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I Am The Commander Of The Second Male Lead’S Knights

Chapter 1

The castle was peacefully quiet.

Everything was covered in black.

Black curtains, black insignia, and black clothes.

A hanging oxen’s head cast a shadow on the floor.

Nina suddenly spoke in a low-pitched voice.

“You just sat there with those bitter people.”

Adrian, who was reading a book by the window, raised his head.

“Nina, are you going to keep talking in Jin’s tone?”

“But they were so bitter.”

They could see their breaths every time they spoke, even though they’re inside a room. The room that was given to them was located at the corner of the castle, and they were not given firewood.

Adrian smiled.

“It’s true that I am an illegitimate son.”

“They didn’t have to be so fussy about it. Besides, is it your fault that her son died?”

Nina grumbled.

Her hair looked neat thanks to Adrian who trimmed it, but that’s not all.

With her short hair and a slightly loose uniform, she looked both like a boy and a poor knight as she stood in the shadows.

They attended a funeral earlier.

No, the word attend sounds too positive. They were left out throughout the whole funeral.

Adrian wasn’t even able to stand with the rest of his family members.

The Duke of Luvwayne had three sons.

The illegitimate son, Adrian, and the duchess’ sons, Gerald and Jayden.

Even though he is an illegitimate child, the duke acknowledged Adrian and gave him a right to succeed him.

Of course, Gerald and Jayden have the upper hand.

Today is Gerald’s funeral. Nina knew exactly what the duchess, who lost her eldest son, would do.

And she’s here to stop it.

Adrian, her friend and a knight colleague, seemed to be lost in his thoughts.

She knows how strong Adrian is, yet she can’t help but worry.

‘How can he survive in a tough world like this?’

Their colleagues, Jin, Kiril, and Louis, a squadron’s deputy commander, were sent back yesterday.

The reason was that the Violet forest could not be left unguarded for a long time. Adrian tried to send Nina back too, but she stood her ground.

With a look of helplessness, Adrian allowed Nina to stay.

Knock, Knock-

“Come in.”

With Adrian’s response, Nina approached and opened the door.

For some reason, a servant was standing there.

From the first day they arrived, they hadn’t seen a single one in place, so they had to go around and look for the servants themselves to ask for the schedule daily.

Jin, a former mercenary, almost hit a servant.

And now a servant came to them first?

“The Duchess wants you to join her for tea.”

It was an invitation that Adrian cannot refuse.

Nina snorted.

A servant, who was never seen before, is properly used at times like this.

“I understand. I will get myself ready–”

“You are being called right now.”

Nina’s eyes narrowed.

She stood with her legs wide apart, while Adrian stood up and closed his book.

“If she’s in such a hurry, then I’ll see her right away. Nina, if you could please stay here……”

Nina took note of Adrian’s defeated expression.

“Yeah, I don’t think so.”

He nodded his head. Nina followed right behind him, while the servant did not say anything.

The more they walked, the brighter the castle became. It has been so long since she last went to the Silver Lake Castle, so Nina was a little confused with the directions.

The castle was breathtaking.

It was a little hot when they entered the duchess’ room.

The duchess greeted them without standing up.

Wearing a black mourning dress and a black pearl necklace, she had a mild complexion. However, her expression was, in contrast, bland.

“Greetings to the duchess.”

Adrian bowed politely, his hair flowing softly.

“Sit down.”

When Adrian was seated, the duchess poured him a cup of tea.

Nina took a step forward. She was going to do the usual routine.¹

____________________________

1.) Check if the food is poisoned.

____________________________

“It’s alright, Nina.”

With his soft, melodic voice, Adrian stopped her from taking the cup.

The duchess spoke.

“There is something I’ve been thinking about these days. Gerald was a very smart and wonderful child.”

The duchess’ voice was drowned out to Nina. The only thing she could hear was the sound of the glass teacup as Adrian picked it up.

‘This is it.’

This is it. This must be it.

No, it doesn’t matter if it’s not.

‘I can’t let it get into his mouth!’

As soon as Adrian lifted the cup, Nina grabbed it from his hand and took it away, which made the lukewarm liquid splash on her hand.

Nina gulped the tea down.

Its odd smell hovered at the tip of her nose.

“Nina!!”

Adrian got up from his seat in a flash, the chair falling backwards.

At that moment, a flower of fire seemed to have bloomed inside her stomach and throat.

Nina hurriedly covered her mouth.

She couldn’t stand up straight. Blood seeped through the gap of her fingers.

‘It hurts.’

It felt like her stomach was melting. She collapsed at where she stood.

“Nina, Nina!”

Adrian’s shouts sounded similar to a beast that was being taken to a slaughterhouse.

“Cough, cough……”

Nina was dumbfounded as she coughed a lot of blood.

‘No way, how did Adrian survive after drinking that tea?’

Adrian wrapped his arms around Nina, who had collapsed, and looked around.

The servants that stood in line wore calm faces as if there was nothing going on.

The servant standing next to him brought a new cup and placed it on the table. The duchess filled the cup languidly.

“Come on, let that rude escort be and have a drink.”

The knights clasped Adrian’s shoulders. This meant that they were going to force him back to his seat.

Adrian gritted his teeth and held Nina tighter.

He felt afraid as he tightened his hold on her.

He had never been so scared before.

Furthermore, he had never been so angry.

He jumped up from his position. At the same time, shadows rose around him. The knights yelled.

The shadows at his feet confronted the enemies with determination. It was a strange sight.

The smile, which was always seen on his face, was completely gone.

“Get out.”

He said these words out of mercy, not of threat, but the men did not understand.

Rather, the knights halted. It is considered treason to point a sword at Adrian, who has a right to succeed the duke.

But no one thought so. Adrian didn’t think so either. He ignored them and began to run.

“Dark, tear them all down.”

The spirit of darkness faithfully carried out his order.

A mixture of screams and shouts were heard. His opponents did not get hurt by being stabbed, nor did they get cut. There was no emotion nor mercy in the spirit’s touch.

Leaving the metallic smell of blood behind, Adrian continued to run. Adrian immediately arrived downstairs, forcibly pulled a horse out of the stable, and sped out of the place.

He begged as he held Nina, who was freezing cold, in his arms.

“Don’t do this to me, Nina. Please, please.”

Nina wanted to see his face, but she couldn’t open her eyes.

She couldn’t even lift a finger.

Fire and ice were fighting inside her body. It keeps changing between hot and cold.

Nina had no intention of rebelling against it. The ice in her was desperate to protect her from the fire that was burning her inside.

Her spirits, ‘Northern Wind’ and ‘Frost’, are both trying to slow down the spread of the poison.

As she felt like she was sinking beneath a glacier, Nina dreamed of a scene from her memory.

Her memory from a ‘different world’.

Chapter 2

* * *

Nina was born in the countryside.

It was a poor, nameless village, but it was very peaceful.

It was when she was 5 years old that she remembered ‘the other world’.

For a five-year-old child, it was like a man passing by just mugged her.

Nina cried as her little head processed all the memories of her past life.

“I’m not Nina!”

“This is not my home!”

“You’re not my family!”

People thought Nina had gone crazy after she witnessed her parents’ accident.

Nina was born late. Her remaining family members were her brother, Allen, and her sister, Berry, who were both at least ten years older than her.

The two took good care of their youngest sibling, who was excited and talked nonsense.

Still, Nina was confused.

There were times when Nina would scream and run out of the house. The villagers. Who witnessed the scene, would click their tongues in disapproval.

“Did that kid go nuts again?”

“She keeps going round and round as if her feet are on fire.”

Her sister would always glare at the villagers, who gossiped at Nina, while her brother always looked for her.

During the farming season, her brother always came out looking for her from sunrise to sunset, even after farming for a whole day.

“Nina, let’s go back.”

“Nina, where are you?”

“Nina, it’s alright.”

Our youngest and the prettiest in the whole world.

Nina, the cutest in the whole world.

Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina.

He would always call her kindly and gently.

Even with the confusion that swept Nina’s mind, her family held her hand and won her over.

It would be a little funny to say that she won by struggling against her memories, but victory is still a victory.

Nina’s memories of another world became a part of her and have completely become one with her as she grew up.

Her memories are pieces of the mosaic that formed Nina.

Memories can’t beat reality, and the dead can’t beat the living.

Overcoming that obstacle, Nina became a very smart child thanks to her memories.

She learned how to count and write much faster than the other children her age. Berry and Allen were very proud of her.

Berry always tied Nina’s brown hair into pigtails. The kids in the village could tell that Nina’s family takes perfect care of her just by looking at her hair.

The strings that tied Nina’s hair were specially coloured by Allen.

Nina would flutter the red ribbons around while chatting with her brother and sister.

They were happy.

Until the Bellacs appeared and took everything away from her.

Memories keep popping up inside her head.

Nina knew she was dreaming.

‘No, why is there a lantern here?’

The Bellacs were a group of robbers who broke into their village. Nina was caught by them and sold to human traffickers.

A dream.

She also had a dream at that time.

A voice whispered to her and patted her head gently.

– It’s alright. As long as the things you say come from your heart, it will sound sincere to everyone. And everyone will know your kindness from within your soul……

That was her dream.

She couldn’t remember anything else any more, but she felt energized when she woke up the next day. Her sister and brother were in that dream……

Weren’t they?

It was the Duke of Luvwayne who bought her.

The words ‘Duke of Luvwayne’ sounded familiar to her.

It wasn’t until her brother and sister died that she realized that the place overlapped with a story she read in the other world.

So when she was sold as a kitchen maid, Nina was curious about one thing.

Would Adrian, the second male lead, be here? Or not?

This has the same time frame as the book she read, doesn’t it?

Surprisingly, there was indeed an Adrian in that house.

Except, Adrian in the book was in his 20s. Adrian here is only 9 years old and a year younger than her.

Adrian, the son of a duchess, became an ordinary man when he was 8 years old.

The duke remarried when he was eight, and the new duchess began to reject Adrian.

It was when it started.

When Adrian was 9 years old, the duchess had her first child, Gerald, and started her plans against Adrian.

The duke supported the duchess’s plan with indifference.

Adrian’s maids, nanny, and other servants were all removed.

The only one who called him ‘Young Master’ was Nina.

When she found Adrian, she couldn’t help but feel excited. She thought all the light in her life was gone, but she found a new source of happiness.

The time has finally come for her to stop being tormented.

Nina, who was poor, pitiful, and lost her family, wanted to be someone who could help someone, too.

Nina was determined to stay by his side.

No one ever called Adrian, ‘Young Master’.

Except for Nina.

The contents of the book she read were roughly like this:

The villain tries to destroy the world, and the saintess, who is the heroine, together with the male lead and second male lead, will defeat the villain.

That’s right, the second male lead is Nina’s master.

‘Well, it’s also good to be a second male lead.’

Should people always succeed in love?

People get dumped at least once in their lives, too.

But that was not the problem. It was the growth and future of the second male lead.

1. He was abused\, and his whole body has become numb.

2. He was appointed as the commander of the front liners in the battlefield against the Bellacs by the duchess’s ruse.

3. The duchess attempted to poison him multiple times. + That leads to poor health.

4. His knights were annihilated because of the villain’s plan. + It scarred his heart and mind.

5. Killed the whole family and became the duke.

6. Stayed away from impoverished territories and from hunting Bellacs.

Now, look.

Isn’t it too much that the heroine hasn’t even appeared yet?

Everything gets a little better once the heroine appears. The heroine takes care of the land, finds special products, and invigorates the land. So, in an instant, everything can change into something better, from the poorest to the richest!

Wow. Nina applauded.

By the way.

The second male lead, whose health deteriorated because of the poisons his stepmother fed him, dies shortly after the final battle.

And left everything in the hands of the heroine and the male lead.

‘No.’

Isn’t that a great story?

To leave the second male lead out of all the sweet and wonderful stuff?

Nina didn’t want her master to live like that.

Let him die like the original story? That’s funny.

‘This is a life where I know everything that happens.’

First, she had to get close to Adrian.

“Young Master.” Nina sang, but Adrian didn’t even give her a glance.

He ignored her call and acted as if she was not there.

In the end, Nina had to use her last resort.

‘I’ll get something to eat!’

But she can only do so much. Nina made food out of the remaining ingredients in the kitchen.

She hid it well in the garden and opened Adrian’s bedroom window.

Sneaking through the window like a thief, she called him. “Adrian.”

She thought it would be weird to go over a bedroom window in the middle of the night and call him, “Young Master.”

A maid should just do her duty as a maid. And someone who shouts “Let’s play!” by the window in the middle of the night is not a maid.

But a friend.

A friend does not call their friend, ‘Young Master’. Nina was very nervous, but she tried to look calm.

Adrian wasn’t sleeping.

The boy just looked at her indifferently and Nina smiled broadly, her teeth clasped together with tension.

“Let’s have a picnic!”

She thought he would say no, but he simply followed her and ate the food.

Chapter 3

After that, Adrian looked straight at Nina. And Nina would grin back whenever she encountered him.

Then, one day, Adrian smiled back too. It was a noble and elegant smile.

The shadow in his eyes did not completely disappear, but it was alright.

‘What did the original novel say…’

Nina sat down, with her legs spread as she was now accustomed to working in the kitchen, peeling potatoes.

According to the description of the original heroine, Fiona, Adrian was always like this.

[The Duke of Luvwayne was a perfect gentleman with a perfect reputation. An elegant smile, a friendly tone, and an immaculate aristocratic behaviour with a calming voice.

Where Fiona felt cold anger towards his perfect smile and delicate actions. I felt hatred.

That is why Fiona could never find a way to like the Duke of Luvwayne]

But my master is not at that level yet!

Finally, Nina threw the now smooth potatoes into the water and got up with the bucket of potatoes.

As she went back into the kitchen to put the potatoes down, she heard a few sisters chattering.

“I heard she brought in another jeweller again?”

“Yes, this time it’s from the northern island of Badun. She brought in a moonshine pearl necklace.”

“Oh my god, a moonshine pearl necklace? Wow, it’s amazing to even hear about such a treasure.”

“The cost of one such necklace is enough for us to live our lives without working any more.”

“It seems as though they’ve hired a new swordsmanship teacher for Master Gerald too.”

In the middle of their conversation, they took notice of Nina.

“Are you done peeling? Good job. There should be some bread left in the cupboard there.”

“Thank you.”

Nina, who greeted the older sisters, quickly turned and went to grab the bread out of the cupboard.

The good thing about working in the kitchen is that at least you do not need to starve. All the food left behind by the family was theirs. The other servants were also kind enough to allow the kitchen maids to get the food.

Carrying the bread in her arms, Nina headed to Adrian.

In the course of this year, the family’s treatment of Adrian had deteriorated. The Duke no longer invited him to the family dinners.

No, rather than the Duke not inviting him to dinner, it’s more so that the Duchess would not let him appear during the meal.

The Duke would enquire about Adrian whenever he did not appear at the table. “What about Adrian?” And the Duchess would reply, “I guess he feels uncomfortable eating together.”

‘What the hell?’

Nina wanted to find out what was going through the Duke’s mind. Acknowledging illegitimate children is not an ordinary thing to do.

Even after making such important recognition, he was neglecting Adrian.

Besides, did he not just gain a new successor after remarrying?

At this point, the easiest and most convenient thing to do would be to arrange for succession, but he did not.

Listening in on the stories of the other maids, they mentioned that they were indifferent towards their other masters, just as indifferent as they are towards Adrian.

Perhaps that was what led to the Duchess feeling more enraged. Of course, the Duke was also indifferent towards the Duchess, so he never interfered with how she ran the mansion and financed the servants working in it.

According to Adrian, the Duke had only called him to his private room once.

“Your mother is dead.”

That was all he said.

‘I’m glad that there were still people around Adrian then…’

Before marrying the Duchess, Adrian, then the only master of the mansion, was said to have been extremely cherished.

‘I’ve heard about this before.’

Anyway, the treatment and Adrian’s situation, in general, only got worse thanks to the Duke’s attitude.

But that was not enough to kick him out of the family table. So the Duchess interfered with the dishes that were given to Adrian.

Even going so far as to tell the cook, “Adrian doesn’t eat together with the rest of the family, so you don’t need to cook for Adrian.” Ever since then, dishes that were originally meant for servants were being sent and distributed to him.

Because no one went to bring up food for Adrian, Nina is now used to secretly carrying food up to him.

Naturally, money was not even allocated to him to buy daily necessities. Adrian’s life would have been so much more difficult if Nina did not carry kitchen utensils when she came up as quiet as a mouse.

“Master.”

Adrian, who was reading an old book in the room, looked up.

Nina took the bread out of her arms and sliced it in half.

“This side is yours.”

Adrian reached out, switching her hard-crusted bread with his soft bread.

“This is all I need.”

“But it’s hard.”

“I’m older than you, so I’m stronger.”

Adrian closed the book, smiling.

Inside the mansion, since Adrian is constantly being ignored, he could enter and leave anywhere he wanted.

As long as he did not run into the Duchess, Gerald or Jayden.

The study in the mansion, that was a place where the three of them would not enter. This small privilege, Adrian enjoyed to his heart’s content.

He read like crazy and trained hard on polishing his swordsmanship.

What Nina was most upset about, however, was the fact that he was eating so poorly during a point of time when he would be experiencing the most growth and as he was growing up.

Nina said, whilst removing the hard crust of the bread.

“It seems as though the Duchess has called in the jeweller again. This time, she bought a moonshine pearl necklace. Do you know what that is?”

“I heard it’s a pearl that’s soft silver, and that it shines dimly at night.”

“Oh, I see.”

Nina opened her eyes wide.

There were so many amazing things in this world.

Then, she whispered to him the next few words.

“And that they’re giving the first master a new swordsmanship teacher.”

“Is that so?”

Adrian replied with a grin as Nina stuck out her tongue.

“I would like to change my swordsmanship teacher too…day to day…”

Nina bit her lips.

It was because of his swordsmanship teacher that he was bruised.

Under the guise of teaching, Adrian would constantly get beat up by his teacher. Often, he would hit him so hard that his bones would break.

“Even so, it’s still better than nothing.”

Adrian mumbled, chewing the hard bread and swallowing.

A meal composed of a loaf of bread and water, without any butter or jam.

‘Someday, I will eat all the fluffy bread to my heart’s content.’

Nina has always dreamt of such a future. Even if it’s hard to accomplish now, Nina had a dream.

Adrian opened up his book again and said quietly.

“Nina. You better go now, it’s not good if you stay here for too long.”

“Okay. I’ll be back again soon.”

Adrian looked back at Nina, who greeted him with a smile, left the room. After looking at the door Nina had left through, Adrian sighed.

He was worried about the Duchess finding out about Nina.

Still, he was not able to advise her to stop visiting him.

Finally, he managed to divert his gaze back to the book.

***

It was a long holiday. But Nina had nowhere to go as the kitchen maids were busy dressing up.

“Nina, do you have anything to ask for?”

“No.”

Nina, now twelve years old, still had pigtails.

“How do I look?”

One of the maids asked, showing off the lace on the edge of her clothes. The lace was a masterpiece that she had invested a year ago.

“You’re so beautiful, sister. What if someone asks sister for a hand in marriage?”

“Oh my gosh.”

A soft smile that made the maid feel better. The other maid then commentated.

“Strangely, I get a feeling that everything Nina says is real.”

“That’s because I’m telling the truth.”

When Nina opened her eyes wide, the three girls giggled.

The other maid said to the maid in lace.

“Are you aware? That if you were to go out like that, you may meet with the noble lord right?”

“What’s the point of that? I mean look at that kid.”

‘That kid.’

That is what the people here call Adrian.

“Your mother was an opera singer, right? She’s a beautiful woman, she even received so many presents and flowers that it overflowed the waiting room.”

She pouted.

“What are you doing here then? If your child is like that. You’re too good of a wife. It wasn’t like you didn’t even know that he was there. And yet you decided to get married from the beginning.”

“Sue, watch your mouth.”

“Oh, shut up.”

She shrugged them off and asked Nina.

“Do you understand?”

“What?”

“You. Behave yourself. For people like us, one mistake means you’re out.”

“Yeah, you should stop joking around.”

“But I like you.”

They stopped bagging upon hearing Nina’s carefree words.

“Oh my god. Are you being sincere?”

“I really can’t tell.”

The older sisters promised that they would buy back candy when they came back.

Everyone here is a good person.

Then, Chef Karin, who had just left the kitchen, cried out to Nina who was busy preparing the vegetables.

“Why are you here?”

“I can’t afford to go out and play.”

“As long as you don’t mess up the kitchen.”

“It’s not messy.”

When Nina replied with a serious expression, Karin spared a glance at the vegetables that she was preparing.

“When you’re done trimming the vegetables, there are snacks in the cupboard on the right.”

“Wow!”

“It’s a little secret kept from the other guys.”

“Alright.”

The speed at which her hand moved for trimming quickened. Nina hastily trimmed the vegetables and packed the snacks faster than she had ever before.

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