"Yes, Senior!"
The two young knights didn’t dare cut her off. They bowed their heads with respect.
Mira held out her right hand to Leo.
"Little brother, I’m Mira. Come on, I’ll take you to Uncle Rowan!"
Leo smiled. He took her hand.
"Thank you, big sister! I’m Leo Ashford."
Mira’s palm was strong. Her skin was a little rough from sword practice. Leo’s hand, for his age, was very smooth. Mira thought it felt soft and comfortable to hold.
The moment Leo stepped into Moonhaven Hall, he felt like he had walked into an ancient world.
Brown stone tiles covered the floor. Twelve thick pillars held up the entire hall. In front of them stood six giant stone chairs.
Each chair was 3.5 meters tall. They were carved with patterns Leo had never seen before.
"Big sister, what are those?" he asked, full of curiosity.
Mira’s face turned serious.
"Those are the greatest pride of our Knight Temple. The Divine Thrones. Only a Divine Knight can sit on one of them."
She looked at Leo.
"Little brother, do you know about Divine Knights? It’s the highest rank a knight can reach. The ninth stage of our path. All our senior Divine Knights are great and legendary. They say one of them once faced the seventy-two Demon Gods alone in battle."
It was the first time Leo had ever heard the words "Divine Knight." Corvin had never told him about them.
"Big sister, how strong are Divine Knights? Why are they called Divine Knights?"
"Because they have a Divine Throne. Only when the throne accepts someone can that person become a Divine Knight!"
Mira’s eyes sparkled.
"Don’t think these are ordinary chairs. Every one of them is a true work of art left by the gods. My dream is to become a Divine Knight one day!"
Leo asked doubtfully.
"But there are only six Divine Thrones. What if there aren’t enough?"
Mira burst out laughing.
"Silly! It’s not that easy. What do you think a Divine Knight is? Right now, our Knight Temple has only three Divine Knights. Becoming one is truly, truly hard."
Chatting along the way, Mira led him up to the second floor.
Moonhaven Hall looked very tall from outside. But each floor was so high that there were only three floors inside.
The two of them reached a big room on the second floor.
"This is Uncle Rowan’s room. But it’s still morning, and he hasn’t come to the hall yet. Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon."
"Leo Ashford, should I call you ’little brother’? Or ’little sister’?"
"What?"
Leo was startled by the sudden move. He stared at her in confusion.
Mira smiled.
"Okay, stop pretending. I put on boys’ clothes and ran away from home too. That’s the only way I got into the Knight Temple. Who would take a girl like me easily? You’re just like me, aren’t you? How can a boy be this pretty? And in a few years, when you start growing up, you won’t be able to hide it."
As she spoke, she grabbed Leo’s hand and tapped it against her armor, to prove she was a girl too.
Leo froze.
He wanted to deny it. But no sound came out. His face turned bright red from embarrassment.
He couldn’t remember ever standing this close to anyone besides Mama! Even without understanding everything, he felt shy all over. His face burned like it would burst.
"Aww, look at you blush! Little sister, you’re so cute. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of you here in Moonhaven Hall."
Mira laughed and pinched his little cheeks.
Leo finally managed to speak.
"Big sister... I’m really a boy. Not a girl..."
His hand was still pressed there. His head felt like a hot pan. His voice came out tiny.
"Huh?"
Mira suddenly understood.
"You’re really a boy?"
Leo nodded hard. He yanked his hand away and jumped back a few steps, like a kid who’d broken something.
Mira looked flustered.
"But why is your hand so soft? And why are you so pretty? Did I really get it wrong? Oh no, I got touched! Little brother, tell me, how will you make this up to me?"
The truth was, she had been about to leave the hall. Then she saw Leo standing at the gate.
With just one look, she remembered her own first day at the Temple Hall. And from the very first glance, she liked this boy.
But now she realized her mistake. Dragging a little boy’s hand like that was really out of line! Mira’s heart sank.
Luckily, the boy in front of her looked only ten years old.
"I-I really didn’t know..."
Leo said honestly.
But inside, he thought,
Mira’s face went white, then red. After thinking for a long time, she said helplessly,
"Fine, I’ll let you off, you little rascal. But this stays a secret! Don’t tell anyone. From now on, I’m your big sister. For a big sister, all this is nothing."
A girl brave enough to run away from home to become a knight wasn’t weak. She quickly found a way out of the awkward moment.
"Mimi! What are you doing here?"
A thundering voice rang out.
Leo and Mira turned together. A giant, demon-sized man was walking into the hall!
There was no mistake. He was truly huge. At least two meters tall. To be exact, 2.66 meters, and very, very strong.
Even in a solid building like Moonhaven Hall, the floor shook under his weight.
"Uncle Rowan, you really should lose a little weight! Or one day you won’t be able to get out of the first floor. I’m afraid Moonhaven Hall will collapse from the inside."
Mira scolded him.
This "strong man" was Hall Master Rowan Voss of Moonhaven Hall.
He had heard her. But he wasn’t angry. He just roared with laughter.
"What can I do? Even drinking water makes me gain weight!"
Then his eyes landed on Leo.
"Oh, did you bring this little girl here? A relative of yours?"
"I’m a boy!"
Being mistaken by Mira was one thing. But hearing it from this big uncle too was too much. Leo snapped. He protested right away, upset.
"Huh?"
Rowan looked a little surprised. Mira bit back her laughter at Leo’s sulky face. Then she told Rowan why Leo had come.
"What kind of letter? Show me."
Rowan held out his hand.
Leo took a deep breath. He calmed his upset heart. Then he placed the letter in his hand.
The moment Rowan opened it, a happy look crossed his face.
But after reading only a few lines, the color of his face changed completely.
His huge body went rigid.
And by the time he finished the letter, his face had turned deadly serious.
Slowly, he lifted his eyes to Leo.
"Boy," he said, in a voice much lower than before. "Do you know what’s written in this letter?"