One of the twins, Lars, had been waiting for me outside. The whole day was to be planned around the King’s presence at the estate, which meant every section was busy. Security had been frantic, including our troop that had apparently been rushed to the banquet hall to coordinate with imperial guards from the castle.

From what I understood, besides our troops, lower-ranking security had stations around the walls of the estate.

Because the King would bring his own security, our troop was to reinforce those of the lower-ranking force. Serlon would patrol the insides of the estate with the imperial guard from the castle.

It was less work, but it also meant that my chance at observing the King would be through slight glances.

Still, it wasn’t bad for the first day on the job.

Lars walked in front of me, his glance never meeting mine, as he trailed ahead in the estate. They must have just gotten back from escort duty. I sniffed the air, the scent of blood unable to hide itself from my sensitive senses.

“How was the escort assignment?” I asked, already having a good idea of how it went. If the blood didn’t sell my point, then his slight limp did.

“It was a little rowdy, to be honest.” His previous tense expression softened, slowing his pace, he now walked beside me.

Lars glanced down at my necklace, “So that’s why you needed to see the estate’s magical item expert?” He questioned; his eyes glued to the rock that peeked from the top of my armor.

“It was the second condition of my coming here,” I admitted, peering at the other to meet the surprised look of the twin.

“Right, right,” He exhaled, “You came on conditions…” He looked as if he had more that he wanted to say. Though, we were cut off at the large entrance of the banquet hall.

“Ah. We’re here.”

Lars guided us into a large banquet room, where florists were rushing around to place wildflowers into jars.

It reeked of flowers, almost to the point of making me sick. I scrunched my nose, continuing to follow the human in my troop. Lars took us over to a group of people, chatting in the corner of the banquet hall.

Eran looked over, waving us over to the others. Daniel, Gunnar, and Trent were conversing with others that were dressed in golden-plated armor. Serlon was nowhere in sight.

“I was glad to hear that Sir Serlon didn’t kill you. We’ll need a full deck tonight.” Eran patted my back. I wanted to flinch at the sudden pats to where my wings would be. Again, that phantom pain radiated from my shoulder blades.

I rolled them, trying to rid myself of the discomfort. But to little avail.

Well, they were still there. But they were hidden under layers of heavy magic. It still counted though.

I faked a lighthearted chuckle, “I’m just lucky that he went easy on me.”

Surely, my pride was taking a hit at those words. Thankfully, my mentality of accomplishing a goal reined much stronger. Mostly.

A pair of large hands gripped my shoulders; I had heard someone approaching earlier but made no move to stop them. There had been no malicious intent in the movements.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

I was right, meeting the familiar face of the lead guard. Serlon peeked over my shoulder, except more composed than what I saw earlier. More professional, have you.

“Too humble, kid. You’re really irritating sometimes.” He muttered to my ear, lifting his hands off to greet the others. All I could do was stare in confusion at his back, with the jab spinning in my head.

Too humble? Huh. Never heard that before. Did he really say that to a dragon? My species was quite profound for their ego, but if I had skill then I would have bragged to the heavens about it. Right now, all I could be was useless.

I brushed the comment off as nothing to ponder about. Instead, I joined the group and pretended to pay attention to the meaningless conversations. The only important thing to listen to was when we would leave to patrol and where I would be placed.

The best bet would be to sneak off during this and contact Dagon. Once I contacted him, I would be able to understand the situation at Hellion. Perhaps, I could puppet my disposal of the troops to gain some recognition in the human lands.

Everything was still uncertain now though. Who knows. One thing was clear - that was that I was fully capable and knowledgeable of working the situation to my advantage. My hundreds of years spent enveloped in commanding and war tactics were my validity of that.

Not to mention my royal prestige, earned for a reason. My reputation as my father’s prized dragon used to reign on that fact. Used to.

I blankly agreed to every question directed my way, only filtering attention to semi-important ones. Like…

“Would you be interested in sampling some of the food for the event?”

Of course, I would sign up immediately.

Or like…

“Have you killed before? Would you be comfortable killing if the event’s safety called for it?

Yes, I’m sure I could manage. And I managed that aspect, quite well.

And so on. It was simply idle banter. This went on for some time. I found out two things. First, the ones dressed in golden armor were guards for the imperial palace. Two, apparently the wages were higher there.

Whatever that meant.

To my relief, Serlon grabbed the troop aside to perform a quick debrief, signaling an end to my suffering in the chatty room.

“We’re in charge of the South and West outside ring, meaning that we’ll move in groups of two. Lars and Daniel, the twins, will patrol south. Gunnar and Trent will take the corner. Eran and Asta will patrol West.” He instructed, scanning the crowd for confirmation.

“What’s the protocol?” Eran chipped in.

“The King ordered trespassers to be killed on sight. Attempting to break in during his presence is disrespectful, of course.”

The group nodded. I followed. We were immediately sent to start patrolling, despite it now being early afternoon.

Each pair set off to a different part of the establishment, ready to make the long walk to the outside of the estate. Eran and I stopped by the barracks, to pick up proper weapons for patrol. He opted for a long sword with a bow. I simply picked up a plain sword, opting for throwing knives instead.

I had little use for long-range weapons, anyway. After situating our weapons to our armor, we set off for the outer walls.

The walk was strenuous and unnecessarily long, but I assumed that was to deter trespassers. By the time they’d reach the actual estate, any human without above-average stamina would be winded. Still, that meant patrol groups would also have twice the amount of work covering the area.

Genius or stupid? You decide. Whatever it was, it was certainly a tactic. I suppose, at least.

“Is this your first-time patrolling?” Eran asked, hiking through the thick grass of the estate walls.

I had only ever been at the front of the war. That or, I was in the vanguard leading the plans forward. Generals had to throw themselves in the heat of the battle, but also withdraw to ensure future victories. It had been a tedious balance that Dagon and Adbeel helped offset some of the burdens of.

“Yes, it’s my first patrol.” This time it wasn’t a lie. We had always sent our lower-ranked demons to patrol, whose contributions had no real value to the army. It was like the first domino that needed to be knocked to get to the actual important one.

Almost like a food chain, predator and prey.

Now I was at the bottom of that system, as the patrol that was to protect the King. Though, it was all for the grander scheme of the glory of my name and the upholding of my father’s power.

I could wear enemy stripes for the good of my own. Loyalty was absolute, no matter how you presented yourself to be. Even in human form, I had demonic blood in my veins.

We entered a barricaded door, Eran using a key to unlock it. He pulled it open to reveal the portion of the walls that we were to patrol for, lord-knows, how long.

He sighed, letting me pass through before turning back and locking it behind us. Clapping his hands, he marched to position, following the laid grass. The grass had been matted down from the previous times on the same patrol route.

It seemed like a routine occurrence, obviously. And a little bit of a security risk.

“All we do is follow this path, back and forth. We’ll be marching parallel on opposing sides to cover the area fully. If you see something, make sure to alert when we pass or if it’s a high threat, you’re clear to attack.” Eran informed quickly, already walking to the other end of the wall.

I nodded, doing the same and heading toward my side.

“I believe in you, newbie.” He called out, his back turned. I raised my hand in acknowledgment. Though, I doubt he saw it.

I glanced up at the large wall of the estate. Once again in my daily life, I found myself outside a grand wall that held the proper military influence to be considered vulnerable.

Although this time, I was no longer towering over the wall and commanding legions of demons to charge. Nor was I waiting outside to siege the human encampment.

No. I, Arsylm Morningstar, was patrolling the outskirts to protect the human prince. I, who had been once known as the prize dragon of the demon king, wore fake human skin. I, who had the blood of millions of humans on my hands, lived with that same race.

We both wanted to kill each other, without knowing.

My wing may have been hurt and useless, but the dragon’s spirit was strong. I would return to Hellion by masquerading with humans, protecting humans, and serving this King as a double-edged blade.

Then, I would have the last laugh. In the shadow of my enemies, I now found myself closer to my goal. My redemption.

[My first day of being a royal guard had officially started.]