Chapter 2.2

“…What was that?”

“What do you mean, what was that?”

It seemed he had meant to think it to himself, but the words slipped out. He had rushed out upon hearing that someone had met with him, but it looked like everything was already over.

Jermel glanced at the box Evan was holding. There were no particularly cute decorations on it, but it was suspicious enough. Judging by how Evan still hadn’t come to his senses, he must have been quite shocked.

“Did you get confessed to or something? You little punk, you said you weren’t interested in women but you’ve been wagging your tail all over the place.”

“Stop talking nonsense. It’s not like that.”

Evan glared at Jermel with a look of utter disgust. With a deep scowl, Evan started to open the box, but quickly dropped his hand under Jermel’s intense gaze.

He went straight into the dormitory. He didn’t want anyone to know what was inside. After barely shaking off the persistent Jermel and finally being alone, Evan opened the box with a face full of tension.

“…Why would she give this to me?”

He had been feeling unsettled these past few days, plagued by dreams of her holding his manhood in her hand. When he heard that the medical officer was calling for him, he’d rushed over, worried that his checkup results weren’t good, only to find the woman from his dreams waiting for him.

He’d been so flustered that he hadn’t really heard what she was saying. Inside the box was a sharp sword with a blue gleam. It was wrapped in high-quality paper that looked rather expensive. When he tore off the wrapping and gripped it, the blade flashed in the sunlight.

He’d expected a handkerchief or something like that—this was an unexpected gift. For someone who seemed only ever to have handled medical instruments, her choice was a bit much.

Evan was so bewildered by the unpredictable nature of the gift that he didn’t know how to react.

“Does it have some special meaning?”

He wondered if there might be a card with a message, but nothing came out. Evan was curious about why she’d given him a sword as a thank-you gift, and what her intentions were.

‘Or did she just think it would suit me?’

It was possible, but that alone didn’t satisfy his curiosity. Asking her directly would be the quickest, but asking ‘Why did you give me this?’ would be a little embarrassing.

Evan turned the sword over and over in his hands, examining it closely. Whatever the reason, he now had a good sword. The slender, elegant blade made him smile without realizing it.

“Well, anyway, she gave it to me thinking of me.”

Not realizing he was mistaken, Evan put the sword back in the box and hid it under his bed. He planned not to use it until he became a senior knight.

* * *

On the day of the official induction ceremony, Daphne ended up being late. She’d worked overtime the night before and didn’t hear her alarm, so she woke up late.

“Sir Grey, since His Majesty will be attending this event, let’s let it go just this once.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“The induction ceremony will begin soon, so put on your uniform and come to the front.”

“Yes. I’ll go right away.”

Brooks, who never liked her, seized the opportunity to nitpick. He himself was always late whenever he had the chance and didn’t even do his work properly.

He was not only the chief supervisor of the medical officers but also a noble. He’d gotten the position more through family influence than ability, so he did his best to hide his ambiguous skills.

Unlike him, Daphne was overflowing with magic and never made mistakes, so he must have been quite bitter about it. And now, on the day of the induction ceremony, she was late. It was only three minutes, but he glared at her as if she were three hours late.

“Does he really want to act like that at his age?”

Muttering to herself, Daphne took out her uniform, which she only wore a couple of times a year. Forcing herself into the clothes and heading outside, she saw Hailey waving. As she went over, Brooks shot her a glare. Daphne simply gave him a half-hearted nod and ignored his gaze.

“Were you really that tired yesterday?”

“Yeah… well, a bit.”

After putting off laundry and cleaning, she’d ended up awake until dawn. She knew she had to leave early the next day. But she’d felt like she’d be thrown out for having a dirty room, so she’d had no choice but to make a fuss that night.

Still exhausted, Daphne let out a long yawn, wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked at the knights standing in formation.

The induction ceremony, which followed several rehearsals, was quite a spectacle. When the Emperor and Empress entered surrounded by escort knights and took their seats, the heavy sound of drums signaled the start of the ceremony.

At the same time, the Knight Commander, draped in a splendid cape, knelt before the Emperor and began to shout something.

Unfortunately, the distance was too great for her to hear any of it. Bored, Daphne was fidgeting with her feet and zoning out when Hailey jabbed her in the side, making her snap to attention.

Brooks was glaring at her with a look of discontent. She thought about just ignoring him, but if she wanted to keep working here, she had to be careful.

When the Knight Commander finished reporting to the Emperor about the induction of the new Imperial Knights, the senior knights standing in line handed swords to the trainee knights.

It was a symbol that they would protect the Empire and uphold honor with those swords. So, from this moment of receiving the sword, the trainees were no longer just cadets, but officially junior knights.

After a few more formalities, the Emperor stood up. At that, all the knights knelt before him. Daphne did the same.

“To all of you who have awaited this day, I say: No one knows what lies ahead. You may lose your lives in dangerous battles. But I hope that all of you will keep the heart of a knight, unite as one, and bring honor to the Imperial Knights. That is all!”

The Emperor’s powerful voice, amplified by a magical device, rang out. As if on cue, the orchestra began to play. With lively, energetic music, the Emperor left his seat.

The leaders of each order came forward to gather their knights. Daphne glanced at the training ground, now a scene of chaos, before returning directly to the infirmary.

Now that the official induction was over, it was time for the health checkups of the Imperial Knights. At this time, they checked whether the contraception magic cast earlier was still in effect.

Fortunately, the process was simple. Unlike before, when they had to undress, sterilize, and perform the procedure, now it could be checked just by stepping onto a specific device.

“All set?”

“Yes. We can go right away. I sent the materials yesterday.”

Daphne pushed a cart loaded with equipment. Since the checkups were done in groups, it was held in a large space. The excited chatter of the new knights echoed through the hall.

“Let’s just set up the equipment and get started.”

“Okay. I’ll handle the cables. My mana hasn’t fully recovered yet.”

Daphne headed to where she’d prepared the equipment late last night. Hailey picked up a bundle of cables and moved toward the machines. Daphne infused mana into the machines to activate them as Hailey connected the cables.

As the machines lit up with a faint humming noise, gasps of amazement rose from all around. Feeling self-conscious, Daphne didn’t even glance in their direction, focusing silently on her work.