When the bell of the schoolhouse rang, children ran out. One girl ran up to another girl who was in front of her.

¨Trinity! The selection is tomorrow!¨ she said once she caught up with her friend.

¨I know that, it's all over the news!¨ Trinity said.

¨Don't worry! I know you're nervous about what you're gonna get! I know I'll be a knight, I want to learn how to fight!¨

¨Well if you're going to be a knight, you have to be more mature, Chloe, you have to follow orders and that kind of stuff.¨

¨Well even if you're a royal, I'll make sure no one hurts you, especially the overlords, I don't care how scary they are!¨

¨Chloe, you're 14, please grow up. The overlords are terrifying, they obviously killed the past royals, no matter the excuses they come up with. They don't have fingerprints, and they always fly, so they don't have footprints. I don't think they're human, either,  so they can't wear off any DNA.¨

¨Trinity, why don't you understand what i'm trying to say? Im saying that i would protect you no matter what!¨ 

¨I appreciate that, i guess¨

¨To be honest, i'm scared, too. But we have to deal with it, its ordered by the overlords, and they are scary, like you said.¨

Trinity remembered a few years ago, when the last royal had been killed. It was all over the newspapers.

¨Of course, the overlords come up with annoying excuses on how they did not kill them. But its obvious, and we are done with their stupid excuses!¨ she heard her mother say, who was crumbling the paper and throwing it in the trash. Back then Trinity didn't understand, but Chloe did.

¨If you ever get a royal, I'll be your knight in shining armor! I'll protect you! It will be my life's worth to protect you, Royal Aohina!¨ was what Trinity heard Chloe say that day and until now.

¨Are you okay? I know you're scared but like i said, i'll protect you, i promise!¨

¨Im okay, and i don't need your protection, Chloe, i'm not going to get a royal.¨

¨Alright, i guess. I hope i'll see you at the castle tomorrow.¨

¨Bye.¨

Trinity soon walked home, and in the front yard was a newspaper about the soon selection, along with the history of Pantaleone.

Trinity already knew everything about it. There was a big war in a world just like this one, with magic and happiness, but without the castle. The 3 immortal overlords were just 3 normal people, and wanted to stop the war, like almost everyone. They all met up with Hefin, the god of the planet, who gave them immortality, and created the selection system to keep internal peace, along with building a castle to rule the country. Trinity was tired of re-reading the same old history about it, she had read about it countless times. She ripped the section out of the newspaper and threw it. Everyone she knew was tired of reading it, even happy and confident Chloe.

Chloe meant the world to Trinity, but she just wanted her to shut up and be quiet about defending her if she became a royal. Besides that, Trinity loved Chloe very much. They both meant the world to each other after meeting for the first time when they were 7. They both couldn't imagine a world without each other.

Trinity looked at the other articles. One of them was about finding more proof that technology existed in the past, but the overlords were denying it again. About ¾ of the country believed them, but Trinity and her mother were a part of the last ¼. They both knew the overlords were hiding something.

She was constantly tired of seeing the same 3 people on the front page of the newspaper. All 3 of them looked exactly the same, the same dress, eye shape, hairstyle, etc. The only thing different about them were their eye color, hair color, and dress color. One of them had red eyes, hair, and dress, the other had yellow eyes, hair and dress, same thing with the other one, they were just blue. Trinity just wanted to do something horrible to them, even though they were immortal and would be around forever.

Trinity turned the page and read about the selection. Every 50 years, new people are chosen to serve the castle and rule the country. Your role is chosen by the color of your ring. Grey is maiden/butler, purple is a knight who learn archery and sword fighting, White is learning your current skill better, such as magic, sword making, armor making, farming, herbalism, etc, black is not chosen, and green is a royal. Royals have died constantly and mysteriously, but the 3 immortal overlords have given enough proof it wasn't them, but everyone suspects them. Trinity and her mother, along with some of the country, were tired of their excuses, and that it was obvious they killed the royals.

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Trinity looked at the black ring (also meaning the wearer hadn't been chosen yet) on her ring finger, and imagined it being the bright green she had seen in the newspaper. It scared her, because if she was chosen as a royal, the overlords would kill her, and the overlords would deny it was them, and she was scared of dying, something she would never actually admit to. 

“Trinity? How long have you been reading that?”

Her mother was standing right above her. They both looked very similar, brown skin, green eyes, only her mother had long straight hair and was taller compared to Trinity's shorter curly hair. 

“I was just zoning out.”

“I know you're scared about being a royal, but the whole Aohina bloodline has hardly gotten a royal. The last one was 6 selections ago. But even if you are, I know that Chloe girl will do an amazing job serving you and the castle. The Nakano bloodline are some of the best knights in this whole country. Thanks to them the royals lived longer. But I highly doubt you'll be a royal.” Her mother then looked at the article about technology. “What are they trying to hide from us, and why do they not want anyone to find out so badly?” she muttered angrily though her teeth.

“I'm tired of their lies, Mom.” Trinity said. She started to rip out the article out of the paper, crumbled it, and threw it as far away as she could. “Why are they killing these innocent people? They didn't do anything, why are they doing this? Why?” She continued to repeat that same word, getting angrier every time.

“Calm down, honey. I know you're mad, I'm tired of their lies, too. I question why they kill all those royals, too, but we cant do anything about it.” her mother put her arms around her daughter. 

Trinity started to calm down. She looked up at her mother. She had always looked up to her. They may have looked similar, but personality-wise they were opposite. Her mother was nice, hardly got angry, and could easily get along with everyone, like she had something radiating of her and whoever felt it would like her. When she got married, everyone was happy for both of them, but jealous of the groom for having such an amazing wife. When she was pregnant, everyone thought that the baby was lucky to have an amazing mother. While Trinity easily got angry and got mad at others when they were trying to be nice to her. She tried her best, but at the end, she was rude to others. Everyone was disappointed that such an amazing person could give birth to such a rude girl. Her mother still loved her a lot, despite how angry she was and how rude she was to others, but Trinity hated that about herself. Anger was the only emotion she was comfortable showing. The only person who understood that was Chloe, who tried their best to convince everyone that Trinity was nice on the inside. Everyone thought she was crazy, but Chloe continued to stay friends with Trinity. They were comfortable enough to come out as genderfluid to only her. Trinity never understood why Chloe wanted to be friends with her, but she was glad she had a friend who understood. 

Trinity looked down at her mom’s hand, which had a dark black ring on it. She had not been selected yet, but she was probably going to be a white, and do something like herbalism, since she was too old to be anything else. Her mother was already good with herbs, so she probably would do it.

Trinity wouldn't mind any color other than green. She could follow orders if she got a grey or a purple, and could learn easily if she got a white. She just wanted anything but green.

“Go inside, I'll make something for dinner, we might need to get more bread, so you might need to go to the market, if you're okay with that.” 

“Yeah, it's okay. I can go now, if you want.

“Alright.”

Trinity put down her stuff and went outside again. She knew the way to the market, so she followed the stone sidewalk with the directions she remembered until she was there.

She walked to the bread area. “Hello.” she said to the man at the stand. 

“Hello, Trinity! Usual order?” he said, not wanting to deal with her.

“Yeah.”

He told the chef, who then got a big piece of dough. It was about 4 inches wide and a foot long. He put it in an even bigger oven, and Trinity watched as the dough heated up into bread, a few feet away from her. He took the bread out and gave it to her after she gave him the money. She thanked him and walked back to her house. She got an extra piece, since she usually ate a lot of it, so she always got another piece of bread in case she was hungry when she went to the market.

She finally arrived home, and went inside, the extra piece of bread already finished. On the kitchen table was a piece of lighvan cheese. 

“I know it's your favorite.” Her mother’s voice said. “I know you're anxious about the selection, so I thought it'll help.”

“Thank you, but i don't think it will.” Trinity replied. She sat down, took a knife, and cut the cheese. She broke a piece off the bread and spread the cheese on it, and took a bite. She calmed down a little bit, but she was still anxious, but she was still grateful for it. 

Once she finished, she went into her room. She laid down on her bed and just stayed there. She thought about the possibilities about anything she was chosen. If she was grey, or a maiden, she would have to clean and do stuff for the royals. If she was a white, she would have to choose something and learn to do it for the rest of her life. If she was purple, or a knight, she would have to learn to use a weapon and fight battles for the castle. If she was green or a royal, she would be controlled to do things by the overlords and be killed by them a few years later, everyone doing everything for her. She was terrified of that. She got up and looked in her small closet. She obviously had to look nice for the selection, so she picked out her fanciest clothes with matching shoes. She soon started to zone out, imagining the dress she picked out as those expensive and fancy dresses the royals always wore. They always had a hoopskirt and a long train on them. She remembered how she used to always want to wear something like it, it was so pretty. It was once a dream for her, but now it was a nightmare. She zoned back in again and realized she had to go to sleep earlier than usual for it. Trinity put on her night clothes, brushed her teeth, and went underneath her sheets.