Chapter_27: Second Conclusion

After a lengthy and intricate discussion about Ragnar's fate, Lady Ana reached a clear decision.

Lady Ana stretched her arms and rose from her seat, fixing her gaze on Bane. "Would you tell me your name, Ragnar's companion?" she inquired.

Bane stood up, placing his hands on his chest, and replied respectfully, "My name is Bane Viper, and I am Ragnar's first friend. You can count on me, Lady Ana."

Lady Ana smiled warmly and applauded twice before saying, "It was a quite exciting introduction, Bane. I will count on you, Bane."

"Now, come with me; I will introduce you to your own room."

Lady Ana swiftly left the room, with Bane following behind. They walked across the hallway, and Lady Ana retrieved the key that Apollo had given her.

She inserted the key and turned it to open the door. Behind the brown doors was an exact replica of Ragnar's room; in fact, all rooms were exactly the same in the interior.

Both of them entered the room quietly, removing their shoes.

The wardrobe, the bed, the desk, the table, the chair—it was all in the same place as Ragnar's room; it was a clear replica for each room.

"Bane, it's the exact same replica as the other one, but it should be a cozy place you can stay in," Lady Ana reassured Bane kindly.

"There are new clothes inside the wardrobe too; I hope those clothes fit you."

She once again reassured Bane, leaving him with a smile.

"It's actually a great room; I don't mind staying here for a whole week. It's all my pleasure for all these things," Bane replied graciously with a slight smile.

Lady Ana smiled in response and said, "You do not need to treat me like a princess; although I am, my kindness is not enough for all of this."

"By the way, what's your opinion of this room? Is it that great?" she inquired.

Bane smiled before responding, "It is a great room; from the interior and window, it is enough for me; no, it's even greater than what I could've wished for."

As they engaged in conversation, Ragnar and Garnette unexpectedly entered the room. They took off their shoes and joined them.

"It's a great room, Bane. It's a cozy room you could stay in," Ragnar complimented the room.

Garnette also examined the room and complimented it: "Congratulations, Bane. You can now rest here; it's your room now."

With Garnette's compliment, Bane couldn't do anything but be flustered. In fact, Garnette also stayed in one of the rooms in this hallway, and the room is just a replica of her room too.

With that, Lady Ana stood straight and said, "I'm quite done here, right? Well, I should probably do my personal things."

All the people swiftly changed their gazes toward her with a surprised face.

"I should head now. Bye," Lady Ana waved at them as she left the room swiftly.

As she left the room, her thoughts reminisced about the concept of Ragnar staying in the main castle and becoming a soldier for royalty. For her, Ragnar had met the requirements of becoming an honored man.

But the only problem is that Ragnar is still a stranger, which is also a problem for them. If Ragnar were to become a knight, he still needed to become someone different from what he is now. Furthermore, the chance of Ragnar becoming a knight for royalty is as low as the tip of the iceberg below.

…

As Lady Ana walked down the stairs, she turned to the right, where another part of the castle resided—a place Ragnar hasn't even seen yet.

She slowly pushed the door open and followed the path of the carpet, leading her through the hallway. Rooms were situated in every direction, with each door identical and made of the same wood.

There were only a handful of people present, and they all greeted Lady Ana as she passed by. If someone attempted to engage her in conversation, she would politely mention that she had something to attend to first.

After a lengthy stroll down the hallway, she arrived at a massive wooden door. The guards standing on either side noticed her and quickly pulled the doors open with their long weapons.

Beyond the doors lay a spacious room designated for the mayor. The room featured a large stage where the thrones were positioned.

The room was bustling with maids who were busy preparing for the upcoming ceremony to be held there that evening.

The iron throne was reserved for Mr. Smith, while another throne stood beside it for Lady Ana. Both thrones were constructed with advanced technological design and capabilities.

Above the thrones, colorful windows symbolizing God—the one and only God, Luca—were adorned with his omnipresent presence, as powerful rays of light shone through.

As Lady Ana walked along the carpet, chairs lined either side of the room in preparation for the ceremony. In total, there were about a hundred chairs set up for the event.

As she made her way through the room, more of the maids took notice of her presence and approached her.

"Lady Ana!"

"She's here!"

"Do you like the design for the ceremony?"

"We hope you approve of the designs."

Each maid spoke in turn, but Lady Ana did not respond to each comment.

Maintaining a composed and serene expression, she replied, "The designs are wonderful, girls; please continue. However, I won't be staying here, so please carry on."

She offered a warm smile to each of them.

Following her response, the maids decided to keep their distance as they knew where she was headed. Lady Ana proceeded to turn left, where another door awaited her.

She slowly opened the door.

Behind the door that led outside the main castle, there was a practice range for knights. As I observed the place, I saw Heinzen and Chuev engaging in battle while Meika and Otto watched them.

As they fought, Lady Ana slowly approached Otto and Meika, who were sitting in a hut.

"Big sister! Where did you come from?" Meika ran towards her, giving her a tight hug.

Lady Ana smiled warmly before responding, "I've been busy since the ceremony will be tonight."

"I went to talk to Apollo about the ceremony; I was just asking for his opinions about the number of nobles here watching. But he said that he would like only the knights, but that's too late now."

"How are you here, Otto? What have you been doing lately?" Lady Ana strolled to the hut at a slow pace, engaging in a conversation with Otto.

Otto did not respond; rather, he waited until Lady Ana arrived at the hut to sit down. His old beard covered his mouth as he spoke. "I've been practicing with Young Heinzen, even though my body cannot move that much."

"Practicing and teaching kids how to be a warrior is my job now, since I can't move like I was before. Here with Young Heinzen, I also asked this kid called Chuev to practice. He didn't like it at first, but he got the hang of it."

Lady Ana cast a proud glance at Otto, and she continued gazing at the kids battling before saying, "That's wonderful. Seeing these kids becoming the best version of themselves really made me proud of this generation. And you are helping them to do so."

"When you were a kid, you wanted to become the strongest knight, right? But now, your legs are permanently injured, and those dreams of the young you were crushed. But even with that, you try to make kids achieve their own, when you did not."

As Lady Ana finished speaking, Otto noticed the value of her words and was surprised by the amount of hard work he did for his dreams, but was later crushed.

He smiled warmly and closed his eyes. "It's alright, really. I do not regret anything."

"That's wonderful."

…

As they observed the children battling, the sound of footsteps approached from behind—a group of footsteps.

Lady Ana quickly turned around and saw that it was the knights—Lancelot, Davi, Azariah, Matheus, Gideon, Kylor, and Adriel.

Two of the men were wounded—Azariah and Matheus. However, they were now able to walk after receiving treatment.

"Lady Ana, we have completed our tasks," Lancelot proudly announced as he knelt on the ground.

The other men followed suit and knelt as well. With a proud expression, Lady Ana applauded them and said, "Congratulations."

The men accepted Lady Ana's words with unwavering loyalty and determination.

…

They all stood up and sat beside Lady Ana inside the hut, wearing smiles on their faces.

"How's the Grimoire?" Lady Ana couldn't help but ask.

Gideon quickly responded, "The Grimoire was at the third level, so it was quite powerful. It posed a challenge, resulting in two of us getting injured."

"But this kid, Davi, is a genius. He developed a tactic and analyzed the Grimoire's weakness, which led to an easy victory for us!"

Lady Ana glanced at Davi, who looked flustered as the men thanked him. In response to their gratitude, she gave him a warm smile.

"That's excellent," Lady Ana proudly remarked to her knights.

…

The entire place fell silent as they watched the children battling, and then Lady Ana broke the silence.

"But what about Damian? Is he still alright?" Lady Ana asked softly.

The group remained quiet for a few moments, knowing what had happened to Damian. However, Damian's best friend, Kylor, responded, "He's okay; he told me he'll be back tonight or maybe tomorrow."

A sense of sadness surrounded the men, evident in their appearance.

Before responding to Kylor's answer, Lady Ana gulped, sweat rolling down her forehead.

"Despite that, I am glad he's thinking of coming back. I wish he would come back the way he was. My knights aren't complete if Damian isn't here."

With that, the knights' sadness began to fade, and smiles appeared on their faces as they continued watching the children battle.

…

Throughout the day, many things occurred as the entire faction inside the royalty prepared for the ceremony. Maids were designing, cooks were cooking, gardeners were cutting the grass, more maids were cleaning, and knights were protecting everyone in the districts.

As the sun moved forward and eventually faded, the fourth moon rose from the west, and darkness enveloped the world.

Specks of light could be seen in the city from the main castle as the nobles gazed at it gracefully.

As time continued to pass, it finally came to a halt to determine when the ceremony should start.

"5:59 HU"

The time ticked for a second.

"6:00 HU"

The ceremony had begun.