Chapter 2
Chapter 2
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Knight Appointment Ceremony (1)
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Hot sunlight poured down onto the bed.
Was it because of that heat? I could barely pry open my tightly shut eyes.
“…”
A strange ceiling loomed before me.
This wasn’t Irina’s Northern Palace.
If it were, dust would be cascading from the hole I’d punched through the ceiling with a single blow.
“Where…?”
A shabby bunk bed.
Clothes hung from it—probably my roommate’s from sharing the room.
Among them was a cadet uniform.
In that instant, I realized it.
This was the cadet dormitory.
“What the hell happened…?”
I shot up in a hurry.
Anxiety surging through me, I numbly scanned my surroundings.
My gaze drifted to the mirror on the wardrobe.
“…!”
My younger self from childhood greeted me from the reflection.
No—it was me just after turning twenty, right before heading to the northern front.
“F-flashback… like a life flashing before my eyes?”
I’d heard that when a knight faces death,
they look back on their entire life up until then.
Was this that moment?
‘But for an illusion, the sensations feel way too vivid…’
With a bewildered heart, I quietly surveyed the silent dormitory.
Shabby beds used by commoner cadets.
Practice wooden swords leaning against the wall.
The fresh atmosphere of our cadet days lingered perfectly intact.
“It’s been ages since I last saw this.”
Among them, one uniform stood out with a distinctly different vibe.
Crisp fabric, no affiliation badge on the chest yet.
Cadets only pull this out on one day.
The day they’re appointed as full-fledged knights.
“Ha.”
Realizing this was the flashback phase, I couldn’t help but scoff.
Looks like I regretted the five years of hell on the northern front and becoming the bodyguard for a powerless princess.
Because the day my life went to shit was precisely this one.
My eyes fell to the uniform in my grip.
Warm sunlight poured down as if urging me to put it on.
‘Might as well try it on.’
I slowly slid my arm into the sleeve.
Being twenty again, my body felt leaner than before.
Well, back then, I was a poor commoner cadet.
Starved half to death, skin and bones.
As I finished changing and checked myself in the full-length mirror,
palace music drifted in from beyond the window.
The source was a lavish annex visible past the panes.
I knew that music.
How could a knight not?
It signaled the start of the appointment ceremony.
Drawn by the nostalgic melody, I headed there.
I slowly pushed open the grand palace gates.
Golden-gilded tables stretched out in a lavish line.
Before them stood uniformed cadets aligned like chess pieces.
As if waiting to be judged.
“Bale, over here…!”
Cain, my roommate from cadet days.
Thanks to his call, I naturally joined the ranks.
“What kept you so late?”
Brown curly hair and freckles dotting his nose.
Reunited as fellow rejects once banished to the boonies, my lips curled up on their own.
“Overslept, I guess.”
I answered his urgent question with casual ease.
Cain snickered and clapped my shoulder familiarly.
“You punk, I knew it when you said you were nervous yesterday—”
With that, imperial knights entered the annex.
Golden helmets and ornate epaulets.
Seeing their younger selves—the ones I’d clashed with in bloody duels—stirred strange feelings.
‘They were all so weak back then.’
Unlike me, coldly assessing their strength, Cain looked thrilled.
He swallowed hard, imagining himself joining their ranks.
“General Valderian enters the palace. All of you, pay your respects!”
At the knight captain’s booming command, the cadets tensed up.
They snapped to attention, eyes fixed straight ahead.
――――――.
Clanking iron boots.
A ornate lion-head helmet at his waist.
A massive man in a navy cloak strode into the palace grounds.
His entrance silenced the annex packed with so many people.
“Today is the day you’ve all eagerly awaited: your assignment designations.”
Grand General Valderian.
Standing at the center of the table, he carefully took in our faces.
His eyes, rejuvenated to his middle-aged prime, burned intensely.
Like the alpha lion in his peak, overflowing with dignity.
‘Old man, you were full of vigor back then.’
Five years from now, a civil war would erupt over the throne.
I’d sided with Irina; he with the crown prince. We’d faced off.
By then, I’d risen to swordmaster with skills honed on the frontier, so we’d been evenly matched.
‘I won in the end, but who knows against him now.’
“When the princesses arrive, prove your worth to the utmost.”
Princesses.
Just the word set men’s hearts racing.
At the news of their imminent arrival, the cadets’ eyes sparkled.
“That’s how you’ll get your desired assignments.”
The general roughly set down his lion helmet.
A few knights flinched at the thud.
“Even if assigned somewhere unwanted, no changes allowed. Anyone who applies gets punished by my hand personally.”
Punished by his own hand.
The annex fell deathly silent at his grim words.
‘Right, that’s why I couldn’t escape the grueling northern front.’
“That is all. Do your utmost for honor.”
‘Honor…’
The white-uniformed noble cadets would, sure.
With success guaranteed, honor’s all they had to chase.
But ours were black uniforms.
Drab as our origins—mostly commoners.
Forget princesses; like my past, we were doomed for the front lines.
‘Knowing the future makes this bittersweet…’
The best shot for a commoner knight was capital defense duty.
At least you’d stay in the capital.
But these young commoner comrades didn’t know that.
No matter their birth, all they’d see were the princesses.
“Hey, who do you wanna get assigned to?”
Lost in thought,
Cain whispered to me.
He seemed pretty excited to see the princesses too.
A grin wouldn’t leave his eyes.
“Who? No way the princesses?”
I snickered at his question.
“Dream on. For guys like us? Staying in the capital would be lucky enough.”
Of course, I’d busted my ass back then to catch a princess’s eye too.
But failed to overcome my origins and got shipped to the northern front in vain.
Once you realize that, you stop even dreaming of princess guard duty.
But…
“…”
My cheek itched where her tear had fallen at the very end.
It felt strangely like the sensation still lingered.
‘Bittersweet.’
With all memories of Irina intact right now,
I had zero desire to be her guard again.
Even if I could, it wouldn’t mean easy riches or glory.
Nor any real connection with her.
“Nah, with your skills, princess guard’s totally doable.”
“Pass. I’d rather live long and thin.”
Seeing my skepticism, my long-lost comrade encouraged me.
I just chuckled and patted his shoulder.
But.
My patting hand froze abruptly.
“Surprising. Some of you know your place after all.”
An irritating voice came from behind.
“Yeah. Most overreach without knowing their station.”
White-uniformed noble cadets.
They clucked their tongues at us.
“Have fun on the front lines if you get sent to the boonies.”
Mocking us in hushed tones out of Valderian’s earshot.
Irked by their attitude, Cain ground his teeth.
“Ignore ’em. Tangling with them just hurts us.”
I quietly held Cain back.
Delighted, the nobles got louder.
“Oh, one’s possible. The Second Imperial Princess, maybe.”
At the idea a commoner could guard a princess, Cain’s brows twitched.
“Why…? Something wrong with the Second Princess?”
I hesitated at his question.
Then stared blankly ahead and answered flatly.
“The Second Imperial Princess is the discarded princess.”
“Discarded…?”
All princesses except Irina had foreign royal mothers.
Giving them solid domestic and international support.
That’s how they fled to their homelands and survived the purge.
But Irina…
Her mother was a commoner.
No faction would back a half-breed princess like that.
Even the ailing emperor died, leaving her truly alone.
“Yeah, that’s how it is.”
I gave a wry smile and sighed deeply.
I wanted to explain more, but the general’s call shut me up.
“All cadets, to your positions!”
Valderian’s thunderous shout.
We straightened up in response.
The annex grew still.
Intense sunlight poured through the ornate stained glass.
Then the massive gates creaked open.
Golden blonde hair shimmering in radiant sunlight.
Followed by someone in pristine white uniform entering the palace.
A golden lion emblem on her chest proclaimed her high status.
The First Imperial Princess, Lea Andalusia.
Porcelain-white skin and sharp blue eyes.
At twenty-two, she surveyed the new knights with her long, elegant gaze.
Her lips curved up, and some knights’ did too.
Her hips swayed sensually with each step.
Men’s hearts pounded in rhythm.
“Please, take your seat.”
Guided courteously by the general, Lea sat.
“Thank you, Valderian.”
Lea was the imperial family’s sole soldier—a commander.
Famed for her martial prowess and stunning beauty.
Yet no one knew the ambition hidden beneath that beauty.
――――――.
“The Third Imperial Princess enters!”
After the First, someone announced loudly from the gates.
A woman in ruby-red dress with healthy skin strode boldly in.
The Third Imperial Princess, Lydia Andalusia.
Unlike Lea’s graceful poise, Lydia’s entrance was bold and boisterous.
Her heels clicked like Eastern music.
‘Past or future, she’s still a tomboy through and through.’
“Why are this year’s batch so scrawny?”
Lydia scanned the cadets with confident flair.
Then crossed her arms and plopped into the Second Princess’s seat.
“They look like they couldn’t swing a sword.”
All cadets strained to stare straight ahead.
But their eyes were magnetically drawn to the two beauties.
Natural for men.
But for some reason,
my head stayed turned toward the still-open gates.
As if waiting for someone.
Even the two princesses awaited the final lead.
Yet the distant gates remained stubbornly silent.
“…”
At the prolonged pause, Lea checked her pocket watch.
Lydia yawned, flashing her sharp fangs.
“Shall we begin first?”
Valderian asked politely from his seat at the table’s end.
Lea nodded with her signature mature gaze.
“Understood. Well then…”
The general cleared his throat and declared the ceremony open.
The knights tensed up in unison.
At that moment.
――――――.
Valderian clamped shut his mouth poised for a grand shout.
The firmly closed gates had swung open.
Dust danced in the sunlight.
Beyond it loomed a faint feminine silhouette.
“…”
No one stood beside her.
Not even anyone to announce her name.
Yet the woman entered the annex alone and with dignity.
“Sorry I’m late.”
Still her lustrous silver hair.
A noble white dress clinging perfectly to her form.
And those emerald eyes that seized everyone’s attention.
“The Second Imperial Princess, Irina Andalusia.”
In a palace hall filled with dozens of knights,
the princess introduced herself alone.
“…”
The moment I saw Irina’s face,
I felt this might not be a life-flashing-before-my-eyes after all.
For an illusion…
her figure was as ethereal as on the day she died.