News on the Selection Process

Laif stared at the letter in his hand and re-read the contents for the third time. His forehead wrinkled at the contents. Then, he chewed on his lips as if he was pondering over something serious.

His elder sister, Princess Fareen had sent him a letter inquiring about his wellbeing and advised him to come home once in a while and visit their mother.

It has been a few years since he left the palace and decided to fo on for his adventure.

How long has it been since he stepped down from his position and left the palace for his adventure? Slightly over three years perhaps?

And how long has it been since he last contacted his mother, the queen?

As his thought drifted to his mother, the frown on his face deepened.

Laif quickly folded the letter neatly and hide them into his pocket when he heard footsteps walking towards him. He raised his head and saw Kain walking towards him.

Judging from Kain's expression, Laif could see that he was pissed at him for missing from his eyesight for hours.

Kain opened his mouth to speak but stopped himself when something on the ground caught his attention.

Suddenly, a loud, but short shouted could be heard.

Kain had his eyes wide and a hand on his chest when he saw the creature beside the Prince. He pointed on the coiled snake but was not able to utter a word.

Seeing the look on his friend's face, Laif let out a chuckle before he waved his hand towards the snake. Just like that, the snake then transformed into a silver bracelet. Laif then bent down to pick it up before he shoved it into his pocket.

No matter how many times he had seen that creature, Kain could never get used to it.

Princess Fareen was a gentle person, but Kain could not understand why would she choose snakes as her means of communication?

Once the snake was no longer on his sight, Kain took a deep breath and calm down. He turned to the Prince and spoke in a slightly shaky voice. "Another letter from Princess Fareen?"

Laif nodded faintly. There was a hint of a smile on his face. No matter how many times his guard had seen his sister's pet, he would always be scared of it.

"What did she says?"

"The same thing," Laif paused, "that I should consider returning to the palace and visit my parents once in a while."

"That's very good advice."

Laif threw him a dangerous look.

Kain shifted his weight and smiled. "But, I'm not here to give you any lecture on how you should once in a while head back to visit your parents. I've done that many times, and you wouldn't listen to me anyway."

Laif frowned with apparent dissatisfaction. His mouth opened to protest and decided against it. "Why are you here? I thought you're going to practice a little bit more with the other candidates?"

"I have news for you," Kain spoke. His expression turned serious when he recalled the news he heard from his comrades. "There are rumors that the selection process for the Princess' Royal Knights is going to be postponed. They're going to post the official notice anytime soon."

Laif stared at his guard in disbelief. "Why?"

He had thought that he would be able to infiltrate the palace more freely once they passed the selection process.

Kain exhaled. "I'm not sure. I heard something about the princess isn't in the mood for the selection yet."

Laif grimaced at the news. "Not in the mood?"

"Are you sure you want to go along with your plan?" Kain asked. "It seems that we're going to deal with a very difficult Princess once we pass the selection. I don't think it's too late to back off now before we make it as the royal guards."

"And let go of our chance to find the artifact?" Laif shook his head. "No. You know very well the importance of this magic artifact. The old master did not send us here to return with an empty hand."

"You mean you wouldn't mind serving this Princess? She could be a real nightmare. You know how it is with royalties. Most of them are made of stuck up, arrogant princes and princesses," his voice gradually quieten down and Kain mentally cursed at himself realizing what he had said.

Laif have to cackle at Kain's discomfort. Then he raised a brow. "Do you think of me as stuck up and arrogant then?"

Kain shook his head quickly. "No." He cleared his throat and continued. "Y-your family is different. Your family has been kind to their subjects." He swallowed and swiftly lowered his down his head and went down on one knee. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. This humble servant deserves to be punished."

Laif's expression alarmed. His eyes scanned the surrounding nervously as he pulled Kain up. "Stop that. Get up now, Kain. We didn't want anyone to see anything."

"Right," Kain replied. He too scanned around to look for anyone who might notice them. Thankfully, there was no one passing by to notice them. "I'm sorry. I should be more careful."

"Please. Or else, we will both get into trouble." He watched Kain nodded in and turned around. "I should get going now."

Kain frowned when the prince was about to head to the opposite direction of the training camp. His mouth then formed into an 'O', and a loud gasp escaped him at the sight of the prince climbing the palace wall without any difficulties. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The prince flashed a cheeky smile from the top of the palace wall. "I'm sneaking out."

"What? Again? Are you insane?" Kain scanned around to ensure that no one was watching them. "You can't do that. It's dangerous! We're supposed to be training in the camp. What will happen if any of the soldiers caught you? You can forget about searching for that artifact!"

"I won't get caught. You know that."

"Don't be too sure about that!" Kain clenched his teeth in frustration. "Prin—"

"You just told me that the selection will be delayed. Training can wait." Laif cut off before Kain got the chance to say anything else. "Besides, I need to send a reply letter to my family and let them know that I'm alive and breathing," he reasoned. "It wouldn't be appropriate to practice magic in this palace."

Hearing the Prince's excuses, Kain subconsciously glanced at the tattoo around his upper arms.

Before the two of them signed up to join the Princess Royal Guard, the Prince had put on that tattoo and cast a spell so that he would not be able to use magic as long as they were in Noa Kingdom.

"What about me?"

"You should go back to the training camp before anyone else notices anything. And cover me if anything happens. You're good at convincing people with your lies, aren't you?" Laif said, winking, causing Kain to open his mouth wide open. "Don't worry about me. I'll be back as soon as I can."