Gilly slept for an entire day, and when she opened her eyes, it was the end of the first day in the day cycle. She pulled on the overall green and silver jacket and walked outside. Greetings rose from here and there as she made her way to the kitchen. After a nice meal, she went up to the deck.

She noticed Aroelan was seated in a corner meditating. Noticing her presence, he opened his eyes and spoke.

"We are almost by Asramus; by noon tomorrow we should hit the shore.”

Gilly nodded and walked over the handrails by the left side of the deck, admiring the relatively calm undulations of the sea. To the left where she stood, a piece of land barely visible, this was the province of Waterwheel. To the right was the central continent Noir, where Elador was.

She stood there for quite a while, chatting with Gideon, who came to accompany her. After a while, she went back to her cabin to sleep.

Soon after, she was woken up by a knock on the door. This was to inform her of their arrival. She dressed up and strapped her sword to the waist, carrying her bag as she went up to the deck.

On reaching the deck, the bag was swiftly taken by Aroelan.

“Princess, you have an image to uphold; let me do the lifting.”

This statement made her stomach churn as she controlled her facial expression; the feeling she was getting was bad. It was about to get even more special.

When the ship arrived at the dock and everything had been settled down, Gilly descended from the ship, met by a group of people dressed in different colours of armour. Gideon being a guide, enlightened her.

The one to the far right dressed in black was Sylvester, Captain of the Black Order, tasked with defending the kingdom’s capital. The one with red armour was Rosaria, Captain of Flaming Order tasked with defending the western border of Asram. The one in green amour was the captain of the Wyvern Corp. The one in white amour was Gustav, the Royal champion and leader of all the other captains mentioned.

Gilly nodded and greeted them individually, shaking hands. When it got to Rosaria’s turn, she unleashed her aura, regalia, and field, which made Gustav uneasy.

Gilly’s blue marking appeared, be known to her; seeing this, Rosaria quickly retracted her hand, squeezing a smile out.

“Shit, I nearly messed up.”

After the exchange, they formed a circle around Gilly and led her along the main way to the castle.

This elaborate protection was all Richard’s idea, and Gilly’s head was spinning as she could not endure this for too long. After what seemed to be the longest ten minutes of her life, she finally reached the castle large gate. While the walked people stared at them surprised at who was within the circle. The gates opened and an array of guard with different coloured armours formed a line left and right leading to the gates of the castle.

They led her to the inner chamber of the castle and then into a large hall that had paintings of dragons, curtains, emblems on the wall, and other designs adorned in silver and gold. At the top of the seventy-four-meter-high ceiling was a chandelier, its light shifting from silver to gold. She had no time to catch her breath as she noticed the people standing to her left and right dressed in expensive clothing and adorned in sapphire, topaz, and other gemstones.

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She cursed in her head as she walked forward to the man seated on the throne.

The man had two pointy horns, red hair, and grey pupils, his arm under his jaw. Standing guard beside him were a boy and a girl. They bore the same resemblance to the man on the throne. Both were just a few inches taller than Zenora. They both had tufts of silver amidst their red hair, with their pupils alternating between silver and crimson.

The Knights, on getting within five meters of the throne, sheathed their weapons and genuflected On seeing this, Gilly immediately followed suit.

In the four days of the feast in the Elven capital, she had been taught a great deal by Katherine, so she was not caught off guard.

The king’s laugh echoed through the hall, much to the surprise of the entire noble congregation. The king had not laughed since he lost his wife Historia, and now, in the presence of the blue-haired girl, he laughed.

“I see you look very much like that smiling demon of the forest.”

The people beside him threw glances at each other before looking at their father.

“Ahem… There’s no need for confusions, my subjects. Standing before you is no other than the daughter of The Smiling Demon of the Forest and the Hero king, our founding father Gilad. She is both a princess in Elador and in Asram”.

This statement sent ripples through the crowd, many shifting glances from the King to the blue-haired girl, who had walked in with the protection of the leaders of each Knight Faction.

The lost princess had appeared. This prediction had been made by the Sage of the Twelve Towers. She was said to shake the world and change the state of the world by appearing. The king raised his hand, and the crowd calmed down.

The king disappeared from the throne, appearing before Gilly. She had not moved, nor did she show any sign of weakness. She calmly met his gaze, her face not betraying any emotion.

“I thought Katharine was weird or like Mizin, but this guy gives me goosebumps.”

In her mind, she was distressed, having to face another battle-crazy fellow like Mizin. She wondered if all the members of her mother’s party were battle-crazed people.

“Ho, I see you are not shaken.”

After a brief pause, rubbing his jaw, he asked,

“What is your name?”.

“Gilly,”

She answered; at this time the twin was beside her, also staring at her.

“What rank are you?”

Unsure of the purpose, she paused and answered.

“Camper one.”

The king looked a bit disappointed.

“It’s a bit low. I was thinking if you will spar with my daughter later today.”

Gilly looked at her; she was unusually carrying a black parasol that sharply contrasted her red dress. Gilly nodded at King Richard with a casual demeanor, not thinking about each other too much. To her, the horror she faced in Mizin’s “test” was unrivaled.

He went about introducing her to members of the noble house. Kalin, who she left in Loran, was surprisingly present. She waved at her smiling. Gilly felt weird around some people.

She seemed to have developed a special sensor for battle perverts after dealing with perfect examples like Abil and Mizin.

Soon, they were led to the banquet and it was held in honor of Gilly. At long last, after pleading with Richard, she was permitted leave and allowed to rest for the day.

Aroelan, who was by her side all this while not speaking and just observing all who approached, followed her to her quarters. He was so reserved in the banquet that the only thing he drank was water.

From his listening during the banquet, he knew the two twins were Astoria and Henry. They did not interact much with people in the banquet and were constantly staring in Gilly’s direction. When she left the banquet hall, they too exited, following her behind. Aroelan let out a silent chuckle as he followed the three.

When Gilly reached a balcony, she looked back at the twins, who had been following her without saying anything.

“Do you need something?”

They turned to each other, a subtle nod as they turned back to the guest. Looking at each other, Astoria spoke up.

“You are stronger than the hunter or knight class; I can sense it.”

Astoria said, staring at Gilly with a gaze that hinted at suspicion and intent.

This threw Gilly off guard.

“When I passed the Adventurers test, that was the rank I was given by Hilary.”

The name caused a reaction on Astoria’s face. She smiled as she heard the name.

“I see you have met Hilary; you must have also met Zin and Ephini.”

Her gaze became serious as she spoke once more.

“Since we will be going on a mission together, the winner of the duel tomorrow will be the team leader.”.