An hour later.
Eleanor stood at the gate of the Duke's camp.
The guarding knight did not stop her, but only saluted slightly and knocked his fist on the armor on his chest.
"Miss Eleanor, the Duke is waiting for you inside."
"You recognize me?" Eleanor was a little surprised.
"I met you once six years ago." The knight answered humbly, and then looked straight ahead again, his eyes fixed.
Eleanor sighed and continued walking inside.
When the patrolling knights on the road saw her, some saluted solemnly, while others looked confused, but soon followed their companions and bowed.
When he arrived in front of the temporary command center, the two knights guarding the gate nodded to him and then lifted the curtain of the tent.
"Come in." The voice of the Duke of Carinthia came from inside.
Eleanor stepped in and said with a forced smile: "Your Excellency the Duke..."
"Miss Eleanor." The Duke of Carinthia was signing his name on a document. "Please take a seat."
Eleanor was silent for a moment, then sat down in the seat in front of him.
"Your brother is coming this way," said the Duke of Carinthia.
Eleanor was slightly startled when she heard this and smiled bitterly.
"Forget the polite words. After all, your father and I are familiar with each other." The Duke of Carinthia put down the document and raised his eyes. "Why did you run away from home?"
Eleanor: …
"Half a year ago, after you left without saying goodbye, your Weisbach family searched the entire territory." The Duke of Carinthia said indifferently, "Not only Bavaria, but also Carinthia, Lombardy, Burgundy, Franconia... Every place close to your family's fiefdom, the envoys sent by your father almost went to every place. Everyone knows that the second daughter of the Weisbach family ran away from home, leaving only a strange letter."
Eleanor felt so ashamed that she wanted to dig a hole in the ground and crawl into it.
"In short, since you are here, you should not go anywhere for the time being until your brother Ludwig comes to pick you up," said the Duke of Carinthia.
Eleanor looked up and said, "But the changes in the town ahead..."
"That's the job of mercenaries and knight vassals." The Duke of Carinthia frowned and said, "In my Duchy of Carinthia, there has never been a custom of sending noble ladies to the battlefield."
"I'm not a noble lady!" Eleanor argued hastily, "I'm also a mercenary! A mercenary of the Azure Sword Mercenary Group!"
"If you keep talking, there will be no Blue Sword mercenary group in the world." The Duke of Carinthia said indifferently.
Eleanor bowed her head and said nothing.
"Put yourself in your father's and brother's shoes. A daughter of the Weisbach family, a mercenary?" The Duke of Carinthia chuckled, not sure if it was a sigh or a mockery. "Even if you run away from home, even if you become a painter or a musician... do something educated to make a living. What kind of dirty job is a mercenary? It's a bloody job with no honor, and they'll do anything for money."
"You have a misunderstanding about our mercenary group." Eleanor said slowly.
"Save this for your brother." The Duke of Carinthia tapped the table. "Robert?"