Chapter 43

"We've arrived"

Nash looked at her surroundings and noticed magic knights, squads, senior knights, and visitors. She noticed Mhurt as she looked around.

Goosebumps rush to her as she shudders in recall of what happened the last time. With that, she casually grabs someone's shirt.

"What are you doing?" Nash looked at the person who was speaking and then down at her hand, which was holding the back of his shirt.

"Oh. Sorry."

"Tsk," Kane said, pretending to wipe the part Nash is holding.

'This guy... really.'

As she glared at Kane, she felt someone behind her looking at her from behind. She saw Aidan who looked sad. Nash looked at him for a while before walking past Kane and walking beside Jaxael.

"Let's head inside," Yjhan ordered, his member following him in.

There are some priests and priests in training in places.

As they walk, an elder priest suddenly holds Nash's wrist, startling her.

"Can you tell me who you are?" The older female priest inquires, solemnly.

"I'm Nash from Squad 15"

"Not you,"

"Eh?" Nash kept her composure.

"The one in--"

"We don't have time for that, Melissa." Another senior priest stated.

Melissa let go of Nash's hand and glanced at her as if her gazes were piercing her insides.

"Melissa!"

"Yes, elder."

Nash noticed the other elder priest staring at her as well. Melissa follows the elder priest as he flashes a tiny smile before turning around and walking.

"That scares me..." she whispered.

'Does that priest know that I have a demon inside me?'

"Do you know who that priest is?" Jaxael inquired. As an answer, Nash shook her head. "Weird"

"Must have been a misunderstanding, let's go now, the other squads have already entered the conference place," Yjhan nodded at Nash.

They ignore the incident that occurred, despite the fact that others became intrigued, and enter the hall.

Inside, there were the squads and a few magic knights.

"Are we all here?" says Prince Lawrence, who's sitting in the main seat. Vincenzo was sitting next to him.

"Yes, Prince Lawrence," Answered one of the priests.

"I guess we're the last," Nash whispered to Jaxael.

Jaxael nodded.

"To begin, I'd like to express my gratitude for your presence here. As you are all aware, the coming-of-age event will take place in the Imperial Palace, which is open to the public. Since some knight guards are required to roam the empire, we are now lacking knights to secure the entire palace, thus I would want some of you, or better yet, all of you, to guard the Imperial Palace. I'm sure some of you will participate, especially the ladies who will turn 17, but I won't compel you because that day will be extremely special to you, so for those who are free, join the Imperial knights guarding the Palace," Lawrence stated.

He even asked the ladies who would be participating in the coming-of-age ceremony, and the majority of the ladies in squad knights and magic knights raised their hands. That means the other ladies were either not participating or under 17.

"Nash, aren't you also turning 17?" Nash was taken aback for a moment when she heard her uncle call him.

'Daeng... I drink too much coffee these days.'

"I'm not planning to," Nash replied with a smile.

"May I inquire as to why?"

Nash looked around and saw everyone staring at her. It's not unusual for the prince to ask for others as Prince Lawrence was considered to be a kind-hearted man despite his social standing.

"I'm not interested,"

When they heard Nash's response, some of the females were taken aback.

Usually, every female in the empire looks forward to the event because it is also a time for them to find a partner and show off their beauty. For others, especially those who do not have the luxury of throwing a lavish birthday celebration, the ceremony is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Despite this, the coming-of-age celebration might be viewed as a competition for others because every lady who participates is expected to show off. There will be a lot of females participating, which means you will have fewer chances of finding a partner who will like you back, whilst men will have a lot of options.

"Are you even a girl?" She overheard one of the magical knights say.

Nash chuckled as she looked at her, "Yes, I am. It's just that, I have my own choice and opinion and so do you."

'So don't bother someone else's life choices', is what she wants to add but she may be targeted by them. She had only recently had her injury treated, so she wanted to stay out of trouble as much as possible.

"Wh--"

The girl was ready to give a stupid speech when Prince Lawrence cut her stop before she could start a fight.

"I see... then will you guard the imperial palace, too?"

"Yes, with my squad mates."

"I see, then, thank you in advance,"

"It's an honor."

Those who would take part in the event were requested to leave the hall to minimize issues in directing the young knights to their proper locations in the Imperial Palace.

Despite the fact that many ladies and their companions exit the hall, the surviving knight can already replace the knights who are needed to protect the Imperial Palace and the approaching event.

Lawrence began to specify where the knights would be stationed. The squad 15 will be deployed to the Palace's walk way, along with a few senior knight guards.

Fortunately, Nash had previously instructed the Palace knights to pretend as if they didn't know her and to treat her as any other young knight.

...

Since Prince Lawrence and Vincenzo told the young knights of what needed to be done, the meeting lasted over two hours.

"Meeting adjourned."

The knights salute before leaving the hall. Squad 15 was the last to leave. Before exiting the meeting space, Nash returned a grin to her brother and uncle.

Yjhan flicked Nash's forehead as soon as they exited the hall.

"Ouch!"

"Stop starting fights with others."

Nash pouted, "They're annoying."

'And it's fun starting fights haha'

Yjhan sighed. "Let's go back home"

"What?! But we're going to roam the whole town."

"There are more stalls at night so we'll go at night. For now let's go back"

"If you said so..."

After the meeting at the temple, they return to their inn to relax while the sun sets.