.  

She stood out—too much, perhaps.  

And that made her hard to protect.  

But she was also someone an organization couldn’t afford to lose.  

Especially not to Ameris.  

And not to the one she served.  

“I hope she doesn’t get hurt.”  

Ameris closed her eyes briefly.  

“She accepted my ‘proposal,’ so you’d better take responsibility, Aivert.”  

She smiled faintly.  

And in that silence, her mind returned to the conversation from just a few hours earlier.

* * *

A few hours earlier, in the Chancellor’s Office.

“Stop breaking things, seriously.”  

The Chancellor sighed.  

The Finance Division was a place for wielding pens, not swords. They weren’t meant to be darting around chaotic fields.  

Rodella was unusually agile for a finance official, but most others in the department were far from nimble.  

Injured staff returning from the field wasn’t a rare occurrence.  

But this time, the emotional damage seemed heavier than the physical.  

“I heard a tower owned by the Marquess of Lindell collapsed and the finance officer on-site nearly passed out from shock?”  

Unfortunately, that very tower had a pure gold statue at its peak—now flattened like a pancake when the tower came crashing down.  

The financial loss was beyond comprehension.  

The officer was now recovering in an imperial hospital.  

It was the seventh such incident this year alone.  

“You know things don’t always go as planned.”  

Aivert grinned like a painting—pleasant, yet hiding thorns.  

Ameris studied him with amused suspicion.  

“Really? Then shouldn’t Rodella, who’s constantly around you, be the one showing up in pieces?”  

She could already tell he had something up his sleeve.  

And of course, after a moment’s pause, Aivert narrowed his eyes and said, “She’s the one who tamed me back when I couldn’t touch anything without shattering it.”  

It was well-known that Aivert Royden had struggled in his early academy days, thanks to his monstrous strength.  

And then, one day, that trouble just… stopped.  

Most assumed it was just a change in maturity.  

Few knew the truth.  

But Ameris was one of the few who did.  

The one who’d taught the walking catastrophe to be human was Rodella Syveric.  

And now, Aivert Royden wanted her by his side again.  

“To be blunt—send her to the Azure Knight Order.”  

“…To the Azure Knights?”  

Ameris narrowed her eyes.  

Aivert nodded.  

“It wouldn’t be a bad opportunity for her either.”  

If she could truly manage the Azure Knights—  

Tame those rampaging wild horses—  

She’d earn the title of not just protector of citizens, but the one who stabilized imperial property and economy.  

A perfect résumé for the next Chancellor.  

An achievement no one could dispute.  

“If she succeeds, she’ll hold unmatched influence within the Finance Division.”  

If she comes, I’ll willingly let her leash me.  

That was what Aivert Royden was saying.  

He wanted to be tamed again—by her, and no one else.  

“It’s certainly a great opportunity—for you, me, and for Rodella herself. But I don’t want her to get hurt.”  

Ameris genuinely cared for her.  

But Aivert shook his head.  

“You know she’s already in danger.”  

He knew full well what was happening to Rodella in the division.  

How others snatched her credit, slandered her, tried to break her.  

“Want me to intervene?”  He had considered stepping in.  

“No. Leave it.”  But Rodella had refused.  

She wanted to rise to the top by her merit alone.  

Even a whisper that she used Royden’s influence would be enough to ruin everything.  

So Aivert had backed off.  

And the predators had grown bold.  

They had even stopped watching their backs.  

Now they were outright stealing her accomplishments.  

Recently, his Royden network brought word of something worse—  

Those same people were devising a way to break her for good.  

He couldn’t let that happen again.  

Not again.  

There would be no second mistake.  

“For her safety… send her to the Azure Knight Order.”  

He would protect her.  

Within his territory.  

Ameris studied him in silence for a long time.  

Then she asked, quietly, “Are you sure you can do this?”  

A question that carried far more weight than it seemed.

Whether Aivert could both protect Rodella within the Azure Knight Order and deliver undeniable results that would secure her position as the next Chancellor—  

Ameris’s question carried many layers of meaning.  

But Aivert answered without hesitation.

“Do you really think I’d let her get hurt?”

His eyes burned with a vow—  A promise that he would throw everything away, risk anything, to protect her.

Ameris, a veteran of war, had seen eyes like that before.  

She recognized them immediately.

“…I’ll bring it up. But whether she joins the Azure Knights will be her choice.”  

The deal had begun.  

Even before it was finalized, Ameris’ negotiating partner smiled with confidence.

“She won’t say no.”

* * *

“I don’t think Rodella will refuse either.”  

She wasn’t indecisive enough to let an opportunity like this slip by. But still—  

Ameris drained the now-cold tea, ending her recollection.  

What comes next remains to be seen.  

Her eyes narrowed.

* * *

A few days later, at the headquarters of the Azure Knights.

There was a recurring event in the Azure Knights—so frequent, in fact, that it would begin again before anyone had a chance to forget the last one.

“Someone new from the Finance Bureau is supposed to arrive today, right?”

“How long did the last one last? Two weeks?”

“That was the one before last. The most recent one made it a month, I think.”

Clicking their tongues in unison, the knights of the Azure Order blamed the weakness of the Finance Bureau staff.

“I don’t get why they insist on getting themselves hurt when we’re trying to protect them.”

Had any Finance Bureau staff overheard that conversation, they would’ve snapped back with, “You’re the walking disaster! How could anyone not get hurt?” Or perhaps, “Have you seen what your vice-commander does?”—right before being carted off to the infirmary yet again.

“I wonder who it’ll be this time.”

Regardless, the knights didn’t give it much thought. Whoever it was wouldn’t last more than three months anyway.

But then—

When they saw who their vice-commander, Aivert, had brought with him, the Azure Knights froze, jaws dropping.

“This is Dame Rodella Syveric, the new liaison from the Finance Bureau. Make her feel welcome.”

At his introduction, the knights stared slack-jawed.

He brought his fiancée here?? 

This was…!

“Finally! Someone sane has arrived!”

“Good day, ma’am!”

“Should we address you as Dame Syveric?”

A celebration!

The Azure Knights practically burst into a festive atmosphere.

“Ma’am, we’ve been waiting for you!”

“Our savior! Please help us fend off those finance rats!”

‘I’m the one here to rein you in, though…’

Rodella smiled sweetly, concealing her darker intentions behind her pleasant expression.