Eric took the bottom bed because it’s easier to get into it. Orph didn’t complain at all, looks like he’s a man of his word. It was a new day, with new beginnings. Which in this case meant a new day for new training!

The training was going to start from today, a knight cadet’s life isn’t easy. They’re supposed to be the elite soldiers of this kingdom. The training consisted of weapons training, swords, spears, bow, and arrows. You name it. The cadets also had to do physical exercise and study. Eric was quick to learn but he never really improved, much to Shine’s dismay.

All of this went on for six months, Eric didn’t miss a single day of his training but he was still the same. He never changed. On one such day, Eric was sitting on a bench, tired from all his training, looking down. He closed his hands and wondered what he was even doing here. Orph came near Eric and spoke, “Hey! Here.”, and gave him a water bottle. Eric smiled at him and drank.

“Shine’s calling for us...”, Orph added. He patted Eric’s back and spoke, “Race you there!” and he bolted off. Eric laughed and followed him. Orph, unlike Eric, had improved a lot. You could see it from how he ran, it almost reminded Eric of Shine when he trained with him. Orph won the race, he did a victory pose, and to top it off, he wasn’t tired at all. Eric on the other hand was gasping for air, after some seconds he got up from his knees and spoke, “Not fair... you had a head start...”. Before Orph could reply, Shine was standing beside them, neither of them could notice him. Was he a Knight or an Assassin?

“Take a day off from training tomorrow. And in case you haven’t heard the King’s going to give the cadets their first knight mission in a couple of months.”, said Shine. He then waved his hands and went his way. Eric and Orph looked at each other.

“Hey Orph, what’s a first knight mission?”

“It’s a test thing that the king gives to knight cadets, the best thing about them is that you can be a knight if you manage to do it successfully.”

“So, what you’re trying to say is that they’re really hard?”

“Yea...”

After the much-needed exposition, Eric and Orph talked about their time there and then retired to their room for the day.

The next day, Orph wasn’t to be seen anywhere. Eric didn’t have anything to do, so he sat in front of his room’s window and looked at the garden. It was beautiful, filled with various different flowers, plants and trees. If you paid close attention, you could even hear birds chirping and bees buzzing.

While experiencing nature in all its glory, Eric saw a girl walking down his window. It was Rally! Eric took his sword because a knight cadet never leaves anywhere without his weapon of choice.

He hurried down the stairs and ran to where Rally was. He didn’t think of anything and while smiling, blurted out, “Hey!”. Eric, realizing what he had just done, got as red as a human could possibly ever be without injury. Rally didn’t really notice that. She smiled and replied, “Hey!”.

“How’s your knight cadet training going on?”, she added.

“It’s been fine...”, replied Eric, trying to avert his eyes. “What about you? How’s your work going”, said Eric, trying to dodge her question.

“Well, I'm living as well a maid could live? So, that’s nice.”

“You don’t like working as a maid?”

“No... Not really. I mean it’s fine. It’s better than the alternatives...”, She paused and added “What about you? Why do you want to be a knight and save a princess or prince? Is it because you want to marry royalty?”

“You remember my dream?”, said Eric, surprised.

“I still have that note.”, said Rally, laughing.

Eric smiled and spoke, “No, not really. The person I save has no obligation to marry me just because I saved them... and besides marrying someone you barely know? I don’t know about that.”

“Then why do you want to save a princess?”

“It’s mostly because of the book I read back when I was a child. It had this awesome knight saving a princess and ever since then, I've always wanted to do it.”

“Really? You’re really something Eric!”, said Rally, laughing and smiling at the same time.

“Oh, I forgot... I have to deliver these to the orphanage...”, she added, while pointing towards a basket she kept on the ground.

“Mind if I join you?”, said eric while being nervous.

“I don’t mind at all, I'd actually like you to join me.”, replied Rally smiling.

Eric didn’t feel nervous anymore, he started to smile. This conversation made Eric forget all about his troubles.

And so, Eric went out of the castle, for the first time in six months. He and Rally, walked together to the orphanage.

“Oh right, I never asked. Why are we going to the orphanage?”, asked Eric.

“Most of the maids and some of the knights come from there apparently.”, said Rally. “So, they came together to donate things there and choose a maid who has never been there to be the person to deliver it.”, she added.

Eric pondered on why they did that, but he doubted that Rally knew the answer either. They soon reached the orphanage.

“Oh, it’s the same building I saw Orph for the first time in.”, said Eric.

“Orph?”

“Oh right, he’s my cadet partner.”

“Oh...”, replied Rally.

The orphanage was well kept, you couldn’t see any damage even if you tried really hard. Rally and Eric knocked at the door, but they didn’t get any answer. They looked at each other and decided to wait without saying anything. Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen...

“How long are we going to wait?”, asked Eric getting more impatient by the minute.

“What do you suggest? Should we just break-in?”, replied Rally.

“No? Maybe? I don’t know! Alright, let’s see. Maybe there’s another entrance and everyone’s busy with something that they can’t answer the main door.”

Rally nodded in agreement, and they both started looking for other ways to get in.

“Look, there’s an open door.”, said Rally pointing towards an open door.

“If we go in through there it’s not trespassing because the door is open! They’re practically asking us to go in at this point!”, said Eric enthusiastically.

“Oh yes, what could go wrong!”

“Do you have a better plan? One that does not include us not getting anywhere even after trying so hard.”

Rally stared at Eric, after a while, she spoke, “Alright, let’s go.”

And so, Eric and Rally ventured inside the orphanage. The halls were large, and the building in itself was large. Almost as big as ten town buildings.

“Are you alright?”, asked Rally while walking.

“Yes? Why?”, replied Eric.

“It’s just that... it looks like something’s bothering you...”

“Yea... I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to get so impatient and I know it’s not really a good excuse but I'm dealing with some stuff...”

Rally stopped and spoke, "It's alright if you don’t want to talk about it, just know that I'm here...”

Before she could finish talking, they heard some screams coming out of one of the rooms. They both ran towards it.

“This is not allowed in here. I do not know where children learn about these silly games... Rock, Paper, Scissors. GO STUDY!”

Rally and Eric hid themselves near the door, they saw a woman in black clothes screaming at the children. Before the children could leave, another person with black clothes came and talked to the woman screaming.

“Ma’am, the principal wants to talk to the children.”, she said.

“Very well.”, replied the woman, she then clapped her hands and continued, “The principal wants to speak to all of you. Remember the rules and go down in an orderly fashion.”

The women lead the marching children down, every single one of them marched in an orderly fashion. Which made you wonder how long they had practiced this.

They went to the hall, Eric and Rally followed them from behind. The children stood in a line, making no noise. Soon, a man appeared on the balcony above the hall. He addressed the children and spoke, “I’ve been hearing about your misdeeds. If you want to be a knight or a maid, who would be very lucky to get chosen by the duke then you must follow the rules.”

The children unanimously said, “Yes, Sir!”. The man saw both Eric and Rally peeking from the hall door and spoke while looking at them, “Looks like we have visitors.”

“I don’t like this...”, said Rally.

“Neither do I...”, replied Eric.

They both entered the hall, being the center of attention to all who were there before. The principal came down from the balcony and spoke, “What brings you here?”

“Gifts! Gifts, donations from the people in the castle...”, replied Rally.

“Look, Children! Your seniors, your successful seniors were kind enough to bless us with donations! Maybe one day, you children would do the same. But for that, you guys have to work hard and above all, follow the rules! And if you don’t...”, said the principal, and as soon as he said that, the children’s eyes dropped down.

“We’ll excuse ourselves.”, said Rally, giving the gifts to the principal and waking away really fast with Eric. They soon found themselves outside the orphanage's main gate. Eric looked back at the orphanage and saw a girl looking outside from the window, she placed her hand on it but the curtains dropped before Eric could make much out of it.

“Well, that was...something...”, said Eric.

Rally nodded in agreement and spoke, “I don’t like that, the children looked... not full of life... and I thought my childhood was bad.”

Eric saw how sad Rally was and spoke,” Hey, do you want me to do something about that...”

“We can’t do anything about that, the orphanage is owned by the duke and we’re just commoners... Even knights, the highest rank a commoner can get is always going to be below a baron who is way below a duke...”, said Rally, almost rambling.

Eric not knowing what to do, nervously moving his hands and finally holding Rally’s shoulders, spoke, “I may know a guy...”

“So, what brings my first nominated knight cadet and his friend here?", said the Baron.

Eric and Rally told the Baron about what had happened in the orphanage.

“Hmm, I see. I’m sorry but that’s hardly any proof... besides the duke is a much more powerful man than I am.”, he paused and looked at both Eric and Rally’s frowning faces and added, “But! But this is better than nothing! Yes! This will make a great start to building a case against the duke! A case that not even the King would be able to stop!”.

Hearing that, Rally was able to smile a little which caused Eric to smile a little too. They both left, thanking the Baron.

Rally looked at Eric with a smile on her face and spoke, “Thanks for trying, but there’s nothing else we could do but I really appreciate you trying. I really do.”

Eric looked at her with sad eyes and didn’t say anything, he just nodded in agreement.

“It’s just that seeing those kids made me remember my childhood, it wasn’t that bad... I mean my mother tried her best, being a single parent and all but I... I wouldn’t call her a good parent...”, Rally added, trying to hold off her tears.

Eric couldn’t or rather, Eric didn’t say anything. He just listened to Rally. They spent a little more time in the city, walking around and sightseeing, mostly in silence. Soon, they reached the Castle. They both said goodbye to each other and went their ways. Eric went inside his room, he saw Orph laying in his bed. Orph asked Eric how his day went, upon hearing the details, he didn’t reply and simply went to sleep.

Eric found himself sitting near the window again, but this time it was night. He stared at the stars and thought about what had happened today.