Hate

Disha doesn't know what Nathan really thinks about her. She had tried to act tough like a normal knight, but it seemed that this was making it even more difficult for her to get close to her colleagues, especially Nathan.

"Do you hate me, Nathan?" As if to make matters worse, Disha even asked Nathan's assessment of her. She felt so hated even though she didn't do anything.

Nathan turned and tried to leave. His hands were clenched and shaking, as if holding back the anger in his chest. He also didn't know why he hated Sapphire so much even though they had never met before.

They were both educated and trained by Gordon, a former knight commander who chose to devote himself as a trainer to the knights who would fight. However, he felt that he was never a special knight in Gordon's eyes.

Gordon rarely praised his prowess, even though he was a soldier who was at the forefront and was one of the survivors every time a battle occurred. He always felt that he was far superior to any knight, including Levi, who was once called the eternal knight who was very difficult to beat.

He felt that Levi's greatness was exaggerated and that he was not as strong and tough as they thought. But the thing he hated the most actually happened, before he thought that he would soon surpass Levi's greatness so that one day he could become a warlord. Now there is the figure of Sapphire, a young knight whose name is more talked about by Gordon.

"Tch, damn-" every time he remembered the injustice, he growled in annoyance. He had been waiting for months to meet the figure he really wanted to defeat. But after they met, he felt like a sick loser.

"Nathan, are you-"

"Shut up...!" Nathan shouted in annoyance. He didn't let Disha continue her question.

Hearing Nathan's scream shocked Disha. She felt very afraid and realized that she had made a mistake. Nathan turned to her and stared at her hatefully. No, to be honest, he never hated Sapphire. He only hated himself for being so jealous of other people's achievements.

Disha closed her mouth tightly, whatever she said would only backfire. She had been too naive and thought that all problems could always be resolved with negotiations and apologies. The real reality is that very few people are willing to try to understand other people, let alone accept an apology.

"You better not say anything anymore! As you might expect, I hate you. You are a very disgusting person. Try not to have anything to do with me if you don't want me to beat you up." He said as he walked away. Disha could only remain silent, looking at Nathan's back which was getting further away from her.

What is wrong? What did she actually do? Why does she always make other people angry and curse her existence? Question after question emerged in her mind. The painful words that had previously come out of Prince Leonidas' mouth hurt her again.

"You and your clan are destined to become slaves. You are too naive and think that the world can be conquered just by relying on kindness."

***

Keith looked at Disha who had been silent and focused on the potatoes she was cutting with a knife. Her gloomy face made Keith feel bad, as if something bad had happened between Disha and Nathan.

He was hesitant to ask Disha to talk, but if he didn't try to lighten the mood now, then in the future the relationship between the four of them would become even more awkward.

"Is there anything I can help?" Keith asked. Disha turned towards him and saw how Keith was smiling gently at her. She was confused about how to react, whether to return Keith's smile? Or stay silent like this?

Seeing her pensive as if thinking about something made Keith laugh. The confused look on her face made her look so cute.

"Hahaha...why do you look confused? Don't you want me to help you?"

"I-it's not like that, I-I just-"

"I'll help," said Keith as he took over Disha's job of cutting potatoes.

Disha was a little embarrassed, she wondered in her heart. Is Keith trying to get closer to her? Is it okay for her to chat casually with Keith?

"I'm not good at cooking, even though I try hard, my cooking is still not delicious. Isn't that strange? Even though my parents own a restaurant that has been passed down from generation to generation since my grandfather's time and it still survives to this day. But I'm the only one who isn't talented in cooking." Keith talked about his family background casually. Disha pondered for a moment and chose to listen to Keith's story.

"Oh, I see?"

"I actually want to be a painter, an artist who loves peace."

"So why did you become a knight?"

"When I was little I suffered from quite severe asthma. As the youngest child and the only boy in the family, I was very spoiled by my parents and my four sisters. My father and mother always gave me whatever I wanted. It felt very good when I realized that that luck was always on my side. But when I was 12 years old, my friends at school started attacking and bullying me.  They even became violent and I couldn't fight back because I was weak. It was very sad, wasn't it? Because all I could do at that time was cry like a loser."

"But right now you look very dashing, are you training hard?"

"There's no such thing as instant success, right? For months I was constantly being abused by my stronger friends and I couldn't even tell my parents about it because I felt so ashamed of them. One day, someone helped me when I was beaten up, I almost died. A very brave man protected me from attacks by those naughty children. Seeing how he saved a weak boy like me, made me immediately think that I wanted to be like him."

***