CHAPTER 1: The First Notice

"My prince, your presence is requested by his Majesty in the throne room," Jake closed his book upon hearing the words, looked up at the servant, and answered him he will follow suit. He gathered his books and placed them on their respective shelves.

Jake was the second son of the High King of Arylle, he and his older brother, Reoyul were different in every way you could imagine, the only thing they shared in common would be their father's blood running through them.

One had an immense amount of responsibility as the next heir and Jake was in love with medicine, ever since he was young he would tell his brother that he will study and heal people, that was the reason for his constant visit to the royal library.

He made his way towards the throne room, where he found his parents sitting in their thrones. "Father, I got the message you want to see me," He said as he bowed.

Jake only inherited the chiseled facial structure from his father, even with that he looked nothing like him. He would often be praised for his beautiful eyes and smile similar to that of his mother, their personalities also matched. He was as gentle, wise, thoughtful, and humble, while his father and brother took pride in the power they hold but, they were never foolish either.

"Son, as you are aware, only a month is left before your brother's coronation. To honor your mother's birthday along with the coronation, we are going to hold a month-long celebration, inviting our neighboring Kingdoms as it will also help tighten the alliance we shook with them,"

"But, there are more enemies than our alliances, so to ensure your safety, you will be followed by a guard at all times to protect you and I don't want to hear any opposition. You carry royal blood and your safety comes first. But you will be given the opportunity to choose your guard, be done by the end of this week." The High King finished, leaning back, and took a long gulp of his wine.

"Yes, Father. I will look into the matter and inform you once I made my decision. If you excuse me, I will return to my studies now," He bowed once again, he retreated back to the library again to catch up on his readings.

****

It was a sunny day and the field was filled with the clanking of swords, ragged breath, and the smell of sweat.

"I see you improved," Jake's brother said as he blocked another attack.

"Of course, I was ordered to practice 5 times a week," Jake replied, breathless. His skills were not as sharp as his brother, but good enough to take down their most talented warrior.

"Father?" Jake nodded in response, trying to block his brother's attack, he lost his grip, and his sword fell to his side. He dodged as his brother took a hard swing and fell to the side.

Knowing he got no chance of beating him without his sword, Jake raised his arms in defeat. Reoyul threw his sword to the side and lay down beside Jake.

"You'll be King in a month," Jake whispered, they were lying in the middle of the ground and were surrounded by servants and guards.

Reoyul let out a long sigh and said under his breath, "I don't mind waiting for another year, but Father's struggling with his health."

Of course, no one knew the High king of Arelle was struggling every day because of his deteriorating health, it was a thing for royals to never show any sign of weakness, the walls have ears and the ceilings have eyes.

"I am sure father will recover once he takes a long rest, he has been overworking himself. And I am also sure he trusts you completely with the throne, no one's more capable than you," Reoyul looked at his baby brother and smiled, he felt proud that Jake had grown into a smart and fine young man.

"We should go in, almost time for supper," Reoyul stood up and Jake followed, just as they were about to take off, a group of guards lined up on the other battleground beside them. The brothers stood to watch as they trained.

"I heard our new recruits are fierce this time," Reoyul whispered as he studied their movements, "They are not wrong, though they have lots to improve," He added.

****

"Hey little girl, you need a hand lifting the sword?" Seohyun glared at her side, Hanseul was standing there with an ugly smirk on his face. She stuffed her sword in the sheath and walked away, ignoring him.

Being the only girl amongst the training warriors, Seohyun often got unnecessary teasing about it, mainly from the jerk Hanseul. Ignoring his remarks was the best for both of them, she did not plan on giving the attention he craved.

The biased opinion on females joining the warrior was the only thing that limited her, she may not reach men's strength at some point, but her skills and calculative steps made up for it.

"Do you want me to 'accidentally' break his bones? He's my sparring partner today," An arm wrapped around Seohyun's shoulder, she didn't bother to look up knowing it was her friend, Inhyuk.

"Nah… I am saving for the day I'm in a good mood, but it won't hurt to 'accidentally' throw him on the ground or so,"

"I will keep that in mind," Inhyuk chuckled, he was one of the good people amongst the training warriors and a perfect friend to Seohyun too.

"Let's eat supper together, wait for me," Inhyuk said as they reached the training ground, he removed his arm from her shoulder and walked away, not forgetting to pinch her on the cheek.

Seohyun stopped walking as she stared at Inhyuk's retreating back, she could feel the heat rushing up her face. She looked around making sure no one's looking at her. She might have a little crush on Inhyuk, but she can't be blamed considering Inhyuk's handsome face and caring personality towards her.

Re-adjusting herself, she quickly walked towards the others who had already started to line up. Taking her position, she followed their commander as he directed them. There were only around thirty of them and after their training, they would have to go through an examination directed by the High King himself, which would be in three months then they will be finally handed the title of warriors. If they passed.

"Hey, I heard your mother got f*cked up for cheating on your father," Someone whispered behind her, Seohyun retracted her sword and pointed at Hanseul's neck.

"Talk about my mother again, I'll be sure to end your life," Seohyun said with gritted teeth, she did not know where he heard that from, but it was a complete lie.

Taking out your sword meant you challenge them to a duel and Hanseul was not backing out of it. He was quick to take out his sword too and pointed at Seohyun.

"What do you think you are doing?!" A voice boomed across the training grounds, the others made way for their commander but the two didn't move an inch, both didn't want to be the first to back down.

"Kim Seohyun, explain why you draw your sword!" His commander yelled beside her.

"He insulted my family," She answered, getting more furious when Hanseul smirked at her, she was itching to dig her sword into his neck.

The commander grunted and stepped between the two, "You will duel with hands," He announced and took the swords from their hands.

This only seemed to fuel Hanseul's pride more, Seohyun would clench and unclench her fists as she glared at his bratty face filled with overflowing confidence. The two had never sparred before, so Seohyun did not know what his weaknesses were and for Hanseul, it felt like an easy match considering his opponent was a girl. If only he could see the future.

"If you feel embarrassed, you can pretend to faint, I won't say a thing," Hanseul taunted as they took their stance.

"Drop de*d," Seohyun spitted and threw a punch right at his jaw, Hanseul was not ready for the blow and fell to his butt.

"Aw… does a little girl's punch hurts?" She mocked with a pout on her lips, while her opponent looked furious with her action.

Hanseul stood up, regaining his position, "I won't go easy on you this time." He clenched. The only reply he got was a nonchalant shrug.

He went in with an obvious but powerful jab on the face but with her lighter body to Seohyun's advantage, she dodged the attack swiftly and landed one on his stomach, her attacks might not be as strong as one with a meaty body, but they were clean and precise.

With an oof- Hanseul bent down a bit. Careless. A perfect opportunity for Seohyun as his height matched hers, and she did not let it go, with all her strength, she landed a final blow right at his nose, cringe a bit when she heard a crack.

Seohyun couldn't but smiled a bit seeing a buffoon of a man with pride as big as his head laying right in front of her as he lost. She looked around at their audience and was genuinely surprised that they cheered for her.

But it soon came to stop as she sense a presence behind her.

"Your highness!" She turned around and bowed quickly, not even sure which royal family came.

"What is going on, Commander?" A voice asked, Seohyun recognized it to be the Crown Prince.

"Our soldiers were testing out their skills and strengths by sparring," The Commander replied, Seohyun was visibly relaxed by one of the smoothest excuses she had heard.

"Now you know which one needs more practice," Seohyun smiled a bit at the Prince's subtle diss towards Hanseul and also took some credit out of his words.

"Keep up the good work," She could see the Prince's shadow turning but was stopped by a voice.

"Wait..." She looked up by surprise and saw another guy that looked like a softer version of the Crowned Prince, and he was looking directly at her.

Before she could look down again, he announced, "I want that soldier to be my bodyguard."

The Prince was pointing at Seohyun.

****