First Knight

In this private discussion that lasted for more than an hour, Princess Amelia had instructed Lady Evans with everything she needed to do to help her to meet up with her lost brother, King Asher.

The Princess's entourage and Lady Evans' guards were left outside to wait and therefore, no one was able to hear any details about their plan.

Lady Evans stayed at the Princess's quarters and accompanied her for lunch before the two friends walked around the garden before Miria excused herself to leave and prepare for the meeting with King Asher.

"Trust me, Your Highness," Miria said. "I will ensure that everything will go well on that day."

"Thank you," Amelia nodded.

The two friends walked around for a while and stopped at their track upon noticing a figure standing not too far away from them.

Amelia was the first to recognize him. Her lips subconsciously turned up into a smile when she saw that it was her newly appointed First Knight, Laif. Seeing that he was in a good shape, Amelia let out a sigh of relief. She was glad that Commander Irvine had released him from that awful place.

"Your Highness," Laif greeted the Princess. Then he turned to Miria, "Lady Evans."

"Are you alright?" Amelia asked. She stepped towards him to give him a look over and after a while, a frown appeared on her face. "You are not injured, are you?" Her tone laced with worry.

Laif let out a dry cough upon noticing the way Princess Amelia has been looking at him. His gaze moved to Lady Evans and noticed the strange look on her face. An uneasy feeling crept to his heart, not knowing the reason why Lady Evans was looking at him that way.

"Thank you, Your Highness," Laif said. "I was able to leave the prison with your benevolence. But, I am merely a knight. It was not worth it for you to get into an argument with Commander Irvine for me."

Princess Amelia stared at the man in front of her for a while, causing Laif to shuffle uncomfortably.

"I will not let my people, pay, or suffer for my mistake," Amelia said. "If the Commander needed to punish someone, he should punish me. I was the one who wanted to go out." Her expression softened after a while. "Actually, I should be the one who apologized to you. Laif, you have to endure a lot of things after following me as a Knight."

"Please don't," Laif said quickly. "Princess, you are the ruler of this kingdom. You shouldn't be apologizing to your mere subject."

"Whether I'm a queen, a princess, or a servant, I should be apologizing when I did something wrong. I have caused you enough trouble with my action."

The corner of his lips tilted slightly into a smile, but it disappeared quickly before anyone noticed it. "But still... Your Highness, It was unnecessary to appoint me as your First Knight."

"I have decided that I'm going to take the position as the legitimate ruler of Noa Kingdom and fight for it. With this decision, my life will be in danger against various threats. Appointing you as my First Knight is definitely necessary. You told me that you were going to help me and fight against my enemy. Or is it that you have changed your mind, Laif?"

"I have not. Your Highness, I will be there whenever you need me."

"Then I'm glad," A soft smile curled on her lips.

Princess Amelia turned and motioned one of her maidservants to step closer, and retrieved a small pouch.

When the maidservant retreated to her position, Amelia pulled out something from the small pouch and paused as she looked at Laif again. It was then that she realized that he was donned in a new uniform—black from head to toe with his sword in his hand.

"I have something for you," Amelia pulled out an ornament from the bag and looked at him. "Don't move." Then, she stepped closer to him to pin the ornament on his shoulder.

As her hand touched him, Amelia seemed to notice the way he had stiffened. A teasing smile appeared on her lips as she was about to tell him that he should not be nervous around her. However, the moment she looked up, Amelia found that Laif's face was too close to him.

A soft gasp escaped her before she stepped back immediately.

"I—" the princess took a breath to compose herself. Her gaze moved to the insignia on his shoulder area and finally, her breathing calmed.

"That will be your insignia from now on," Amelia said. "A sign that you are my First Knight. This insignia will help you around the palace. You will have access to most of the areas in the palace and you will have the power to do what you previously cannot do. My safety will be in your hand. I trust that you will be using it wisely."

"Thank you for your benevolence, Your Highness." Laif bowed. He glanced towards the insignia in hesitant.

In just one night, he had been promoted and been given something as powerful as this insignia. The Princess trusted him too much to give him something as valuable as this.

"Tomorrow, we will head out to attend the King's funeral," Amelia spoke and her expression turned forlorn. "I will let you be in charge of my journey there. You can consult Commander Irvine or Advisor Damian for anything."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Amelia nodded before she turned to speak to Lady Evans and soon, headed back to her palace.

As soon as the Princess was away from them, Lady Evans stepped closer to Laif and smiled. "Congratulation on your promotion."

"Thank you."

The smile on her lips widened as she continued to watch the man in front of her. "A word of advice: If you didn't want anyone else to find out about your feelings, work more in concealing your expression around her." She glanced towards the direction where Princess Amelia had disappeared to and when she looked at Laif again, Miria caught the perplexed expression on his face. A chuckle escaped her. "Your feelings... It has become transparent."

Once she finished what she was going to say, Miria walked away with her guards trailing after her.

Laif watch as Lady Evans disappeared from his eyesight with a frown on his face. His mind whirled to think of the words she spoke.

The frown deepened as he finally understood her words.

Laif cursed inwardly; wishing that Kain had never made him realized his feeling towards the Princess. If he did not notice his feeling, perhaps he would not let his feelings showed in his expression. Perhaps he would be able to control his expression better.

As he came to realize this, Laif made a note to himself to control himself better.