I Will Be the Greatest Knight-Chapter 263: Their First Council

"Once a month?" Irene asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Arthur confirmed. "Once per month, the two of you ought to consider holding council with the few knights left in the north to see if your priorities are still the same. Without a commander, you’re going to be like a body walking without a head. This will ensure that all of you are seeing eye-to-eye."

Irene exchanged a glance with Felix. They had already summoned the other knights for a council, but they didn’t realize they should make it a more prevalent aspect of their organization.

Before they could meet, they had requested her father’s presence to decide how to move forward without a commander since Duke Arlen hadn’t been active for a long time. Since he was the former second in command, it was important to have his advice. However, they didn’t expect him to say they should meet with the knights so frequently.

At that moment, Irene realized that the knights met with one another far more than she realized as an apprentice. It was really no wonder the apprentices had so much busywork while the knights were strategizing.

"It’s just like it was on the battlefield, except now it’s more obvious to us," Felix mused. "I didn’t realize just how in sync the knights are with one another until they were always off at all hours strategizing and discussing various things."

"Much harder to keep three different knighthoods in order like that," Arthur agreed. "And you were part of these meetings, Sir Felix, correct?"

He was going to force the new knights to get used to their titles, whether they liked it or not.

"Correct," Felix confirmed. "Back when they were treating me as a knight, just without any of the benefit."

"Only the burden," Arthur acknowledged. "Of course. Now I ought to depart, or your mother is going to get worried. I wrote her two days ago saying I would leave shortly."

The former knight stood from where he had been having breakfast with his daughter and Felix. He reached for their bowls.

"We can take them ourselves," Irene argued.

Arthur ignored her resistance and took the bowls to the kitchen so the maids wouldn’t have to do the work.

"How have you lived with him your entire life, yet you haven’t realized to merely relent when it comes to your father?" Felix wondered. "He is far more stubborn than even you."

Irene only sighed.

"One of the many things I got from him," she sighed. "Why couldn’t it have been the height?"

"Right," Felix agreed. "You would have been far more believable as a boy if that were the case."

Irene had an urge to smack him, but she resisted, knowing that the two apprentices in the order were still eating. She ought to at least behave herself in front of them.

"Mind your business," Irene fired back and stood from the table.

She merely tossed her hair and ran after her father, who had already left the dining hall.

He wasn’t slowing down, so she found herself following him out of the back entrance until her feet were on the grass of the practice yard.

Arthur only stopped when he saw Irene following him.

"Another goodbye," Arthur stated, looking down at his daughter.

He didn’t care who was looking. He hugged her tightly, knowing she was going to be too busy to come home very often.

"But with this one, I really don’t know when I’ll see you again," Irene responded a bit sadly as she leaned into her father’s hug. "I think I have gotten too used to living around you and mother again."

There certainly was one pro of being able to be her true self, and that was that she could be as affectionate to her father as she liked to. He doted on her as much as he wanted to as well. Everyone around rolled their eyes at their interactions sometimes, but she didn’t mind them.

There was something so freeing about finally being herself. They accepted her as she was and now had to get used to all that came with.

"Write more often," he responded. "As one in the chain of command, you need to keep your commander’s most trusted updated on the most recent ins and outs of the knighthood."

"Yes, father," she responded a bit stiffly, using a name she knew he wasn’t all that fond of because he thought it sounded too impersonal. "Goodbye."

Otherwise, she merely rolled her eyes at his insistence, knowing he was using her newly gained title as leverage to make her write. She would do it anyway. The Duke’s Tower felt emptier than ever.

Father and daughter let go of one another so he could climb onto the horse that had been prepared for him by one of the apprentices, and he gave his daughter one last smile before he decided to depart. It was best to leave as early as he possibly could so that he could make good time and Rochelle wouldn’t worry too much.

When her father was around the corner and out of her sight, Irene stood for a few moments more as she contemplated the feeling of having to rely on herself going forward. Her mistakes were her own and not the responsibility of a knight she was under.

"Are you coming inside?" she heard from the back entrance.

Irene’s head snapped up, and she saw Felix waiting for her at the open door.

"Yes!" she called back and jogged to where he was.

"Late for your first council," Felix chided. "What will the old knights think of that?"

He was mostly joking. After all, the meeting didn’t start without the two highest in command there. They were the ones who suggested that they meet to discuss the future of the knighthood anyway.

And after watching Arthur dote over his daughter the entire time he was there, they knew that the goodbye would be bittersweet. No one was truly going to rush Irene.

Regardless, she and Felix went up the stairs one after the other until they were in the very unused meeting hall at the end of the northeastern wing of the second floor. It was just beyond the library, and the door had been broken off its hinges.

At least there weren’t secrets to be had at that point. Everything they were to discuss revolved heavily around the outcome of the war and the stagnancy they would face while waiting for a Duke. They could rebuild only so much on their own. It was time to get the knighthood moving forward as a whole with the few active knights they had left.

They walked through the threshold together. Irene felt a bit strange that the last meetings she had attended were when the Duchess was still around. Of course, she had been filled in on the findings of the war and where the Duchess had supposedly ended up.

She felt bad for whoever had to fill those shoes in the future because the Duchess, undoubtedly, made such a sought-after title very tarnished. If the Duke was someone coming from the south, they would bring a woman with them from the south. She couldn’t imagine how they would feel about a Duchess who participated in black magic.

Even though Irene and Felix were now the two highest ranked in the order, they still left the head of the table vacant. It was a silent representation of their hope that the seat would soon be filled, but the realistic natures of all knights in Chemois knew that the King was never fast in making decisions for the north.

Irene sat down gingerly in her chair, and she waited for Felix to sit and speak first.

"Forgive us for our lack of experience in this sort of setting," Felix began. "We were briefed by Irene’s father about this type of meeting, but we’re still uncertain about what exactly to discuss other than our intentions and to see if they line up with all of yours."

The older knights exchanged looks, and Irene couldn’t help bracing herself for whatever they were about to say.

Even though she knew of their ranks now, she also knew that listening to the older knights was going to be a valuable source of information. Would they be criticized, or would they have advice?

Surprisingly to the girl, it was none of the sort.

"We’ve discussed it at length," Sir Gunnar began, gesturing towards the other knights who sat at the long meeting table. "Would the two of you prefer to join the other knights in Hydrogia for a short time? That way, you could get more hands-on training from Commander Lothian and his second in command. It would help you two develop your roles in the knighthood."

Irene’s heart thudded readily in her chest. An adventure? It sounded like so much fun. Not only that, but she admired Commander Lothian and his way of managing his affairs. It would be a good opportunity for the two of them.

However, Felix’s voice took her out of her thoughts immediately.

"No," he stated immediately, not even needing another thought. "My purpose is to protect the north. I have no desire to go south. If she wants to go, I understand."

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