Character : Nathan Fiore, Day of the Exam

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Very early in the morning, I noticed the sound of knocking coming from my door.

I grunted as I got up from my bed, and I could hear loud voices coming from the outside.

"Nathan!! Nathan, wake up!!" The familiar voice of a young girl was heard outside, and I can't help but realize whose voice it was.

"Lily…? Why is she banging my door…?" I mumbled while wiping the dirt off my eyes, not realizing the sunlight coming from the window.

"Nathan, we're late!!! Get up!!!" Lily's voice was heard once more, and I immediately turned wide awake.

I turned my gaze to the window and noticed the amount of sunlight that was entering, and I realized that I might be quite late for the exam. I got up instantly and went for the door, and I opened it to find Lily outside.

"Nat.…" Lily was about to say something, but I was in a state of panic.

"What time will it start??" I asked her after opening the door, and she lifted nine of her fingers.

"N… Nine." Lily gave the answer awkwardly, and I realized that I might as well be really late.

It's currently eight, and I barely had time to prepare. I hurriedly went back inside and grabbed any clean clothes that I could wear. I was planning on just wearing my dirty black robe to the exam anyway, so whatever I'm wearing below it won't matter. But, unlike my expectation, I grabbed the wrong clothes before heading to the bathroom.

Lily moved out of the way as I ran to the bathroom, and I immediately got inside to start showering. Once I'm inside, I wanted to take off my shirt so I could bathe. But then I realized that I was never wearing a shirt to begin with, since I always slept at night without a shirt on.

Wait… then, Lily was staring at my body!

Oh god. I am such a pervert, and I didn't even realize it!!

I started bathing right away while letting the cold water brushes off the painful thoughts. After bathing, I realized that the clothes I brought from my room were not the ones I intended to bring, but I just wore them anyway.

After a long thirty minutes of bathing and preparing, I headed downstairs to find Lily in the lobby.

"Woah… you look really important." Lily commented after seeing me running down the stairs, and I stared at the black suit I'm wearing.

This was actually the suit I'm preparing in case I needed to go to a banquet, because there was actually a planned banquet that was held yesterday before the day of the exam. I was supposed to attend that, but I skipped it because I had to help Uncle Josh with the shop.

Now, I just look like I'm going to a banquet as a prince from another country. With the red tie below my neck and a jet black suit outside of the white shirt, I must've looked really dazzling.

"Well, I wasn't really planning on wearing this. But I wanted to ask you if it's okay to wear this to the exam." I said to Lily, but the moment my eyes landed on her, my thoughts immediately changed. "Speaking of what to wear… you look like you're going to war."

Lily is wearing a really fancy battle suit made with really thin layers of armor. The color of the metal plates are bright blue, while the soft parts underneath is black. Anyone can tell that the non-metal parts of her clothes are strong and bulletproof, since there are plenty of the suit that was not covered in metal parts.

Certainly, it is one fancy battle suit. Something that only a princess would ever wear.

"Yeah, because the dress code they told us was to wear a suit ready for combat. Did they not… tell you that?" Lily asked, and I shook my head.

"No, but it's not like I have any battle armor. I'll just use this robe to cover the suit." I lifted the robe to her, and she quickly remembered the robe I wore the first time she met me.

"That ragged robe? You'd look like a mercenary if you wore that."

"Well, I am one. Platinum ranked mercenary, at your service." I took out a badge from my pocket and showed it to Lily, and she was really surprised.

"That's so cool!! What does it mean?"

So, she didn't know… Does she live under a rock or something?

"Whatever. Let's just go, we're late!" I suggested angrily, but Lily was a lot angrier than me.

"You're the one who got us late!"

The two of us then headed for the exit. But before we could open the door, a voice called us from behind.

"You two! Aren't you forgetting something!?" From behind, the voice called us out really loudly.

Lily and I turned around to find the old lady staring at us intensely, and we noticed that she had something to say. "What did I say about going to battle without nutrition!?"

The old lady said while pointing at the two bags of potato slices on the desk in front of her, and both Lily and I stared at each other awkwardly. In the end, we grabbed the potato slices from her and thanked her before leaving.

"Honestly, props to you for finding an old lady like that." I complimented Lily during the walk to the academy, and the potato slices were being chewed on my mouth.

"What do you mean? I didn't find her. She found me." Lily replied while also chewing on the slices.

The two of us are walking to the academy as quickly as we can, while also eating the potato slices that the old lady has prepared for us. Her potato slices were always so good, and neither of us disliked the taste even if we had to eat it while walking.

"I have to say. That is one nice battle armor you're wearing." I complimented her suit, and Lily stared at me with a judging gaze.

"Well, a feast to your eyes, wasn't it?" She said with a hint of annoyance behind them, and I noticed she must've thought I was staring at her curves.

Her bright blue battle suit does look expensive, but it is also very tight and thin. Even though there's plenty of metal plates covering her, there are still more parts that are simply the suit. And since the suit is really tight, some parts on Lily's body were quite standing out.

"I'm just saying. If I had to choose which armor I'd wear, I'd probably choose a very large one that covers my entire body." I said while chewing on the potato slices, and Lily took that advice personally.

"Well, maybe I don't have the right to choose!" She angrily replied, which made me giggle at how easy it is to tease her. "My sister bought these for me. I never chose one."

"Oh~, I see. The future empress does have some taste."

Hearing the title I just mentioned, Lily stopped walking immediately. I realized that what I just said must've shocked her quite a bit, but once I turned my gaze to her face, it doesn't seem like that's the expression I was thinking about.

She is only… grinning madly at me.

"Of course, she does! Her taste at picking outfits is much better than any royals at Fiordall will ever dream of!" She commented while grinning at me, and I just chuckled at her.

"Hmm, I wonder. Between the clothes I'm wearing and yours, I wonder which one looks cooler."

"You're not even wearing the right clothes! What kind of a prince doesn't wear the appropriate clothes to a party!?"

"Technically, this is clothes suited for a party." I said while lifting a portion of the ragged black robe I'm wearing, and Lily remembered that this black suit is indeed a suit to be worn for banquets.

"We're late." Lily said after shaking her head very quickly, and I turned my eyes back to the road.

"We are so late." I said as I started walking quicker, and Lily quickly ran a little to catch up to me.

She laughed a little after arriving next to me, and I can tell why she felt so relieved. Before today, we were keeping our secrets as much as possible, worrying that the other side might be a possible danger to our lives. But now, with the entrance exam only a few kilometers away, it's pretty much fine for us to reveal ourselves to one another.

That's why I suddenly mentioned the 'Future Empress' title to her, because her sister was the one owning the title. Because Lily is the second princess of the water empire, hence her elder sister is the crown princess.

Basically, the same position as me.

"Can I ask you something, 'Second Prince'?" Lily suddenly asked with a smirk along the walk. "Why didn't you attend the banquets the days before this?"

"You're talking about the banquet yesterday?"

"Not just yesterday. There were plenty of parties that were held by the mayor since the day I left the inn. Even your older brother attended them. So, why didn't you?" Lily asked while chewing some more on the potato slices, and I just tried thinking of an answer.

"I guess it's… because I never wanted to be treated as a prince here."

"Because it was tiresome?"

"No, because I was just never one to begin with."

Hearing the reasoning, Lily recalls a story she heard a long time ago. It was about how a young nine year old boy who survived a genocide at a certain village was picked up by the royal family of Fiordall, and was later crowned as their adopted son.

That child was me. Nathan Fiore from the Fiore village.