Rise Of Royal Phantoms And Qixi Festival

Episode 33.5

"𝑰𝒕'𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒎𝒚 𝒗𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒆," I explained softly, the words catching in my throat. Steward Kael turned the jade hair pin in his hands, the intricate carving glinting under the soft light. "Your village?" he inquired, a hint of surprise in his voice. A hair pin like this, with such fine craftsmanship, couldn't have originated from a mere village. The jade carving held a quality one might find adorning the head of royalty. The thought sparked a flicker of curiosity within him.

Steward Kael's gaze flickered upwards, his thoughts still lingering on the pin, but then a jolt of surprise ran through him. My long, smooth, dark blue hair, cascading down my back now that the pin was removed, held an uncanny resemblance to a young royal he'd known long ago. A young woman who'd offered him solace after the loss of his comrades. He possessed similar features, a gentle strength in her eyes that mirrored the one I now held. Before he could delve deeper into this startling realization, my voice broke through his reverie.

"𝑲𝒂𝒆𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒊, 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆?" I asked, a touch of impatience creeping into my tone. The vulnerability I'd felt with the pin exposed, my hair unbound, was starting to gnaw at me. Steward Kael blinked, seemingly coming to his senses, and a small smile played on his lips.

"𝑨𝒉, 𝒚𝒆𝒔," he replied, his voice regaining its usual calm. "𝑵𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅." He expertly snipped a stray strand, his nimble fingers working with practiced ease.

Steward Kael's fingers brushed the final strand, his practiced movements leaving my hair perfectly trimmed. He carefully inserted the jade hair pin back into its place, its familiar weight a comforting anchor. "𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒅𝒐𝒏𝒆," he announced with a warm smile.

I rose from the chair, thanking him, and exited the makeshift salon. Renji, Wan, Tomohiro, Kasumi, and Izumi were all waiting outside, sporting their own freshly shorn looks. The atmosphere crackled with a nervous excitement - we were finally finished with our training, on the cusp of becoming full-fledged spies.
Captain Amelia materialized before us, her face uncharacteristically devoid of its usual sternness.

"𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔," she boomed, her voice echoing in the hallway. "𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒆 𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒌𝒔. 𝑯𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓, 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒔𝒑𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 th𝒚an 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒔."

A pregnant pause followed, then a hint of a smile played on her lips. "𝑩𝒚 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒓," she continued, "𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘."

Steward Kael stepped forward, a small, mischievous glint in his usually sleepy eyes. "𝑨𝒏𝒅," he added, "𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

With a flourish, the superiors revealed three ornately carved boxes. The first, upon opening, revealed sleek, black uniforms - their darkness offset by a subtle, almost imperceptible sheen.

The second box contained matching belts, the same deep black, and the third held an arsenal of weapons, each bearing the Imperial seal. A golden dragon.

One by one, Captain Amelia called out our names. As each of us stepped forward, we received a complete set - a uniform, belt, and a weapon. Warm smiles erupted, replaced by joyful laughter as we held our new equipment - tangible proof of our transformation from trainees to espionage agents.

Steward Kael addressed us once more, his voice taking on a new seriousness. "𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑬𝒎𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒆," he said, "𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔."

A murmur rippled through the group. Fifty Seven trainees stood before him, no longer novices but fledgling spies. As the weight of his words settled in, uncertainty flickered across some faces.
However, I felt a surge of pride, a quiet satisfaction at finally reaching this point.

Before long, the group coalesced into six distinct teams. Tomohiro, Izumi, Kasumi, Renji, Wan, and another spiky black-haired trainee I didn't know well all stood before me, their gazes holding a mixture of respect and apprehension. It seemed they had chosen me as their leader.

Steward Kael approached again, a final box appearing in his hands. Inside, nestled on a velvet cushion, lay a set of jade pendants on special belts. He placed one in Kaito's hand - the lone remaining superior - who then proceeded to distribute them to each team leader.

"𝑾𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍," he declared, a wide smile gracing his features, "𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔, 𝒂𝒔 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚- 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒅𝒈𝒆 𝑬𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒈𝒆."

With that, we were dismissed, each team heading off to their respective residences, the weight of our new roles settling on our shoulders. But the apprehension was overshadowed by a sense of unity, a shared purpose.

Tomorrow, we wouldn't just be a group of individuals; we would be a team, ready to embark on our first mission as spies of the Empire.