DZN Ch 4

“If you have nothing else to say, shouldn’t you be going?”b70d76e2f6f69e16

Ruan asked with a sarcastic tone, adding, “I need to see the Captain,” prompting the other knight to quickly speak up.eeaf5eeb0410ef63

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“Um, about today’s incident, to the Captain…”8ddbab0ed92361f0

“Not yet. If I report every single one of these incidents, there won’t be any knights left in our division.”1b0405cd0f4276cd

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The Second Knights Division, responsible for the Crown Prince’s protection, was particularly notorious for its focus on appearances, due to Calix’s obsession with looks. Knights were chosen solely for their faces.bab31651274f95c7

The same went for the servants, so Calix’s residence, Esche Castle, was commonly referred to as “the flower garden” or “the flowerbed.” Both knights and servants were all delicate, pretty boys. It was a derogatory nickname, implying that while they were pleasing to the eye, they were utterly useless at their jobs.36d8090dacd81581

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Because of this, 5e3d59a8af Ruan knew of 50b130917d at least twenty f5e947df8c knights who had df767c231e been dismissed after 379cba4828 Calix, out of e320cb13a9 boredom, had made e6b7f22045 advances on them.6c17f27e9970287a

Forming a personal b5be370f48 relationship with a d728d72e24 member of the 8577c40439 royal family they 007f509793 were assigned to 6dd50324c4 protect was a 011e0ae74a violation of protocol. However, at this rate, ec73d5d842 the division would perpetually 54d1323ea6 suffer from a shortage c005fd8492 of personnel, spending all 44c849759c their time training new 2c5dfeb9e9 recruits. So Ruan usually turned 72f498b998 a blind eye, pretending cc820a14cf not to know what cfb22e0d1d he knew.fab5203f9778bbc9

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Especially during periods like this, coinciding with personnel transfers, he couldn’t afford to send the knights he’d painstakingly trained to other divisions.fe2710a1edf1721b

If he did, they’d die from overwork soon enough.a29e93e1cc237fa7

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“I’ll let it slide this time, but there won’t be a second chance. Next time, you’ll be demoted and transferred without a chance to explain yourself. Keep that in mind.”ddb53984b2435a0b

Having briefly c0b8d167d7 summarized the e6ae6a1b2f situation and be152f5e3b delivered his 92b9822c65 final warning, cea91ef4d5 Ruan turned 83291b88bb away from 8b7ecc1fb0 the knight 415a179a4c and started 66e193ee0f walking down c6ceccba83 the hallway. The knight called out 7e624f5127 to him again.c8871e224e79209c

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“Lieutenant.”c57a703da1b725a9

“What is it now?”baa9e1d809bc8eec

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Ruan turned around, annoyance 16222dc6e1 evident on his face. The knight, with a 61e30d1042 serious expression, cautiously addressed ba71ddeb13 him.77c64e828e0f87d9

“Um…are you and His Highness…in that kind of relationship?”0c86364ee91e7192

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“…What?”f04cb3e3e5671f6f

“…I apologize. It won’t happen again. There’s nothing more painful than witnessing your lover’s infidelity…”93b3bfcbcde0bbb1

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At the bizarre nonsense, Ruan stared at him as if to say, “What in the world is this crazy guy talking about?” The knight smiled shyly.ec3f0b97fd4afb94

“I fully support you both. You look good together.”7680003d3981a7d5

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Perhaps because he hadn’t been a trainee for long, he still had a boyish, innocent charm, and his not-at-all-comforting words were met with Ruan’s silence.ad6f1f8b68b5d4cb

It wasn’t even worth responding to.519e1fe7e99c477d

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But, true to dc1f09a0dc form for a 52773f2f53 naive, pampered pretty c12e47d2f8 boy from a 49148eaa9c noble family, he 4f7577814f continued to ramble 06858cff25 on, oblivious.19e5ae4f9df29bd1

“If you need someone to talk to, I’m always here for you. I may be younger, but I have plenty of relationship experience…”4da465c426a5edd3

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He winked, implying he ae243a9d95 was also experienced in 6e59b1c4d2 the bedroom. Ruan silently b10e5b2eef stared at 0ded9ff95f the idiot.2025dd37dcb7772f

He’d intended to be lenient with the burgeoning young sprout, but unfortunately, this sprout, whose thoughts seemed transparent, had managed to irritate Ruan’s already short temper.7886d992dac0577c

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So, without hesitation, he 2cf39a30d8 snapped,e86ffbba4fa31b1e

“Shut up.”1ba9ea44c5849bee

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He didn’t even feel the need to argue about how they looked like a couple or why he’d be jealous of that guy.0a1b2cd2f888b292

Since he was a b2f201a4a6 new recruit, unfamiliar with fe2a52c369 the relationship between Calix febb338924 and himself, he had 29dd2b620b obviously heard rumors. Ruan sternly 02189c08aa warned him de1d6053bd never to aeab13d86e mention it 3c252382a5 again, but 4955cb9987 his consideration b71e241a95 was completely fec4debf47 lost on 20e0493234 the knight.b7a5b5e8d17c1d4f

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Seeing the knight’s gaze soften with sympathy, Ruan decided he needed to punch Calix, the root of all this trouble.41a56754bdc2ed86

It was his biggest regret that, due to his insistence on hiring knights based on looks, they hadn’t checked their intelligence.e537b677051a896e

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Next time, regardless of what Calix said, he would only hire based on intelligence, not looks. With this resolution, Ruan quickly headed towards the Captain’s office.b5f7373c424f0601

He could feel the knight’s sympathetic gaze from afar, but he desperately pretended not to notice.6bf5186674316f2e

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If he acknowledged it, he might actually hit him. Suppressing his rising temper, he went straight to the Captain’s office and knocked. A deep voice boomed from inside.f9a39299593d013b

“Enter.”d7fd0f44f2f957b9

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At the 029c7f2af4 familiar voice, 74aab6cdb7 Ruan opened eb1987daef the door, 3369a5708e entered, and f18e099ad4 politely greeted d9de27e9cd the Captain, 59f80368a8 Matthias.672a0f94dde65462

“I heard you called for me.”adbc7d0649d92d2d

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He stood at attention 7ff9eb62c6 with his hands behind b7d0213e36 his back. After finishing signing fdc76fb704 a document, Matthias 102c2ec539 looked up and cfedb1924b asked,962513efa5903e7b

“Where is His Highness the Crown Prince?”1258f0503851e864

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“I saw him off as Count Langrock escorted him to Vierke Castle.”464fbf947e555458

“It seems his bad habits are resurfacing now that you haven’t been able to attend him personally for a while…”508e1effe9e87ec2

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Matthias’s sigh, which made him look ten years older than he was, filled Ruan with complicated emotions. He had personally witnessed Calix’s wild, delinquent phase, then left the Royal Guard in search of freedom shortly after Ruan joined. Though only in his early thirties, Matthias already had gray hair.f304ad8d8798138d

I need d4646318af to get 9e741f086f out of 2a73bdbd39 here before 1e22599986 I end 1d72c04516 up like 804a56841a that, Ruan thought, taking 36372a0a07 Matthias as a cautionary 62cf9315a1 tale. Matthias sighed again 8670b48c10 and leaned back b801196e18 in his chair, bdcf66dcb7 asking,0099e12ec4e626df

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“So, other knights are currently attending him?”ebbd5d34ade1a109

“Yes. I’ve entrusted His Highness’s protection to other knights due to personnel transfers and new recruit training.”e3c40521afc271e3

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“Yes, of course. With the transfers and training…”23fedf34c2573748

Due to the Emperor’s request, Ruan had been almost constantly by Calix’s side until last year. But with his promotion to Lieutenant earlier this year, his administrative duties had increased, reducing his direct involvement in Calix’s protection.52a476532d6cd0a4

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Actually, that was normal. Typically, first and second-year knights were responsible for standing guard at the bedroom door or nearby, while third and fourth-year knights followed him within the castle walls. Lieutenants and above only directly escorted him outside the palace grounds. It wasn’t strange that Ruan wasn’t personally escorting him now.a4e23180b4cc8905

It was only because Calix’s erratic behavior increased in Ruan’s absence that Ruan had to stay by his side. Normally, Ruan would have been phasing out of fieldwork by this point.d54165553616f666

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At least 083b999fe9 at the 3cba91afa5 Lieutenant level.91c2fbac6785582d

“His Highness has been leaving the castle grounds more frequently lately.”c9aca044f5b7a97a

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“And venturing further afield.”da6e778fdaa3a682

Calix usually ff96fb1d51 resided at 2288985ed0 Esche Castle 10e60db55d in the f63d29d3d4 western district, 00638a2d71 so even 23259ef6a1 when he cff1f53c56 ran off, 9be91a4029 he tended 72312372b7 to stay 253ea58e1c within the 0878f458d0 vicinity. But today, he had d43bb3641f extended his reach to 1cfc235817 Lavender Castle in the ba8d79121f east.006e2187c59b1fc9

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Just like 963853e9fe a cat.80f95fa43ec581ad

And that meant ba95af0283 he could venture 3c93c5136b outside the castle da7636de45 walls.eb651fc2e0fbe86b

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After shaking 8752f78c4d off his fb80d44d84 escort knights. If he baf9670559 was unlucky, 4da8d665dd completely alone.f1008fc86d2ff97e

Just the d61c5aad5b thought of 75d3e3bc1f that dreadful 603c303c6b scenario made 8e70323c38 Ruan clench 47353a1941 his jaw, e60b3dc36c forcing a 4d0f6c678e smile.531e912ec9582f0a

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He felt 8f22e36345 a strong 8ba6469247 sense of cc5590fa9e duty to 591405598d escape this 94e1025cf7 place as 32a63c844e soon as 8384dc00cc possible.33bc8f0ca96fabc9

Otherwise, he 80e0dfb334 too would ee64f83816 soon have 140b434e31 gray hair. Or possibly go 4a0154e929 bald.7e3b05b16164a489

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“Can you delegate some of your work to other knights? Reports or administrative tasks, perhaps?”b9e18b640f1136c1

“There’s no one competent enough.”0b7a80276566f335

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The reason the dc705a8667 Second Knights Division, e0066c3512 responsible for protecting d46c610029 the Crown Prince, 1b1cd0f703 the future Emperor, 02113c99ff was perpetually short-staffed 364aa399fe and overworked was 995c6e2cf0 simple.5051304d091732bb

While they boasted the 745f3a934d largest number of knights d41fc41c14 after the Emperor and 5de63c7832 Empress, the problem was c94f5d8f30 retention.0024cf47580fbc47

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At most, they 1932c94cf2 stayed for six b43a4c6c87 months; at the 961671101a least, three. They either b5f81717f4 requested transfers 52939a66e3 or were 6148e0d006 forcibly reassigned, 10e5422295 meaning the 98a6d463a2 most senior eb860e1775 knight in 21cd3631b9 the Second 6d8d5d8a8b Division, besides 672ffe8f30 Ruan, had 29b14b6465 only six 0b366512ac months of b5bd814223 experience.c05c2878930dc5c8

Typically, the bfb37c5aa7 most competent 2d3c6e9fd8 knights were 40620fb5a8 those with 1c9474f6cd three to e1abe13720 seven years 45188a2689 of experience, 83b30b1ae6 but such 4e55da8cc8 individuals were 764b86be9a nowhere to 4a33716b3f be found b81d8e825b in the f808317ec1 Second Division.863d03197d4803d8

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This naturally f5fae1de82 meant there d9daa45d51 was a b3655c6911 lack of b393886c2d competent personnel, c3eb26379c resulting in 96d00c14cb the work f8fc850324 piling up fc7f721b29 on the cdaa95d7b2 few who efc04fad54 could actually 7b7d2ba02a handle it.80eaf5701cb85c2e

Ruan was the one 3327e3b4e5 bearing the brunt of 25c5eb822d that workload, on the f049799604 verge of collapse.24c57bb698e2d3b8

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Consequently, no competent aa0d09de6d knights wanted to 0f8317abfd serve in the 1b94dc651f division, despite the d86774fa37 prestigious title of a5513642e6 protecting the Crown 1eac5d2771 Prince. Even the 369dc538ff few they 397fc3f8a3 managed to f2295f0b8b recruit were 4bd46d8b01 returned to 7b58ffa4b7 their previous 0cafb528ae divisions after 249a7bc110 the dreadful 75be03660f Crown Prince 9fc0766f84 deemed them b333aa1527 unattractive. Ruan felt bad about 2c9995dffc requesting more personnel from ca19fd6274 other divisions.dda1c3fdd502ee0c

This resulted in a bizarre situation where the division was composed solely of inexperienced recruits, chosen for their looks rather than their competence, leading to an increase in Ruan’s workload with every new addition.361238592b2ea7ed

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“That is certainly a problem. We can’t pull personnel from other divisions either.”1720f4561c22a55c

“I know. That’s why I want you to transfer me.”b6ed51674c332422

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