The time is finally about to come. From tomorrow onwards there will be no Rose. Just a tad bit of slightly masculine Rosen.
I am as fully dressed as a man can ever be, examining myself in the mirror. From my left hand, I got a ring, which my brother had gifted me, and made my ear jewel-less as I picked them out.
The recurring thoughts about how I shall make my appearance clouded my frontal lobe—keeping my brain from noticing my brother behind me.
I shouldn't be blushing here!
"Rose, it's you, right?"
I never freak out, well, at least not this easily, but right now I'm completely freaked out as well as awkward, watching him slowly barge in behind me with his new crutches.
I quickly seated him on the sofa, steadying him as he carried on in that same frivolous, teasing tone, completely unfazed by the whirlwind of tension around us. "It's really you… I just—you look familiar but don't at the same time," he muttered, his eyes scanning me like he was trying to piece together a puzzle that shouldn't exist.
Duh, I thought bitterly. That's the whole point, brother.
His eyes lingered as if assessing someone in depth but at the same time with a softened voice. "You've changed… Well, actually, you're still beautiful, but…um…you know."
Is he complimenting me, discouraging me, or politely suggesting I'd looked terrible until now? Before I could have started a miniature beef with him, Uncle Joe made his entry...or again, barged, as I'll openly entail.
"Madam Rose, everything is completely prepared and..." Not again…
Now it's his turn to be shocked, but this still wasn't the time. Then again, I hadn't seen him like this since Father's death. He was twenty-seven when he took over the district. Almost thirty-four now, and he still hasn't aged at all.
There's a precariousness to his expression. It's priceless. And somehow, that alone made me blush again.
"Go on, why did you stop?"
It couldn't be helped... a sheepish grin was plastered on my face.
"Madam...?"
But before he could spew anything further, with a finger on his lips, I kind of reminded him of the changes we had earlier discussed and the sort that he shouldn't mess with at all cost.
"Master, not madam, remember, Uncle… Please."
With that information sucked in, he continued, "Sigh, Master, we know why District One didn't do well for the past 3 years." He clears his throat to signal the impending gap our conversation might have. "Their oldest son, Logan Hawk, who used to look after almost all of the district economy and a bit of politics, had joined the army permanently."
A decent amount of pause as he looked at both of us close to cuddling.
"Due to his outstanding performances, he was promoted to the rank of general 2 years ago." And so here he paused again as if not wanting to say something in front of brother. Which I took now as a sign to leave.
"Hey! Uncle, come with me; I need to assign some new tasks to you. I'll be back in a minute, brother."
With this excuse, Uncle and I stepped out and went to the meeting room downstairs, where we mostly discussed such extremely trivial matters; at least that's how Brother puts it.
"Ok. So? What were you struggling with?"
I knew I had read his expression correctly, as whatever he told me upstairs just now was something I already knew. "Yes. There is a piece of bad news. That oldest son, Logan, is the general who is going to accompany this year's freshmen. So, um…" He scratched his hair in slight irritation and continued, "So, technically you're going to be under his command."
"Please make yourself clear." Why am I still unfazed by this?
"I think that maybe they made him accompany new students, as this year most of the future rulers, coincidentally, and most likely you, Rosen Nightingale, will be there. Do you think the same? Or it's just a hunch?"
I felt slightly scared, but me feeling scared is nothing compared to the hatred I have for them. I have to remain unfazed, for their sake.
"Yes, I think you're right. But don't worry, I'll try to keep my distance from him."
I knew I couldn't back away now. I have to do this for my brother, and I will get a chance in the future, I'm sure of it, to let them pay for what they did to us.
"Don't tell this to anyone even if you are asked. You do know who I am talking about."
Brother can't know about this at any cost.
Got out of the house after meeting everyone and then took a decent-length flight to District One. After the flight, I got ready to take the car I had been given and started the real journey, probably the slowest one. And why the heck is my car in the last? Is it discrimination…not that I was expecting a grand entrance…sigh…or maybe I'm from District Ten, I suppose.
All the way I had a mask draped over my face. The only visible part of my face was my eyes. Not too flashy…
Currently sitting in the car and headed towards the army, entering the gate. This army was made for the districts to help in the time of need or if they get any threats from other sources. Even these outer sources could be District One.
Whatever… My POVs are going to be like this. Do what you can…
*Sigh,* I have never felt nervous in my entire life if I remember correctly but don't know why now and why here.
There were a lot of people near the entrance gate—well, mostly girls. I guess all of these girls are here to see dudes… What's so special about guys anyway? Except for Brother, of course. When Brother was young, one could tell that he would turn out to be handsome, which, of course, he is now. Trust me!
"Is that really Rosen Nightingale in the car?"
"I bet he's way more handsome than Cedric Coral, but I can't see."
I realized that it had been years and no one had seen Brother other than a few people that are undoubtedly the same people who know about me. Just 4…. No wonder they came here to see the ruler of district 10. Hump. My guess was right.
I feel pity for these girls. First, Brother is not here. Second, they cannot enter the gates. Poor them, they can't even imagine the drama… Which, of course, will never happen.
I gaze out, masked face roaming my eyes, assessing nothing yet everything… Rows of expensive cars entering and a few trucks of different sizes. Just after this so-called grand entrance, the gates closed.
There are 6 cars and 5 trucks. This year there are 4 districts that probably have no one to send. Whereas one must be like me, no civilians. What a coincidence!
All six cars were lined up. The first car door opened, and almost two elegant-looking guys got out.
At first sight, one could tell that both of them are twins. They are both quite attractive. For me, they seemed to be, as I had never seen other boys the same age as my brother. I guess they're both fine if I am to compare them to my dashing brother.
One is a quite known personality, a big mouth, Kyson Hawk. While the other one is known to be an introvert, which means he is more sober than his other twin. He's Mason Hawk. One of them is going to be the future ruler of district 1. And I already have a favorite.
Along with these two, there were 27 civilians of all shapes and sizes.
From District Two there was no one. Not even the 'to be' ruler. Maybe next year, or maybe I just thought, who knows… who cares about District Two, the Light family, two god-level beautiful sons? The older one is Lucas Light, while the younger one is Eric. Lucas had his training done two years ago and is the current ruler of District Two. As for the younger one, he still hasn't turned twenty.
From District Three, no one. The Blacks have only one son and have already passed this training. As he had no rival, he was definitely going to be the future ruler, which he is. The son of District Three is named Vernon. It is heard that he's quite a polite-spoken person, but you can never judge a person just by listening to rumors. Well, imagine my hot take…
From the second car, a pale-colored guy got out. Wow!
He has muscles, and I can see that all the others' mouths were hanging low. Such a strong-looking man I had never seen in my life before, but then again, how can I see one when I had always remained in isolation?
Going to remember him as the strong guy. First impression, guys!!
This strong guy's name is Edgar Heath, belonging to the 'Heath' family of District Four. He is the only one who's going to rule; no siblings meant a free pass. The civilians of District 4 got off their truck. They are 19, including this future ruler. So we got, overall, twenty people from district 4.
There are only a bunch of civilians from District 5, and by a bunch, I meant 26. The family name of district 5 is the 'Alps' family. I assume they're called such because the whole of District Five is covered with grasslands, and the Alps of different colors grew there. The family also has 2 sons. Both of them have completed their training here. The older son's name is Kade Alps, while the other name is Noah Alps. I knew deep down there would be a fight in the future between these two, as both of them are tough, have strong personalities, and have dominant traits in them.
I'll just sit around and watch that when it airs.
Nobody from District Six. District 6's family name is 'Corals.' They also have a single son named Cedric Coral. He'll turn twenty next year. He is also pretty handsome and is quite famous for his good looks; I keep tabs sometimes. He already looks after some things in his district. I think he'll prove to be a good ruler for district 6.
The door of the third car opened and a guy named Riley stepped out. After Edgar, he was in line. He belonged to the 'Shade' family, the rulers of District Seven. They had four sons. 2 died, one from illness, while the other one died during his stay in the army due to an outbreak of a virus called the corona. Only my district was safe from this because of isolation. As for District Seven, most likely this one is going to get a green light, as the youngest one's not interested. The name of this future ruler is Riley Shade. Along with him, there are 12 civilians.
After him is Kave Knight from the 'Knight' family. He is favored by most people, especially from his own District Eight. He is good-looking, has a charming personality, and is a straightforward person, the oldest son of the Knight family. He has two younger sisters, so he also has a green ticket. From his district, there are seven civilians.
From District 9, Jackson Woods came. This guy had dark brown hair with a light skin tone. He has a cool temperament and doesn't like to talk much. He has four older sisters, so when he was born, there had been celebrations for almost a year.
Not a single person from District 9 like me. Twinning!!
Before coming here, I read the biographies of all these 'PRINCES.' Good thing!
Next to him is my turn. I had been examining them from inside the car.
I knew it was my turn now. I slowly got myself out, stood straight, and noticed that all the persons present there were looking at me as if I were an alien species. I forgot to take my mask off.
Gently took it off and paid attention to the scene in front of me. All were now looking at me with even more curiosity than before.
'What haven't you ever seen a human before?'
Okay, I get it… There is an inch difference between me and them. What can I say?
One of them opened his mouth to say something; I hoped he'd think otherwise.
"You are the Rosen whom we've all heard about. The ruler of District Ten. I'm not satisfied."
Satisfaction…really?
Body language, poor.
Talking as if I'm nothing. Who's here to satisfy you, by the way, asshole?
"So what did you expect the outcome to be?"
I made my voice as hard as I could for him to hear me clearly.
Kyson, bared at me, "You want to know what I didn't expect. Okay, I'll tell you. I didn't know you would be this cute, this adorable. Your baby likes height! Has anyone ever told you that you look like a girl? Hey guys! Anyone?
That asshole hawk is talking a lot. I was about to shut his mouth, but a person's glare had already done that. I followed that idiot Kyson's gaze. So that glare ignited from there, a person fully dressed in a military uniform.
If I'm not wrong, he is our general. He's a looker.
The guy really had a cold stare that could shut people up at any place, any time. Guess all aura needed a place to stay, a strong aura around him, and I seem to like that aura. Nothing else.
"Civilians first. Come forward one by one and introduce yourself. I'm not asking for your biography. Remember this."