The sergeant guarding the gate of the main building ran towards the garrison of the guards when Arthur, the Duke of Richmond's butler, walked in from outside. Glancing at the back of the sergeant who was departing from home, he asked another sergeant as he came to the gate, "What's going on?" ”

"Sir, Madame needs a horse, presumably to go out." The sergeant with the hook and sickle replied guessingly.

"Outing? Well, did Madame say anything else? Arthur asked.

"No, sir."

"I see." Arthur stepped into the gate, called the manservant who had delivered the news just now to him, and thoughtfully ordered, "You immediately go to the guard team to find a few guards, mount your horse, and put on your sword." ”

At this moment, Amy ran out of the room with a short velvet cloak and a pair of leather gloves for horseback riding. When catching up with the Duchess Mary, who was going downstairs, she hurriedly saluted and said, "Madam, these are your cloak and gloves. ”

The Duchess, who was going out in men's clothes for the first time, took the short cloak and gloves to protect herself from the cold, and looked hesitantly at the two maids beside her, "Amy, do you think I can go out in men's clothes?" I always thought that there was no skirt that covered my legs, exposing my lower body and legs to anyone other than His Highness. ”

Unlike ordinary maids, one of the duties of Amy and Kelly, as valet maids, is to be responsible for dressing, grooming, and managing clothes and decorations for Mary. Moreover, they do not have to do any other work at all, and their income is higher than that of ordinary maids. Therefore, the position of a valet is the highest goal pursued by an ordinary maid in her position.

While the Duchess stands on the stone staircase of the castle's main building, haunted by the men's costume she wears, Sally Cooper, the Tavern proprietress outside the dueling arena, is still in a contradictory thought she has set for herself. When she saw Carl Fox in the field raising the half-sword in his hand above his head, she said to herself, "This young boy's movements look really weird, aren't his arms tired?" ”

"Ma'am, you don't know swordsmanship, do you?" A seemingly middle-aged man standing next to Sally smiled softly while looking at the two people in the room.

"Well, what did you say?" Sally glanced at the man beside her.

"Ma'am, this is your first time watching a duel, right?" The man asked casually.

"Yes, you're ......" Sally thought the man who spoke looked a little strange, as if he had never seen him in the houses near the castle. Nodding with some doubt, he focused his gaze on the female duelist in the arena again, "I've never seen you, are you a subject of His Royal Highness?" ”

The strange man glanced at his companion on the left, and said to her with a smile: "No, my partner and I are going to the north, and we are passing through here. ”

Meanwhile, John Neville, wearing a velvet hood, a guard garment and cuirass, a half-sword at his waist, a small round shield on his left arm, and a light spear, rode a fat black horse back to the Asker estate alone. After returning from the Cumberland family's castle with his godmother Isabel a few weeks ago, he applied to join the vigilante with Isabel's permission.

At first, Governor Thor refused his request on the grounds that he was the eldest son of a nobleman and that he was too young. Still, John didn't give up on his idea. He told Thor that as long as he joined the patrol as a vigilante cavalryman, he could bring everything the patrol needed, not even asking for a gratuity.

Bringing his own food, weapons, and horses, and not even gratuities, it seems that the eldest son of Baron Latimer was bent on becoming a security cavalryman. Seeing that John was so stubborn, Governor Thor reluctantly agreed to his request. As a result, John joined the vigilante almost as a volunteer. Of course, he could not participate in the second round of patrols every afternoon, because he had to be taught by Pastor Mapperm every afternoon except Sunday.

Standing in front of the gate of the manor, he jumped off his horse, looked at the manservant who came forward to salute him, and asked, "Is the godmother in the manor?" ”

After saluting, the manservant took the horse, held his spear and shook his head, "Miss is not here, probably going to His Highness's castle." ”

"Today is a day off, and His Royal Highness is not in the castle, what is the godmother doing in the castle?"

"Sir, I don't know."

"Give me the reins and spear, and tell Sir and Lady for me, and I'll go find my godmother." John took the reins and spear from the manservant, turned on his horse again, and rode out of the manor.

Less than three miles from the Asker estate, on the banks of the River Swell, the eldest son of Baron Latimer III was trying to find someone in a dueling arena with a young man. In today's duel, Isabel suddenly decided not to kill Carl immediately, she wanted to see what kind of swordsmanship Carl, a young boy from the highland countryside, had learned.

Seeing that the opponent made a move that did not block his own blade, but used active attack as a means of defense, Isabel deliberately attacked blindly. Anyone who has studied swordsmanship knows one thing very well, and if Karl intends to end a duel with a quick and powerful slash, his opponent will definitely take this into account and respond accordingly.

When Isabelle, armed with two swords, desperately ran towards Carl on the opposite side, some of the onlookers who knew how to swordsmanship were surprised by her attack. The strange man next to Sally followed the fast-running Isabel with a puzzled look, and couldn't help but say to his companion, "What is she doing?" Does she want to die? ”

"What does she want to do?" Karl stared at Isabel as she rushed in front of him, and slashed the half-sword that had been raised above his head from the top of his head.

"My God!" Sally, who was standing in the crowd of onlookers, was watching the duel for the first time. However, the first time she watched the duel, she was frightened by the actions of her respectable female companion, and in desperation, she involuntarily blindfolded her eyes with her hands.

"Ma'am, it's okay, you can put your hands down." Sally heard the voice of a strange man next to her in the darkness, and slowly lowered her blindfolded hands. To her surprise and delight, her feared female partner was still standing intact in the dueling arena.

A delighted Sally glanced at the strange man, "How could Miss Isabel be okay?" I could see clearly just now that the kid was cutting her with his sword. ”

After the strange man saw the two people on the field fighting, he smiled at her, "Ma'am, how did you meet Miss Isabel?" ”