Ale's Plan

"wow"

Words of appreciation left Ale's lips before he could even fully grasp the scene in front of him.

Giving Xion the necklace that can alter ones identity was going to be one of the decisions that Ale would never come to regret at the future.

'Just look at that face.. My god.'

Ale was clearly too stunned to speak. Not only was the guy looking simply gorgeous but he also had such a sharp and royal vibe to him.

No one would look at Xion and not think he's a Prince from the Southern continents.

His now dark black eyes held a depth incomparable to humans, those long lashes only complimented his eyes even more.

The broze skin that looked like melting honey during golden hour and the white hair that weirdly enough complimented the whole look, it was a masterpiece.

"How do I look?"

Xion looked at his own reflection in the mirror and wondered. If anything, to him, he looked more 'human-like' than anything else. His tall build and dense muscles were gone and the wild aura was replaced by a delicate and smooth one.

'No wonder the noble ladies go crazy for this stuff.'

Ale could finally understand why it was such a valuable product. It transformed Xion into a completely different person.

"Why do you keep staring? Does it look weird?"

Xion frowned slightly as he placed his hands on the necklace, a slight discomfort forming at the back of his mind.

"Weird? No.. You look great."

"Really?"

"Yeah.. You look like a Prince."

Ale couldn't help but admire and compliment that look. Xion looked like what one would look like if God used all of his time and dedication to make a masterpiece.

Ale failed to find a word to describe Xion's appearance properly. Apparently, no words he could think of suited that face, that body; it just wasn't enough.

"A Prince.. Not bad then."

"You're gonnna attract a lot of attention though. How about wearing a hood?"

For some reason, Ale felt an urge to just hide this guy inside his mansion forever. It's a feeling you get when you possess something very unique and precious. You want to lock it up and keep it safe outside people's view. His feelings were the same.

"But it's hot.."

"Oh, you don't need to worry about that. The hood has temperature control function built-in."

"You humans sure love making life convenient."

Xion agreed in the end and got himself wrapped in a maroon robe from top to bottom. Since it was a high quality material, he didn't feel any discomfort and decided to let the matter go for now.

The colour of the hood closely resembling Ale's hair is something that none of them seem to have noticed. Not that it was something major.

But Ale's subconscious desire to dye Xion in his colour and hide him from the world was already materialising in a different and subtle form. Of course, this is something he'll come to realise much later in the future.

"Where are we going?"

"The training ground! I picked some knights to go with me to the capital. Don't you wanna check them out?"

Since Ale had already decided to let Xion join him directly this time, he had no intention of hiding him away. Instead, he'd give Xion as much spotlight as he possibly could and make him the empires hero. At least that's what the Present Ale had in mind.

"Young master.. You're back."

The knights that were already waiting for him in his personal training ground all bowed down the moment Ale entered the premises . They were all mostly hot-blooded youths, thriving for power and strength. The aura they all gave off was no joke.

"Hey my little puppies."

But Ale's reaction was quite different from what one would have expected. He looked like a proud mother who was just happy to see his son after a long time. There was nothing but pure joy in his eyes as he checked the whole crowd out.

"Whoaa.. Look at this! Y'all grew stronger than the last time I saw you. I'm so proud!"

Ale came down the podium which was there for some reason. He had never once used that thing before. Ale didn't like looking down on his own people while talking to them.

"It's all thanks to you, young master."

The soldier that looked the oldest came forward and paid his respects to Ale as he said those words. It wasn't just curtesy though. He really did mean each word that he said just now.

"C'mon now. We're past that stage already. Let's get down to business instead, shall we?"

The knights quickly gathered around Ian like a flock of puppies and Xion almost got lost in the crowd. With his face hidden and stuff, he held little to no presence at all at the moment. So he easily got lost in the crowd.

"First of all, I'll say this again but you're free to leave if you want to. This is a serious mission and most of you might not even manage to come back alive."

Ale gave them a final warning. But the determined look on their faces was enough to tell him that none of them had any intention of backing down.

'Real hot-blooded.'

He laughed to himself before ordeing them to go back to their formation again. As they stood tall , all high and mighty , as the knights directly under the Duke, Ale took a final look at them before he decided to stir the pot.

"I have someone I'd like to introduce to you guys first."

He called Xion to approach and stand right next to him as he announced his decision.

"This is the guy I hired personally to be my guard."

Ale patted Xion on the shoulder as he said those words. If they were going to fight alongside each other in the war, they had to have good chemistry between them. It was a necessity.

"Your guard, young master? But we're here."

And just as Ale had expected, the atmosphere started to warm up slowly. The knights who were proud of themselves just moments ago, doubted Ale's words of hiring a personal guard while they were still here, ready to give it their all.

"I know, of course. You're all here, protecting me and the duchy with all your heart."

"Then why...?"

"He's just that good. I couldn't resist myself, y'know."

Ale started praising Xion while the poor guy looked like he had no clue what was happening under the hood. He finally understood why Ale insisted on hiding his face, it was also to hide his clueless expressions.

"He's that good?"

"Mhm.. This guy's name is Xion and he's going to act as my personal bodyguard from now on. I hope you guys can get along well."

Ale didn't mean that. He wanted the two parties to compete and fight each other and grow on the process. Although Xion was already far stronger than any of his knights, Ale also had some level of confidence over the Knights that he personally trained for the last few years.

"As you wish, young master."

Although the knights were dissatisfied on the inside, they didn't show as severe a reaction as Ale had expected them to. He was also partly to blame for that.

Afterall, Ale was the one that made them go through temperament control trainings in the past. It helped his knights keep a cool head and rationally analyze any and all situations they might find themselves in.

'A little more push necessary, huh?'

"Oh also! In my absence, he'll act as the vice-captain and control the unit."

Ale dropped the final bomb and left the scene before the occurrence of the explosion. He wanted to rile the Knights up as much as he could and help them grow stronger before their departure.

"Our vice-captain? Him?"

"Did young master take some weird medicine again?"

"But he sounded pretty serious."

"So he seriously expects us to accept a nobody as our leader?!"

The Knights, just as Ale had expected, started getting riled up and concentrating all of their fury and frustration toward the only innocent guy on the field, Xion.

"Me?"

Xion just stood there dumbfoundedly as he tried to process what just happened.