Elijah's eyes twitched.
What does this say now?
In contrast to her confusion, Yusar was smiling infinitely bright.
But to Elijah, that smile looked extremely scary.
Her heart started beating violently.
“What, what do you mean?”
Her voice trembled without her realizing it.
“Exactly what I said.
You're not a man, are you?”
In contrast to his crescent-shaped violet eyes, his voice was sharp as he asked.
It would be disastrous if any of the others heard them.
While Ilya was unconsciously scanning the corridor outside the room, as if Yusar had read her thoughts, he closed the door and laughed lightly.
“Better shut this down, right?”
Now, they were alone in a completely enclosed space.
A shiver ran up Elijah's spine.
How should she handle this situation?
'Let's face him rudely first.'
She pointed to the closed door and said her words coldly.
“What nonsense?
If you’re going to talk nonsense, get out right now.”
“It's not bullshit.”
Yousar continued speaking as he approached her.
“Actually, I saw something interesting when I got here last night.”
“What did you see?”
“I went to the shared bathrooms to take a shower and saw someone with red hair just like you wrapping a towel tightly and running away.”
Was this that person?
Only then, the puzzle was solved in her mind.
Thanks to her, Yousar, who joined the army early, appeared in the bathroom last night.
Because of his poor childhood life, Yusar's values and attitudes were completely different from those of the noble masters here.
Also in the original novel, unlike the others who were forced to use the shared bathrooms under Keisha's pressure, he was the first to use the bathroom freely and without hesitation.
'Patrick's early dismissal has brought this upon me...'
There is no point in regretting what happened.
Right now, she had to get out of this crisis first.
Elia felt as if her heart had stopped, but she tried hard to respond calmly.
“It's true that I went to the bathroom last night.
But couldn't you have seen a mistake?
If I hadn't been a man, I wouldn't have been able to join the army here...”
“Erhan, you can’t fool my eyes.”
Yousar interrupted her speech with a voice full of confidence.
After he finished speaking, he began to slowly sweep her eyes from head to toe, then opened his mouth again.
"...I've seen women's bodies until I've grown tired of them, ever since I could barely walk.
Men's bodies and women's bodies differ in their basic form."
Elijah's face paled.
'That's right, this boy grew up in a brothel when he was young.'
He now looked straight into Elijah's eyes and added:
“Perhaps you could have fooled the eyes of the naive gentlemen here, or the eyes of military officials who lived only among men in the army, but I am different.”
He added with a smile:
“If you really want to disprove me, take off your clothes here.”
It's a big deal.
Elijah's face turned pale white.
Yusar has completely discovered her true identity.
But Elia tried hard to regain her composure, turning her head madly in an attempt to think.
'There is still hope.'
Despite knowing this fact, Yusar did not go to Kesha first, but rather came here.
This means he wants something from her.
Because in the original novel too, he always caught others' weaknesses and got what he wanted.
The fact that he had clearly stated earlier that he wanted to be friends with her was proof of that.
'If I make good use of this, maybe I can get through this crisis.'
Elijah, who had come to this conclusion, looked at him directly and asked in a low voice:
“What do you want from me?”
“Erhan, you understand things well.”
Yusar had an admiring expression on his face, and Ilya looked at him with a tense face.
“Erhan, maybe you have certain circumstances that made you dress like a man and come here, but I don’t care.
The only thing I want from you is...”
“What is it?”
“To become a strong unit leader, ranked first as you are now, without committing any foolishness.”
Elijah's eyes widened when she heard those words.
Is this what this boy wants from me?
“If you only do that, I will keep your secret no matter what it takes.
I will even do my best to ensure that your secret is never revealed.”
so?
But soon her eyes narrowed.
There was no way Yusar, this cunning mastermind, would ever do this as a free service.
'...It really is, isn't it?'
Ilya, who had doubts, asked Yusar:
“Is this because of Axion?”
Hearing those words, Yousar's eyebrow rose slightly.
“Why do you think that?”
When he asked again, Elia answered in a calm voice:
“Because you have decided that me being the unit leader is better for you than having Axion.”
At those words, Yusar looked at her with a curious look.
A malicious smile quickly appeared on his lips, different from the previous smiles.
“Erhan Trengen, I thought you were only good at communicating, but your mind seems to be working well too, more than I expected.”
Elijah's predictions came true.
Even if Yusar reveals her identity and expels her from here, it is very likely that Axion will take over as the next commander of the unit immediately, as in the original novel.
‘If that happened, it would be very troublesome for Yusar.’
Accion, who was overwhelmingly idealistic in every way, in the original novel as well, after taking over as unit commander, rose quickly and caught the attention of the Grand Duke, becoming the likely front-runner to be his future son-in-law.
For Yusar, whose goal was to stand out in any way and become the son-in-law of the Grand Duke's family, Axion was very much a thorn in his side.
With his upright character, Axion did nothing that could be held up by Yusar as a weakness.
Yusar struggled to overcome him, but he ended up as a secondary character and was unable to become a son-in-law.
Of course, all of this has not happened yet at this time, but it is clear that Yusar, who is quick-witted, is aware of Axion's presence and is already warning about it.
'Therefore, it is better for him to hope that I take over the position of unit leader instead of Axion to succeed here.'
No matter how successful she was here and caught the attention of the Grand Duke, she was a woman, and thus she could never become a son-in-law of the Grand Duke's family.
From Yosar's point of view, it would have been much better for Illya to have the attention she was getting now instead of Axion to achieve his goals.
Of course, from Elijah's point of view, her quiet military life as a secondary character was over.
But if you look at it from another perspective, if she gets to a position of influence like this, she can get past the simple inconveniences.
Moreover, for Yusar to ensure that her secret would not be exposed was a great thing.
'He is someone who specializes in using all kinds of tricks to deceive people.'
He's deadly if he's an enemy, but a reliable presence if he's on your side.
‘Of course, I don’t know how this boy will act if his exploitative value decreases…’
But this has not happened yet.
Right now, there was no doubt that an alliance with him was the best option.
“Okay, I'll do what you say.”
In the end, Elia nodded and shook hands with Yusar.
He had an expression of satisfaction on his face after he got what he wanted.
Then Yusar looked at her and asked:
“By the way, what is your real name?”
Elia answered honestly:
“Elijah Tringen.”
Then, guess what:
“Are you Erhan Triningen’s real twin or something?
If it weren’t for you, you wouldn’t have dared to do such a bold act.”
He's really quick-witted.
“Okay.
Then, I look forward to working with you from now on, Ilya.”
Yusar extended his hand towards her, and the moment he called her name, a strange feeling came over her.
Her real name, Elijah, seemed foreign to her for a moment.
It was because since she had come here, this was the first time someone had called her by her real name.
“Me too, I look forward to working with you.”
While Ilya was immersed in a strange feeling, she held Yusar's hand.
•
“…Therefore, we fifty gathered here, as members of the Demon Resistance Army, swear to sacrifice our lives to fight the demons!”
In the afternoon of the conscription ceremony, in the wide square prepared behind the Grand Duke's Palace.
Illya, dressed in the military uniform she had been given, was standing on the platform prepared at the front of the square, reciting aloud the contents of the oath she had memorized all that time.
After she finished her oath and stepped back, Keisha appeared and opened his mouth with a very satisfied face.
“We will now hold the unit commander appointment ceremony.
Originally, the Grand Duke was supposed to personally pin the unit commander badge, but an urgent matter happened this morning that made him go to the Imperial Palace, so Miss Lavinia will do it instead.”
Since he went to crush the imperial family members who opposed his authority, it was indeed an urgent matter.
But, above that, there was another reason why Lavinia should perform this ceremony.
In the original novel, Lavinia, who came in place of the Grand Duke, pinned the medal herself on the commander of the unit, Axion, and admired him at first sight when she saw his handsomeness.
'But that won't happen today.'
Anyway, even if Axion wasn't the unit leader, his handsomeness wouldn't change, so it wouldn't be a big deal if you liked him a little late, right?
At the moment she was thinking like this, a little girl came up to the podium.