Gwen truly wished her special gift was related to concealment at the moment.

Much to her frustration, future vision wasn’t very useful in her current predicament. Perhaps if more of the knights tasked with defeating the second prince were present, Gwen may have had a better chance of avoiding Donovan’s eyes.

Unfortunately, the two of them were the only ones there.

‘How truly troublesome…’

Donovan was the best knight instructor — few people in the kingdom could deny it, and those who did would be disdained as imbeciles by the majority of knights. His remarkable talent lay in his uncanny ability to pinpoint precisely the areas in which someone lacked skill and offer effective strategies for improvement.

Everybody that came under his tutelage came out of it much stronger in various ways. Gwen was convinced she wouldn’t have reached her current power if not for the man.

Despite this, all his previous students either felt spiteful to the extent that they cursed him to go bald, or withered in his presence.

Gwen was part of the second camp.

If one were to ask her if her experience with the trainer was good or bad, she would pick the former. The man was a harsh and unforgiving teacher, but that was just what Gwen wanted. She didn’t join the knight order to fool around.

Gwen wanted to be strong. Strong enough to protect the happiness she had. Strong enough to protect the happiness she would have. And Strong enough to repay the kingdom that housed that happiness. From the start, she already intended to be harsher on herself than anybody else.

Luckily, she was talented and hard-working. This assured that she would at least be a decent blade for Aizen as long as she continued to persevere. Donovan, despite his sharp words and strictness, must have also felt her relentless drive, paying more attention to her.

Unfortunately, this attention came in the form of significantly harsher training than the rest of her peers.

Numerous times, she felt like she would go insane from stress. Her choice of wearing her hair short wasn’t just because it was efficient, rather, it was also because the number of strands she found on her pillow every morning increased by the day. In an attempt to save what little hair she had, she shortened it — something that, according to her mother, helped with hair retention.

‘It ended up being bullshit though.’

It was fortunate that Gwen eventually got used to the stress before she followed in her bald instructor’s footsteps.

All in all, she appreciated and respected Donovan as someone who had been — and perhaps still was — a vital part of her growth. She would appreciate his contributions more when he wasn’t around to remind her of the nightmarish training she had been through though.

It all ended up well in the end, so she couldn’t truly complain. Gwen was a half-ascendant now, and she hadn’t even entered her thirties. She was unrivaled amongst those in the mortal realm unless they were monsters like the crown prince’s wife, Lady Stella.

Once she managed to fuse her body with her essence, she would ascend.

‘That’s the hard part though…’

Gwen couldn't even begin to fathom how to go about fusing her literal body with her essence. How did such a thing even make sense? Wasn’t her essence already in her body? Hadn’t it already seeped into her bones and muscles, giving her ridiculous superhuman capabilities?

Even if they were both half-ascendents, Gwen truly couldn’t measure up to the truly talented. She still found it hard to believe that there were people who were so sure of their ascension that they actually held it back while pregnant.

‘The queen is so amazing… And Lady Stella seems to be trying something similar.’

It was strange enough that one person did it. But then it happened twice. In consecutive generations of royal consorts too.

Gwen thought that if such antics were what a prospective queen had to accomplish to deserve their spot in the royal family, the royal family would die out eventually due to a lack of marriage candidates. It would be quite a problem for Gwen if none of the royal family remained for her to serve when she became an ageless Ascendant.

She wanted to be a knight who loyally served the king, so the king part was quite vital in her opinion. Otherwise, she’d just be some vagrant with too much power for most people to deal with.

“Girl.”

“Yes, sir,” Gwen answered in reflex before she could pull herself out of her thoughts. In an attempt to ease her heart, she had escaped reality and tried her best not to think too much about the man she was stuck in the room with.

‘What in the world is he doing here… Can’t he leave, please? Is this some type of psychological warfare from the second prince?’

She’d heard that the unfortunate second prince had become Donovan’s favorite for a while. It wouldn’t have been too strange if he found some reason to send the instructor to the waiting room, draining his opponents’ willpower.

‘If so, it’s working… No, that’s not it. There’s no way the king would allow such blatant maneuvers.’

Gwen cleared her throat and focused on the iron instructor. “Sir Donovan. Well met.”

“Indeed.” Donovan nodded with a straight face that looked incredibly harsh without him even trying. “I would have appreciated the greeting more had you not sat there in silence for ten minutes before doing so.”

“I… I am very sorry, sir.” Gwen trembled. She apologized before anything else as her mind spun rapidly to come up with an excuse. “My mind was a bit occupied with thoughts on the task given to me by the king…”

“Did I ask?”

“...No…”

“You seem oddly defensive. How suspicious.”

Gwen’s lips pursed, her usually sharp mind drawing blanks for what to say. Fortunately, her savior arrived in the form of someone opening the door to the waiting room.

A dashing man with long brown hair and chiseled features entered, his lips puckered as he whistled a tune. His uniform looked a bit too messy for Gwen’s taste and his presence immediately filled the space with the smell of booze.

The man’s smile dropped and his whistling stopped when his blue eyes fell on the bald instructor seated in the middle of the training room. Unlike Gwen, he had no qualms about turning around to leave, muttering something about how he forgot his sword of all things.

‘Perfect.’

Someone else had come by — someone worthier of Donovan’s attention.

“Take a seat, boy.” Donovan snapped, his gaze sharp. “You don’t use a sword. And if you have some method separating your soul armament from your body, I’d have to take you in for questioning.”

“Yes, sir…!” Villago turned right back around with a very crooked smile. “My apologies. My mind was just a bit too befuddled by the task I will soon undertake…”

“That reason’s already been used. Think of another one.”

“Shit...”

“What?”

“Ah!” The man slapped his mouth and bowed. “Forgive me, sir. I couldn’t help but curse because of my stomach… I believe it was indigestion.”

“That seems about right.” Donovan scoffed. “Because to me, you seem full of it.”

‘Villago, huh? His Majesty picked out someone troublesome.’

Gwen watched the interaction with relief. She’d had the displeasure of working with Villago on a few missions and though she could only speak praises about the man’s ability, their views of how a knight should act were entirely different — though she did try to understand that the man wasn’t in Aizen most of the time, working as a retriever in foreign countries.

‘I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for knights like him, but I just can’t help but dislike him…’

Villago hesitantly took a seat somewhat farther away from her, giving her a curt nod when their eyes met. For all his frivolity, the man often kept his fellow knights at arm’s length.

“Care to explain, boy?” Donovan wrinkled his nose. “You smell like you slept in a pool of swill.”

“I wouldn’t call it swill, sir. It was quite good, actually.” Villago chuckled but stopped and cleared his throat when Donovan’s sharp gaze stabbed into his face. “Respectfully, I believe it is the duty of all citizens to celebrate our wonderful kingdom’s founding. Glory to Aizen, and all that.”

‘This guy’s playing with fire…’

Gwen’s heart pumped adrenaline into her veins when she thought of how the idiot would regret being alive if he pissed Donovan off with such flimsy reasoning.

Surprisingly, the balding instructor clicked his tongue and said nothing else except an exasperated “Keep it in moderation.”

‘That worked…?’

Villago’s jaw slackened. Apparently, the man himself couldn’t believe it either. Soon, he snapped out of his shock, smiled, and bobbed his head repeatedly. “Of course, sir. Of course…”

Donovan didn’t try to make conversation after that, his stony face directed at the door. Gwen and Villago did not feel like letting out as much as a squeak in their present company either, so both agreed to sit in meek silence.

Soon, the door opened once more, revealing the third and final knight tasked with fighting the second prince in a one-versus-three gauntlet match.

“Oh?” The dark-haired woman’s blue eyes widened for a moment before her lips curled into a smile, her pearly white teeth seemed to glow in the dim lighting. “Sir Donovan. I am glad to see you in good health.”

“I’ve been better.” Donovan nodded curtly, beckoning the newcomer with a lazy wave of his hand. “Sit.”

“Yes, sir.”

The woman respectfully saluted the old instructor before strolling to a seat.

Gwen watched in silence, her face stoic and calm. However, she was internally stunned that someone could actually interact with the ancient knight so… peacefully. The woman even seemed happy to see Donovan — a very rare sentiment for the vast majority of the instructor’s students.

‘I don’t know her.’

As someone who wished to walk the perfect path to knighthood, Gwen researched her predecessors extensively, hoping to absorb anything she could from their exploits. She knew most of the Ascendants. The only exceptions were those whose identities were being kept a secret from everybody.

‘She can’t possibly be part of the Nazgar if she’s a mortal.’

Those old monsters all had special abilities that were being kept top secret from even fellow knights in case an enemy had some sort of ability to suck out memories or something. Other than Queen Vianna, Knight Commander Viktor, and Death God Valter, the Nazgar were the most important Ascendants in the kingdom.

‘I know that we have one with a special ability related to creating array formations. Then there’s the one responsible for creating and maintaining the river network across the kingdom. But that’s about it.’

Suddenly, Gwen’s eyes met with the newcomer’s. She dipped her head and smiled.

“Greetings. I’m sure you’re wondering who I am, yes?”

Gwen shook her head. “I am curious, but I do not need to know. We’ll be fighting gauntlet style, after all. We won’t have to work together at all.”

“Eh~?” Villago cut in, a smirk on his face. “I, for one, am interested. Wouldn’t hurt to gain more acquaintances. Greetings, friend. Name’s Villago. Some call me Vil. Some call me Ago. But you? You, my lady, can call me any time. On that note, what say we grab a drink after this?”

The woman giggled, her voice like a bell. “This humble one is named Sienna. And I apologize, but I’m already happily married.”

“Bummer.” Villago shrugged. “T’was worth a try. Ya sure, though? I don’t mind sharing. More fun that way.”

“My wife is very possessive, so I’d think not.”

“...Wife?” The man looked stunned for a moment before sighing. “Ah, so you… Oh, okay. Damn. I never had a chance, then.”

“Indeed. Sorry.” Sienna then turned her gaze toward Gwen, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Please. Your name, miss?”

Gwen hesitated for a moment but relented with a sigh. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Gwendolyn Suprana. Administrative Division, First Class. Though I am also assigned to… other missions sometimes.”

“Oh, my. First Class…”

“It’s not that big of a deal.” Gwen shrugged and inclined her chin at the long-haired knight. “That one’s First Class too, believe it or not.”

“D’ya have to add that last part…?” Villago raised a brow then chuckled. “Didn’t wanna talk about ranks and stuff. But the box has been opened.” He nodded toward Sienna once again. “North Argonia Retrieval Division. First Class.”

“North Argonia… That’s quite far.” Sienna's tiny little mouth was a mere dot on her smooth face.

“Yep. S’why I’ve developed a bit of an accent when I'm not trying to sound all knight-like. As you've noticed, it slips out sometimes. I’m barely home, after all. Anyway, Gwendy doesn’t seem to know you, which is strange, since it’s sorta her job to know people.”

“Don’t call me that.” Gwen glared at the man before turning to Sienna. “You don’t have to tell anyone. Especially if it will compromise the mission.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal, I believe.” Sienna shook her hands. “I’ve only been recently knighted. That may have something to do with why you don’t know me.”

Villago whistled, his eyebrows dancing up and down. “How recent? Are you as young as you look?”

“I’ve only been knighted for a month and I’m twenty-nine. Fort Alexander Garrison, Third Class for now.”

“Huh. Ya sure yer supposed to be here, then? His Highness Prince Reivan’s pretty strong for his age… If you’ve just unlocked your qi…”

“Oh, no. You won’t have to worry. I’m quite capable despite my low rank.” Sienna giggled again, then said something that made the other two knights doubt their ears. “I was working as a templar of Sormon before coming here. I trained under Sir Donovan for two years before being knighted.”

Villago stroked his chin, his eyes wide. “Seriously…?”

“Yes. I just thought my strength would be more useful in helping the common people by eliminating disease... ehem, evil instead of guarding an already very well-guarded temple. I asked for the blessing of our elder priests before I left, of course. Sormon and the Kingdom are allies so I received it rather easily.”

“That’s crazy… hot. That’s crazy hot. Are you sure about that drink later?”

“My apologies.” Sienna shook her head. “I’ve tried men but I just like women more. If it was Dame Gwendolyn instead…”

Gwen shook her head and leaned back on her chair. “I’ll pass. I want to give my mother a few grandchildren before she grows too old.”

“Oh…” Sienna frowned but seemed unable to give up. “We can adopt, instead!”

Gwen ignored her, sinking into her own thoughts of Sienna. Despite betrayal having become impossible for the former templar, it probably wasn’t a good idea to tell her about everything that Aizen was up to behind the scenes.

‘Best to stay out of trouble. Fire isn’t made to be played with…’

“Are you three kids done with your introductions?”

Suddenly, the bald man in the middle of the room spoke, instantly silencing the trio. A loud bell chimed somewhere above them, accompanied by the muffled sounds of a cheering crowd.

“The tournament has begun and I’m here to offer you some words and make sure your minds are in the right place.” Donovan scanned the room and then sighed. “Listen up.”

“Yes, sir,” Gwen answered immediately, followed by the other two’s agreement.

“Right. It’s a good thing you all came quite a bit earlier than the agreed-upon time. Otherwise…” Donovan's manacing gaze swept over them before he cleared his throat. “In any case, there were initially supposed to be more of you… But the prince’s recent growth has impressed upon me that it would be a bad idea to try to whittle him down with sub-par opponents.”

The three stayed silent as the balding knight continued.

“The initial plan, one formed a couple of years ago, was to use about six or so Second Class knights to tire him out then pit him against a half-ascendant as a finale. But after I evaluated the boy—ehem, the second prince’s abilities, I judged that such a method would be in his favor. So instead, I suggested that His Majesty cut the number of opponents in half but make all the opponents First Class.”

Gwen’s face threatened to twist into one of pity. Even she wouldn’t want to fight three First Class knights consecutively. Even if she did have a very useful special ability.

‘Seems they’re really determined to have His Highness Prince Reivan get beaten up…’

She didn’t want to do something to a member of the royal family she so revered. But orders were orders.

“Gwendolyn’s the only one who remained from the original roster.” Donovan then gestured at the other two knights. “And then I recommended the two of you to His Majesty since you were very capable duelists. Your situations also mean that it is highly unlikely that the prince has coincidentally viewed your… information with those eyes of his. There were better options, I admit, but I want to prioritize knights he has never met to simulate a fight against unexpected opponents. Hence, why you are here.”

“Sir.” Sienna raised her hand. “Is this really necessary? From my understanding, the prince is only fifteen. Three people at the cusp of ascendence seems a bit excessive, no?”

“Wrong.” Donovan shook his head. “The second prince is… something else altogether. Don’t underestimate him. He’s… He’s pretty good.”

Gwen crossed her arms, internally amazed that Donovan actually unsarcastically complimented someone. The old man had always seemed to throw those around sparingly — as if he permanently lost a strand of hair every time he said something nice about his students.

‘At least, he never said that about me…’

This fight had been about following orders all up until a few seconds ago. But her former instructor's words had lit a fire in her. Now, Gwen thought that she’d really like to test her rapier against the second prince that Donovan seemed to favor so much.

It wasn’t as if she wanted to be praised though. She was just mildly — very mildly — irritated. That was all.

“Shut up and listen. I’m going to explain some things about your adversary. Your special talents will be revealed to him the moment he sees you. That’s why I’m going to even the playing field a little by telling you about how he fights. As well as the techniques he’s likely to use in the match. The only reason I didn’t tell you all this earlier than now is that I wanted to be a bit fair to the kid—ehem, to the second prince as well. This way, both sides will have only a limited time to form strategies against the other.”

Gwen shifted in her seat. This was exactly what she’d been waiting for. Information was key.

As a wise man once said, if you cannot be smart, be well-informed instead.