Members of the royal family would only begin to officially a.s.sume their responsibilities when they turned eighteen .
However, as a princess, Cornelia still had the responsibility of entertaining guests, such as foreign dignitaries and prominent n.o.bles .
She had just attended one such event, where she had to silently suffer through pompous flattery from the n.o.bles that had come to see her father . Finally done with it, she rushed through a maze of corridors to her quarters in the inner palace .
The hallways were pointlessly long and wide, which made getting anywhere a slog .
She pa.s.sed by intricately crafted pillars one by one . The finest architects and artists in the land had labored to raise this symbol of the empireâs glory, but to the palaceâs inhabitants, it was just their home .
Privately, she wished the people who had built the palace hadnât made it so vast .
Itâs Wynnâs first day and Iâve already kept him waiting!
Seeing her run through the castle halls made the knights and staff frown . But time and time again, whoever tried to stop and scold her would suffer a nasty surprise and find themself attempting to chide a princess . A hurried polite greeting would be issued to mask the faux-pas .
Corneliaâs dress wasnât typical royal attire and didnât signal her status . She wore one that was plain and unadorned, comfortable to work in .
Maryâs going to scold me for this, wonât she? Oh, speak of the devil .
A familiar face appeared ahead . It was Mary indeed .
Seeing Cornelia, the girl bowed deeply .
âExcuse my tardiness . Has Wynn arrived yet?â
âYes, princess . He is here, but⦠â
âIs anything amiss?â
Mary recounted her exchange with Raymond .
âI see . Viscount Hoffman⦠The one who belongs to Marquis Cliffdorfâs faction?â
âHe is a newly appointed Court Mage . â
Could Cliffdorf be aiming to increase his factionâs influence among the Court Mages?
Historically, the Knight Order and the Court Mages did not interact very often .
In contrast to the militaristic knights, the mages prefered to mingle with the bureaucrats, and many of them a.s.sumed bureaucratic jobs in their old age .
That gave the mages a lot of influence .
The Cliffdorfs placing one of their own in the Court Magesâ ranks was a sign that they were trying to have a slice of that pie .
âIt is also worth mentioning that Sir Bard did not come in uniform today . â
âIs that so? I hope you gave him a warning?â
âYes, Highness . It was done . â
The two women walked side-by-side towards the inner palace and Corneliaâs private quarters .
Once they got there, the princess saw her friend and cla.s.smate from the Knight Academy . After four long years, he had finally become a knight, even if, officially, he was just a part of the Imperial Guard under Corneliaâs direct command and not a part of any chivalric orderâ¦
âGood morning to you, Your Highness . â
âGood morning, Wynn . You may call me Cornelia when no one else is around . I do consider you an important friend of mine, after all . â
âUnderstood, Princess Cornelia . â
âDispense with the formalities . I insist . â
âUmm, okay⦠uhhh, Cornelia? . â
Despite some awkwardness, Wynn obediently addressed her normally as he had in the past . Cornelia smiled happily, then appraised his appearance through narrowed eyes .
âI see that your new clothes have not yet arrived ⦠Or did they not fit you, perhaps?â
âThe size wasnât the problem . Iâm still a squire though, and your personal Guardian Knight order has not yet been officially established . I felt out of place wearing the uniform . â
âIs that so? I think it suits you perfectly though!â
Wynn could only reply with a sheepish chuckle .
His Imperial Guard uniform was made of a luxurious white fabric .
And only those of the highest rank wore white .
For official functions, that color was restricted to a select few: royalty, the heads of n.o.ble families given peerage, and ministers sitting in the Cabinet .
Furthermore, the brilliant white of his uniform was accentuated by blue cuffs, a blue collar, and embroidery sewn in gold and silver .
At the moment, it was uniform only Wynn had the honour of wearing .
He was currently the sole Guardian Knight of Cornelia, and she was an unmarried princess . There would likely be resistance to him being that close to her .
Alfred seemed to be busy with laying the necessary groundwork so that the optics of the situation were right before it was announced .
Very few had heard about Corneliaâs new guard order, and those who did knew nothing more than rumours .
âMary did tell me to wear it regularly though . She said I would get used to it . â
âIf you wear the uniform often, youâll learn how to project a befitting appearance . â
Wynn sighed .
âBut I did put on the emblem . â
He pointed to his chest .
Corneliaâs crest, a star-shaped bellflower, gleamed on his chest .
âI guess I have no choice but to get used to it . â
The princess entered her room with a resigned smile and offered Wynn a seat .
Mary promptly went about preparing tea for the two of them .
âBy the way, what do I have to do as a Guardian Knight?â
âGood question⦠â
Cornelia contemplated the question for a short while .
âNormally, you would remain by my side as a guard during official functions⦠But since my presence is not required for any of them at the moment, having tea with me every once in a while will be sufficient . â
âHmm . That doesnât really sound like work . â
âAlso, since I intend to continue attending the Academy, my safety while on the school grounds shall be in your hands . â
âOh, yeah, they finally announced that the Knight Academy is opening again . Iâm happy that I donât have to pay another enrollment fee or anything . â
The Academy that had been closed since the coup was finally opening its doors again .
The school officials had worked frantically to replace all the faculty members who had died during the incident .
There was also pressure to reorganize the knight orders in response to the worsening relations with Petersia .
Therefore, the officials decided to make an exception and allow the students who were enrolled last year to re-enroll .
And so, all the students who had gone through the coup were exempt from the selection examinations and automatically promoted .
Those who had been mere cadets became squires .
Those who had been squires became full-fledged knights .
Due to the personnel shortage, the newly knighted students would have to complete the tasks normally left to their more experienced peers .
Among all the new student-knights, only Wynn became a Guardian Knight .
He hadnât become a part of the Royal Knight Order or the Imperial Guard like he had hoped, but instead, he became Princess Cornelia Lute Lemmrousselâs Guardian Knight .
However, since Cornelia would only a.s.sume her official duties once she turned eighteen, his new duty would only really begin next year .
And so, Wynn ended up remaining as a student of the Academy .
However, he was exempt from some of the cla.s.swork .
In addition, due to the nature of his new position, he was outside the chain of command of the knight order .
Basically, with his duties as guardian a priority, he would attend cla.s.ses on his own time .
âYouâre going back?â
âBut of course . You may have become a knight already, but what about me?â
Cornelia giggled playfully .
âThere are training grounds within the palace, where Imperial Guards hone their skills . You should have a look when you are free in the future . And maybe practice your sword skills together with me . I would like that . â
âSure . Iâm looking forward to it . â
The pair continued enjoying tea and conversation in this manner .
âHmm, so this is how things are . â
Wynn brought his beloved dagger close to his face to inspect the blade . It was polished to perfection, to the point that it gleamed in the sunlight . He was sitting on the stone paving of the palace training grounds . There was a barrier within the palace to prevent anyone inside from casting spells . However, places like the laboratories of the court mages and the healersâ clinics were exceptions . This place was another such exception .
The st.u.r.dy bowl-shaped training arena was designed to withstand spells being cast from within . The inner wall was imbued with magic to prevent anything from damaging the outside . There were also several rows of seats beyond the wall so royals and foreign dignitaries could spectate tournaments . Whenever his new liege lady, Cornelia, was not around, Wynn would spend time here . More and more of it . At first he simply polished his equipment while reading the books Leticia got him, but he soon lost to the urge to move his body .
Hmm⦠There arenât many people here right now .
The problem was that he attracted attention whenever he trained here .
Naturally, since this was inside the palace, most of the people around him were knights of the Imperial Guard .
And Wynn stood out like a sore thumb among them .
Extending his freshly-polished sword, Wynn a.s.sumed a stance . Cold words of his recent training partners echoed in his head .
âYou? A Guardian Knight? Connections sure are convenient . â
âCould you spar with me for a bit?â
Those spars tended to leave his whole body aching .
Hmm . Iâd have more confidence against another student .
Only n.o.bles who were born with an abundance of magic power, and only the best of those, could join the Imperial Guard .
Due to that, Wynn would already struggle in a match of pure skill . When body strengthening magic was added to the equation, it was no contest .
Wynn preferred to fight in a more evasive manner, but the skill of his opponents here forced him to take the blows head on . He ended up overpowered in every bout .
Time after time, he ended up on the stone floor .
I need more training, more experience .
If he were a normal knight, he could gain that on subjugation expeditions .
But the Imperial Guard existed to protect the Emperor and his family .
That was to say nothing of the fact that he was also under Corneliaâs direct supervision . He wouldnât get a chance to fight as a knight outside .
Becoming a knightâ¦
All throughout his life, that was his dream .
And finally, he made it happen .
But there was no meaning in his knighthood if he couldnât protect what he needed to protect .
I have to become stronger . Strong enough to protect everyone important to me . And one dayâ¦
He swung his sword .
Once, twice . The swings kept coming .
His whole body dripping with sweat, Wynn walked to the well in a corner of the training arena .
The water there was for both drinking and was.h.i.+ng off sweat .
He took off his jacket and poured the water over his head .
The feeling of cool liquid flowing down his body was refres.h.i.+ng .
He started wiping off his sweat and putting his clothes back on, only to be interrupted by a voice .
âHey . â
Wynn turned around .
âI heard that you would be here . â
âIf it isnât Viscount Hoffmanâ
It was Raymond .
âI apologize for the other day . I had just arrived to the Palace and was still finding my way around the place . â
âItâs fine . My appearance was certainly confusing . â
Raymond clicked his tongue as he held his hand out . Wynn took it .
âPlease call me Raymond . I work here as a Court Mage . Pleased to meet you . â
âI am Wynn, Princess Corneliaâs Guardian Knight . â
âOh, I know . The commoner . People were talking about how a commoner joined the Imperial Guard . It has become a big deal . â
Wynn could only chuckle sheepishly .
âSo what do you need me for, Raymond?â
âAs I said, I would like to apologize for what happened yesterday . I was on my way to the archives so I decided to drop by . I hope I did not hamper your training . â
âNo, I was pretty much done . Are you looking to do some research in the archives?â
âOh? Do you happen to be interested in books too?â
âWell⦠A bit . â
âI see, I see . How surprising . I thought all of you knight types only had muscles for brains . I stand corrected . â
Raymond nodded happily and softly clicked his tongue .
âThe archives here boast a great collection of books . I do recommend that you check it out if you are interested . â
âCan anybody access it?â
âOf course . Even knights like you would find it useful to learn about military history, right?â
âI guess so . What books are you looking for?â
Another click of the tongue . Wynn wondered whether it was a habit .
âMe? Iâm looking into the subject of the Demon Lord . My primary research focus is on demons . Well, I have to go now . Good day to you . â
Raymond walked away .
Demons . Something about Raymondâs face when he said the word made Wynn worry .