That brusque guy who starts arguing with you the first time he sees you.
I knew his name.
‘Kassar.’
No last name. He wasn’t an Imperial citizen in the first place.
He was a barbarian, to be precise, a descendant of a warrior tribe long gone.
But he had joined the Bouser Knights and risen to the rank of first division commander for a simple reason.
The Bouser Knights were strong. The overwhelming strength of the knights in their battles against the other savages had struck a favorable impression on him.
The Bouser Knights, in particular, were a perfect fit for him. It was a place where anyone of any age, gender, or race could be accepted as long as they were good enough.
Naturally gifted in combat, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the young deputy commander of the First Division.
And when half of the Bouser Knights were wiped out, he was chosen to take the place of the fallen commander of the First Division, at Rudrick’s recommendation.
Not without opposition, of course. As a stranger without a surname, he was less than a commoner here.
But, as mentioned earlier, the order of the Bouser Knights was based solely on strength, and from then until now, no one has been able to beat him. Even in the original story, he was considered the second strongest after Rudrick, so there you have it.
And the reason I know all of this stuff was pretty obvious.
‘Because he’s a sub-male lead.’
He also played the lead role in The Silver Lady.
To be honest, I was nervous at first.
Certainly, he had a different profile than the other men. He was a handsome man with a pronounced brow and deeply sunken features, and he stood out from his size to his aura.
But macho men aren’t my thing, so I wasn’t interested in him in the first place.
At best, I would skim the scenes he appeared in while reading.
So at first, I didn’t recognize him by his appearance. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that he was indeed the Kassar of the novel.
It was…
“The witch?”
It was his no-nonsense character.
‘It’s real.’
Realizing later that he was a sub-lead, I shuddered, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
Indeed, Lord Leona had not been wrong. It was beyond despicable, it was downright true.
Aside from the fact that the words were spoken without any filtering in his head, I was surprised that he recognized who I was, and instead of being polite, he was actually provoking me.
I didn’t want to go from ‘witch’ to ‘dumb witch who can’t speak properly’ if I stayed still, but I feigned nonchalance and said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before, but where have you met me before?”
“What?”
“Well, if that’s not the case, then there’s no reason for you to say that in the first place, or did you have a poor memory and confuse me with someone else?”
“Poor memory? Ha!”
His expression immediately turned sour, as if he’d caught my sarcasm again. He gritted his teeth as he leaned down to get his face close to mine.
“No, I’m well aware of that.”
“What?”
“Yes, she’s the most abominable thing I’ve ever seen, blinded by power and willing to overstep her bounds, and here she is…!”
“Kassar.”
But his words were cut short. A cold voice came from behind the door.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep your mouth shut?”
“…”
“Finish your business and go.”
It was Rudrick, who was looking in our direction from inside the room.
It was a nice way of saying, ‘Get out of here,’ and Kassar’s face fell for a moment.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Rudrick, so instead, he snapped back to me and shot me a glare of lost resentment.
‘Why are you doing this to me?’
I was dumbfounded that I was the target of his anger, but I couldn’t do anything about it, because he stormed off in a huff.
As I stared after him in disbelief, I secretly thought to myself.
‘At least he’s a good listener.’
Well, in the original, he was a pretty obedient follower of Rudrick’s words. No, more than obedient, he was overly respectful of him, wasn’t he? So… doesn’t that make him even more obnoxious to me?
I gazed off into the distance, my mind once again in turmoil. I could feel his presence in front of me. The man who had been sitting at his desk stood up.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh? Oh, well…”
Distracted for a moment, I remembered why I was there and got straight to the point.
“I need the key to the Duke’s library…”
The words slipped out unexpectedly.
Fortunately or not, having met Kassar earlier had helped ease the awkwardness and allowed me to speak naturally.
Already knowing my purpose for coming to the North, Rudrick was quickly convinced, and with a light nod, he offered to give me the key.
But that wasn’t the end of the conversation, as he seemed to hesitate, as if he had something more to say to me.
‘Is there a problem?’
I tensed, wondering if there was something wrong with the key, but I had to stifle a gasp at what I heard next.
“Never mind.”
“Huh?”
“Because sometimes he talks crap without a clue what he’s saying. Listen in one ear and let it go out the other.”
I wanted to say something, but I realized he was referring to the incident with Kassar earlier.
He didn’t seem too bothered by it, but I wondered if he was thinking about what Kassar had told me. I winced at the thought of him worrying about it, so I brightened up and said, “Don’t worry.”
I meant it.
To be honest, Kassar himself didn’t bother me. I wasn’t particularly hurt by what he said, and I’d never really been interested in him in the first place.
Instead, I was more concerned with the man in front of me now, Rudrick.
Whether he really cared that much about me, and thus was anxious to make sure I wasn’t hurt.
But I was also trying to figure out if what I was thinking was right, if he was trying to say something for fear that I would leave.
By now, I had put Kassar out of my mind, and I didn’t think I would ever have to think about him again.
Perhaps I’ll never see him again.
“Are you deaf now, witch?”
After confidently telling Rudrick, ‘Don’t worry.’
Strangely, I started to run into Kassar more often.
At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. After living under the same roof for a while, it was inevitable that we would bump into each other, something that I couldn’t help but notice.
But something started to feel odd when he started asking me questions every time he saw me.
“You don’t have anything better to do, hanging around here in the daytime.”
“You have a thick skin. You’re not only oblivious to everyone’s discomfort, but you’re also a nuisance.”
“No wonder you’re a filthy den of greedy pigs, I’m sure.”
His insistence on bringing up my family name was enough to make me cringe, even though I had been ignoring him.
‘No, why is he trying so hard?’
Frankly, I couldn’t understand him.
Someone who disliked him so much could have just ignored him or turned a blind eye to him. But somehow, every time he met me, he would say things despite his obvious dislike for me.
He was so desperate to get on my nerves.
” I guess he must have been trying to kick you out.”
And in response to my pouting, Lord Leona gave me the answer.
“Kick me out?”
“Yes, that’s what he sometimes does when he has someone he doesn’t like, and he’ll scratch them until they lose their minds, and then he’ll stomp on them before they can get back up.”
“That’s horrible…”
“Right, but you’re not a knight, so obviously he can’t challenge you to a duel, and since he doesn’t want to look bad, he’s just trying to get you to leave first.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“Why does he hate me so much?”
“Oh, that’s…”
I didn’t care about the actual reason.
Even in the original story, he’s supposed to have a nasty personality, and why would he call O’Neill, who was loved by everyone, a ‘hillbilly’?
But Lord Leona’s behavior was strange. She seemed to fidget as she watched me, and then she answered in a low voice.
“The rights of knighthood…”
“Rights?”
“Ever since the Averine, that just happened, when you said that the Princess demanded half of the Knight’s share of the rights.”
“…”
“He was the one who opposed it most vehemently then.”
I suddenly remembered his words through gritted teeth.
‘A woman who was so blinded by power that she overstepped her bounds…!’
“That’s what he meant.”
“What?”
“No.”
Now I understood why he looked at me with such disgust.
He did believe that I was making the offer because I coveted the Knights, and, indeed, the right to do so.
It must have been an insult to him, as he was so proud of the Knighthood. So all that resentment would have been directed at me.
‘Well, that’s not the only thing.’
Indeed, even now, my reputation within the Knights was split. The greedy princess and the kind-hearted princess.
“Of course, we know you’re not the kind of person to do that, but that particular human has been giving everyone a hard time about Averine ever since…”
“That’s fine, but there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“What?”
“So how did he manage to listen to Rudrick, because I know he’s got a big temper and I don’t think he’s going to go down that easy.”
“Uh… I’m sure he does, but…”
Lord Leona stared off into space, then chuckled.
“He’s been beaten.”
“What?”
“Well, anyway, he got his ass kicked, and he was beaten like a dog. You know how you have to beat people like that to get them to listen?”
Then, with sincere regret, she muttered, ‘I should have been stronger than him…’ I stared at her with a blank face and nodded.
Part of me felt like I understood her regret.
But in reality, I was powerless to make him give in, and in the end, I had no choice but to put up with it.
If I ignored him, one day he’d tire of it and fall off.
So, note to self.
“Did you have a proper education at home? If you did, wouldn’t you be so careless?”
Noted.
“Those parents and their daughter. I don’t know what the hell they’ve been teaching their kid. She’s so thoughtless.”
Also noted…
“Heartless, spineless, inconsiderate. And the parents are equally scum…”
Enough!
That brusque guy who starts arguing with you the first time he sees you.
I knew his name.
‘Kassar.’
No last name. He wasn’t an Imperial citizen in the first place.
He was a barbarian, to be precise, a descendant of a warrior tribe long gone.
But he had joined the Bouser Knights and risen to the rank of first division commander for a simple reason.
The Bouser Knights were strong. The overwhelming strength of the knights in their battles against the other savages had struck a favorable impression on him.
The Bouser Knights, in particular, were a perfect fit for him. It was a place where anyone of any age, gender, or race could be accepted as long as they were good enough.
Naturally gifted in combat, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the young deputy commander of the First Division.
And when half of the Bouser Knights were wiped out, he was chosen to take the place of the fallen commander of the First Division, at Rudrick’s recommendation.
Not without opposition, of course. As a stranger without a surname, he was less than a commoner here.
But, as mentioned earlier, the order of the Bouser Knights was based solely on strength, and from then until now, no one has been able to beat him. Even in the original story, he was considered the second strongest after Rudrick, so there you have it.
And the reason I know all of this stuff was pretty obvious.
‘Because he’s a sub-male lead.’
He also played the lead role in The Silver Lady.
To be honest, I was nervous at first.
Certainly, he had a different profile than the other men. He was a handsome man with a pronounced brow and deeply sunken features, and he stood out from his size to his aura.
But macho men aren’t my thing, so I wasn’t interested in him in the first place.
At best, I would skim the scenes he appeared in while reading.
So at first, I didn’t recognize him by his appearance. However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that he was indeed the Kassar of the novel.
It was…
“The witch?”
It was his no-nonsense character.
‘It’s real.’
Realizing later that he was a sub-lead, I shuddered, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.
Indeed, Lord Leona had not been wrong. It was beyond despicable, it was downright true.
Aside from the fact that the words were spoken without any filtering in his head, I was surprised that he recognized who I was, and instead of being polite, he was actually provoking me.
I didn’t want to go from ‘witch’ to ‘dumb witch who can’t speak properly’ if I stayed still, but I feigned nonchalance and said.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met before, but where have you met me before?”
“What?”
“Well, if that’s not the case, then there’s no reason for you to say that in the first place, or did you have a poor memory and confuse me with someone else?”
“Poor memory? Ha!”
His expression immediately turned sour, as if he’d caught my sarcasm again. He gritted his teeth as he leaned down to get his face close to mine.
“No, I’m well aware of that.”
“What?”
“Yes, she’s the most abominable thing I’ve ever seen, blinded by power and willing to overstep her bounds, and here she is…!”
“Kassar.”
But his words were cut short. A cold voice came from behind the door.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep your mouth shut?”
“…”
“Finish your business and go.”
It was Rudrick, who was looking in our direction from inside the room.
It was a nice way of saying, ‘Get out of here,’ and Kassar’s face fell for a moment.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say anything to Rudrick, so instead, he snapped back to me and shot me a glare of lost resentment.
‘Why are you doing this to me?’
I was dumbfounded that I was the target of his anger, but I couldn’t do anything about it, because he stormed off in a huff.
As I stared after him in disbelief, I secretly thought to myself.
‘At least he’s a good listener.’
Well, in the original, he was a pretty obedient follower of Rudrick’s words. No, more than obedient, he was overly respectful of him, wasn’t he? So… doesn’t that make him even more obnoxious to me?
I gazed off into the distance, my mind once again in turmoil. I could feel his presence in front of me. The man who had been sitting at his desk stood up.
“What’s going on?”
“Huh? Oh, well…”
Distracted for a moment, I remembered why I was there and got straight to the point.
“I need the key to the Duke’s library…”
The words slipped out unexpectedly.
Fortunately or not, having met Kassar earlier had helped ease the awkwardness and allowed me to speak naturally.
Already knowing my purpose for coming to the North, Rudrick was quickly convinced, and with a light nod, he offered to give me the key.
But that wasn’t the end of the conversation, as he seemed to hesitate, as if he had something more to say to me.
‘Is there a problem?’
I tensed, wondering if there was something wrong with the key, but I had to stifle a gasp at what I heard next.
“Never mind.”
“Huh?”
“Because sometimes he talks crap without a clue what he’s saying. Listen in one ear and let it go out the other.”
I wanted to say something, but I realized he was referring to the incident with Kassar earlier.
He didn’t seem too bothered by it, but I wondered if he was thinking about what Kassar had told me. I winced at the thought of him worrying about it, so I brightened up and said, “Don’t worry.”
I meant it.
To be honest, Kassar himself didn’t bother me. I wasn’t particularly hurt by what he said, and I’d never really been interested in him in the first place.
Instead, I was more concerned with the man in front of me now, Rudrick.
Whether he really cared that much about me, and thus was anxious to make sure I wasn’t hurt.
But I was also trying to figure out if what I was thinking was right, if he was trying to say something for fear that I would leave.
By now, I had put Kassar out of my mind, and I didn’t think I would ever have to think about him again.
Perhaps I’ll never see him again.
“Are you deaf now, witch?”
After confidently telling Rudrick, ‘Don’t worry.’
Strangely, I started to run into Kassar more often.
At first, I thought it was just a coincidence. After living under the same roof for a while, it was inevitable that we would bump into each other, something that I couldn’t help but notice.
But something started to feel odd when he started asking me questions every time he saw me.
“You don’t have anything better to do, hanging around here in the daytime.”
“You have a thick skin. You’re not only oblivious to everyone’s discomfort, but you’re also a nuisance.”
“No wonder you’re a filthy den of greedy pigs, I’m sure.”
His insistence on bringing up my family name was enough to make me cringe, even though I had been ignoring him.
‘No, why is he trying so hard?’
Frankly, I couldn’t understand him.
Someone who disliked him so much could have just ignored him or turned a blind eye to him. But somehow, every time he met me, he would say things despite his obvious dislike for me.
He was so desperate to get on my nerves.
” I guess he must have been trying to kick you out.”
And in response to my pouting, Lord Leona gave me the answer.
“Kick me out?”
“Yes, that’s what he sometimes does when he has someone he doesn’t like, and he’ll scratch them until they lose their minds, and then he’ll stomp on them before they can get back up.”
“That’s horrible…”
“Right, but you’re not a knight, so obviously he can’t challenge you to a duel, and since he doesn’t want to look bad, he’s just trying to get you to leave first.”
My mouth dropped open in disbelief.
“Why does he hate me so much?”
“Oh, that’s…”
I didn’t care about the actual reason.
Even in the original story, he’s supposed to have a nasty personality, and why would he call O’Neill, who was loved by everyone, a ‘hillbilly’?
But Lord Leona’s behavior was strange. She seemed to fidget as she watched me, and then she answered in a low voice.
“The rights of knighthood…”
“Rights?”
“Ever since the Averine, that just happened, when you said that the Princess demanded half of the Knight’s share of the rights.”
“…”
“He was the one who opposed it most vehemently then.”
I suddenly remembered his words through gritted teeth.
‘A woman who was so blinded by power that she overstepped her bounds…!’
“That’s what he meant.”
“What?”
“No.”
Now I understood why he looked at me with such disgust.
He did believe that I was making the offer because I coveted the Knights, and, indeed, the right to do so.
It must have been an insult to him, as he was so proud of the Knighthood. So all that resentment would have been directed at me.
‘Well, that’s not the only thing.’
Indeed, even now, my reputation within the Knights was split. The greedy princess and the kind-hearted princess.
“Of course, we know you’re not the kind of person to do that, but that particular human has been giving everyone a hard time about Averine ever since…”
“That’s fine, but there’s one thing I’m curious about.”
“What?”
“So how did he manage to listen to Rudrick, because I know he’s got a big temper and I don’t think he’s going to go down that easy.”
“Uh… I’m sure he does, but…”
Lord Leona stared off into space, then chuckled.
“He’s been beaten.”
“What?”
“Well, anyway, he got his ass kicked, and he was beaten like a dog. You know how you have to beat people like that to get them to listen?”
Then, with sincere regret, she muttered, ‘I should have been stronger than him…’ I stared at her with a blank face and nodded.
Part of me felt like I understood her regret.
But in reality, I was powerless to make him give in, and in the end, I had no choice but to put up with it.
If I ignored him, one day he’d tire of it and fall off.
So, note to self.
“Did you have a proper education at home? If you did, wouldn’t you be so careless?”
Noted.
“Those parents and their daughter. I don’t know what the hell they’ve been teaching their kid. She’s so thoughtless.”
Also noted…
“Heartless, spineless, inconsiderate. And the parents are equally scum…”
Enough!
