Zaos couldn't help but frown. Why would the king give him that title and then a small army? He certainly didn't have the skills yet to lead so many people. Considering his age, few people would actually follow him… Despite the trouble that the king was causing, he only smiled in front of him.

"Happy birthday, Zaos," Dalyor smiled. "Consider this an extra gift from the royal family." 

As if someone could receive that kind of gift as a birthday present… Regardless, what was done was done, and Zaos couldn't complain.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Zaos said and then received the box with the amulets.

Zaos still had complicated feelings, but he couldn't let the ceremony stop there. Besides, the king was the king. He could do whatever the hell he wanted, including causing a lot of trouble for Zaos. In any case, Zaos looked to the side and noticed that his father wasn't surprised. He probably was involved in that. It was perhaps some punishment since he wasn't strong enough to win against Zaos… It's not like Zaos could win against him either.

"For your courage and insistence in fulfilling your mission and protecting innocents, Drannor, I present you with the title of knight and immediately promote you to the royal guard." Dalyor said, "From this day to your last day, your job will be to protect the royal family. I expect great things from you."

As one would expect, everyone in the throne room began to whisper surprised. No one so young joined the royal guard before, and weirdly enough, the youngest that had joined was Drian, who became one when he was nineteen, and now his son broke his record. Still, no one could say that he didn't have the qualifications.

"Thank you, Your Majesty," Drannor smiled as he received a sword from Dalyor.

"Let's applaud these brave warriors," Dalyor said. "I feel really proud knowing that I can trust the life of my family in the hands of these men."

  Dalyor clapped, and everyone did the same. A lot of people were in the throne room, so that made a lot of noise. Being the center of attention wasn't his style, so Zaos quickly left and then returned to where Edea was.

"Not that I mind, but why did you return to exactly this place?" Edea frowned. "If you did so while considering the rumors about me, I am Sorry to say, but I won't make a move on the son of an old friend."

"I acted without thinking," Zaos said. "Well, I suppose that is for the best."

"Regardless, did you mess up somewhere?" Edea asked. "Why did Drannor join the royal guard and you didn't?"

"He asked to join," Zaos said. "As for me, I asked for a single focus amulet. Not to become a knight or to lead five hundred soldiers."

"You really are an oddball, you had the chance to join and you just had to ask, but you didn't…" Edea facepalmed. "Oh, well. I suppose you are too young to spend the rest of your life working every single day in the castle."

Zaos couldn't agree more, but now that he had to lead five hundred soldiers, he had another type of trouble on his hands. Most likely, the king and his father will recruit the soldiers who will follow Zaos, and they are planning him to do something somewhere, and he will have to leave the capital. While he didn't have anything special to do, Zaos still felt like talking with his mother every day.

Before Zaos could think of how to solve that issue, people all over the room began to move to talk with him. Most of them were noblemen who had sons who were soldiers and then wanted to introduce Zaos to them since they thought they could become good officials in his unit. As if that wasn't enough, Zaos realized that he had to consider many things from now on. Food, money, supplies, lodge… everything for his soldiers. That was too much of a hassle.

  Some girls appeared as well, but they quickly gave up because they lost confidence since Edea was nearby and she looked like a woman in her twenties. That really helped Zaos since he didn't know how to maintain a conversation with most girls of his age. He only felt comfortable talking with Ameria and Noemi. There was also Nyana, but it was because she was his little sister.

In the end, Zaos didn't have time to rest because he couldn't talk with the people he already knew since they were surrounded by others who also wanted to speak with them. So, Zaos spent almost six hours standing while carrying the box with the focus amulets and talking with people that he didn't memorize their names. If he hadn't drunk some wine, there was no way that he could have endured all that.

  Once the first people began to leave the party, Zaos quickly followed them. He was already at his limit, and no one could complain since he did his best and didn't make a scene. After returning home, Zaos went straight to his room and jumped to his bed. He was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he closed his eyes.

The next day, despite his exhaustion, Zaos got up as soon as the sun began to rise. He needed to maintain a routine. Otherwise, he couldn't improve. He needed at least to rely on the routine since he didn't recover his motivation. Regardless, even though he was supposed to stay at the castle during the whole week, Laiex appeared to have breakfast at home, but then he stopped to talk with Zaos.

"Are you surprised with your promotion?" Laiex asked.

"Was that your idea?" Zaos asked.

"No, His Majesty was thinking about the future of the country when he decided to make you commander of five hundred men," Laiex replied.

"How so?" Zaos asked.

"Soon enough, you will understand," Laiex said. "In any case, that brought you some extra time about your marriage. If you really don't want me to pick up a wife for you, you should hurry up."