I Will Be the Greatest Knight

As much as she wanted to alleviate herself from the weight she had been feeling, there was no way to tell her father that she had already lived a decade past the age she was at that moment. 

As she looked up at his hopeful eyes, ready to hear her truth, only a half truth came out. 

"I had a dream mother found me a husband in another kingdom," she explained. "I was forbidden from sword fighting and was only allowed to work with the tutor or go to etiquette lessons until I was able to be married off. It made mother so happy but… I hated my life. I felt miserable up until the very moment I died at the hands of a goblin. I could have easily taken it down if I had kept up with my sword fighting."

A lump formed in her throat and it felt like someone had their hand wrapped around it. She managed not to tear up.

The man hugged his daughter.

"My greatest fear is handing you off to someone who doesn't deserve you," he responded. "I will be sure that never happens."

"If what I love is deemed as manly, I don't want to ever get married," Irene persisted and returned her father's tight hug.

Arthur had his own qualms about her statement that he didn't dare voice. However, he assured himself that he already had one child who would have to one day get married to pass down his title. If he had an heir, he didn't mind having a knight as well.

Irene had been quiet with him for a while. He was worried he had lost her until that day in the forest. He was sure his little girl had returned to him when he saw her in the cavern trying her best to save him alongside one of the apprentices. 

"I will support you in your every endeavor, my sweet girl," he said. "I do have to agree that it will be best for now if you pretend to be a boy. That way, you will start off on equal ground as the other apprentices. You are just as capable as the boys we have now. You've met Lief. There's no doubt in my mind you could beat him in a sword match."

Irene's eyes lit up. The heaviness she felt was washed away immediately by her father's words. 

"That's what I want!" she exclaimed, her self-assurance showing that she got from her father. 

In the coming days, Irene and her father practiced sword fighting each morning before she was due to go to the tutor. She was still balancing what her father and mother wanted but she had hardly heard from her mother since the day her hair was butchered off.

"Overhead strikes to this dummy," Arthur instructed his daughter. "Your shoulders will be burning before I allow you to even raise a blade at me."

That was always how it went. He would exhaust her to the point of no return then he would unleash his fury on her until she had nothing left. That day was no different. 

However, the playing field was even. Arthur practiced with the knights at dawn and Irene came after once she was awake. He was already thoroughly worked down to the bone. It made it more fair when he faced his daughter. 

The promised burn surely did appear on her shoulders.

Silence and grit teeth became grunts. Her grunts evolved to "HA!"

By the time she made it to her final blow and the practice dummy was thoroughly beaten, Irene fell to her hands and knees but the sword remained in her hands. Her arms soon collapsed and she found herself face down on the ground. Since it was still a warm enough season, she only wore a light blue tunic but it was thoroughly covered with dirt. 

"A man much larger than you tries to take advantage of your size," Arthur announced as he walked into the practice yard. "What shall you do?"

There was a shink! as he unsheathed his sword. It was all to intimidate his daughter considering the only defense she had was made of wood while his was made of a rare metal found far north. 

Of course, he wouldn't allow her a few minutes of break.

Irene was quick to her feet. At least her legs weren't exhausted. 

She raised the wooden sword as if she believed it was metal and she faced her father with lowered eyebrows. 

"If you approach me further I will not hesitate to put this through your heart!" she cried.

Arthur was slow while his daughter was fast. Instead of waiting for him to go all the way to her, she sprinted forward with her blade raised. 

Her logic was that her arms were already trembling simply lifting the sword so it was better to use the strength she had left to fight off the enemy approaching. 

Arthur had a decisive height advantage because her downward strikes to him were directly in the middle. He gave her a feint, not reaching her sword fully before he did a sideways strike that opened her arms so that the blade was only in her right hand. 

She thrust the blade forward, following through with her promise that she would stab his heart. 

"Open!"

It was his fast way of saying she left something open and he was going to take advantage of it. 

The man's free hand jutted outward and he grabbed her neck with his hand clad in dark grey leather gloves. He wouldn't actually hurt her, but he left her to her imagination. What would happen if it truly was a man attempting to cause her harm?

"No armor!" she shouted in response.

Irene kicked her right leg upwards, aiming for a groin kick, but she stopped short. She showed mercy just as he did. 

The old knight smirked and released her. 

"What made you come to that conclusion?" he asked as she fell to the ground, tired out thoroughly from their practicing. 

"An honorable knight wouldn't hurt someone smaller than them!" she justified. "Therefore, a man like that wouldn't be wearing any armor."

Arthur chuckled and he reached downward to ruffle his daughter's short hair.

"Very good," he responded. "But even with the knights you must watch your back."

She nodded slowly, knowing that well already. The reason she had to hide her true self was for the bad apples present in every knighthood. However, she had always heard her father's rantings and remembered that the Royal Knights were some of the most corrupt. 

With many practice rounds like that, Irene felt more confident in her strength. 

However, sword practice was a brief respite. 

The time inside her home felt tense because her mother wasn't getting involved with her the way she used to. Things had certainly switched from her last lifetime where it was her father upset that she took a different path than the one she wanted.

Fortunately for the girl, with Sir Arthur's pull in the knighthood, the man had his daughter in front of the Duke of Tenetium within the week.

Travel to the Duke's Tower was only two days and Arthur was sure to watch his daughter for signs of regret. He had even begun calling her Iro so she would get used to being referred to something other than her name. 

She swallowed hard as she walked into the entrance of the Duke's Tower.

From that point forward she was Iro. Anything feminine about her needed to be pushed to the side.