My Childhood Friend Told Me to Go Marry the Most Beautiful Woman in the Kingdom, So I Seriously Started Improving Myself—and Somehow Ended Up Making Women Fall Hard - Chapter 14: As a Commander—And as a Woman

Chapter 14: As a Commander—And as a Woman

Side: Adelheid von Graetz

Something was wrong.

Ever since I joined the Knight Order, I’d been constantly mocked for being a woman.
And after becoming a commander, the pressure from other knights only grew worse.

I was buried in paperwork every day, and before I knew it, I’d left the Second Knight Order almost entirely to Vice-Commander Bind.

But lately, the Second Knight Order felt… strange.

No—more accurately. After he arrived, the Second Knight Order finally became a proper knight order.

Every time I opened the door to the commander’s office, I braced myself.

Another mountain of paper. Another hell. Another reminder that someone was making a fool of me.

I’d grown used to thinking that kind of life was normal.

“…There’s less.”

Day by day, the documents kept decreasing.

At some point, the piles at the edge of my desk had shrunk to an amount I could handle on my own.

Things the Second Knight Order commander truly needed to approve. Matters the Second Knight Order itself had to act on. Training plans for the Second Knight Order.

…And nothing else.

No pointless requests. No cleaning up after other knight orders. No meaningless staff shortages from the royal castle.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

At first, I honestly thought I was dreaming.

“Hort.”

“Yes.”

“…There aren’t many documents.”

“That’s the result of your hard work, Commander.”

He said it calmly, without a hint of surprise.

But was that really true?

Had I worked hard enough to change things this much?

I had tried again and again before. And every time, the paperwork only grew.

Before I could finish one stack, the next one appeared.

I truly believed documents multiplied like hell itself.

And yet—now it was over by noon.

“This is an amount that’ll be done in the morning.”

For a moment, I wondered if my ears were broken.

Hort arranged the papers with a cool expression.

By deadline and importance. Checked the responsible departments. Marked only the parts I needed to decide—with small red notes.

…Only my work was left in front of me.

Did he understand how incredible that was?

I had grown used to being buried in hell.

An excuse not to watch training. An excuse not to face my knights. An excuse not to trust people.

When hell disappears, even my escape routes disappear with it.

“…You.”

“Yes?”

“You did something, didn’t you?”

“No. Nothing at all.”

He said it cleanly, without hesitation.

It made me angry.

And at the same time, my chest burned just as much.

♢

The training grounds.

Something was strange here too.

Before, whenever I stepped onto the field, the air would freeze.

If I didn’t freeze it, they’d look down on me. 

If I didn’t freeze it, they’d crush me.

So I silenced them with killing intent and made them obey with pressure.

…I believed that was what a knight commander was supposed to do.

“Commander! Could you check this step-in for me?”

“Commander, shall we tighten the spear line spacing a bit?”

“Commander, is this signal for rotation okay?”

Voices flew toward me—naturally.

They closed the distance. They relied on me.

They didn’t look down on me as a woman. They didn’t treat me like a mere title called “commander.”

Those eyes treated me as a leader.

…What was happening?

Before I realized it, I was looking around.

The faces of the Second Knight Order had changed.

Before, they always looked tired. Somewhere distant. Watching me from afar—already half-given up.

Now it was different.

They looked at me with pride. They laughed openly. They raised their voices, sweated, lifted their faces.

And they spoke to me as if it were natural.

I didn’t know this kind of scene.

Because I had always been alone.

Carry everything alone. Do everything alone. Trust no one.

That was easier—or so I kept telling myself.

And yet now…

I wasn’t alone anymore.

♢

The decisive moment was the day the Third Knight Order showed up.

That awful air. That mocking tone. Those eyes.

I thought it would be the same again—that I’d be sneered at and laughed at.

If I talked back, I’d be told, “You’re a woman.” If I fought back, it would become a problem.

So I endured it.

So I wouldn’t cause trouble for the Second Knight Order.

I tried to silence them with pressure. Crush them head-on. Then return as if nothing had happened.

…Just like always.

And yet—Hort spoke up.

A mere trainee.

Standing beside me.

Facing the Third Knight Order.

He deliberately used the words I hated most.

Connections. Woman.

“Of course.”

The blade that had been stuck in my heart for so long—he pulled it out and stabbed it straight into them instead.

He got angry on my behalf.

And he created a place where I could do what I was best at.

“Commander Adelheid. Please. I believe in you.”

He believed in me.

He set the stage so I could prove it in front of everyone—and I struck all three of them down.

I’ll never forget what happened after that.

The Second Knight Order united and formed a wall in front of me.

They became shields to protect me.

…In that moment, I couldn’t even breathe.

I had always been the one protecting others.

Carrying everything alone, believing I was protecting the Second Knight Order by myself.

“Because you’re a woman”—that phrase hadn’t just bound others.

It had bound me too.

Women aren’t weak beings who need to be protected.

And what I wanted was never that kind of sweet, gentle protection.

What I wanted was comrades—standing beside me on the same battlefield.

“Commander Adelheid—you were really cool.”

Those were the words Hort softly whispered near my ear.

In an instant, my whole body heated up.

He had relied on me. He had trusted me.

And he had given me a place to show my responsibility and worth as a commander.

Do you even understand how happy that made me…?

♢

After that, each day felt like the Second Knight Order was stepping into a brand-new beginning.

Paperwork finished in the morning. Meals and training done together with everyone.

“Feels like there’s less paperwork lately.”

“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”

Someone stopped it. Someone pushed it back. Someone lifted the burden from my shoulders.

It was probably all this man’s doing.

He never bragged about his achievements. He never tried to make me owe him. 

He never said, “This is thanks to me.”

…What an unfair man.

He did me a favor, yet never told me how to repay it.

He gave me so much.

And spent so much time with me.

Meals, training—I was with Hort more than anyone else.

And after doing all that, he acted like he was just standing beside me.

“This one—please decide it, Commander.”

“Uuuugh…!”

He made me work. He made me decide. He handed responsibility back to me.

…Kind, but never indulgent.

So perfectly balanced it was almost annoying.

And yet—comfortable.

I was needed. And I needed him.

I am the commander.

As the Second Knight Order Commander, I shouldn’t give special treatment to a trainee.

I shouldn’t mix in personal feelings.

If I misjudged the distance between us, the whole order could collapse.

I understood all of that. I understood it—and yet.

Before I knew it, I was looking for Hort.

The edge of the training grounds. A seat in the cafeteria. In front of the commander’s office door.

When I heard his footsteps, my chest finally settled.

After he appeared, everything changed—and my hell ended.

…I still couldn’t give an answer to the feelings growing in my chest.

This was the first time I’d ever felt something like this.

I didn’t understand it.

And I had no one I could talk to about it.

I had decided not to trust people. I had decided not to expect anything.

And yet—I found myself expecting things anyway.

Would he come again tomorrow? Would he brew tea today too? Would he once again go beyond what I expected?

I was supposed to have thrown away expectations, but Hort barged into my heart without permission and trampled all over it.

Without being asked, he solved my hell.

He sorted the work I hated into something manageable.

Before I realized it, he’d changed the entire atmosphere of the Second Knight Order.

…Unfair.

As the commander, all I could do was keep wearing a calm, composed face.

“Hort. Join the next training session.”

“Yes.”

“And don’t neglect training your line of sight.”

“…I’ll work on it.”

I scold him. I give orders. I keep my distance.

But my heart speaks on its own.

I want you to stay close.

His knight trainee assignment with the Second Knight Order would end soon.

I wanted to tell him not to go.

Even though that went against trainee regulations, I found myself giving such a foolish order inside my own chest.

A commander had no right to say something like that.

♢

Dusk.

Training ended, and I sheathed my sword.

The trainee rules.

Three months were up.

Hort would move on to the next knight order.

I knew that. I knew it—and yet.

“…You’re going to the next knight order?”

The words slipped out. How pathetic.

“Yes.”

Simple. Just like always.

My chest tightened painfully.

See? That’s what happens when you expect things.

That’s why it hurts.

And still—he was unfair to the very end.

“Two choices.”

Two choices.

He always cornered me like this, leaving no escape and forcing me to choose.

“Do you want to see me again? Or do you not want to see me?”

…That answer was obvious, wasn’t it?

“Uuuugh… you really are a demon. Of course I want to see you again!”

—Damn it.

As a commander, I shouldn’t have said that.

But it was exactly what my heart wanted to say.

Hort almost laughed, then covered it with a cough.

That small gesture was so natural it made me angry.

That’s when I became certain.

This man is unfair. He’s kind, but he never spoils. He never boasts about what he’s done.

He just stands beside you and makes everything feel comfortable.

…An unfair man.

I absolutely want him to stay by my side.

But if I ever said that out loud, I’d lose.

I’d stop being able to resist him. I’d forgive him for everything.

So I put the commander’s mask back on.

“Next time, I’ll make you say you want to be my personal attendant.”

“That would be nice.”

Such a light reply.

Damn it—this man really is unfair.

This was the first man who had ever settled so deeply into my heart.

I turned my back on him and began walking into the sunset.

My armor felt heavy.

But not in the same way as before.

It was the weight of protecting someone. And the weight of having been protected.

Without realizing it, I’d let myself place a burden on Hort.

Time. Effort. Heart.

He saved all of it.

And because of that, I clung to him.

Understanding my own heart so clearly only made me more irritated.

My bright red hair swayed, lit by the evening sun.

Inside my heart, I whispered softly.

(I won’t let you escape.)

As a commander.

And as a woman.

I’ll become the woman you choose.