I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 473: Less Close

Even if she couldn’t get a rise from Henry each night, Irene was happy that she was still able to command her sword and fight monsters to occupy herself. She also genuinely did care for her brothers and the apprentices she traveled with, so it at least took the edge off of not being able to be as close to her Commander as she would like.

Camping was always the same. The apprentices would sleep closest to the fire while the knights stayed on the outside. They were doing more of that than staying in inns because sometimes there were days between each village.

It made sleeping indoors all the sweeter once they were able to. Henry was ever the gentleman, insisting that Irene have her own room, while the rest usually shared sleeping spaces and took rooms with a few beds in them.

She truly didn’t miss the days of having to stay in a room with all the boys or men because she was in hiding.

That evening, after putting their horses in stables and placing their items in whichever room they would stay in, they all reconvened in the dining hall of an inn. They had been on their journey for over two weeks into their journey so far.

Henry sat at the head of the table, being one of the first to get to the dining hall since Bren was ever the overachiever in getting all of his items together quickly. It did cause him to feel a bit useless at times, but he knew he had other responsibilities to handle and that was why knights needed apprentices.

The tables started filling in with the other knights. One side was a bench and the other had four chairs.

The Commander couldn’t help but glance a bit anxiously towards the opposite end of the dining hall, hoping he would soon see the red hair of his beautiful Irene. The table was filling and his hopes of being able to merely sit beside her were slowly waning.

By the time she had arrived, she saw that two of the chairs were full. The bench on the other side was more empty but it would be awkward to squeeze herself so close to Bren in order to sit down.

Instead, Irene opted to sit in the second spot next to Felix. She knew she shouldn’t be overthinking the seating arrangements so badly during a casual evening where there were few rules or obligations, but she had wanted to get at least a little closer to him. She had been feeling a bit empty without the ability to fill her evenings with him.

Instead, she raised her hand for the barmaid and requested fresh ale and food since everyone else was already drinking or eating something.

When the bowl was finally in front of her, Irene realized that she truly was starving. Meals on the road were a bit scant. She saved her appetite for the inns, after all. Plus, it was easier to think about food rather than thinking about the man she was hungry for.

On the other hand, Henry had already finished eating and was trying not to stare at the woman sitting a bit too far from him for his liking. He occasionally sipped his ale, allowing it to hide his wandering gaze each time.

The Commander pushed his unproductive thoughts to the side.

"I believe we will have to stay here an additional night," he announced to the table. "There is a bit more to do in the farmlands than we expected after one of the tunnels collapsed. I don’t know if anyone else is trapped, but they said there are still two missing."

"Yes, Commander," Bren was the first to respond as usual.

A small cave had collapsed because of an ogre. A few had been inside retrieving a bit they had stored there for the cooler temperatures. It wasn’t an expected plan for the Duke’s journey, but he was grateful to be in the area when it happened so they could lend an immediate hand rather than having to wait a while.

"Then I suppose we ought to make it an early morning," Irene was the first to consider. "On the off chance that we can move on to our next location earlier than expected on the chance there is a positive outcome earlier in the day."

She took a sip of her ale as she contemplated this for a moment.

Felix elbowed her, causing her to nearly drop her ale.

"What’s the rush?" the second in command wondered. "Eager to see your parents?"

"As my father has written many times before, he doesn’t need any knights in his lands," Irene admitted with a sigh. "But I still think we should go."

Although she did want to see her father badly. Each time she tried to subtly ask about his health, he didn’t seem reciprocative of it. Either he didn’t realize her subtle questioning or he was avoiding it. It was causing her to lose sleep out of worry.

She still hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Henry the reason she did want to go through her father’s lands despite his insistence. But that would be another three or four weeks away by the way they had been traveling. The wide breadth of their journey would bring them along the outer edge of the duchy before they would make their way to the north-central region—even though there were certainly shortcuts there, it wouldn’t be right to shirk on other villages and townships just because Irene was feeling worried.

However, Henry was observing Irene and silently contemplating what she wanted to do about the situation. Since he was unaware of her father’s health, he decided that she must miss her family. It wanted him to put forth the effort to let her see them.

"I suppose that means we should finish up here then," Henry decided. "If you’re finished, let’s head back to our quarters."

Irene nodded. Her food was just about finished anyway and she took two final bites.

Others had already bid them a good night and went back to their quarters to get out of their travel clothing.

It was only Bren, Irene, and Henry left.

Since Irene didn’t want to interrupt the attention that Bren sought from Henry, she announced her departure. "I will check on the horses one last time before turning in. I could use a bit of fresh air."

The goodnights she received from the last two others were sufficient enough for her to nod and head out the side door that led closest to the stables.

Irene’s eyes lifted the moment she was out the door as she appreciated the stars littering the sky. The night skies of summer weren’t quite as vivid and sparkly as those in winter when it was too frozen to even hold clouds, but they were beautiful nonetheless.

Mention of Irene’s family had put her in a different sort of mood. Things felt more precious as she thought of her father. Now that Henry wasn’t the one she was worried about, it all went back to her father and his avoidance of the topic.

Since she didn’t want to be out too late, Irene rushed off to the stables and made sure Sammy along with all the other horses were taken care of with feed and water and none of their stalls were too messy.

She took her time with Sammy as she scratched his chin and gazed at him for a moment. In particular, this Sunstoian horse reminded her of her father. He was of the line her father rode when she was a child. Her first rides on her father’s lap as he took her faster than her mother would have liked through the endless fields behind their family’s property came to mind and she smiled.

Irene jumped when she heard a voice say, "You haven’t smiled at me like that in a while."

Her head felt hot practically instantly as she turned to see her Commander peering at her from where he leaned against the wall around the pen.

Knowing he was getting a rise out of her, he continued, "Well, at least you caught me by surprise next to the river while I was bathing a few days ago."

At that, she darted towards him as she removed her gloves and firmly placed her hands over his mouth.