Chapter : 37

  "You might be weak right now," Iris continued, walking slowly back toward the table. "You might not have a huge mana pool, and you might not know how to fight. But I can feel it. I trust my instincts more than anything else. One day, your potential will awaken. You are going to grow, Ken. And when you do, you are going to surprise everyone in this Empire."

  Ken looked directly into her bright, violet eyes. He felt a sharp, heavy twist of guilt right in the center of his chest.

  She believed in him so much. She was pinning her hopes, her safety, and maybe even her life on the idea that he had "hidden potential." She thought he was a diamond in the rough that just needed time to shine.

  Internally, Ken’s mind was racing. He wanted to tell her the truth. He really, truly wanted to drop the act just for one second. He wanted to look her in the eye and say, “Princess, you don't need to worry about anything. My potential isn't asleep. It is fully awake, and it is a monster. I can finish this B-rank mission for you in exactly five minutes. I can teleport to the slums, erase Vane and his Curse Organization from existence, and be back in time to finish my apple juice.”

  He wanted to tell her that she was perfectly safe as long as he was around. He wanted to take the heavy burden of the Succession War off her tired shoulders.

  But he couldn't.

  If he told her the truth, his entire life would be over. The "slow life" he dreamed about—the quiet farm, the lazy afternoons, the peaceful existence far away from politics and war—would instantly burn to the ground. If the world found out that he was the legendary "Sovereign," he would become a weapon. The Emperor would chain him to the capital. The other twenty Royals would send armies of assassins after his family in the Iron Rose District. He would never be able to sleep peacefully again.

  To protect his dream, and to protect his family, he had to keep lying. He had to keep pretending to be a useless, snack-eating fool.

  Ken swallowed the heavy feeling of guilt in his throat. He forced his facial muscles to relax. He pushed away the cold, sharp intelligence of the Sovereign and brought back the sleepy, bored look of Ken Eliot.

  He leaned back in his chair and gave her a simple, completely normal look. There were no fake cat faces this time. There were no loud, dramatic complaints.

  "Alright," Ken replied simply.

  It was just one word, but it was enough. Iris smiled, a genuine look of relief washing over her face. She felt like they understood each other. She thought he was accepting the challenge to grow stronger.

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  "Thank you, Ken," Iris said softly. "Now, go get ready. The team will be leaving for the slums in thirty minutes. Please try to stay close to Sayma during the fight. Her barriers are the best defense we have against Curse magic."

  Ken nodded his head. He slowly stood up from the wooden chair, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his messy dark blue uniform.

  "Will do, Princess," Ken said casually. "I will be right behind her. Literally. Like, I am going to use her as a human shield. See you at the cars."

  Iris just shook her head and chuckled as Ken turned around and walked out the door.

  As soon as Ken stepped out of the strategy room, the heavy wooden door clicked shut behind him. He was alone in the long, dimly lit stone hallway of the crumbling estate.

  The goofy, lazy smile instantly fell off his face.

  Ken let out a long, heavy sigh. It wasn't a fake, dramatic sigh designed to annoy Naomi. It was a real sigh, filled with absolute exhaustion. He stopped walking for a second and leaned his shoulder against the cold stone wall. He reached up with his right hand and slowly adjusted the dark glove on his hand, pulling the fabric tight over his knuckles.

  "Man," Ken thought to himself, his internal voice echoing loudly in his own mind. "This is getting way too complicated. It would have been so much better if she hadn't chosen me that day on the street. Why did I have to step out of the crowd? Why did I have to play the hero for that old man?"

  He looked down at his cheap, scuffed shoes. He thought about his messy bedroom back home. He thought about the loud television, his mother's warm cooking, and his sister Jasmin complaining about her homework. He missed his boring life. He missed the days when his biggest problem was deciding what flavor of instant noodles to eat for dinner.

  "I just wanted a slow life," Ken whispered out loud to the empty hallway. "I just wanted to grow potatoes and take naps."

  He pushed himself off the wall and started walking down the corridor again. His footsteps were quiet now. He wasn't dragging his feet. His posture was still slouched, but his dark, sleepy eyes were completely focused.

  The guilt from the strategy room was still sitting heavy in his chest. Princess Iris was an underdog. She was a good person surrounded by a family of vicious, power-hungry wolves. She had an entire Empire betting against her, and her very first task was a deadly B-rank mission that was designed to make her fail.

  If they failed this mission, the 13th Unit would lose twenty points. They would drop into negative numbers on the very first day of the war. Her chance at the throne—and her chance at survival—would be permanently destroyed.

  "I can't let her lose," Ken realized, feeling a cold, sharp determination rise up from the massive, locked ocean of magic deep inside his soul. "She is relying on me. She thinks I am weak, but she is trusting me anyway. I can't let that trust go to waste."

  He reached the end of the hallway, where the stairs led down to the courtyard and the waiting cars. The rest of the team was down there, sharpening their weapons and preparing for a brutal fight in the dark, narrow alleys of the city slums.

  Ken paused at the top of the stairs. He took a deep breath, perfectly sealing away the terrifying aura of the Sovereign. He prepared to put his slacker mask back on.

  "But I guess I have no choice now," Ken thought, his mind perfectly clear and totally unfazed by the danger ahead. "I have to play the fool. I have to pretend to trip, scream, and hide. But from the shadows, I will make sure nobody touches her. I will make sure nobody touches the team."

  He let out one final, lazy yawn, stretching his arms above his head.

  "Vane and his Curse Organization picked the wrong day to mess with the 13th Unit," Ken promised himself quietly. "I will keep my secret safe, but I’ll make sure we get those 20 points."