: Knighting

"Farren Brichagnac, come forth and kneel before the throne."

   The knighting ceremony was already starting when I entered the palace. The King is in front and is starting the knighthood. Princess Paislee, a.k.a. Farren Brichagnac, is now walking in front of his majesty, the King.

   Farren is wearing a white vesture to symbolize purity covered by a red robe which symbolizes nobility. His shoes and hose were blacks which represented death.

   I tried to look around to search for Prince Fraser, and I immediately see him in front. Watching the knighting ceremony of Princess Paislee.

   Of course, he will be there. How will he miss this opportunity to watch his female lead make her dream come true? It's written. I have written it.

    "Be it known to all men that I, King Simmond Astalieu, am minded to raise Farren Brichagnac by virtue of his honor, loyalty, valor, and skill at arms, to the high rank of knighthood."

    "Farren Brichagnac, do you swear and acknowledge this King, Simmond Astalieu, to be your true and lawful liege?"

    "I do so swear."

    "Do you also swear fealty to the Kingdom of Vrawyth, to defend it against any invader and conqueror or death shall take you?"

     "I so swear."

    "Let this be the last blow you receive without just recourse."

     The King delivers the coulee, striking Farren on the shoulder, although it's not hard enough to knock Farren down. Farren then kneels before the King, placing his hands palm-to-palm and upraised.

    The King then places his hands over Farren's shoulder. "Repeat after me: "I, Farren Brichagnac, do solemnly swear and pledge my sword to the King, my liege, to defend and obey him until he departs his throne or death shall take me, and to uphold the honor of knighthood."

    Farren repeated what the King said.

   "And I, for my part, do swear to defend and honor Farren Brichagnac, as befits a true knight."

    A servant gives a sword to the King. The King then receives the sword and taps Farren lightly on both shoulders with the sword.

   It's dubbing, the action of touching the sword on the recipient's shoulder. It is regarded as an essential act of the knighting ceremony.

    "I dub thee Sir Farren Brichagnac. Receive now your spurs," the King passes the spurs to Farren. "Your right to suitable arms," the shield is now given to Farren. "And take this, my sword," Farren takes the sword and girds it on. "To your side to serve and defend me well. Arise, Sir Knight Farren."

   The ceremony ended. The whole process, I was just there, stunned by what is happening. It's really different than what I've written. This is a real knighting!

   After the ceremony ended, a feast started. While the nobles and the commoners are enjoying their food, the King walks inside the hall to announce something.

"This feast isn't about the knighting ceremony. I invited you here for another reason. You all probably know that the Crown Prince, Prince Fraser, once had a training when he is nine years old. The whereabouts were hidden due to the safety of the Crown Prince."

   The King looks around. "And you also know that someone spread the news about it. However, you all don't know that the Crown Prince underwent another training again. This time, the Lauretré family accompany him to guide and protect the Crown Prince. It's a precautionary step we take because of the previous death threat to the safety of our Crown Prince."

    The King sighs and looks at Prince Fraser, who is sitting in front. Farren is seated beside the Crown Prince.

    "However, we didn't expect that someone would really dare to harm Prince Fraser. Sir Farren," the King looks at Farren and gives him a nod. Farren stands up and walks towards the King. "Sir Farren here is the one who risks his life to take the bullet for our Crown Prince Fraser. It's also the sole reason why I knighted him. Aside from Sir Farren, I also want to acknowledge the Lauretré family for extending their help not just for our Crown Prince but also for our people in the western region."

   Father and mother stand up and walk towards the King, who invited them to stand beside him.

   "Tonight, I want to acknowledge these people who didn't just save the Crown Prince but also save our Kingdom Vrawyth for ceasing."

    The King then awarded the Count and the Countess an honorary certificate for guarding and protecting the Crown Prince in his training in the western region.

After the awarding, the feast continues. Everyone is celebrating the homecoming of the Crown Prince.

I look around and saw Prince Fraser and Sir Farren talking to each other. I could feel hatred burning inside of me. It's probably Csille's feelings.

"Talk. Talk until you both can't feel your lips," my mouth whispered on its own.

My eyes roll at what Csille said. Csille is really petty.

My hands tug the hem of my mother's clothes. Mother is currently talking to father about certain things. "What is it, dear?"

"Mother, I feel stuffed. Can I go home now? I don't feel okay."

Mother immediately touches my forehead to check if my temperature is okay. When she noticed that everything's okay, she sighs and gently touches my head. "Dear, we couldn't go home early today. The feast is just starting. It would be rude if we go home now. You could just stroll around first if you feel stuffed in here."

My mouth pouted on its own. I want to roll my eyes at Csille. She's really not stuff or something. She just wants to get out of this place so she wouldn't see Prince Fraser happily talking to Sir Farren.

"But Mother, I don't feel good. I feel like I have a fever. Can I go home first?"

Mother paused for a second and asked my father if she could let me go home first. Father agreed because he is also worried about my health.

But before I could go home, I still need to ask permission from the King. Mother accompany me to request permission.

The King is now talking to Prince Fraser and Sir Farren. Both Mother and I pay our respect first to the King.

"Countess, great, we were just talking about the western region." The King beamed at us.

My eyes glanced at Prince Fraser and immediately averted my gaze. Csille is still mad at him. Which I actually don't understand why? In the first place, she was the one at fault.

"Your majesty, Csille doesn't feel good tonight. I ask if your majesty will let her leave the feast first. My daughter here just recovered from a high fever. I am worried this feast would tire her."

The King looks at me worriedly. "Csille, you got a high fever? Why did you join the feast? You should have stayed at home to rest." The King look at my mother. "Sure, you can bring her home. You should not have let her join the feast."

Csille was about to say something when Prince Fraser speak all of a sudden.

"Father, wouldn't better if we let her take a rest in here first. We have several vacant rooms in the palace. She could take a rest here first while the Count and the Countess finished the feast. At least here, we could assign someone to take care of her."

    Mother immediately said yes when she sees how I feel uncomfortable in this feast. A servant leads us, mother and I, into a room.

   "There, rest here first, okay? Then we will fetch you when the feast ended."

   Mother tucked me in and kissed me on the forehead before she leaves the room.

   I sighed and got up from the bed. The moment mother leaves the room I could finally control my body. I shake both my arms and my legs. I felt my whole body is numb, which is kind of weird because Csille moves around the entire day.

   "Well, at least I could move my body now."

   I walk around the room. Trying to busy myself. I don't really feel bad or something. It's Csille who doesn't feel good, but the moment mother left, the exhaustion Csille felt vanished in thin air.

   I tried to unlock the door, hoping to look around the palace, but the moment I touched the doorknob, I felt my body froze on the spot.

   It's a sign. The novel wouldn't let me out because it's against what I've written.

   I sigh. I guess I just have to stick around here and busy myself. In the room I am in, I could hear faint sounds from the feast hall. Although it's too faint that you could think that it's just your imagination.

   They are probably having fun, enjoying themselves, drinking wines, and faking their happiness.

   I scoff. Who among the noble's families is genuinely loyal to the King? It could only be numbered with my fingers. These bunch of hypocrites.

   After walking around and observing every little thing in the room, I lay on the bed again.

  "I'm bored. Now, I think it would be better to finish all those school works than to be here. All I do is stand and smile at everyone even though I don't know them. It's kind of tiring to see people smiling at you, and one moment they will give you a face when they turn their back at you. Talk about hypocrisy. Nobles." I rolled my eyes and continue to stare at the ceiling.

   I suddenly get up from lying on the bed when I heard someone knock on the door.

   Who is that? Wait, it doesn't make sense. I am currently in the Palace, and as far as I know, only the King and my parents know that I am staying in one of the rooms in the palace. So, who could it be? Mother?

   I am still contemplating what to do when the door suddenly opens, and I see an anxious Prince Fraser.

   I frown and look at him. What the heck is he doing here? He should be in the feast hall. Smiling and greeting everyone as if his life didn't get endangered back in the western region.

   Prince Fraser walks towards me and instantly touches my forehead to check my temperature. "You're temperature seems fine. Good. Good. I was worried for nothing." He sits beside me.

   What is Prince Fraser doing in here? Isn't he mad at Csille? So, what is he doing here? You should be talking to Sir Farren, not me. Prince Fraser, please follow the script. It's not your time to speak to Csille tonight.

   This doesn't make sense. I look at Prince Fraser, dumbfounded at what is happening here. It took me time to reply to him.

   "What are you doing here, Prince Fraser?" I instinctively move away from him. Subconsciously, I probably developed a sense of fright because of what happened this morning.

An enraged Prince Fraser shouldn't take lightly. If not for Csille taking control over my body, I would probably walk out that instant.

"I'm worried about you."

    I stop moving and stare at him. Is my ear playing some tricks on me? Did I just hear Prince Fraser said he's worried about me?

   I shake my head. I probably just heard things. There's no way he is worried about me. Prince Fraser? The male lead will be worried about Csille? The villainess. There's no way it's true.

   "Csille?"

    I look at Prince Fraser and shake my head. "What are you doing here, your majesty?"

   "So, it's your majesty now, huh? Are you mad at me?"

   Prince Fraser moves closer to me. I tried moving away again from him, but he caught my arms and held me in place.

   "I don't dare, your majesty."

   Why do I always end up being cornered by this Crown Prince? It's kind of irritating. Why am I always the underdog here? Is it because I am the villainess? This is just so unfair.

"Csille, the things that I said this morning, I'm s-" Prince Fraser suddenly stops what he is saying and just sits in front of me, unmoving. I mean, he's still breathing. However, he seems like he just frozen still. It's like a computer that just lags.

   "Prince Fraser?" I frown and observe him. He is still breathing, and he keeps blinking.

   What happened? Did he just get a stroke? But he's just fourteen years old. How come he will have a stroke? Is that even possible?

   Prince Fraser remains unmoving for almost a minute before his body suddenly jerks. He gasped for air and held his chest. It's as if he has asthma.

   "Are you okay, Prince Fraser?" I gently pat his back. He is still gasping for air.

   After a minute or so of gasping for air, he looks at me. His eyes show different emotions that I couldn't tell what he is thinking right now. His face looks like he is conflicted over something.

  He looks like he wanted to say something to me but hesitating. Prince Fraser took a deep breath before he took my hands.

   "Csille, I didn't-"

   However, before Prince Fraser could finish his words, a blinding light suddenly burst out of nowhere. It's too much that it rendered both of us unconscious. The last time I see, Prince Fraser is trying to catch me.