Roa subconsciously reached out and touched Iris's forehead. Looking at the girl's expression, he ultimately said with some helplessness, "I can't stay in the Royal capital forever."
Everyone looked at their interaction as if they had seen a ghost.
Iris was undoubtedly cute, but no one had ever seen her with such an expression.
Claire, standing beside them, was already red-eyed with jealousy. The young knight couldn't hold back any longer and rushed forward, saying with a tone that was both angry and jealous, "Hey, you! How can you reject Her Highness? She has never spoken to anyone like this before, and you dare to refuse?"
However, just as Claire was about to reach them, Russell grabbed her by the back of her collar.
Claire was stunned for a moment, then began to struggle, but the large hand held her firmly, and she couldn't break free. Claire protested loudly, shouting things like "Let me go!"
Russell shrugged, ignoring Claire. The middle-aged man's square face showed a rare hint of helplessness.
Russell nodded to Roa, dragging Claire to the side, and casually said, "You guys continue. I'll take this one away first."
Iris took a deep breath. She wasn't the kind of unreasonable person; she was much more sensible. If other girls her age were in her position, they might pester Roa, using both gentle and forceful tactics.
As for how to do that, they could act spoiled and cute, or put on a pitiful expression to gain sympathy. They could even be a little overbearing, a little more unreasonable.
These were the privileges of girls of this age.
But Iris couldn't.
As the so-called successor to the Hero, she couldn't show such emotions.
However, she was still just a girl, and girls of this age were still too young. Even Iris would show a sad expression when she couldn't get what she wanted.
Iris didn't give up. Suppressing the sadness in her heart, she looked at the young man with a pleading look in her eyes. She clenched her hands slightly and said with some reluctance, "Then, at least while you're staying in the Royal palace, please be my knight?"
"Hiss."
When she finished speaking, it was as if she had used all her strength. She bit her lip, and her pitiful expression made the surrounding knights and adventurers gasp.
Iris's demeanor made it impossible for anyone to refuse.
This time, Roa really couldn't handle her. He didn't refuse again, nodding and saying to Iris, "Okay, since you're calling me 'brother'."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.
If such a cute girl suddenly started crying, everyone would feel very troubled and wouldn't know what to do.
It seemed that Roa wasn't such a cold person after all.
A look of joy appeared on Iris's face, and a bright smile unconsciously appeared on her lips. However, when she heard Roa's words, her tone carried a hint of complaint: "But you're not willing to stay by my side forever."
Roa touched Iris's head and sighed helplessly, "Iris, I have other things to take care of. I can't be with you all the time."
Claire, who had been making a fuss, finally stopped talking.
She looked at Roa, then at Iris, and the loneliness on her face became even more difficult to hide.
The reason she had stood up was because she didn't want to see Her Highness Iris looking sad, but deep down, she had hoped that Roa would reject the girl's somewhat unreasonable request.
But now that he had agreed, the feeling of dejection became even heavier.
"I was here first…" Claire lamented, feeling hopeless.
She knew she shouldn't have let Roa enter the Royal capital.
The ups and downs of life were too much for Claire to bear, to the point where she even had such thoughts.
Coming back to her senses, Claire bit her lip, slapped Russell's hand away, and glared fiercely at her old captain, her eyes seeming to ask, "You're not going to help me, and you're stopping me?"
Russell smiled sheepishly, feeling a headache coming on.
He knew his knight's personality.
If Claire really went up to cause trouble for Roa, she would probably get beaten up again.
Claire stood beside Iris, looking like a tiger watching its prey. Iris, however, didn't notice Claire's expression, still basking in the joy that Roa had agreed to her request.
Iris put on an act and said to Roa, "In that case, my knight, I'll make an exception and allow you to stay by my side."
Iris's immature tone and pretentious manner made her look exceptionally cute.
However, Roa still said somewhat irritably, "Just call me 'brother'."
"Oh, then brother will stay by my side," Iris said with a bright smile, like the spring breeze in April, making everyone feel refreshed.
"Ah, so cute!" An adventurer clutched his chest, looking like he was having a heart attack.
The adventurer next to him gave him a disdainful look, his contempt undisguised. But when he saw Claire's expression, he couldn't help but breathe more heavily.
"She's so cute! Damn it, I'm going to be seen as a pervert!"
Standing next to them, Claire felt very sad.
She had been standing next to Iris for a while, but no one paid any attention to her. And her threats seemed like a joke to Roa.
She couldn't beat him, so she could only glare and try to scare him, but now it seemed that her so-called intimidation was just a joke.
Seeing that things were settled, Russell coughed lightly, walked up to Roa and Iris, and said slowly, "Roa, Your Highness Iris, please go up to the stage. It's still the examination phase. After the competition, Roa, you can go with Iris."
Upon hearing this, Claire became unhappy. Still unwilling to give up, she wanted to be a third wheel. She directly asked Russell, "What about me?"
"You?" Russell glanced at Claire and casually said, "If you can beat me, you'll get the same treatment as Roa."
Claire was instantly speechless.
The surrounding crowd looked on with amusement, some adventurers even egging her on: "Damn it, how dare you look down on our Lady Claire! Let this guy see what a real powerhouse is!"
"That's right! Can you stand for this? Russell, if you don't accept, I'll look down on you for the rest of my life!"
The clamorous voices gathered again, and the girl's face quickly flushed red, whether from anger or something else.
Russell's eyes swept coldly over the crowd that had been cheering, and he said coldly, "Don't make a fuss. What, do you want to try too?"
Those who had been so lively just now instantly fell silent, looking at each other and choosing to remain silent.
The competition continued. Roa completed his training, successfully defeating Russell with one sword, and was directly invited by Iris to become a guard knight, becoming the little girl's personal bodyguard.