The Princess's Dreams

In her tower office, the Princess was watching as her adviser checking on the documents on her desk.

Once in a while, Damian would bend down beside her and pointed at a line where she needed to jot her signature.

As she sat behind the big table that was too big for her, Amelia could not help but feel so lost and helpless.

Earlier during her meeting with the nobles, Amelia could not help but understand the noble's hidden words; that she will make a fool of herself because of her lack of experience.

The nobles were sure that sooner or later, she should prove that she was too young and naive about governing a Kingdom. It was as if they could not wait for her to make a mistake.

Even though she understood clearly what the nobles were discussing about, none of them were listening to her opinions properly.

She was treated as if she was invisible.

The Princess had wanted to bring out the matter regarding the lies they told, but facing the nobles' intense gaze, Amelia suddenly cowered.

It was as Damian had told her—she could not say a word without concrete evidence. If she told them that she had sneaked out of the castle to take a look around, wouldn't the nobles criticize her by saying that she was too irresponsible to ignore her work to have fun outside?

In her current situation, she could not bear to let others have the chance to criticize her.

In the end, what she can do was to talk to Commander Irvine and let him investigate the nobles' wrongdoing. Once she found the evidence, Amelia was determined not to let them go.

Damian heaved a sigh when he saw that the Princess was absentmindedly staring at the papers in front of her.

How can he not know what was on her mind right now? For the last two days, it was all the matter that she had talked about—the terrible condition that the people on the street were when she had found them.

The advisor then recalled how the Princess went to look for him two mornings ago. The moment he stepped in into the tower office, Amelia was already waiting for him.

The Princess had spilled how she snuck out of the palace and went to Gami village to offer her help to the villagers. She told him that it was the least she could do to lighten the villagers' burden.

Damian was worried when he heard that she has snuck out of the palace once again. He was afraid that someone might use that chance to harm her like the last time she was tricked to see Commander Irvine.

But at the same time, Damian also admired how the Princess has used her own money for the villagers' necessities. He was very proud of her action to put her people first.

Noa Kingdom would definitely need such a kind-hearted ruler to govern the kingdom after everything they have gone through.

In the end, Amelia had asked him to lend her his power so that she can grow stronger and regain power in her court.

Damian decided right then that he would do anything to protect her dream.

However, there was something else that he could not tell her...

No matter how much the Princess wanted to find the person who was responsible to embezzle the money, Damian knew that it was impossible to punish the wrongdoers.

As the Kingdom's adviser, how can he not know that there are many who was involved in the case? Back then, Asher was aware of the situation as well. But he could not do anything about it as almost every noble in their court was involved in the embezzlement.

If the Princess knew who they were and wanted to punish them, she would later be disappointed to know that it was impossible to punish everyone. They couldn't possibly strip everyone's title and let the court be empty with anyone to assist her, could they?

...

Damian soon found out that he has been staring at the documents in his hand in a daze when the Princess called out his name.

"What are you thinking about?" the Princess asked.

"Nothing much. Your Highness, are you tired? Do you want to get a short rest?" A smile curled on his lips as he tried to distract the Princess.

"I'm still alright." Amelia shifted the papers on her desk and paused as she peeked at the adviser's face. "How is it going with the Royal Knights' selection?"

"It is going as planned. Commander Irvine has commenced the first stage of the exams. The final test will be held tomorrow. But your highness, are you sure you want to attend the exam ceremony?" Damian shifted his weight while the princess raised her brows. "The exams will take a long time and I'm worried that the weather might be too... sunny."

"I don't mind getting my skin a little bit tanned if that is what you're trying to warn me."

Damian shook his head and laughed. "No. That's not what I was trying to say."

A smile curled on her lips. "I wanted to go. I need to go to the selection and see my Knights' skills for myself. After all, I am about to trust them to protect my life."

There was a brief pause between them before Damian decided to speak. "But your Highness, what I don't understand is, why do you want to hasten the selection?"

Amelia hid her smile as her thought went to that man who once complained that she was being a 'difficult princess'. She wondered for a moment how Laif would react when the selection took place earlier than it should be. Would he think of her as a 'difficult princess' as referred to her two days ago?

"Isn't it better to test the candidates when they are not well prepared to face the trial," Amelia said. "This way we can test them and see how really capable they are to face something without much preparation and hire the best among the best."