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The next morning I knock on my father's door, asking myself if he wakes up this early every day. The sun wasn't even awake herself. A tired voice tells me to come in and so I do, looking around the office stacked with boxes. I look around confused and then see my father sitting behind his desk, searching through some papers. Not even looking up to welcome me.
I close the door and walk over to the leather seat as always but with one gesture my father points to a smaller desk on the left side of the room. That hasn't been here before. I sit behind it and stare at him while he folds the paper in his hands and throws it away.
'Good morning?' I ask carefully. He looks up, his eyes bloodshot, as if he didn't sleep last night.
'Good morning'. His hoarse voice fills the office. Father wipes over his face with one hands before standing up and walks towards the boxes.
'How can I help you?' I ask curious while he takes a box with a lot of effort and places it next to my desk.
'This', he points at the box. 'This are register forms of possible candidates. I thought I had been clear that we were looking for a young man from Ethura but apparently a lot of young men from Syrilia were interested to'.
'How did the register form get in Syrilia?' I mumble, not understanding when I think back of the purple force field between the pillars of the Seperation bridge that Levi showed me. There was no chance someone from Syrilia could've crossed that.
'I'm not sure myself. We may be dealing with an imposter on our side. I'm not sure who, but that doesn't matter now. I told Sir Woods to keep a close eye on our staff, but now I want you to throw away every register form send out of Syrilia'.
I nod a little before opening the box. This would take hours, maybe the whole day. Valentina was allowed to get her throne, this work was nothing for me. Sitting behind a desk all day, working on papers. My worst nightmare.
'I thought the possible candidates still had four days to register?' My father laughs soft while shaking his head.
'The best ones know what they want and made it their priority to fill it in as soon as possible. Still there are too many to overlook', he says, staring at the boxes against the wall. He slowly walks over to his desk again, opening the curtains even farther to let the soft light in.
After an hour or two I found only six register forms from Syrilia, and I also found out that young man on that island aren't particularly handsome. There skins are white as ice and most of them have black hair. I couldn't believe this many young man lived in our Kingdom.
I bow to take another register form. When I look at the envelope, a dark blue stamp glisters on top of it. The sword on it drawn in a goldish colour, shining in the sunlight.
Ezra Ryan Carter, Syrilia I read. I stretch my arm to lay it on the stack of the disqualified young man but something about that stamp catches my attention. Only Royalty used those kind of stamps, the citizens had normal ones, with the head of their leader on it.
I take the envelope back when my father doesn't notice and open it carefully, reading the information on his form. He was one year older than my sister, had leader qualities and if he hadn't lied about his appearance, he would look nothing like a citizen of Syrilia.
I keep quiet for a moment, thinking of what I should do. When my father looks up from his desk and sees me he coughs soft to get my attention. The look in his eyes tells me he wants to know what I'm up to.
'Father, I was wondering if there is a Royalty family in Syrilia with the name Carter', I ask doubtable. He frowns when standing up and takes the letter from me. While reading through it, his eyes widen a little, but he tries to hide it, not very successful.
'Lay this on the stack of the candidates', he demands me. I stare at him, my mouth a little open out of surprise. 'They are Royalty?'
'They are a well-behaved family', he simply answers and ignores me for the rest of the time.
'How long is this Selection going to take?' I ask after another few minutes of silence. 'Until your sister thinks she has found her soulmate'. My father doesn't look up from his desk which annoys me even more.
'It could take years', I remark. He laughs about it while taking his glasses of.
'I'm sure she'll find him soon', he promises while the wrinkles under his eyes soften again. This man once was a warrior, fought in battles and now he was sitting here behind his desk, acting older than he was. When he smiles, I can see a sparkle of the man he used to be, the one that road horses with me on warm evenings, the one that told me stories before bedtime. I startle a little when someone knocks on the door, waking me up from my daydreaming.
'Come in', my father announces. The door opens and Sir Woods rolls in with his wheelchair, closing the door with a little bit of effort.
'Let me help you', I insist but he doesn't want me to. I sit down again, while he takes his usual place next to my father. 'Sorry I'm late, Arsenio. Madame Orsini can't stop talking about her plans with the room', he excuses himself.
'We all know her enthusiasm, it doesn't matter', my father promises him. I had never seen the two of them together in his office. It is weird knowing that Levi is the son of Sir Woods and now I sit here barely knowing this man at all. He used to be a warrior too, until the war with Syrilia where he had lost his left leg on the battle field. Levi was devastated about it.
'What is she using the room for?' I get involved in the conversation which seems to please both man, even though I already knew the answer.
'The young man that will live here for a while have to get education, one of them will become King', my father explains. 'And Madame Orsini is tutoring them?'
'She has been a teacher when she still lived in Syrilia', Sir Woods says enthusiastic. I smile at him, realising how less I knew about the woman that raised me after my mother had died.
'She can explain like no one else how life in Syrilia must have been', my father adds softer now. I continue with my work when the two other man talk about the gossip around the castle, apparently the dragons had been restless the last days and no one knew why that was.
'Have you already heard?' Sir woods asks sarcastically. 'My son wants to become first knight. That kid is insane Arsenio, I tell you'. I see my father getting uncomfortable by talking about fighting, it takes him a while to say something.
'After what has happened to you, I thought he would never want to step on a battle field'. Sir Woods agrees on that, ignoring all the possibilities Levi could have by fighting with the army.
'I've seen Levi fight, he is really good', I assure his father whose face starts to grieve a little. My father gives me a warning look but I ignore it.
'It has always been his dream to become first knight, he wants to make u proud', I try again. Sir Woods closes his eyes for a while and shakes his head in agreement. 'He's a good son', he finally whispers.
I smile at him before looking back at my father who's eyes have tears in them. I realised while describing Levi that I had been describing myself to, I wanted to become a knight, and make my father proud, although that didn't seem an option. My father had realised sooner what I meant by saying that than I did.
Our moment gets interrupted when Valentina walks in without knocking, her smile fading when she gets a glance of me behind the desk. She repairs herself again after a few seconds and smiles at our father.
'Are there any good ones yet?', she asks overenthusiastic when she walks to his desk.
'We still have four boxes to go, my dear'. She looks a little disappointed and then leans towards me.
'You realised where your place is? Or are you trying to hide away all the good candidates?' She asks sarcastically. For the first time in years she's getting a disapproving look of my father.
'I'm just trying to help', I answer calm. I'm not letting her piss me of again, I won't let that happen I promise myself while controlling my breath.
'Valentina, Rosalia, there will come a time when you have to work together. Maybe you should do something together today, talk a little', father suggest. I try to hide the smile on my face when I think of that. Only the look in Val's eyes makes it worth.
'You should go horse riding, you both love that, don't you?' Sir Woods proposes. 'But father, don't you need my help?' I ask, hoping he helps me out of this. Into my expectations he shakes his head.
'Sir Woods, can help me now. I really appreciate what you have done, Rosalia'.
My sister and I both stand up, leaving the office with a bow for our father. In the hallway we keep quiet, knowing that we didn't have another option than horseback riding. Before her bedroom door, Val stops abruptly and turns to me.
'Don't wear something to embarrass me, there will be cameras. I'll see you in twenty minutes at the stable', she says firmly before closing the door in my face.