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When Carnan asked Stefan to swear an oath of knighthood, Stefan cut off his own hair with a knife.
His dark hair lay on a red cushion.
Knight Commander Arthur picked up the cushion and presented it to Karnan, who set it on fire and offered it to the Spirit of Light.
Carnan hung the medal that had been prepared next to Stefan’s chest.
However, his hand that was holding the medal stopped for a moment. It was because of the white seashell pin.
Carnan wrinkled his eyebrows for a moment at a pin that did not match between the medals.
However, unable to speak during the inauguration ceremony, he concluded the ceremony.
A large and splendid medal made of gold hung on Stefan’s chest.
Dorothea looked at him and smiled happily.
‘It’s more pleasant than I thought to see the person I love doing well.’
Since Dorothea will never kill Stefan in this lifetime, she thought it would be good if Stefan would rise to the leader of the Knights.
After that, the knight candidates put their swords back in and stood directly on the red carpet.
Now, the appointment ceremony of the prospective knights will begin.
This time, Emperor Carnan himself took up his sword and stepped forward.
One by one, the new knights knelt before Carnan and bowed their heads.
And when it was Joy’s turn, Joy walked out with ambitious steps.
She also had arms bent inward, and Dorothea thought that Joy was the best among the knights extraordinary.
From among the nobility, a whisper could be heard over who the knight candidate was.
Most of the knight candidates were nobles, and the nobles gathered here also gathered to celebrate the appointment of their acquaintances, so Joy’s appearance was of course unfamiliar.
Dorothea felt the urge to shout in front of the nobles, boasting, ‘That woman is my person,’ but she resisted it.
Joey knelt in front of Carnan and bowed her head.
Carnan’s gaze turned to Dorothea for a brief moment, then turned back to Joy.
And he raised his sword.
“In the name of King Lux, the spirit of a light king, and Milanaire, I, Carnan Milanaire, appointed Joy Greenwall, as knight…”
Joy’s new surname, called out for the first time.
To receive the knighthood is to receive a family name, so Joy also has a surname.
In fact, there was a lot to be said about her new surname.
* * *
Dorothea and Stefan and Clara and Po had a problem before Joy’s knighthood ceremony.
This was because commoners without a family received a new name when they were appointed knights.
“Usually, it’s named after the region of origin or something like that.”
“Ugh, I don’t want to put something like a black village in my name.”
At Clara’s words, Joy frowned.
“Or maybe you could get something that could be a nickname or a symbol.”
“Potato or apple pie…?”
Everyone shook their heads at Po’s suggestion.
Names like Joy Potatoes and Po Apple Pies are terrible.
The potato family and the apple pie family, It’s a name that doesn’t even appear in a fairy tale book.
“Or make a name similar to your favorite historical figure…”
“Princess Dorothea!”
“You want to be Joy Dorothea?”
“Are you disrespectful?”
“That’s not the problem.”
Dorothea shook her head in an out-of-focus Joy.
Then Po intervened again.
“If that’s too blatant, how about Dory? You know, the one Princess used as her pseudonym. then…Joy Dory, Po Dory.”
“Po, don’t take it as your name. And if you want to open a bakery, get my permission before you put up a sign…”
Dorothea said and frowned at Po’s terrible sense of naming.
Stefan, who was silent, also frowned, and Clara pushed Po to the side.
‘Joy’s surname will soon be attached to Po, so I tried to listen to his opinion as much as I could, but if I don’t pay more attention, later generations will be counted as a terrible surname.’
In the end, Po sat next to Joy with a gloomy expression on his face, waiting for the name of the family to be named.
“So, Knight Stefan, how did you decide on your family name?”
Clara looked up at Stefan.
Stefan Greenwall, who was also a mercenary, was a man who became a knight without a family.
“….”
“Never mind, it was my fault for asking.”
Clara, who had a long experience, was quick to give up.
Dorothea smiled at her and replied instead.
“The place where Stefan lived as a mercenary for a long time was a forest. A forest where trees grow tall and dense like a wall.”
Among the documents that came to Dorothea when Stefan became the vice-leader, there was a document about the appointment of Stefan and the story about Stefan’s family name written there.
“Oh, that’s cool. I also want to be Joy Greenwall. One of the people I respect is Sir Stefan.”
“…”
Then Stefan stared at Joy. Joy felt Stefan’s gaze and looked at him.
“….”
“….”
The silence of the two and the exchange of glances.
Dorothea, Clara, and Po are looking at them without saying a word.
“Really? Can I do that?”
Joy opened her eyes wide and shouted loudly, as if she had realized a great truth.
Then Stefan nodded.
With just a few glances, and a few gestures the two seem to have talked a lot.
Joy and Po would be joining Stefan’s family.
“But how? Sir Stefan’s family already exists, so I can’t get into it at will.”
“Adopted daughter.”
“Then I… Sir Stefan’s daughter?! Father?!”
“New father?!”
Joy and Po opened their mouths in amazement at the same time, and Stefan shook his head hastily.
A father when there’s not even a ten-year age difference between them.
He is an uncle, and that’s where he’ll go, Stefan said silently.
“Anyway, because Stefan himself offered it, so it’s not difficult to get things done as long as Stefan’s consent is there.”
Dorothea smiled and added, and Joy’s eyes twinkled, looking back and forth between Dorothea and Stefan.
“So, will Po and I have a new family?”
“That’s how it’s going to be, right?”
“Then what will Sir Stefan be to me?”
“I think…Uncle”
“Uncle?”
Joy and Po were both startled at the same time.
‘No, is that so surprising?’
Dorothea thought so, but to Joy and Po, it was strange to hear Stefan, who seemed so high and mighty, called by the familiar, close name.
“Joy, do you think It’s okay to go into the Greenwall family when you can have your own family name?”
“I become family with Sir Stefan! that’s much better.”
Joy happily accepted Stefan’s offer, and Joy and Po were adopted into the Greenwall family.
* * *
Joy Greenwall at the knight’s appointment ceremony.
“Joy Greenwall devotes herself to the imperial Ubera and the imperial family, and will be loyal to the end of death.”
As Karnan recited the oath, he brought the back of his sword down on Joy’s head and shoulders.
* * *
After the inauguration ceremony, Dorothea walked over to congratulate Joy.
But…
“Dorothea Milanaire.”
An unfamiliar voice stopped her. The voice she wanted to ignore, but couldn’t.
Dorothea looked back at Carnan, who stood with a stern face.
“Did you call me, Your Majesty?”
Behind Carnan, his servants lined up, and Raymond was by his side.
In other words, as soon as he called Dorothea, everyone stopped and focused on her.
“I think this is the first time you have attended the inauguration ceremony.”
“My knight was in the ceremony.”
Dorothea felt uncomfortable that so many people were stopping and waiting because of her.
‘Why did Carnan waste their time talking to me?’
It seems that everyone was on their way to the Knights after the ceremony was over, to congratulate them in person and have a dinner in the name of the imperial family.
“It was Sir Stefan Greenwall. He was a very good knight.”
“He is worthy of being the vice leader of the Knights.”
She didn’t want to talk too much with Carnan, but she responded because it was Stefan’s compliment.
“Seeing him today makes me feel relieved to have Stefan Greenwall as an escort for you.”
‘Relieved?’
It was Carnan the one who called him back to Lampas, when Dorothea was recuperating in Cerritian and tried to get rid of the escort.
Surely she had seen the Emperor’s stamp of approval on the letter to Stefan.
‘I had a lot to say, but I decided not to do it for the servants waiting behind him.’
“…..”
“Soon there will be dinner for the knights. You may attend, Dorothea.”
Carnan said to Dorothea.
Carnan has been keeping an eye on Dorothea since her debut.
‘She still hasn’t taken up a position to socialize with the aristocracy. She also doesn’t seem shy.’ Carnan thought.
‘She always keeps her mouth shut when I talk to her.’
Is it because of the long recuperation? Dorothea didn’t play the role of a princess properly.
‘It’s better than a hostile battle for the throne with Raymond, but that’s not the case.’
So he tried to make a place for Dorothea.
But.
“No. What would I do in a place where knights share joy?”
Dorothea politely declined his offer.
Not only did she hate going to crowded places, but she didn’t like it because she knew how much the knights had ignored her escort duties so far.
Then Dorothea will surely show fake interest and flatter them when she visits.
This might be childish, but all she wanted to congratulate was Stefan and Joy.
But Carnan had no idea how she felt.