chapter 2
In the captain’s office that I had expected to be empty, there was someone inside.
It was Elias, whom I was meeting again after nearly three years.
He was 19 now. Compared to when he was a boy transitioning into young adulthood, his features had grown a little more defined.
But his platinum-blond hair—like sunlight reflected on ice—and his deep blue eyes that resembled the ocean depths were unchanged.
“Eli? No, Captain.”
I tried to greet Elias warmly after such a long time, but quickly corrected my form of address.
Elias was now my superior for the next 358 days.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t properly heard my slip in hierarchy.
Only a detached glance, as if sweeping over the direction of the sound, brushed past me.
Our eyes met in the empty air.
I tensed up, worried Elias might recognize me.
No way. There’s no chance.
I soon shook off the thought and straightened my shoulders.
Even setting aside the gap between the 15-year-old me that Elias would remember and the 18-year-old me now, I had dyed my faint pink hair to a plain brown and even wore glasses that dulled my presence.
“Who are you?”
As expected, Elias did not recognize me.
His gaze, cold as the deep sea, landed on my trainee knight uniform.
“I-I'm Chloe Evergreen. A trainee knight of the 10th Order.”
I answered a little awkwardly, unfamiliar with Elias’s icy tone.
This is way more awkward than I expected.
The Elias I remembered wasn’t a particularly talkative person, but he had been surprisingly kind to me when I was younger.
He was more mature and gentle than my older brother’s mischievous friends—almost like an “older brother’s friend” who felt like an older sibling himself.
Elias’s brow furrowed after hearing my answer.
Then he let out a small sigh and asked again.
“What is a trainee knight doing in the captain’s office?”
“I, I came to clean…”
“Clean?”
Our eyes met again.
The slight confusion that replaced his earlier stiffness made him resemble the Elias I remembered.
“Y-yes!”
I almost answered casually out of panic, but managed to correct myself with the fastest reflexes in the Empire.
I had to stay focused, or I might accidentally slip and act familiar with Elias.
Absolutely not.
The “will” left behind by the dragon said to have been the first Emperor’s contractor was constantly monitoring whether I broke the rules.
It said if I lose enough points and fail, Princess Violeta’s existence will be erased.
No one had ever failed the coming-of-age ceremony before, so the exact meaning of “erasing existence” wasn’t clear…
I glanced down at the glass-bead bracelet on my wrist, which was fastened like a cuff.
Fortunately, it was still a clear blue.
If it all turned red, I’d be disqualified.
The pressure made my wrist feel heavy.
Elias gestured indifferently.
It meant I should just leave.
For someone as tense as I was, it was actually a relief.
Honestly, pretending to be “Chloe Evergreen” wasn’t difficult in front of people in the 10th Order who didn’t know me.
But pretending in front of Elias, who had known me since childhood, was another matter entirely.
I gave an awkward salute and turned to leave, then hesitated.
Would meticulous Captain Hugo check later?
He’d definitely scold me for not doing what I was told.
I pretended to look around for a broom.
“I still feel uneasy, so I’ll clean before I go.”
As I deliberately rustled around, Elias’s expression stiffened a little more.
See? It’s uncomfortable, right? Now tell me to leave again!
I was secretly hoping he would clearly tell me not to do it, so I could use it as an excuse.
“Don’t make me say it twice.”
Elias frowned.
I flinched at his unexpectedly cold response.
Without looking at me anymore, Elias continued.
“I don’t like others touching my space.”
Tch. You could’ve just said that from the beginning. Since when did you get so prickly?
I pouted in mild complaint, then realized he had just given me a perfect excuse.
“Oh, I see! Then I’ll be going now. Please rest well!”
Before he could change his mind, I quickly left the captain’s office.
I could feel his stunned gaze following me from behind.
But I didn’t care at all.
If I didn’t have to clean the captain’s office, I could finally return to my room in the knight barracks and rest.
Elias’s changed personality was surprising, but my rest came first.
My bed—wait for me!
I dragged my exhausted limbs, heavy from intense training, and headed through a shortcut toward the knight barracks.
“Ugh, I need to go in, wash up, exercise a bit, and sleep.”
Tomorrow would be training again at dawn.
If I didn’t loosen my stiff muscles, I’d be the one suffering.
At this point, I even missed Anna, the maid who had taken over my massages more than my parents.
Lost in thought, I walked almost unconsciously and soon reached the trainee knight dormitory area.
Everyone must have already fallen asleep from exhaustion; the area was quiet.
I trudged forward, focused only on going back to rest as quickly as possible.
Even the stretching I usually did for my tight muscles had already disappeared from my mind.
That’s how tired I was.
But then, a few guys with enough energy to still be awake this late stopped me with a careless shout.
“Hey, commoner!”
At first, I was too tired to even realize they were talking to me and tried to walk past.
But they grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.
“Are you deaf?”
Their tone was clearly mocking.
Oh, this is new.
Someone talking down to me like this—you're my first.
It was so novel that I didn’t even feel bad. I just found it interesting.
“Wow! Were you talking to me?”
I replied with a bit of excitement, curious what would happen next.
They burst out laughing in exaggerated disbelief.
“Who else here is a commoner besides you?”
The trainee knights sneered like street thugs.
Now I was starting to feel slightly annoyed.
I decided to remember that these guys were such extreme classists that they’d stay up late just to bully fellow commoners.
Until the coming-of-age ceremony ended.
But that was still 358 days away.
“Is that so… then why did you call me?”
I asked calmly first.
But they looked completely dumbfounded, as if they hadn’t expected this reaction.
“Why did we call you?”
“You don’t even feel shame?”
“If you had any dignity, you’d quit the knights right now.”
So that was their goal—making me leave the order on my own.
Given the special exception in my admission exam, I supposed they had reason to complain from their perspective.
But quitting isn’t an option.
I had a serious reason to remain in the knight order.
Though I was tired, I decided to try reasoning with them.
“So you’re upset that I was allowed to take the entrance exam through a special recommendation from the captain of the guard…”
They all nodded vigorously, as if that was exactly the problem.
“Then are you upset that the captain of the guard has that authority?”
That couldn’t be it.
During his term, the captain of the guard had the long-standing privilege of granting entrance exam eligibility to only a handful of people regardless of birth.
Of course, it was a symbol of the royal family’s trust, but it wasn’t something often used.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t use it—just that he usually didn’t.
“Don’t twist the issue!”
“We’re not saying that’s the problem!”
“Stop pretending this is about the captain!”
They shouted angrily, as if offended.
“So what exactly is the reason I’m unqualified?”
The captain’s recommendation only granted eligibility to take the exam.
Passing it was entirely my own ability.
I even held back during most of the exams so I wouldn’t disadvantage others.
It was just a hobby-level sword skill I learned from the captain himself.
Combined with strict royal training, if I had taken the exam seriously, I could have easily ranked at the top—even if not first.
Even if all of you competed together, I’d still win.
I shrugged as if it were obvious, and the guys grew visibly furious and started yelling in a rush.
