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She pushed the door open with more force than necessary, the wood creaking in protest as she stepped inside. The warmth of the morning sun filtered through the windows, casting a soft glow over the inn\'s interior. The scent of breakfast hung in the air, but she did not care.

"Hello, how may I help you?"

As she saw the approaching young girl who seemed to be around the same age as her, she spoke.

"I am looking for a man named Lucavion. I heard that he was staying here."

At the mention of the name Lucavion, the girl\'s face hardened a little.

"That…..He is not here right now."

"I see. Then I will wait."

Now that she had come to this town in the countryside, she had already invested a lot of time in it. She no longer had anything to lose anyway.

Thankfully, it did not take too long.

CREAK!

As the door opened, her attention was immediately drawn to the figure standing near the entrance—Lucavion.

He was not what she expected.

\'This… is the man who took down Korvan?\' Valeria\'s violet eyes narrowed as she observed him. He was tall but not imposing, his demeanor relaxed, almost too relaxed for someone who had supposedly bested a notorious bandit leader. His hair was dark, his posture casual, and there was an amused glint in his eyes that grated on her nerves instantly.

"Are you Lucavion?" she asked, her voice cold, cutting through the low hum of the inn.

She noticed how he paused as if taking her in, but she didn\'t give him the luxury of time to respond properly. Already, her mind was working overtime. \'He doesn\'t look like much,\' she thought, eyes raking over him critically. \'No visible aura, no signs of power. How could this man possibly—\'

"Yes, I am," Lucavion finally replied, his voice even and unbothered.

Valeria felt a spark of irritation at how calm he was, as if her presence didn\'t unsettle him in the slightest.

\'Really?\' she thought, her inner monologue dripping with sarcasm. \'This is the man who everyone is praising? He looks like he just rolled out of bed.\'

But as her eyes scanned him from head to toe, she caught the faintest hint of a smirk on his face. It was small, but enough to make her blood simmer.

"So," she said, barely able to keep the sneer out of her voice, "you\'re the one who dealt with Korvan?" Her words were loaded, dripping with condescension as she tilted her head, eyeing him like he was a bug beneath her boot.

She saw it then—a flicker of amusement in his eyes, as if he found her attitude funny. That only made her angrier. \'What\'s so amusing? Does he think I\'m impressed? Does he think I\'ll fawn over him like the locals?\'

"I have to say," Valeria continued, voice sharp, "you don\'t exactly seem the part. I expected someone… taller. More imposing."

Her eyes bore into him, waiting for the usual defensiveness or pride she was accustomed to from knights eager to prove themselves. Instead, Lucavion just chuckled softly, as if her insult had bounced right off of him.

"Well," he said with an irritatingly calm smile, "not everything is as it seems, is it? A person\'s appearance doesn\'t always match what\'s inside."

Valeria\'s jaw clenched at his words, her expression darkening. \'What is that supposed to mean?\' she thought, her mind racing. Was he implying something about her? That she was all show, no substance? The audacity! \'This commoner dares to mock me?\'

"What exactly are you implying?" she asked, her voice lowering to a dangerous tone, barely suppressing the urge to draw her blade right there. She imagined how easy it would be to silence his smug face with one strike, to remind him of the difference between their statuses.

But once again, Lucavion remained unfazed, his playful expression unbroken. "Nothing at all," he replied smoothly. "Just that people often make assumptions based on appearances, and that can be… misleading."

The restraint it took for Valeria to not lash out was monumental. \'He\'s mocking me. He must be,\' she fumed internally. \'Does he think this is a game? That he can humiliate me, of all people?\'

Her father\'s words echoed in her mind, stern and unyielding: "You must be perfect. No mistakes, no hesitations. Every failure you suffer reflects on all of us. We cannot afford any more shame."

"Watch your words, commoner," she hissed, her tone icy, her frustration barely concealed. \'You think you can just walk in here and get away with that attitude? I\'ll make sure you regret underestimating me.\'

"What if I don\'t?" he responded, his voice smooth and almost lazy, as though this entire confrontation was just a game to him.

Her fury rose like a storm within her, but she held it back. \'This man is insufferable. How did he take down Korvan? Did he bribe someone? Cheat? There\'s no way this laid-back fool is the knight they\'re praising.\'

"You\'ll be punished for your insolence," she spat, her voice like a blade drawn from its sheath, the weight of her noble status behind every word.

Lucavion raised an eyebrow, pretending to be surprised. "A noble? You\'re a noble?"

The audacity of his tone—mocking her lineage so openly—set fire to her insides. Her noble blood demanded she silence him for good, yet something held her back. Perhaps it was the crowd watching, or perhaps it was her pride.

\'This man has no idea who I am. He\'s nothing. A no-name knight riding on his one victory. He doesn\'t deserve the honor of facing me. But he will learn. I\'ll make sure of it.\'

Forcing herself to rein in the tempest building within her, she stepped closer, her violet eyes locking onto his with cold fury. "I am Valeria Olarion, daughter of House Olarion," she said, her voice low and dangerous. "And I will not tolerate any more of your disrespect. You will follow me, or you will regret it."

But Lucavion didn\'t flinch. Instead, his smile widened, the challenge in his eyes growing.

"Now, was that so hard?" he asked, his voice still laced with that infuriating calm.

Valeria\'s patience was wearing thin. \'This man doesn\'t deserve my time. I could take him down with one strike, wipe that smirk off his face, and remind him who he\'s speaking to.\'

"You have no idea who you\'re dealing with," she whispered, her voice a cold promise of violence. "Follow me now, or I will ensure you suffer the consequences."

Lucavion\'s eyes met hers without hesitation, and he held her gaze, calm and composed. "It\'s still an order, Valeria," he said softly. "And I already told you. I don\'t follow orders."

Her grip on her sword tightened. \'He thinks this is a joke. He\'s pushing me, testing me. But I won\'t break. I can\'t. Not for him.\'

After what felt like an eternity, Valeria exhaled sharply, swallowing her pride. She could feel the weight of everyone watching, judging her.

"Very well," she said through gritted teeth. "Lucavion, will you please follow me?"

The words were bitter on her tongue, but she needed to get through this. \'This isn\'t over,\' she promised herself. \'I\'ll deal with him later, but right now, I need to keep my composure. For my father. For my family.\'

Lucavion grinned, bowing slightly in mock respect. "Now that wasn\'t so difficult, was it?"

Valeria\'s jaw clenched even tighter as she turned on her heel, her every step radiating with barely contained anger. \'Enjoy your little victory, Lucavion,\' she thought darkly. \'Because it won\'t last.\'

Valeria had been so caught up in her frustration—her thoughts swirling with the events of the morning—that she barely noticed how long they had been walking. The clinking of her armor and the soft echo of footsteps on the cobblestone streets became a distant hum, blending into the noise of the bustling town. Yet, despite the calm of the city around them, Valeria\'s mind was anything but tranquil.

She had wanted to dismiss him outright when she first laid eyes on him in the inn, but the calm way he carried himself unsettled her. It was as if none of this fazed him.

She came to an abrupt stop, frustration finally getting the better of her. She stood rigid, back straight, every inch of her posture radiating control, but inside, her patience was wearing thin. As she turned to face him, Valeria\'s violet eyes locked onto his with a look of clear annoyance. She could see him blink in surprise, as if he had only just noticed she had stopped.

The casualness of his demeanor grated on her, making her wonder how someone so indifferent could have bested a warrior like Korvan.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, and she exhaled slowly through her nose, trying to keep her voice measured. "Are you really the one who dealt with the bandit Korvan and his men?" she asked, though even as the words left her mouth, they felt incredulous. How could someone like him have done it?

When he responded with a simple, calm nod, it only made the irritation inside her grow. He gave no further explanation, no details, nothing that made the feat seem remotely believable. Just that annoying, self-assured smile that tugged at the corners of his lips, as if he found her disbelief amusing.

\'You think this is funny, don\'t you?\' Valeria thought, her eyes narrowing.

She repeated her question, almost testing him. "You dealt with Korvan... and his entire group?"

Another nod. The same light, almost indifferent tone. "That\'s right."

Valeria clenched her teeth, her frustration bubbling beneath the surface. There was no denying that the bandit leader had been defeated—her investigation had confirmed it. But this man, this Lucavion, didn\'t fit into her vision of what a capable warrior looked like. He wasn\'t disciplined like her, didn\'t carry the same seriousness or the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

\'Is this really the kind of man who can handle a peak 3-star warrior?\' she wondered. \'He doesn\'t look like he takes anything seriously. How could someone like him have done what I came here to do?\'

Her posture stiffened, and she felt the familiar pull toward her sword, her fingers hovering close to its hilt. It wasn\'t a threat—not yet—but a silent reminder of who she was. What she had worked for. What she represented. She had faced many capable fighters, many knights with real talent and discipline, and none of them would dare to act so casually in the face of such a challenge.

And yet here he stood, completely unbothered by her presence, by her status.

"I find that hard to believe," she said, her voice hard and flat, laced with skepticism. "You don\'t exactly look like someone who could take down a group like that."

The corner of his mouth twitched into a smirk, and his response was as dismissive as ever. "Why are we repeating the same thing over and over again?"

Valeria\'s jaw tightened as his words hit her. She couldn\'t stand how calm he was, how unaffected. Most men would have faltered under her gaze, would have been eager to prove themselves worthy in her eyes, but Lucavion seemed amused. As though the whole conversation was nothing more than a waste of his time.

She locked eyes with him, her stare cold and unyielding. Her instincts screamed at her to push him, to make him prove himself. She couldn\'t take this lightly anymore.

"You\'re right," she said, her voice quieter now but no less firm. "We are repeating the same thing."

Her gaze flickered downward, landing on the hilt of his estoc. The weapon itself didn\'t look extraordinary, but she had heard the stories—stories that painted Lucavion as someone capable of using that blade to cut down seasoned warriors. The more she looked at it, the more she could feel the tension coil inside her. There was no way to know for sure unless she saw it for herself.

\'I\'ll see it with my own eyes,\' she thought, her decision made. \'If he really is as good as they say, then he won\'t mind proving it.\'

She lifted her chin slightly, her eyes burning with renewed determination. "I\'ll see for myself," she said, her voice cold, clear, and unwavering.