A terrible silence took all over the place. Prince's Hans expressions didn't change that much, he kept staring at her with his scary gaze.
" I can't guess what is he thinking, his face always looks angry."
Then she looked at the others, they were very surprised. Even the king was shocked. No one expects that a girl could win the contest and become a knight.
" What am I supposed to say"
Hans got back to his seat without a word. He acted like he didn't know her.
- What a surprise? I didn't know that you will recruit a female knight this year, Prince.
- Me neither, your majesty, I didn't get any information about that. Replied Hans while glaring at Roy. Then he looked back at her while saying.
- I appreciate your efforts, but we don't accept females.
Rose was trembling, but she stepped forward with what's left of her courage:
- I won fair and square. Being a male or a female doesn't matter, besides, aren't hiding our faces one of your rules? you wanted to select knights according to their skills, not their appearance, and I succeeded to match your expectations...
- You came for the money, don't you?
- Yes.. but...
- I will give as much money as you want, will that be enough?
" As much money as I want? I will be able to settle our debt, but what am I going to do after that? When I fight with my sword, I feel free, it becomes a part of me. No one will understand me except those who feel the same. Finally, I found a place I belong to"
She looked at him with eyes full of confidence:
- I want to be a knight.
- I think you misunderstood something, miss Rose. Being a knight is not a simple title you will be given. A lot of training and hard work will come with it. Strong men collapsed and quit in less than a month.
- Then, give me one month. If I failed to keep up with the others, I will quit on my own.
- You won't be given any special treatment, You will be treated like a man. And if you failed, I won't give you any money. Is that okay for you?
- I accept your conditions, your highness.
- Very well then, let's continue the ceremony.
The ceremony came to an end. As soon as the new recruiters went out from the palace. They gathered around her.
- I can't believe you were a woman all this time.
- Yeah, me too, I was extremely shocked.
- I'm sorry to deceive you, but you won't accept me if I told you the truth from the beginning. I was harassed just because I was thinner than you. I can't imagine what will you do if you knew that I'm a girl.
Meanwhile, the Prince headed to his office, Roy followed him by his order.
- Did you call for me your highness.
- Having a female participant. I was wondering why I wasn't aware of such important information.
- Because you will eliminate her immediately without considering her skills.
- That's not up to you to decide.
- Your highness, if she was lacking even a bit I wouldn't hesitate to tell you, but in these past few years, I never witnessed someone with such great skills. Without mentioning that she helped us catch two spies. She deserves to get the chance to join the knights' troop.
- We will see about that, after one month. You can go
" So, she was that girl all these times, I was wondering what was she doing in the forest and the library at that time. I should figure it out by myself..... Those eyes again, I felt reassured when I saw them. I will keep an eye on her for this month"