"I, Jennie Ruby Jane of House Asteria, pledge my loyalty to his royal highness, Taehyung Ares Delrico, The Crown Prince of the Valorian Empire.
"How far does your loyalty lie, Princess Jane?" He stalked towards her, unrelenting even as her back co...
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"Yes, grandfather?" Jennie questioned as she eyed the hologram in front of her, displaying the clearly displeased expression of Duke Regan.
"Ruby, you are supposed to be meeting me first. 11 years abroad and you don't even do that?" He frowned, unsupportive of her actions.
"You have visited me several times in Chizar. This is my first ti-" Jennie tried to explain but was cut off by him standing up, not hearing any of it.
"How do I explain this to His Majesty the Emperor? I have an audience with him. And you are supposed to be the personal guard of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince until his coronation! How is it going to look like when you choose to meet knights before the most important people of the Empire?" He distressed, as Jennie cut a glance towards her lady-in-waiting, Charlotte.
"You don't need to say anything. My official debut is tonight anyways. Surely they don't mind awaiting on an audience for a few hours, at most." She pointed out as he shook his head, his hand reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"But still! You can always meet the knights another time!" He exclaimed, finding her entire plan most preposterous.
"They are going to be my command from now on. I am supposed to lead them onto the battlefield, but how do you expect me to do that without any trust between us? You had it different, you trained amongst them as they saw your capabilities. These knights know nothing about me." Jennie explained rather calmly, contrasting her poor old grandfather who could only hopelessly stare at her.
"You're not going to listen to me, are you?" He asked as she shook her head, leaving the conversation at that as he slumped into his chair, keeping up with his dramatics.
"Also, I just don't get it. Why do I have to be The Crown Prince's personal knight? Aren't there other knights there?" She questioned, unable to grasp the entire thing.
"Ruby, first thing, mind your salutations. I don't want you to offend His Royal Highness on the first day you meet." He corrected with a hard loo before approaching the table.
"And second, it's because until the coronation, His Royal Highness is under massive threat from other houses wanting to spearhead the empire. We need a knight to be present even in the confidential meetings." He began to explain as Jennie finally listened to an actual explanation.
"House Asteria is already privy to the classified information as an unyielding ally to the Imperial family. And well, don't take this to your head, but with your Asterian knight training and sorceress abilities, you're also the most powerful to-be-knight we have. So yes, you have to serve as the temporary guard of His Royal Highness." Duke Regan concluded as Jennie sighed, knowing there was no way out of this.
"I need a dress for tonight." She finally remembered as the Duke nodded, even oddly smiling.
"About that....Crown Princess Isadora already brought one for you." He broke the news as Jennie was confused, not expecting this.
