Chapter 2
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The next day, I showed up at Robert Lawrence's modest wooden gate leading "Snow Treader"—my father's prized stallion from the Western Frontier.
A young servant answered, his jaw dropping at the sight of me and the magnificent beast pawing the ground behind me.
I thrust the reins into his hands.
"Get your master. Robert Lawrence. Now."
When Robert Lawrence emerged, he wore white as before, his face a perfect mask of indifference.
"Miss Lawrence, what brings you here?"
"For you," I said simply, slapping the horse's flank. "A fine steed for a brilliant mind. The capital's top scholar deserves nothing less than Snow Treader."
His gaze shifted from the horse to me, his brows creasing ever so slightly.
"I've done nothing to earn such a reward. While I appreciate your generosity, Miss, this gift is far too valuable for me to accept."
"What I've given can't be returned," I insisted with brazen confidence. "Don't want it? Fine. I'll leave it tied outside your door. Everyone in the capital knows this horse belongs to the General's mansion anyway."
He fell silent for a moment before finally signaling his servant to take the horse inside.
But to me, he offered a formal, deep bow.
"If you insist, then I must thank both the General and the young lady for this kindness. I shall not forget this favor from the General's household."
Clever bastard.
With one smooth sentence, he'd transformed my personal gift into an official gesture from my father's house.
This man was dangerously sharp.
After that, I kicked things up a notch.
Hearing he loved ancient texts, I badgered my father into using his military connections to unearth a rare manuscript from the border regions.
He accepted it—but his return gift was a landscape painting he'd created himself… addressed to my father, with the inscription "For General Lawrence's appreciation."
Word reached me that some entitled noble's brat had humiliated him at a poetry gathering, mocking his common birth.
Without hesitation, I stormed in with my riding crop and thrashed those pampered nobles until they were blubbering for their mothers.
I hauled the ringleader up by his collar and announced to the entire room:
"Listen up, you privileged little shits! Robert Lawrence is under MY protection—Amanda Lawrence's protection. Anyone who disrespects him again will get worse than a few welts."
The capital exploded with gossip.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
"Did you hear? That wild hellcat from the General's mansion has set her sights on some penniless scholar!"
"Talk about a diamond in the rough! Though she's hardly what you'd call a diamond herself."
"A brute from a military family chasing after a delicate scholar—how utterly shameless."
My mother was so mortified she couldn't eat for days, while my father proudly declared I had his fighting spirit.
Me? I couldn't give a damn.
Let them talk. I live by my own rules.
But after a month of my relentless pursuit, Robert Lawrence's icy exterior hadn't thawed even slightly.
His manner remained unfailingly polite yet utterly distant.
At every encounter, he'd bow formally and address me as "Miss Lawrence."
He accepted my gifts, but his thanks were always directed to "the General's household."
After I'd rescued him from trouble, he'd send medicinal salves with notes reading: "Miss, given your esteemed position, please refrain from engaging in conflicts on my behalf, lest it tarnish the General's reputation."
Every sentence dripped with courtesy while building higher walls between us.
My passion felt like punching into a cloud—exhausting and utterly ineffective.
That night, staring at my ceiling, I doubted myself for the first time.
Was my approach all wrong?
Or was it simply that he found me unattractive?
I ran my fingers over my face—sure, my skin wasn't porcelain-pale after years of outdoor training, but my features were striking, my body tall and strong. I wasn't ugly… was I?
For the first time in my life, defeat washed over me like a crushing wave.
