Chương 54: Book 2; Chapter 53; In a spotlight (3)

Anniet was trying to concentrate on what was going on in front of her, but to no success. And there was a lot that was going on! On any other day, it would fully captivate her attention. But today it just seemed mission impossible.

After a short speech, King informed that because this recruiting ceremony is being held in a different and special place, it will be held in a different order than usual, and it will be available to be known to anyone in the world, no matter where they live, as long as they have any interest in it. It was known that if the King wanted, he could let his nation know what was going on, or even show them what he wanted, no matter how far away they were, no matter to how many people.

"Call of the King," it was named. Anniet didn't know what it was or how it worked, as through her life she never received this "Call of the King," nor did she know anyone who would have received it. But apparently, in previous generations, it used to happen, so her attention was captivated by it for a short time, wondering how it would feel, but she didn't feel anything.

S he didn't know if it was because it didn't work, or because she was already here seeing all without any call, or she didn't fall into that group of people who would be interested in these matters. Probably the last one, as her mind truly was occupied with other things. Then the King asked permission from the headmaster to use the School's gates with a slight alteration.

He said that everyone who has a desire to join the King's Army and will take a step towards it right now will find themselves standing at the gates of this School. It will not grant them permission to enter a School and stay in it. But if they are ready to take a service, then after walking through the School gates, they will find themselves coming into this square.

If they are not prepared, then after walking through the gates, they will find themselves sent back home or to the place where they could improve and try again next year. Where they will be sent will depend on their inner desire and commitment. He explained why entrance to School cannot be granted and what the rules were to find this entrance by themselves to arrive here as a student, as a teacher, or as a service provider. For those who are already in School, there will be different rules.

They will have to walk through the same gates, but they will end up in this very same square, no matter whether they are accepted to the King's Army or not because they already found the way to this place by themselves. Then he asked all King's Army soldiers, who were still standing on parade, to leave this golden square, and once it was done, the square was divided into five areas.

Then the wide door appeared out of nowhere, and King asked School residents, who wished to join King's Army, to leave through that door and return through the gates. That was a strange request, but those who wanted to join didn't question and soon about three-quarters of the attending spectators left.

Some children tried to sneak through it too, but to their own surprise, they just walked through that door as if only a frame would be standing there, emerging on the other side, while every adult who walked through it would leave this place. Soon, everyone who wanted to go left, and there were only children running through the door from both sides. But soon, even they abandoned it as there was not too much fun to walk through the empty frame. When they left, the door disappeared as silently as it had appeared.

Anniet couldn't see the front gates from where she was, but somehow she knew that there was a tremendous number of people already waiting, and even more were arriving. Meanwhile, in the square, five new doors appeared, each leading to a different divided area. The word divided didn't suit it very well, as there were no visible divisions, but somehow it was well known where the borders were. In no time, people started to walk in through these doors, mainly filling the three middle parts of the Central Square.

Anniet knew that all these people just walked through the front gates that were wide open now, and several people could walk through them at once. Surprisingly, after walking through these gates, they didn't enter a room with many doors. Instead, they stepped straight into this square or vanished out of sight. The arena in front of Anniet was filling in with people, some of them she knew, some were entirely new. But she didn't pay much attention to it.

Her mind was occupied with her own thoughts, with her own worries. After forbidding herself to dwell any more on what she had seen in King's and Rainee's confrontation, there was mainly only one person left among so many, where all her thoughts rotated. After their eyes met once, he never looked back at her again. Strangely, but she was happy about it. This way, she could freely examine him without fear of being caught staring for so long. Now he didn't look either cold or warm. If anything, he looked… bored?

Was that just her imagination, or was he really not interested in what was happening around? With so many events, how can one not be interested? Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. But then again, wasn't she just the same? As long as she knew him, he never looked bored. On the contrary, he was always very interested in everything that was going on. But she must admit he was never interested in other people.

So many things that he has said to her in the past were surfacing in her memory right now. He told her once that she brought happiness to his dull and monotonous existence. Was it dull because no one could recognise him? But now, when everyone knew who he was, he didn't look much happier. He also said that he would happily exchange everybody's memory of him for the memory of one person, and that he didn't even need to do that, as it already happened. And she will never forget his look when he said these words.

He also said that he doesn't want to be forgotten by her… She could hardly imagine how it could happen. If she closes her eyes, she sees him smiling, when she opens them, she sees him standing carefree but a bit bored. He did look much happier when chatting with her than he does now, while standing next to the King. She wondered if it was her imagination or if he really felt this way. Now she was a little bit happy that she was going to leave this place for the Capital.

If she were to stay here, she would never see him, and by the time she would leave this place, he probably would already have forgotten about her. Now she will be able to see him time after time. Even if just from afar, like now. Maybe he will even want to stay her friend… Do generals need friends? Rainee does. She thanked her for being her friend and even kissed her on the forehead, and she still could feel this kiss staying there.

Looked very similar to how King kissed Rainee, and it was obvious that King loved Rainee very much. Does it mean that Rainee also loves her very much? It would be nice. But she should stop dwelling on King's and Rainee's relationship. Anthony kissed her once… Just on the head. But up until today, she remembers it very well. He came to stay with her when she was feeling sad and angry. Isn't it similar to how she wanted to stay with Rainee when she was feeling angry and sad? Why wouldn't she?

She was Rainee's friend; of course, she would not let her suffer all by herself. Was it the same reason why he had come to keep her company that night? It would be nice, as it would mean that he is her friend too. Or at least he was. She did behave very unfriendly yesterday. But she was so afraid! She still is. How come she is not afraid of Rainee? She is supposed to be stronger than him, as everyone said that there is no stronger person than the Rainbow general. So it is not strength she is afraid of.

Anyway, how can such a small woman be so strong? Anniet wondered, looking at Rainee. She didn't look that strong! On the other hand, Anniet knew that she was. But it was alright. She remembers now! She chose to see Rainee as a regular human and nothing else. Can she do the same with Anthony? She tried to convince herself that he is just a human, like everyone else, and to her own surprise, she found herself wondering what she was talking about... Of course he is human. What else could he be?

So it is not what makes her afraid. Then what is it? Might it be that the headmaster was right after all? That she loves him so much that realising that he will never answer these feelings terrifies her? Still good that she never told him about it. At least she doesn't have to worry that he will break her heart and destroy her life, as apparently that's what he does to everyone who falls in love with him. That must be true.

Her heart was already bleeding every time she thought about him, and her life is utterly messed up, what to destroy there... She wondered how it would feel to break somebody's heart and not even know about it? Probably very strange. Hope he will never find out about it. Especially when he didn't even do anything to contribute to it. By now, the square was already filled, and nobody was coming through these doors any more. The area next to King was the most scarce. The second had more people in it.

Third and fourth were most jammed, with the only difference being that in the third area, there was a mixture of unrecognisable faces and those she knew, while in the fourth, there were only people from School. The fifth area was empty with a singular person standing in it. She knew this person very well. Another friend of hers, who yesterday was so happy, was now as grim as death itself.

Anniet was genuinely hoping that this place, occupied just by him, was something really, really special and only people as special as Marcus could step into it. As no one else apart from him was there. But King spoke and shattered these hopes, swiping them away. He explained that people occupying the place furthest away from him could not be evaluated; therefore, they can neither be accepted into the King's Army, nor offered another occupation, nor even advised on how to improve further to be accepted next time.

People in the fifth area, in other words, Marcus, will have to work on self-analysis and come up with solutions on how to improve by themselves. The fourth area is not accepted into the King's Army, and only people who already reside here found themselves walking through that door. Everyone who didn't belong to School was sent either back home or to the places that would help them improve.

Same people here, if they wish, they can choose either to carry on with their lives as they feel best or seek advice, and it will be given. People in the middle area do have the potential to join the King's Army, but they also have the potential to excel in some other areas. So, before committing, they are advised to seek counsel first and then make a decision, or they can ignore this advice and walk freely to the second area right now. First and second areas are accepted to join the King's Army.

The only difference among them is that people in the first area are ready to accept the King's gift if inaugurated, while people in the second area would be greatly advised to wait for it until they improve. That way, their gift would be stronger, more reliable, and more compatible with the personality they are going to become while in training.

People in the first area can also choose to postpone King's gift if they wish to, but their improvement in the area that affects King's gift wouldn't be as significant as for people in the second group. People from the second group can ignore the advice given and ask for the King's gift now, and it will be granted. So now, when everyone knows in which group they have been placed, they can freely move and choose which group they want to be in. As the placement for the first three groups was only advisory.

Anyone who wants to receive King's gift today should stand in the first area, everyone who either doesn't want it or chooses to postpone should go to the second area. Choice should be made now, as the longer one lingers over a decision, the less they know what they truly want. This was something entirely new, as up until now, such a proposition was never offered. Everyone joining King's Army used to be offered King's gift, which could be either accepted or refused.

Not many have ever refused it, as by refusing this gift, you would refuse your dragon. Same as everyone knew that two top generals, out of four, have refused this gift, but still have stepped on the highest pedestal. After they had done it, some people tried it too, in hopes that this brave step was what made them generals, hoping for the same outcome, but it didn't happen; they simply didn't get dragons, that's all. After that, no one tried it ever again.

The proposition to postpone it for a while and receive it later in a stronger form was never heard of option and people didn't know what to do. Some people knew where they wanted to be and chose with confidence, some were lost and torn apart.