I lay in the fields, staring at the sky; it had a calming effect on me. I might not be the type to get angry easily, but they took it too far this time.

"Cady," I heard, but I ignored the call. "Cady," Bede called again. I sat up and looked at him as he approached me. "Why are you here? You have to go," he said, and I sighed.

"I'm leaving," I replied, grabbing my sword.

"I know this is unfair, but you were ordered…"

"You don't know, Bede," I said, dusting off my uniform. "Better go take care of a little princess," I said, walking away.

Society is really cruel to women. I am a full-fledged knight, top of my class, a prodigy, the youngest to be sworn in, one of the best in the special forces, and the first female to achieve platinum rank. But I am supposed to serve some irrelevant princess.

I am the other Hall sibling. My brother joined the Cecia Knight Order two years before me and made a name for himself. I joined, too, and worked harder than everyone else, ignoring all the discouragements, but I'm just Elton Hall's sister or the little girl.

Because I'm a girl, I'm not allowed the same opportunities as the boys, even though I'm better than them. I learned to ignore those things and focus on myself and my goal. All my colleagues know that I'm better than them, but they just won't accept it.

Now, I am to serve as a bodyguard for the eighth princess. I heard we're almost the same age, but that doesn't matter. Why should I serve her? Because I'm a girl?

I mounted my horse, Bean, and made my way to the palace. I'd just make sure she relieves me of my duties so that I can go back to the special forces, where I belong.

When I arrived at the palace, I was led to her room. I sighed and waited for the maid to open the door.

"Your Highness, the knight is here," she said as she opened the door. I walked in and saw someone on the bed.

"Are you the knight?" I heard a male voice. Huh?

"Yes, I am, Your Highness," I said with a bow.

"What is your name?" he asked, standing up weakly.

"Cady," I said, skipping my surname.

"Cady, I'm Alvin," he said, extending his hand. I looked at it and bowed.

"I am at your service, Your Highness," I said.

"Please, you don't have to be so formal," he replied.

"Then can I ask a question, Your Highness?" 

"Go ahead."

"I was told I'd be serving the eighth princess," I said.

"There must have been a misunderstanding; she has a knight already. I'm the fifth prince," he explained.

"How old is the princess?" 

"Seven." I'm so lucky to avoid that plague.

"And you?"

"Nineteen," he said, and I sighed. At least he's not a child.

"Thank you," I said, and I meant it.

"Therma will show you around; you can get acquainted with the place," he said, and I nodded, turning to leave.

…

I straightened my uniform and kept my sword by my side. I had to escort the prince to a dinner being held in honor of the emperor's seventieth birthday. All the members of the imperial family would be present, and according to the maids, it would be a big competition—and Alvin always lost.

I'd been here a week, and all I did was watch him read, eat, or take a walk. It was the most boring job ever. I almost fell asleep from watching the frail prince do mundane things.

Back at the base, I had different things to do. Some of the trainees came to challenge me to duels, even seniors. I could go for a ride on Bean or sharpen my sword—anything was more fun than watching that sickly prince.

I walked out and saw him all dressed and ready to go. I followed him to the hall where the rest of the imperial family were.

I stood in the corner with the other knights as dinner started.

"Hi, you're the new knight, right?" someone whispered.

"Yeah," I said.

"You should join the knights' hangout; we meet on the weekends," he said.

"What's that?"

"It's a neutral ground for knights to vent," he explained, and I chuckled. Everyone turned to look at me with disapproving glares. I kept an expressionless face and stared back at them. "So you're with the weak prince."

"That's disrespectful."

"That's true, but he really is weak. The other members of the royal family bully him all the time," he said.

"Then he should fight back," I replied.

"Easy for the prodigy to say," he shot back.

"You know who I am?"

"Who doesn't know the Hall siblings? Cady and Elton Hall," he said.

"True," I admitted.

"I'm G…" he didn't finish his introduction because there was a commotion outside.

All the knights drew their swords and rushed to their various masters. The door opened, and someone walked in slowly with distant eyes and a bloody mouth.

"Who are you? How dare you come in here?" one of the members of the imperial family shouted. The person moaned and moved toward him with quick steps, and his knight stepped in front of her. She didn't react to the sword pointed at her; she charged at the knight. He slashed at her, but that didn't stop her. She grabbed him, even though his sword went through her body, and bit him.

"What the…" I mumbled. He pushed her off, screaming as he held his side where she bit him. Someone chopped off her head and helped him up, but he stumbled back and started convulsing.

"Get him out of here," the emperor ordered, and some knights went to help him, but he grabbed one and bit him.

'Why are they biting each other?'

He charged at others, but the other knights finally snapped out of their daze and rushed to stop the crazed people.

It smelled weird. I grabbed Alvin and led him out quickly. The other members of the imperial family and the remaining knights were already leaving while others dealt with the crazed individuals.

"What's going on?" Alvin asked.

"I don't know, but it seems like dinner is over," I said, dragging him past the door. I turned back and saw the chopped-off head still moving. "I have a bad feeling about this," I muttered to myself.

I got him to his room and locked him inside before going to inquire what was happening. I ran back to the hall where it all started and saw that the knights had turned crazy too. I dashed past them quickly, and they chased after me, but I was fast enough to reach the door where the emperor and others had gone through.

I heard unsettling laughter that made me want to turn back. I walked in and shut the door behind me.

"I'll get it and get out of here, but this empire will crumble," a woman said, levitating in the air. The knights started convulsing, and soon they fell to the floor and stopped moving. Then they stood up and attacked the emperor and his family.

I ran quickly and blocked the person in front of the emperor. I cut his hands and legs in one swift motion, then went after the others.

"This is treason! What do you think you're doing?" one of the imperial family members shouted.

"Are you foolish? They are dead," the woman replied. "Okay, I've wasted enough time; I have to go," she said, and disappeared.

I managed to render everyone immobile, but they were still moving.

"Your Majesty, you need to get out of here," I said, looking at the door with urgency. He snapped out of his daze and started moving. He went to a corner and placed his ring in one of the stones; a secret path opened. He turned to look at his family.

"We have to leave. Some knights will meet us at the end of this road," he said, and they all ran in.

"Wait, Alvin isn't here," I said, noticing that some of them were missing.

"Let's go," he said, ignoring me. I didn't expect much.

I ran out but was attacked by more of the dead knights and servants. I ran back, but they were persistent.

"From the top of my head to the tip of my sword," I said, pointing my sword at them to release a large magic attack. I dashed past the clear halls, but the noise seemed to have attracted more of them. "From the top of my head to the sole of my feet," I said hurriedly, running past them fast enough so they couldn't catch up.

I managed to reach Alvin's palace, but they had already swarmed the entrance. I went through the back and climbed in through the window. I opened Alvin's room door and saw one of the dead people about to bite him. 

'Can't he push her away or fight back?'

"From the top of my head to the tip of my sword," I said, slashing at the air. It sliced through her head, and she fell. Did that work? "We have to go, Your Highness," I said urgently.