Smolder in the Afterglow | Tales of Luminozenko

Chapter 11| I Did Not Wake Up To Get Constipated

"Is this right?" I stepped out of the walk-in closet in my room and showed myself to Morris and Delaney, who were both sitting on my bed.

Kozen Akademis's uniform consisted of an ornate, double-breasted, royal blue and crimson red coat, which was lined and embroidered with gold and had gold buttons as well. Around my neck, I had a forest green cravat cleanly fastened and adorned it with an emerald brooch that had the emblem of the academy on it. The phoenix and the dragon were on the upper half, and the lion and the wolf were on the lower half. From one lapel of the coat to the other, a couple of amethyst chains hung, securing the cravat from flattering.

Both the back of my clothes—the shirt and the coat—were modified for us winged people. They were cut vertically from the base of my wings down to the end. Gold buttons were attached to the lower back to close the cuts.

For the lower part of the outfit, I wore black slacks, paired up with a couple of under-the-knee, high-heeled black boots, lined with gold. To finish it all, I had white, short gloves that ended just before my wrists, and my opal bracelet.

Overall, the outfit was nice, and the fabrics were nice and breathable, but it took so much time to put on. I loved it but also disliked it at the same time.

We were only required to wear this uniform for four weekdays, and by Friday and weekends, we could wear whatever we wanted as long as they fit within the academy rules.

"Yeah, looks great on you," Morris replied, her eyes going from my face to my boots, and nodded. "Absolutely perfect for you." Then, she gazed back at my face and tilted her head to the side. "But, is it just me, or do your eyes look a bit swollen?"

"Ah, I guess so," I rubbed my right eye, "I couldn't sleep well last night." I forced out a chuckle. "I mean, the new room again, first day at the academy and all." I turned to the body mirror outside the closet. "But, the academy's uniform is quite . . . you know, fancy for students?" I looked back inside my closet, where several copies of the uniform were stashed. "They won't make us pay for these, will they?"

"No, although the uniforms look expensive, they are actually not that costly," Morris said. "As long as we get things done right, they won't say a thing about those outfits wasted on us. Besides, the Young Master was the one who ordered the uniforms for you and Delaney."

I snapped my head in her way. "What?"

They both had the same outfit design as I did, albeit Delaney's appeared more masculine in a way.

"By the way, nice bracelet," Delaney commented, motioning a finger at my wrist.

My eyes shifted down to it. "Yeah." Then, I shot an eye at Ny's accessory, which seemed to be made of jade. "Yours too."

He raised his arm with a smile. "It's a gift from His Majesty, King Edelfred when I turned eighteen, and gave me a longsword along with this."

"He sounds like a great king," I said in a small voice.

"He doesn't sound like a great king," he immediately retorted and finished the bun. "He is a great king."

"He raised you along with his prick of a—I mean, his good son, right?" I questioned, eyeing both him and Morris. "Is it only the three of you and Rosellia, or do you have to live with Zyrak?"

"Zyrak is from a noble family, so he didn't need to live with us—Rosellia too," he replied, "But both of them owe His Majesty and His Highness a lot. All of us do. And our way of repaying them is by serving and being loyal to them."

"I see." I grabbed a comb from the desk and parted my hair into two parts. "For how long?"

"Until death," Morris said, sounding so carefree as if it wasn't at all serious. "Being a knight is being prepared to be a sacrifice, for your liege, for your loved ones, for the people, and the kingdom. Knowing how to kill evil is knowing when to die for the good."