Evil Duke, Please Be Gentle!

When they all looked at Evan roaming alone in the hallway, they all felt sympathy for the poor soul and felt anger towards their master who had always been cold but respectful towards them. Who would have thought that he would treat his future wife with such negligence.

When she arrived at the training ground, there was target practice going on and the place was filled with a lot of knights and all of them were male with only two or three females in between.

She felt a bit awkward while walking there and decided to turn and go somewhere else but when she heard the sound of cheering and shouting, she could not resist the temptation to see what they all were doing.

A few knights who had seen her coming felt sympathy when they looked at her hesitating face.

"Ah, Lady Evangeline. Come here, I have a good seat for you to get the best view!" a knight offered. 

Though Evan had a good height, the knights are all around 6ft and she would not be able to see anything if she stood behind them.

The way she was trying to peek with her animated eyes was adorable for a few of them.

"Oh! There is no need for that. I was just roaming here leisurely. I did not mean to disturb you all." though Leo had allowed her to roam around, she did not know if he would be angry if she would disturb their work. She should better leave!

"We are not doing anything to get disturbed except cheering for our friends. Come and have a look. A few of them are going to aim the apple put on the head of others.'' The knight spoke everything enticingly that her curiosity peaked and before she could deny again the lady knight dragged her in and gave a seat in the front.

Not only that, she even got a cup of water served as soon as she sat there. They were too eager to make her feel homely.

Though she was a bit perplexed about their behavior towards her, she thought that maybe knights were more friendly because they were not nobles only but commoners like her too.

Then the sound of arrows and cheers brought her attention to the group of competitors. There were four men and one woman who were aiming at apples that had been kept on the head of another 5 men. But none of them looked scared. 

They were standing there with confidence as if they did it all this time.

All five of the competitors threw the arrow and each of it hit the core of the apple. 

The aim was perfect! She felt excitement just by looking at it and the cheers from behind only increased it.

She got so engrossed in it that she forgot that she should not be here in the first place. The competition continued and all five of them threw the arrows perfectly to their target. She was more thrilled to know who was the winner, since the competition was neck to neck.

"I think the man with blonde hair would win." she spoke to herself but a few of the knights who were sitting around her heard that.

"Why? He is the best knight among us after master. He is soon going to be announced as commander but the poor guy would not be recognized as much as master." replied the knight with a sigh and Evan frowned. 

She could see that the man was strong and masculine and the way he was shooting the arrows, there was a sense of sincerity on his face. He was looking like a strong knight when compared to others, he would definitely stand out.

"Why is that so?" she could not help but ask and the knight sighed.

"He is a commoner and he had no connections. The post of head was given only to the nobles. At most, he could be the commander of a group but being the head of the order of knights is impossible for him. That is why i didn't even try!" he sighed in the end and her frown only increased. She did not like the fact that their qualifications were secondary but their position as a noble was prime.

And here she thought that only women are not treated well in the empire! If she got the chance to ever be the empress, she would change these foolish rules!

"What if he earned a merit or something?" she asked as he felt bad for the guy, she tilted her head and looked at the knight sitting beside her with hopeful eyes.

The man felt embarrassed when she suddenly looked at him and coughed, his cheeks turned red and he looked down,

"That! The merits are of the team and the head, not the commander and knights. Since we all fight in unison not individually! And it is all because of the training given by the master. So, that is only right if he would receive the recognition.

I do not think that Raymond would mind so much that he did not get so much glory. After all, fighting for the empire is important, not the fame you get from it." his eyes filled with patriotism as he said the last line and she blinked.

"......." what a good way to manipulate the knights and ask them to sacrifice their lives without giving enough recognition and money for their family to survive.

"Since that is the case, then work for free. Why are you even asking for the pay!" she retorted, making the knight dumbfounded.

"That... hehe.. We still need money to provide for our family." He replied awkwardly and she rolled her eyes.

"And why are you so ashamed about that. You all are working hard so you deserve a better pay, and that Raymond, he deserve to be at the better post than this!" she shouted a bit loud due to getting agitated by their foolish love for their country that she did not notice that the sound of cheering had already stopped.

"My lady seems to be fighting for me.. I am honored to get your attention."