That's Not Important Anymore

In the afternoon, Harvey practiced in the backyard of the Mansion using his sword. He aims his sword at a straw dummy.

He attacks the dummy from all directions, without destroying it at all. His movements were so fast, especially when he swung his sword which was quite large and also sharp, he looked so serious staring at the straw dummy.

"Haaa!!! Hyaaa!" His voice sounded so loud, and also firm showing how strong the man was.

Pausing to wipe off his sweat, Harvey watched the straw dummy as he remembered something that happened in the past.

Flashback

A boy who was none other than Harvey when he was a child, was busy beating the straw dummy with his wooden sword. He practiced following the instructions of his mentor, who was a Warlord in the kingdom.

"Take this! Feel this!" he exclaimed, hitting the straw dummy.

With a proud smile, Harvey turned to the Commander. "Lord Dominic, did you see that? I did very well!"

Dominic smiled, he chuckled and patted little Harvey lightly on the head.

"Right, you did very well, Harvey." he praised his student. "Someday, you will definitely be able to become a strong knight like me."

However, Harvey shook his head. He seemed to disagree with his mentor's words.

"I don't want to be as strong as you! I want to be stronger than you!" he said confidently.

Hearing his words, Dominic laughed while ruffling Harvey's hair which made the boy feel a bit annoyed but he laughed along with his mentor.

"Then be strong! Be stronger than me!" he said as he laughed.

Flashback End

The look in his eyes dropped when he remembered all those things. But instantly that look turned into a piercing stare and he slashed the straw dummy in front of him in half in one swing with his long sword.

His breath caught, then ended with a long sigh.

"What are you doing there? I'm sure the palace isn't paying you to stand and watch me from where you're standing right now," he said abruptly then turned to Seira who was standing not far from him.

The woman was just standing still while holding a tray with tea on it. She had been silent all along, but Harvey could sense her presence.

"I didn't even make a single sound, including my footsteps. But you seem to have pretty strong instincts," Seira said and placed the cup of tea on the table.

"I've been trained for that for a long time. I can even tell what you're thinking right now. You'd better stay out of trouble if you want to stay alive," he replied as he walked over to the garden table and seated himself.

He sipped the tea, it was warm and soothing. His tiredness instantly seemed to fade away after savoring the drink. Seira handed him a small towel, and Harvey used it to wipe his sweat.

"Where are Leonard and Albert?" Harvey asked.

"Lord Leonard has gone to the house of one of his acquaintances while Lord Albert has gone to the royal soldiers' barracks," Seira replied.

He nods his head when he heard that, he went back to drinking his tea. Seira stood silently near the man before she finally spoke again.

"This morning you left suddenly because of Lord Albert's words about Lord Dominic. I heard that he was your mentor back then," Seira said.

"You can say that." he sounded so cold, as if he didn't want to talk about it anymore. However, Seira said something else like she was curious about the relationship between Harvey and Lord Dominic.

It was just that Harvey asked again, what was Seira's business in asking that.

"I'm just curious about that. Because I heard a lot of things about it and what happened in the past," she replied. "That's why I want to know what Lord Dominic is really like."

He placed the teacup on the table, then looked down at the empty cup.

"He's not much different from an old man who can be quite annoying sometimes. But he's pretty good at things, and trustworthy," Harvey explained.

Although the man was willing to explain and answer Seira's questions, she could still tell that what Harvey was saying was not exactly what he was thinking at the moment.

"He has made a big mistake, even betraying the Emperor. That's why he ended up like that. So there is nothing to talk about regarding him anymore. End of discussion."

Hearing that, there was silence between them as Harvey did not want to talk about Dominic anymore. According to him, it had already passed a long time ago, and let it be buried deeply because it should not be talked about again.

Seira nodded in understanding, but there was still one thing on her mind. Something she could not tell Harvey but she felt she knew more than what really happened in the past.

"What if Lord Dominic actually never did such a thing together with the Empress?" she muttered reflexively but could be heard by him.

He immediately turned to her, eyes narrowed sharply as he questioned what Seira had said earlier.

"What do you mean by that?"

She glanced at him, then shook her head. "It's nothing, I was just thinking maybe the events in the past weren't really Lord Dominic's fault."

"What do you really know about the events of the past? You couldn't have been in that place and known the true events because I'm sure you were also so young when it happened," Harvey said because the true events must only be known by the royal members.

Moreover, the incident had happened a very long time ago, almost more than 10 years. Only those in the palace who witnessed and knew more clearly about what had happened.

But suddenly Seira chuckled, then looked at him. "You're right, I don't know anything and I'm just a servant who might speak so carelessly about the past. Please forgive my words, Lord Harvey."

She then excused herself to prepare lunch, then left him alone in the backyard with a question mark.

Harvey kept looking at Seira who walked away until she disappeared behind the door.

His conversation with her makes Harvey even more curious about who Seira really is. Could it be that she actually knows something related to Dominic that she keeps asking about? He had no idea.

"What does she really mean?"