The Knight Commander of the Second Male Lead [Novel] Chapter 2

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 2

Chapter Title: A Girl from the Countryside

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Nina was born in the countryside.

It was a poor village without even a proper name. Looking back now, it was something like a slash-and-burn settlement.

The memories of "another world" entered her when she was five years old.

To a five-year-old child, it was no different from a highway robber trying to steal her very sense of self.

Tracing through the memories with a young child's mind, Nina wailed.

"I'm not Nina!"

"This isn't my home!"

"You're not my family!"

People thought Nina had gone mad after witnessing her parents' accident.

Nina was the late-born child. Her remaining family consisted of her older brother Allen and older sister Berry, both at least ten years older than her.

The two tenderly cared for their feverish youngest sibling, who was spouting nonsense.

Nevertheless, Nina was confused.

Nina would scream and bolt out of the house, running away. The villagers who saw it clicked their tongues.

"That kid's having another fit, ain't she?"

"Gaesna's lost it again."

Her sister always glared at such villagers, while her brother always went searching for Nina.

Even during the busy farming season, working the grueling fields from sunrise to sunset, he would still go out to find her.

"Nina, let's go home."

"Nina, where are you?"

"Nina, it's okay."

The prettiest little sister in the world.

The cutest Nina in the world.

Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina.

That gentle calling.

Amid the chaos sweeping through Nina's mind, her family held her hand and never let go, and Nina triumphed.

It might sound a bit ridiculous to say she fought the memories and won, but a victory was still a victory.

The memories of the other world became a part of Nina, and as she grew, they fully merged into one.

One of the mosaic pieces that made up Nina was those memories from another world.

Memories cannot overcome reality, nor can the dead defeat the living.

Having overcome the torment, Nina became a smarter child than anyone else, thanks to the other world's memories.

She learned arithmetic and letters far more quickly. Allen and Berry were proud of her.

Berry always neatly braided Nina's brown hair into two pigtails. The other kids in the neighborhood had unkempt mops of hair, so Nina stood out as the one fussed over at home just by looking at her hair.

The ribbon tying her hair was one Allen had specially dyed red.

Nina would chatter happily, holding her sister and brother's hands as the bright red ribbon fluttered behind her.

She was happy.

Until Belak appeared and stole everything away.

*Memory flashes.*

Nina realized she was dreaming.

'Or is it my life flashing before my eyes?'

The first to arrive at the village Belak had destroyed were bandits. The sole survivor, Nina, was dragged away and sold to a human trafficker.

Dream.

Yes, that's right—she'd had a dream back then.

A gentle voice stroking her head and whispering.

She had dreamed something like that.

She couldn't remember any more, but when she opened her eyes the next day, she felt strength return. She'd thought her sister or brother had appeared in the dream...

Wasn't that it?

The place that bought her was the Rubaenu Ducal Family.

The name Rubaenu Ducal Family was familiar.

Only after her siblings died did Nina realize this world overlapped with the novel she'd read in her other life.

So, when she was sold off as a kitchen scullery maid, there was one thing Nina wondered about.

Was the sub-male lead Adrian here? Or not?

Was it the same timeline as the book she'd read? Or not?

Surprisingly, Adrian was there.

Except the Adrian in the book was in his twenties, while the Adrian here was only nine—just one year older than her.

Adrian had entered the ducal household at five and turned eight without incident.

The year he turned eight, the duke married, and the new duchess began shunning Adrian.

It was right at that point.

When he turned nine, the duchess's firstborn son, Gerald, was born, and she began plotting in earnest to get rid of Adrian.

The duke tacitly supported her plans with his indifference.

Adrian's valet maids, nursemaids, and servants all vanished.

Only the newly arrived Nina called Adrian "Young Master."

Finding Adrian filled her with joy. She'd thought every light in her life had gone out, but here was new hope.

This memory that had tormented her so bitterly was finally proving useful.

She wanted to be someone who could help others, not just a pitiful orphan girl who'd lost her family—and now she could.

Nina gladly resolved to stand by his side.

No one else called Adrian "Young Master."

Young Master was reserved solely for Gerald.

The story of the book she knew went roughly like this.

The villain summons a corrupted spirit lord to destroy the world, only for the saintess heroine, the grand mage male lead, and the sub-male lead knight to band together and defeat it.

Yes, that sub-male lead knight was her Young Master.

'Well, being the sub-male lead is fine and all.'

Does someone always have to succeed in love?

Life has its setbacks sometimes.

The real problem was Young Master's upbringing and future.

1. Abused until his body was covered in bruises.

2. Due to the duchess's schemes, appointed as Knight Order Captain at the front lines fighting Belak.

3. Duchess's poisoning attempts. + Deteriorating health as a result.

4. Knight Order wiped out due to the villain's plans. + Inflicts irreparable mental scars.

5. Kills his entire family and ascends to duke.

6. Lets his increasingly rundown territory rot while obsessing over Belak hunts.

See?

Even before the heroine shows up, isn't it too harsh?

Things do improve a bit once the heroine arrives. The original heroine manages the territory, discovers its specialties, and turns the poorest land into the wealthiest in one go!

Kuh, worthy of applause.

But here's the thing.

The sub-male lead, his health ruined by the stepmother's poison, dies shortly after the final battle.

Leaving everything he has to the saintess heroine as his legacy.

'Yowza.'

What a colossal story.

Do they really have to wring every last drop out of the sub like this?

Nina had zero intention of letting her Young Master live that way—and even less desire to get caught up in it herself.

He was on death's door right now; protect the original plot? Get real.

'The life I'm living now is the original.'

First things first: she needed to get close to Adrian.

Nina called out "Young Master" sweetly and approached him warmly, but Adrian didn't even spare her a glance.

He ignored her calls and acted like she didn't exist.

In the end, Nina resorted to her final weapon.

'Lure him with food!'

Truth be told, it was the only card she had to play. Nina made the most of her kitchen scullery perks to scrounge up some food.

She hid it carefully in the garden and pried open the window to Adrian's bedroom.

Climbing stealthily inside like a thief, she called out to him: "Adrian."

Calling him "Young Master" while sneaking through his bedroom window in the dead of night would be weird.

A maid had to know her place. So who yells "Let's play!" through the window at midnight?

A friend.

Friends don't call each other "Young Master." Nina's stomach was tied in knots with tension, but she forced herself to look natural on the outside.

He wasn't asleep.

The boy simply gazed at her indifferently, and Nina clutched her skirt hem tight in her nerves but flashed him a bright smile anyway.

"Let's go on a picnic!"

She'd braced for rejection, but Adrian obediently rose from his seat and followed her. The two shared the food.