12 The head and the heart.

Khazad and all the knights of Valtris were finally back at the Archdukedom where the people were waiting for their arrival. Most of them were relatives of the knights and their expressions were vary from happiness, sadness, and nervousness. They were not welcomed because they won the war, they were welcomed because they were hoping to see their son or father come back home.

Being a knight wasn't like the tales and stories in the books, especially for a knight that didn't serve the royal family. Archduke Valtris wasn't from a royal family that had ties with the Emperor or the Empress of the Eurel Empire, he was just a guy who aided the Emperor to the throne. There were no flowers, no trumpets, no red carpet, only people that were waiting for their families to come home.

"My lady! His grace has come back from the war with the knights of Valtris!" The black-haired lady-in-waiting said.

Alexandria was staring at herself in the mirror as the maid brushed her hair. "Didn't I tell you not to enter my room without knocking on the door first, Nadia?" Alexandria said as she stared at Nadia from the mirror.

"My apology, my lady..." Nadia said as she bowed her head.

Alexandria sighed. "Is he alive?" she asked.

"Pardon, my lady?" Nadia tilted her head as she asked.

"Ares Trasven, is he alive?" Alexandria glared at Nadia through the mirror.

"I don't know, my lady, I'm not paying attention to the knights," Nadia lowered her head as she spoke.

Alexandria rolled her eyes and sighed. "Why are you so useless," she said as she stood up.

Alexandria left her bedroom and went downstairs to greet Khazad, she was hoping that her father would be proud of her and praised her for all her hard work taking care of the archduchy.

Khazad and Hidar dismounted their horse, Alexandria walked toward them with a smile on her face.

"Welcome back, your grace," Alexandria said as she bowed her head.

Khazad ignored her and walked past her as if she didn't exist.

Alexandria closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as she kept bowing her head to hide her expression. Suddenly Khazad stopped walking and turned around to look at Alexandria. "Ares Trasven..." he said.

Alexandria's eyes were wide open and immediately turned around to look at Khazad. "Ares Trasven? What happened?" Alexandria asked as her expression turned from displeased to anxious.

Khazad squinted his eyes as he looked at Alexandria. "He didn't make it," he said. Hidar looked at Khazad with confusion but he wouldn't dare to say anything and just stayed quiet.

Alexandria was standing there and looked at Khazad in the eyes for the first time, and she looked at him with disbelief. Khazad smirked and scoffed softly because it was interesting for him to see her make such an expression.

"I'm just messing with you," Khazad said as he kept smirking.

"Your grace?" Alexandria asked with a confused expression.

"You're fond of him, don't you? I never thought you would make that kind of expression," Khazad replied. "Ares Trasven is fine, he's in the barrack right now resting so you don't have to worry about him," he said.

Alexandria was dumbfounded and then she immediately hid her expression and emotion. "Please don't joke around, your grace," she replied.

"Also, he requested to be your personal knight and since he had shown me what he was capable of, I granted his request but it's all up to you whether you accept it or deny it. You should give him the answer since it's none of my business," he said. "But, if you don't want him to be your personal knight, I have planned to send him to the border and protect the territory since he's a capable kid. I wonder for how long that kid would be able to stay alive out there," Khazad continued.

Alexandria was anxious when she heard that and she immediately lost her composure and showed her emotion again. Khazad went into the mansion with Hidar, Hidar looked at Khazad's expression and he was surprised to see him making such an expression.

"This will be interesting," Khazad said under his breath.

Alexandria looked in the direction where the barracks were, she kept staring and stood there for a moment then he went back inside to think what she would do.

Alexandria was sitting at the gazebo as she enjoyed her tea, she was deep in thought about Ares Trasven and his request to be her personal knight. Of course, her head didn't want a commoner, especially him to be her personal knight but her heart didn't want to see him go. Her heart was having a conflict with her head as she thought about the answer she want to give him.

"Why is it so hard to decide..." Alexandria mumbled as she sighed and leaned on the chair.

"Pardon, my lady?" The blonde-haired lady-in-waiting asked.

"Nothing..." Alexandria said. "You can leave, I want to have my time alone here," she continued. "Oh, could you tell the maid to bring Ares Trasven here while you're back into the mansion, Vanessa?" she asked as she looked at Vanessa.

"Yes, my lady," Vanessa bowed her head and then left.

In less than ten minutes, the maid came with Ares Trasven walking behind her. Alexandria's heart was pounding really fast when she saw Ares Trasven in his coat uniform making him look manly and mature at the same time. She never thought the Ares Trasven she knew could become someone like that because the last time she saw Ares was when he entered her chamber and at that moment, it was dark in her room so she couldn't see clearly how Ares looked like after not seeing each other for two whole years.

"My lady, Sir Ares Tresvan is here," The maid said as she bowed her head.

"Hmm..." Alexandria hummed with understanding. "You may leave now," she said.

The maid left but she stole a glance at Ares and she was blushing immediately when she saw his red hair that was blown by the wind. Little that she knew, Alexandria was glancing at her and she didn't look happy about it so Alexandria remembered her face and would deal with her later.

Ares slowly approached the gazebo and went on his knee as he bowed his head. "Greetings, my lady," he said.

Alexandria glared down at him and scoffed. "I see now you're acting like a knight," she said.

Ares lifted his head and looked at Alexandria with his gentle smile. "Would you rather see me kneel like a knight or kneel like a slave, my lady? If my lady wants me to go down with both my knees, I will do it," he replied.

Alexandria glanced at him and took a sip of her tea. "Suit yourself," she answered.

Ares just smiled and kept his using his knee to bow.

It was just silence in the garden, and it felt a bit awkward for whoever saw both of them there but not for them because that was what they had always done since they were young.

"I heard about his grace about your request," Alexandria said. "You want to become my personal knight, what's your reason?" she asked as she glanced at him.

Ares raised his eyebrows and looked at Alexandria. "I see that you didn't read the letter I gave you," he answered, he wasn't surprised if she didn't read his letter because why would she and there was no reason for her to read it. The reason why he wrote that letter was just an excuse to see her for one last time before he went to war.

"No, I read it, but I want to know the reason why you want to protect me," Alexandria said.

Ares was surprised when he heard that she read his letter.

"The reason is as it was written in the letter, my lady," Ares said. "All my life living in that dungeon in the dark made me think what if that my lady started to feel bored of me and didn't want me anymore. So I thought, what if I train my body and become someone that can still stand by your side for the rest of my life? The only answer to that is by becoming a knight because a knight would serve the master for as long as they want," he explained.

Alexandria squinted her eyes and judgingly stared at him. "So the only reason you want to become a knight is just that you want to stay by my side?" she asked.

"No my lady," Ares answered as he stood up and walked toward her. Alexandria just sat there and lifted her head to look at Ares, he then went down on his knee again in front of her. "I want to stay by your side because I want to be useful to you, my lady," he continued. "I want to protect you and be useful for you for the rest of my life. I swear with my life if something bad happens to my lady, I will risk my life without hesitation just for you, my lady," he said as he looked up at Alexandria who was shocked by listening to his words.

Ares stood up and bowed his head. "If my lady doesn't want me to stay by your side, I will leave right now and I will never show my face to my lady ever again even though it pains me," he said. "I will accept whatever answer my lady is going to give me," he continued.

Alexandria just sat there and looked Ares in the eyes for a whole minute. "Can you keep your words, Ares Trasven?" she asked.

"Yes, my lady," Ares answered without hesitation.

Alexandria took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and then exhaled deeply. She opened her eyes and nodded. "I will allow you to be my personal knight but because you want to protect me," she said.

Ares smiled happily and somehow Alexandria knew that Ares was genuinely happy about it and it made her feel good about herself for the first time in her life because never made anyone happy.

"I swear my loyalty to Lady Alexandria Valtris for the rest of my life, and I will only obey your command," Ares said as he went on his knee and bowed his head.