As the last of the female students, escorted by the elegant maidens, disappears through the grand doors, the Emperor's gaze settles on the remaining group – myself and the other male students. A hint of a smile plays on his lips, a stark contrast to the seriousness that dominated his demeanor earlier.
"𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏," he begins, his voice carrying a quiet power, "𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒎𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒖𝒐𝒖𝒔, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒅𝒎𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆."
He pauses, letting his words sink in. Then, his expression turns more serious.
"𝑾𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐 𝒊𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒂𝒓, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒎 𝒓𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒈𝒐 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒔. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆, 𝒅𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒉𝒚𝒔𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒆. 𝑨𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆?"
A chorus of enthusiastic "𝒀𝒆𝒔, 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑴𝒂𝒋𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒚!" erupts from the group. My own voice joins the throng, a surge of determination coursing through me. This may not be the battlefield adventure I initially envisioned, but the prospect of honing my skills under the guidance of the elite guard is no less thrilling.
The Emperor nods, a hint of satisfaction flickering across his face. "𝑬𝒙𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏."
He gestures towards a figure standing beside him, a stern-faced woman clad in gleaming silver armor. Her gaze sweeps across the group, a hint of a challenge glinting in her eyes.
"𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒂," the Emperor introduces her. "𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎. 𝑼𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒊𝒆𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒔. 𝑹𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏, 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒔𝒐 𝒊𝒏 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒅."
Captain Amelia steps forward, her bearing radiating an aura of command. "𝑭𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆, 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏," she barks, her voice sharp and clear. "𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏 𝒏𝒐𝒘."
With this, the initial formalities are dispensed with. The time for talk is over. The path towards becoming a skilled warrior unfolds before me, and I am eager to embrace the challenges that lie ahead. Perhaps sometime in the future, our paths – mine and Rimuru's – will converge once more. But for now, we must focus on excelling in our respective roles within the grand tapestry of the Imperial Palace.
♧♧♧♧♧
Following Captain Amelia's sharp command, the male students fall into a line, excitement tinged with a touch of apprehension buzzing in the air. We're eager to begin our training, to test our limits under the watchful eyes of the elite guard.
But before the rigorous lessons commence, the Emperor throws us a curveball.
"𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒃𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈," he announces, his voice surprisingly jovial, "𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒓 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆."
He gestures towards a group of palace officials standing near the back of the room. "𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒆𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔."
Residences? The thought hadn't even crossed my mind. I had envisioned endless drills and grueling training sessions, not settling into a comfortable living space within the palace walls. But a flicker of curiosity ignites within me. What kind of residence awaits me?
One by one, the students are paired with an official and ushered away. Finally, it's my turn. A tall young man approaches me and extends a courteous bow.
"𝑻𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐, 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕?" he inquires, his voice surprisingly gentle for someone clad in such imposing attire. "𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍. 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒈𝒖𝒊𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆."
I return his bow, a hint of surprise in my voice. "𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍," I acknowledge. "𝑻𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆."
We head out of the throne room, navigating the maze of corridors with Steward Kael leading the way. The sheer size of the Imperial Palace is overwhelming. Each turn reveals a new ornately decorated hallway, a glimpse into a hidden courtyard, or a bustling room teeming with activity.
Finally, after what feels like an age, Steward Kael stops before a set of imposing double doors. Intricate carvings depicting scenes of legendary battles adorn the surface.
"𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒐," he announces with a flourish, "𝒊𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆."
With a deep breath, I push open the doors, stepping into a world far exceeding my expectations.
YOU ARE READING
Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival
FantasyThis story unfolds a tale of a young boy who trainees much as he can to become the best vision of himself no limitations
