Chapter 3

At 9 pm I finally finished my very, very long shift, already tired and trying my hardest to not stare at and only think about what was placed in my back pocket. I sigh, knowing that I'm not letting my poor heart go down the better path, anything but liking a prince, even though he's the second in line he could never be with anyone with such a low status plus, who says he's even gay? For all I know he's already got a crush or that the king and queen already have someone arranged to marry him, not to mention that if we even dated we couldn't marry anyway.

My thoughts were consumed by him so even though I should get some sleep, I decided to go to the training grounds and get some air to cool my head and hopefully get Cassius and his drawing out of my mind.

The training grounds were pretty big with little stall like structures around the outside that held our weapons and armory hung on stands and each person normally engraved their name in the wood near the stand and each time someone took their place, they would cross out the name and wright their own but of course not everyone does it and still there are a lot of conflicts every year over someone using someone else's stuff or placing it in their spot, but it's usually the same knights that are just the fighting over anything type.

Normally there's people here throughout the day due to the different shifts and stuff making most people train in the morning and few train at night unless they have the night shift, but even then mostly they don't in other times of the day. Tonight though I only past two people leaving the training grounds, exhausted and sweating.

I go to where I keep my things, on the left side of the training grounds and in the corner of the stall. I remove all my armor and place them on their stands, so they stay less dirty and out of the way and then grab my sword and head out to where the dummy's and targets were, spread around in the circle of the lifeless stalls. The training grounds at night was pretty creepy even though there were lights from the palace on the outside, the dummy's and armor's on their stands were always creepy too me every time I go out alone, witch is practically every time since I don't socialize too much.

After attacking a dummy for a while I felt really sweaty and gross, so I decided to take a break. I check my watch, and it says it's 10: 49. I was growing exhausted but knew as soon as I stop and decide to go back to the knights quarters, I would be flooded with the mixed emotions again, so I kept training in various ways. After doing a bunch of swings at the dummy my arms felt like they were burning, and I plop down on the ground, breathing unevenly. I place my sword at my side and lay back on the dirt ground.

The night sky shown as beautiful as ever as the stars sparkle like a million little diamonds. I take a deep breath, calming my heart and breathing as I focus on the beauty of the night. The wind drifts softly over my arms and cooled my sweat making my once hot body, much more comfortable, like a cold pool on a hot day. Dipping into the cool waters after running in the heat. It was surprisingly a good feeling. Normally I wasn't one to enjoy the outdoors in such a calming way since I was always on duty or training. But no other night was as refreshing and quiet as this one. I relax against it as best I can.

In the morning I get out of bed and yawn, exhausted. I had been out till midnight last night and only woke up at 5:49 am. I get out of bed and change into my outfit once again and brush my teeth, my two bottom teeth as sharp as always. They remind me of a new vampires fangs, but of course smaller and at the bottom row rather than the top. I always loved reading manga with fantasy characters, so I often saw things or thought in ways others think is childish, but it didn't matter to me. Manga was my lifeline, normally I'd fall asleep reading one, but last night was an exception.

The night before I had taken out the paper from my pocket and unfolded it before placing it on my table side desk, the drawing of the rose still sparking something in me almost as strongly as the name signed in the right corner at the top. As I button up my shirt, fixing the top button, I noticed it and walk over to it, smiling softly to myself like a teenage girl who got flowers from her boyfriend for the first time. Dammit, why did I think of it that way?! I'm long gone...

I brush my black hair swiftly, not giving much effort since I didn't care too much, I don't normally hang out with anyone, and it's normally a maid or servant that comes around to all the nights during duty and bring us a sandwich and some fruit during lunch and bread, a butter knife, and butter for the main thing and usually an apple or banana as the side. We weren't given too much, but it was free, and the people would come back in maybe 10 minutes and take the plates or silverware. It didn't really bother me what I ate, it was more of the weather that bothered me.

Days that it stormed I was ok since I always stood under a ledge for a window on the palace's side, but sometimes the wind would lead the rain at a slant and my legs or feet would get wet. Those days sucked because I couldn't sit and would have to eat standing up witch just felt depressing. Worse of all on those days Cassius wouldn't come outside due to the fact it's raining, and he wouldn't draw in such conditions. That made it worse since the only part I look forward to through all my hours was mostly being able to see him, even more now since he knows of my presence and he's already talked, well, interacted with me more like, but it still changes things.

On days that were hot it sucked because in all that armor we had to keep on it really got sweaty and bad. The scent would be quite bad but at the same time the servants would bring extra water bottles around and would give you a cup of ice if you wanted. You would just have to return the cup after your shift to the kitchen. Those days were terrible also, but Cassius would still come outside those days, just not for as long. I didn't have to worry about the sun since my skin is normally a little darker. It was very hard to get even a little sunburned and even then it never hurt.

However, in the winter, everyone's job and was a bit effected if not very. Many of the servants that brought us the food would struggle a little more because of course they wouldn't give us water that would freeze, they had to give us hot chocolate (which was delicious btw) and that would of course take a lot longer but was much better to us. On those days in the winter when there was heavy snow we were normally given little hand heaters to keep in our armor that could be traded out a few times in every shift. those were hard days. On those types of day Cassius wouldn't come but less snowy day's he would still be out, bundled up but his pale cheeks colored a cute shade of pink. I did like that about those days but of course he couldn't stay very long outside.

Regardless of the weather though, I didn't change my shift or ask for a switch since I couldn't bare the thought of missing a day with him in it. I know, it's really cheesy, but I can't help it. Plus I don't like the thought of someone else seeing how he looks so content while outside in the fresh air, the way his silver hair and gray eyes look in the winter. Like he belongs to the wind, a delicate snowflake. His pink cheeks making him look even prettier.

Another reason I don't though is because we get paid based on our job and hours. I'm not in a hard shift, but I am the only one stationed in the garden witch makes my pay higher than it would be. It was about 165 a day, but I was fine with that. I only really came here because I was so fond of the palace and thought out of my respect and love for the kingdom and all it did to help me well after my parents died, that I should repay it with my life. So I went after the job of knighthood, though I planned to be one to help fight against others, that was normally a job for people with exceptional strength or those who have worked for them for a while, and since I'm neither, I was placed in this job, but I was fine with it. I mostly talk to myself while keeping my eyes on any movement within the garden.

So far I haven't caught anyone or anything other than a few rodents and snakes that I reported for people that were trained for this type of job to work on. I felt bad for the rodents but wasn't a fan of snakes since I was bitten when I was young and was bedridden for a while until the fever passed. Luckily it wasn't that venomous but still traumatized a 5-year-old. I lived in the orphanage around that time and was even more scared since I had just arrived. The orphanage took good care of me and showed me good affection with my time there. The royal family is the one that funds the good medical care and food and room necessities witch made me forever in debt to them. They were the only reason I survived and even got such a good education and bed and food even though I had nothing to offer, a small kid that can't repay them.from then on I had vowed to repay them any way I could.

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