“Are you-”

“What happened?” Charles asked cutting Alexia off.

After more than an hour, all the beads had been distributed. The crowd had slowly trickled out, leaving the two Lords behind.

Alexia looked at the impatient Charles with concern. She was used to having him carefree and in control. Charles displayed a lot of different emotions, but fear was certainly not one of them. But now, deep in his eyes she could see it, she could see fear.

She hesitated a bit and finally said, “It was an imperial order, directly from the Sovereign. It arrived when you were giving your speech.” Sighing, she dipped her head down. “I was given strict instructions, for all the positions and who should receive them.” She looked back up and stared deep in his eyes, “Your name wasn't mentioned, you weren't supposed to get anything…I couldn't let that happen.”

‘The Sovereign’, that was a very powerful being. Charles would have been fine if it was the Emperor of Dhamlan. But the Sovereign was another story. The Sovereign was way more powerful, authoritative and unpredictable. They could control and order anyone and everyone in Dhamlan. If such a being had decided that Charles shouldn't be a part of Alexia’s army; Charles essentially couldn't do anything about it.

“Charles…”, Alexia was now holding his shoulders and looking at him with concern. Charles stared back at her, he looked down at her hands. She was a noble, she belonged to the royal family; she was the direct descendant of the Sovereign.

‘They could control and order anyone and everyone in Dhamlan.’

Suddenly Charles' eyes came into focus. He whisked his head and looked at her face. What was she thinking? What had she done? Was she also a part of this scheme? For the first time, Charles started doubting Alexia.

Politics was a very delicate game, especially when the riches from the Realm were involved. Charles didn't know what the Empire wanted from him; he didn't know what motives Alexia had? But if the Sovereign was involved in it, Charles knew he wouldn't even see his demise coming until it was too late. And that's what had happened today, or it would have happened if the princess hadn't named him her equal. He would have become a normal soldier; the other nobles hated him; they would have cut him and fisted over his remains.

But this wasn't the time to think about what could have happened. He could only look at the future and try to prepare better.

“Why?”, he asked with a calculative gaze.

“Uh…I really don't know what the Sovereign wants-”

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“Why name me your equal? Why go against the Sovereign’s orders and protect me?” Charles cut her again.

“I…”, the concerned look on the princess’s face totally vanished, replaced by an angry frown. “What did you expect me to do, make you a normal foot soldier? Stand back and let the other nobles take advantage of you?”

“That would have been the best action,” Charles replied in an emotionless voice.

The princess's face morphed into an unbelievable expression, as if she couldn't comprehend what Charles had just said. “You are a fucking idiot, Charles. In trying to win over them, you have become worse than them. Now you don't even understand what friendship stands for,” the princess pushed him hard and walked away.

Charles stared at her departing figure. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know what to make of her outburst. Following the Sovereign’s orders was the most logical thing to do, but the princess hadn't.

He clearly remembered the first time he had met the princess. It was at the entrance of the royal palace, both of them had been thirteen then.

“You are a Warammar? You don't look like a Warammar.”

Those were the very first words the princess had said. That same day Charles had sworn his life in service to her. She was a noble, a royal one that too, but Charles didn't think any of that mattered; following her would be better than staying with the Warammars. Anything would be better than staying with them.

It was also good that she belonged to the royal family, it was the only reason stopping the Warammars from taking him back. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't even accept him both because of fear of the Warammars and because of his low birth.

From that day, they started training and studying together. They began to understand each other better.

Charles thought the princess would be like any other noble; he was wrong. She was a fierce fighter and understood the art of war. But she was naive and had a blind faith in humanity. She never understood that monsters on the battlefield weren't the true enemies of a human… it were other humans.

Many nobles tried to take advantage of the sixth princess, mainly the low ranking ones; but Charles took care of them. Over the years he created a reputation for himself. If anyone wanted to do the princess any harm, they would have to pass through him. He, a resident of the Rag, had become the right-hand man to a child of the royal palace. Naturally almost all the nobles despised him, the Warammars being at the top of the list.

He also remembered when they were sixteen and had been sentenced by the Emperor. Alexia had been sentenced for two years' service in the army, while he had been given one.

As Charles walked towards his dorm, he looked back at his time with the princess. He looked back on all the interactions between them and the actions of the princess with a calculative mind, trying to find out any hidden motives or intentions.

That was what he knew, that was what he had learnt over the years…’No one can be trusted fully.’

He understood one thing; even if the princess had some ulterior motives, he didn't have a choice. She was the only safeguard he had, his only defense line, it was better not to antagonise her.

Finally entering his dorm, without even changing his clothes he went inside the simulation room and began training. That was the only thing that would divert his mind.