Crow relaxed slightly as Penelope rested her hand on his back, but he continued to hold William in his sight, ready to defend himself if the knight chose to attack him despite the fact that she was on his side. With the way William was looking at them, he definitely seemed like he was still planning to fight. His furious expression made the thief’s blood boil. He wanted to knock it off his face, but he also wanted to avoid coming to blows if it was still an option. After all, it would be a problem if they got kicked out of the inn for causing a commotion. It wasn’t worth the risk.

He stood back as the two knights argued, glaring at William when he continued to try to convince Penelope that she was being manipulated by him. He didn’t understand why the stubborn old fool was still bothering with that argument. It was obvious that his feelings for her were genuine. William just couldn’t seem to believe that someone of his low status could ever act out of genuine intentions. It was annoying how belittling his words were.

When William suddenly grabbed hold of Penelope’s arm, Crow bristled. He couldn’t stand the sight of the knight handling her so roughly. Before he had a chance to think through his actions, he lunged at him. William, using both of his arms to restrain his comrade, couldn’t move fast enough to block him. The thief’s fist landed squarely in his solar plexus, knocking the breath from his lungs.

The knight released Penelope and clutched at his stomach, gasping for breath. However, before he could recover, Crow moved in again, landing a punch to his face this time. There was a faint cracking sound as William’s nose broke from the impact. He groaned and brought his hands up to his face, shooting the thief a glare through watering eyes.

“Touch her again, and I’ll break more than your nose,” Crow snarled at him.

“Son of a bitch!” William spat blood onto the floor and charged at him, throwing a punch at the thief’s throat.

Remembering what he had learned from his sparring lessons with Penelope, he brought up his forearm to block the knight’s attack and countered by shoving him off balance so he stumbled. William blinked, caught off guard by the thief’s new fighting abilities, but recovered quickly. He used his momentum to swing his left leg up and kick Crow’s knee, forcing it to buckle. Crow cursed, unable to stop himself from falling. The knight didn’t skip a beat. He spun around and landed another punch to the thief’s head before he could get up.

Crow’s vision swam from the blow, and he reeled back to get away from William until he could recover. However, the knight didn’t give him the chance. William shoved him against the far wall of the room. “Now you’ll pay,” he growled, cocking his fist back to swing at his face.