Intruding The Dreams Of A Knight

Irene blinked.

Last night, when she thought she had gone to bed and had fallen asleep, Irene found herself in the courtyard of the Knights’ Order. She immediately knew it was a dream when she saw a beautiful woman running towards her.

(An improved version of myself, 50% more beautiful!”)

In the dream, ‘Irene’ was wearing a frilly, slightly overly sweet-designed dress. At the age of twenty, Irene would never have the courage to wear such a cute dress with sleeves, but in the dream, ‘Irene’ looked stunningly beautiful, and it suited her quite well.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

‘Irene’ said in a much cuter and sweeter voice than her actual self, and the man she had possessed said something in response. However, as always, she couldn’t understand what he was saying or whose voice it was, and her plea for him to reveal his identity remained unanswered.

Upon hearing that, ‘Irene’ chuckled and spun around right there.

“Thank you. Since it’s a date with you, I wanted to dress up and look my best.”

I see, it seems like the man had complimented her earlier, saying she looked good.

When the man extended his hand, ‘Irene,’ with her wavy chestnut hair flowing, happily took his hand, and they began walking together. As usual, there were no hints about the identity of the man that Irene had possessed.

“Today, I want to have tea at a cafe I’ve been wanting to go to for a long time.”

It appears that ‘Irene’ has quite a charming personality. The real Irene is perfectly fine with eating from street vendors, and she prefers yakitori over cafe tea.

When the man said something, ‘Irene’ smiled sweetly.

“Thank you! …You know, I… I love you so much.”

(Oh…)

Upon “Irene’s” confession, the man said something in response, but…

***

“…”

Irene woke up in her own bed. As it was a rainy morning, she couldn’t hear the chirping of birds.

(…Huh?)

For two consecutive days, Irene had the same dream. In today’s dream, “Irene” was on a date with that man. She would never wear such frilly outfits in real life.

And as Irene lay in bed, contemplating the contents of the dream, she noticed something.

“…My hair, it was shorter.”

In yesterday morning’s dream about breakfast, Irene’s hair was much longer, reaching down to her hips. But in today’s dream during the date, her hair was the same length as it is reality, reaching down to her waist.

It seems like Irene is piecing together what might be happening.

After pondering on her bed for a while, Irene suddenly exclaimed, “Ah!”

(…That’s right. Yesterday, I let my hair down in front of the knights!)

After cleaning the library, she had asked Doris to comb her hair, but then decided to leave it down for a while to let the wind pass through. It was at that moment that she ran into Camille and the young knights.

(The only time I let my hair down in front of others was yesterday… So, does that mean?)

If the words of the old fortune-teller were correct, and if Irene’s dreams are the desires of a man who has a crush on her…

(Does that mean that man is among them?)

Her hair, which was too long until yesterday, is now the same length as it is in reality. This implies that perhaps he now knows Irene’s actual hair length after seeing her yesterday.

Oh, um…! Wait, who was among them!?

Setting Camille Gresler aside, the others were all young knights. If Irene checks the duty roster in the office, she can find the names of those who were with Camille and participated in the demolition work in the town yesterday.

(What should I do? Is there really someone among them who likes me…?)

Until yesterday, Irene had dismissed the idea, thinking it couldn’t possibly be true. However, with the event of her hair length being corrected in the dream, she was starting to believe the old fortune-teller’s words.

(If only I could call out the person’s name in the dream!)

While pondering such thoughts, Irene got up from the bed.

And then, for several days, Irene didn’t have that dream.

***

Under the clear autumn sky, a mock battle was scheduled to take place at the Knights’ Order.

“I know these events are important, but they can be quite exhausting, starting from early in the morning.”

“I feel you… But remember, today, we’ll get a special bonus if we do well.”

“Exactly! Actually, I’m planning to use this bonus to buy a present for my husband.”

“Wow, that’s nice, Doris!”

With a playful nudge to her coworker, Doris blushed and said, “He spoils me all the time, so…”

Today, in addition to being a test of the knights’ skills, the mock battle was open to the general public. The king, high-ranking nobles, and ministers often attended as spectators and sometimes scouted promising young knights. Even for the veteran knights, excelling in this event could lead to promotion, so everyone was eager and fired up for the occasion.

In addition to their usual desk work, Irene and her fellow administrative officials were responsible for handling visitor reception, transporting supplies, and managing the match result sheets during such irregular events. Although they often complained about the extra work, these occasions offered special bonuses. Young officials like Irene and Doris saw it as an opportunity to earn extra money, while the more senior officials, who didn’t necessarily need the extra income, preferred to take a rest due to the fatigue involved. This way, a balance was maintained.

During this particular event, Irene worked behind the scenes with Doris, diligently recording the match results indoors. Though it was mostly a writing task, it kept her quite busy as she had to communicate the results to various parties and update the announcement board.

(Ah. Lord Gresler won the spear competition.)

As Irene looked at the paper where she had noted the results, she found out about Camille’s performance.

Camille was one of the younger knights in the order, and while he didn’t stand out as an exceptionally skilled knight, he demonstrated a remarkable work ethic. He never complained about any task and, in fact, encouraged everyone with his cheerful demeanor, as he did during the recent demolition work on the houses.

As a result, Camille’s reputation within the Knights’ Order was quite high, despite being the son of a count. He had many friends and was well-liked by everyone.

(…He’s a good person, isn’t he?)

As Irene continued to record Camille’s results, she let out a small sigh. Camille was friendly and approachable to everyone, and he even affectionately called Irene “Miss Lancel.”

Irene didn’t dislike him as a person. However, whenever she saw his face, she couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation in her chest, making her avoid him.

(But it’s no good. This is just my own convenience. It’s disrespectful to avoid Lord Gresler because of something like this.)

Determined, Irene took a deep breath, excused herself from Doris next to her, saying she would update the board, and stood up from her seat.

The scoreboard for the results was placed in a busy open corridor, and as expected, both knights and spectators were gathered around it. In order to make her way through, Irene had to call out, “I’m in charge of the records! Please make way!”

When I wrote Camille’s spear competition results, voices of admiration rose from the crowd.

“Count Gresler’s son’s future is truly promising.”

“He’s well-mannered, and the Count’s source of pride. On top of that, he excels in martial arts; there’s nothing to criticize.”

People who seemed like nobles were discussing him.

Irene bowed to those around her, stepped back from the board, and took a breath against the wall.

(…He won the spear competition, so should I congratulate him…?)

Of course, she didn’t feel the need to search for Camille in the crowd. But if she happened to see him, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to say something like “Congratulations” without avoiding him as usual, at least for today. It would be the proper conduct expected of a Knights’ Order official.

(I really was so inadequate until now. I need to make sure I don’t blatantly avoid Lord Gresler from now on)

Reflecting on her past actions, Irene looked ahead and gasped.

At the far end of the corridor stood a young man with blond hair. He must have just finished the match, as he was still in his armor with the helmet removed. His usually fluffy hair was flattened, possibly due to sweating.

*Dokun* Irene’s heart protested anxiously. Yes, once again, it wasn’t fluttering with excitement; it was pounding in anxiety.

Camille Gresler was standing right in front of Irene. He was facing sideways and seemed unaware of her presence, but the person she had been thinking about was right in front of her.

‘I should say congratulations,’ Irene thought, but she hadn’t expected to encounter him so soon. Her throat tightened, and her fingertips trembled―

“Lord Camille!”

“It’s Lord Gresler!”

“Congratulations, Lord Camille!”

As young ladies arrived and surrounded Camille in an instant, Irene released the breath she had been holding and forced a smile.

She didn’t have the courage to jump into that group. Besides, hearing the other young ladies say “congratulations” was enough to deflate Irene’s motivation.

(Let’s do it next time.)

When that “next time” would be, she didn’t know.