Proposition

Standing in the dark woods, Laif titled his head to look up at the sky. As he lifted his arms and a blue feathered bird at the size of an eagle landed on his arms.

"You're back," Laif patted the bird on his head. He tried to meet the bird's eyes and smiled. "Sapphire, did you find out anything?"

The bird squawked and nodded at the same time.

Laif let out a laugh as he heard the bird's words. "You met a pretty girl?" He continued to stare at the bird as Sapphire recounted what had happened during his outing.

Once he heard that the bird was attacked by a cat, he immediately checked on the bird's body anxiously. It was only when he was sure that the bird was uninjured that Laif let out a sigh of relief.

Sapphire tilted his head before he continued his report.

"Good job, Saff."

Satisfied with the news that the blue feathered bird had brought back, Laif took out a few seeds from his pocket before he fed the bird.

As the bird was well fed, Laif extended his hand again. Sapphire flapped his wings and flew around the sky before he landed on his master's arms.

After letting another squawk, the blue feathered bird transformed into a silver bracelet around Laif's arm.

Laif patted at the bird carved on the bracelet. Upon closer look, one would notice the sapphire around the eyes on his bracelet resembled the blue feathered bird that has been flying around the palace that night.

…

A few months have passed as she took the throne as the King's substitute.

Princess Amelia could see the displeased glances the nobles would give her. She could hear the whisperers saying how it was unbefitting for her — a princess, a woman, to sit on the throne, ruling a country.

She knew exactly what the nobles had called her behind her back and naïve was one of them.

But perhaps the nobles were right. Perhaps she was too inexperienced to rule the country. After all, Amelia had absolutely zero experience with managing the government matters. Thanks to her naïveté, she had endangered both her maidservant and herself. They nearly fell into her enemy's trap and could have ended up dead.

Adviser Damian and Commander Irvine agreed that the attack could be related to the King's disappearance. They warned Amelia to be careful of the people around her or whoever that might have something to gain from her disappearance.

Amelia sunk into her seat and rubbed her temple slowly as the young adviser checked on the documents on her desk.

"Thank you for your hard work today," Damian told her.

She looked up and smiled faintly to her adviser. "I hope I wasn't doing a terrible job as a ruler."

"I think you're doing a terrific job as a beginner."

Amelia laughed softly. "You think so?"

"I know so. Not many Princesses could handle the pressure from the nobles as you could. You're a strong woman, Princess Amelia," Damian said.

Damian had recently tutored Amelia on governing, politics, economics, and everything she needed to know to survive the ministers' demand. And ever since the assault, he had to worry about the princess's safety as well.

Amelia gave him a small smile. Then a small sigh followed. "I just hope that I would hear news on Asher's whereabouts sooner. Frankly, I don't think that I could do a good job on governing as he did."

Damian smiled. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's alive somewhere. Your brother is a strong man. It will be hard for anyone to harm him. I bet he was planning something big before he made his appearance."

At this time, her maidservant, Sara, walked in and announced that Commander Irvine was asking for her audience.

Ever since Rae was injured and was forced to rest, Sara was chosen to serve Amelia closely.

Amelia waved her hand and Sara retreated as Commander Irvine walked in.

"Greetings to Your Highness, Princess Amelia," Commander Irvine greeted.

Without further ado, the Commander started to brief her on the investigation regarding the attempts to kill her. However, they did not have many clues.

The fake Captain confessed that a masked man paid him to lure the Princess away from the palace and kill her. He even gave them the Captain badge from the Commander's bureau to help them sneak into the palace.

Once he had delivered his report, Commander Irvine turned to the adviser and the two of them exchanged a look. "Your Highness, I have a proposition for you." Commander Irvine said.

Amelia leaned forward. "A proposition? What is it about?"

Commander Irvine took a deep breath. "We thought that it would be for the best if we recruit a few men and trained them as your Royal Knights to protect you."

"Royal Knights?" Amelia frowned as she recalled her brother's Royal Knights, Daren, and Leo. "You mean like Ash— the King's Royal Knights?"

"Yes," Damian said. "You're now ruling the country in the King's place. Thus, your safety is as important as the King's. It's only natural that we should recruit a few men as your Royal Knights."

"Why can't we just select a few of the Palace Guards and assigned them as my Royal Knights instead?" Amelia asked. "I think that would save a lot more money than recruiting new men."

Adviser Damian smiled at the princess's opinion. The princess would rather cut costs and save the government money, and use them to help her people.

"Of course... The Palace Guards are eligible to apply as the Royal Knight if they're interested," the Commander spoke. "But the Royal Knights and Palace Guards are different. The Royal Knights have to have higher skills in martial arts as compared to the Palace Guards. And the selection is much stricter. The Royal Knights would usually be given a much different training than Palace Guards. They will have to train for a few weeks in the boot camp before the selection process begins."

Amelia chewed her lip, trying to absorb what the commander had told her. "Alright..."

"According to traditions, the King or the Crown Prince would have to train along with their Royal Knights to build a stronger bond between them," Commander Irvine continued.

Damian noticed that small wrinkles forming on the Princess's forehead. "You do remember that the King had undergone the same training with his Royal Knights when he was still young, do you?"

Amelia nodded. Though it was long ago, she could still remember watching his brother trained along with his Knights in his quarters. "I remember." Amelia tightened her lips as she looked at Damian. "Does that mean that I have to train with my Knights too?"

Damian shook his head and chuckled softly. "No, Princess. You don't have to take part in the training. I have discussed this matter with the Commander and we have agreed that the Commander himself will train your Knights for you. After all, right now he was in charge of your safety."

Amelia had a confused look on her face. "What about bonding with my Knights then?"

The two men exchanged their look again before Commander Irvine spoke. "For the time being, we thought that it is best that we select a few men that are capable to protect you from danger. After all, we didn't have much time to train them. But, perhaps you could slowly build your bond with your Knights as time goes by."

Damian smiled. "Furthermore Your Highness. I don't think that the King would be pleased to know that we let you spend your time with a bunch of men without his approval."

Amelia stared at Damian blankly. Then, her lips slowly curved into a smile as something registered into her mind — how her brother never let any boy come closer to her. Asher can be protective of her. Especially when there were males involved.

"You know that he would kill me if I ever let that happen in his absence," Damian reminded her. "So, bonding with your Knights is totally out of question."

Commander Irvine get on one knee and lowered his head. "Your Highness, if you trust me, I will do my best and train them to do their job well."

"Very well," Amelia nodded. "We'll do it as your arrangement, Commander." She hesitated for a while and continued. "What about female bodyguards? I seem to recall that Lady Evans had female bodyguards around her all the time.."

"If the candidates are perfect for the job, I don't see why not?" Damian replied with a shrug.