Upon hearing Su Li's words, Hilude was moved to tears, gazing at the gentle smile of the figure before her with tear-filled eyes.
Until now, she had never been recognized so steadfastly by anyone!
She was born in the snow-covered Nord Territory, a place that produced furs, timber, and Norsca Pirates.
In this harsh environment, the weak could only become vassals of the strong, and women were only toys and tools for men.
Hilude came from a remote fishing village in such an icy environment, and she was her mother's first-born child. According to local tradition, she should have been thrown into the ice lake and drowned. Because noblemen had the right to the first night with every woman in the territory.
Her father, a crude middle-aged fisherman, planned to do just that. But he was drunk that night, and in a snowstorm, he muddled her out of the basket and placed his precious bottle of alcohol in it.
In this man's eyes, Hilude was not even worth a tenth of the importance of his bottle cap. As a result, he clung to his bottle, slept in the snow on that blustery night, and froze to death in the wild that very night.
And her mother, a woman without her own opinion, could only marry another violent blacksmith with her.
The blacksmith treated this mother and daughter pair as less than human; at night, he whipped her mother, and during the day, he lashed Hilude, making her do chores in the smithy.
Hilude even convinced herself to endure, as long as she learned a trade from the blacksmith, she could change her destiny by becoming an apprentice blacksmith.
But the cruelties of destiny lie in the fact that, no matter how humble she had become, enduring violence, abuse, and enslavement, her humble request to learn a craft was ignored by the blacksmith.
The blacksmith did not believe that women could forge anything decent; women's purpose was to serve as tools for men's release.
He would rather pass his craft onto his son, who couldn't count to ten correctly while bending his fingers.
These overlooked, belittled days continued until Hilude was eleven years old, and the situation began to change.
Perhaps Hilude really had noble blood from her mother on the night of the first night rights, for by eleven, she was already a beauty in the making, graceful and with a lovely figure!
Nord women develop well, proud figures with large chests and long legs. But to have such a chest size at eleven was still considered exceptionally gifted.
She keenly noticed the heat of greed in the blacksmith's gaze. If it weren't for her first night rights belonging to a nobleman, the blacksmith would have long reached for her with poisonous hands.
But because of this, the blacksmith whipped her mother for longer every day, at night, she and the blacksmith's foolish son could hear their mother's painful yet seemingly joyous sounds.
However, Hilude was never clear on what this truly meant until the blacksmith's foolish son grew old enough to have desires!
On a night when the blacksmith humbly and fawningly went to deliver goods to the noble castle, the blacksmith's son laid his vile hands on their mother and daughter pair.
Listening to her mother's wails, seeing the blood everywhere, Hilude was terrified; she didn't know where she suddenly mustered such strength from. But she knew, at that moment, she had to escape. She smashed the blacksmith's foolish son's head, knowing the blacksmith would never forgive her.
Just like that, she fled the dark fishing village, lit by only a few lamps, wearing only a thin, tattered linen garment and barefoot.
Not surprisingly, she was frostbitten. The cold wind weakened her until she lost consciousness, and when she awoke, she had become a slave to the slave trader.
Yet even as a slave, she was not valued, almost dying from her illness, the slave trader simply tossed her into a cabin corner, leaving her to fend for herself. The slave trader considered it not worthwhile to waste precious medicine on her, as apart from her large chest, she did not have any other significant advantage.
Until today when she met Su Li, for the first time, a man, upon seeing her, erupted with unparalleled delight. In that moment, Hilude even felt he would spare no cost for her! Even if it meant overturning the entire slave camp, even if it meant a river of blood, he would take her away!
And Su Li's subsequent actions struck deeply into her heart. For her, this Young Master Suli even didn't hesitate to antagonize the Guardian Knight, breaking into a fierce argument. All just to fight for an opportunity for her to become a knight.
When Su Li's hands rested on her shoulders, it was the first time she felt this intimate, rather than the goosebumps she used to get when harassed by the blacksmith.
When she heard that Su Li had such strong confidence in her, even a hundred, thousand, ten thousand times stronger than her own!
Hilude's nose twitched, tears welled up, and she looked up at Su Li, resolute in her heart: "Young Master Suli, I heed your commands! I am willing to stake my life and do anything for you."
Su Li smiled and patted her shoulder, saying, "No need to feel pressured, isn't Reve also here? Remember, life is always the most important. You're the most precious person to me now, never think lightly of death. Go back and take a bath first. Then learn more from Reve, I believe you can definitely break through to Elite Knight, even Champion Knight!"
"Yes!" Hilude broke into a smile through tears, nodding heavily, looking at the smiling Su Li before her, feeling as if his whole body was glowing; this was the person she would follow in life and death in the future!
After Hilude finished washing and went to train, Su Li couldn't wait to pull her maid Avril back to bed, once again making a fuss.
This really couldn't be blamed on Su Li! If anyone was to blame, it was Hilude's truly explosive figure!
Only after the girl washed off all the dirt did Su Li finally see just how seductive the future Champion Knight's figure was.
Her chest swayed tremblingly, with each step triggering violent aftershocks, paired with her snow-white skin, it was simply stunning, causing dizziness.
The perfect curve at her waist gathered dramatically, only a slender grasp. It showed the beautiful feminine curve to the fullest. She was the most glamorous beauty Su Li had seen in his two lifetimes, deserving the epithet of "national beauty"!
If it weren't for her having to train, Su Li couldn't help but want to consume the female knight completely by this noon.
Of course, this process wouldn't be too far off, at most delayed until tonight!
And while Su Li was tormenting her maid who kept begging for mercy, in the top-level study room of Bauhinia Castle, the dignified Count Suna held infinite expectation towards him, asking the Chief Knight beside him after finishing the morning affairs: "Connor, what is Su Li doing now?"
Connor hesitated for a moment but eventually answered honestly: "In his own bedroom, relaxing his body with his maid."
Upon hearing this, Count Suna slightly furrowed his brows, but soon composed himself, laughingly saying, "Youth is truly great. It seems he's really just broken through Apprentice Knight, remember when we just broke through Apprentice Knight? Feeling as if there was endless energy to vent every day."
"Indeed. Those were truly passionate times." Connor laughed in agreement, but he remembered clearly that Count Suna chose a venting method by significantly increasing his training intensity at the training ground, sweating profusely! That led to today's Lord of Bauhinia Castle, Bramble Wall, Red Night Longsword, who terrorized the Beastman!
Suna was silent for a moment, then asked, "And how is Su Li's recruitment situation? How many talents has he gathered around himself now?"
"Young Master Suli... has temporarily recruited only two women."
"Two women?!" Count Suna instantly clenched his right fist, the goose feather pen in his hand shattered into several pieces, he took a deep breath and then solemnly asked: "Do these two women... have any particular traits?"
The atmosphere in the room temporarily turned somber and dark, Connor wanted to say something to please Count Suna, but after a careful study of the two women, he couldn't find any particular advantage, so he could only answer honestly: "Their trait might be... relatively large chests?"
"Count, should we continue the previous plan?"
As the Chief Knight asking such a question almost showed his stance.
This made Suna also have to doubt whether he had misjudged Su Li. Was he actually just outright complacent, ignorant and arrogant?
But after a moment's thought, Suna still shook his head slightly, saying: "No, don't make changes for now. Connor, do you know why I never partitioned you out? Your temper is too hot; as a qualified Lord, you must remain calm, not easily changed by minor matters. You must endure internally, observe calmly, think prudently, and once a choice is made, have the firm resolve and will to achieve everything, never easily shaken."
"Marshal Leopold of our Empire once said: A determined strategy, even if imperfect, is better than frequently changing good strategies."
"Let's see, after all, only one morning has passed, hasn't it? I feel he might be waiting for something. Otherwise, at such crucial moments, anyone would be anxious. Can ordinary people calmly enjoy like him?"