The president handed the ring to Selpe. "Wear it before we enter."
Selpe nodded and took the ring, calmly sliding it onto her right hand.
They walked to the gate. It looked far larger than before, almost like comparing one to ten. The president placed his hand on a podium-like screen marked with blue biometric lines, and as he did, it glowed purple.
To their surprise, the gate trembled and shifted, opening a path to the place behind it. A mist of clouds rose and swept past them.
Then they stepped inside through the opening, and the gate shut at once.
A straight road stretched ahead, leading toward the majestic castle that rose high in the sky. Sunlight lit it from far away, at least twenty to thirty kilometres in the distance. What made it even more striking was the mist of clouds wrapped around it. That was where the King, his family, and their relatives lived. It was a long way from the gate.
On either side of the road, the market ran along nearly a third to a fourth of the distance. There were vegetable stalls, food shops, textile shops, smart-device shops, legal-weapon shops, and more.
On either side of the road was the market lined up to the third-fourth of the distance. There were vegetable, food shops, textile shops, smart-devices shops, legal-weapons shops and much more.
There was a lot of crowd in the market, there were even expensive carriages parked near them—of course there would be as being a royal gives them more luxurious privilegity.
And as they walked countless eyes turned toward the president of the School of Thoughts and Perseverance of the Sri Branch. They recognised him at once. They didn't recognise Selpe, but after noticing the ring on her hand,
their tongues started wagging, and word spread across the market about a possible new Sanctified of the State of Heavens.
Ignoring all of that, they walked through the market.
After the market came the living society. There were houses of normal royals, for example those of the higher-ranked defense—Warden-General, Warden, Grand Marshal, Marshal, and Sky Marshal—and defense security—High Keeper, Keeper, Grand Watcher, Prime Watcher, and Night Watcher, along with their families.
Next to the society came wide gardens filled with different kinds of flowers. A few slightly aged men and women sat on the benches, trying to make the last moments of their lives warm and memorable together. The adults were training on the practice grounds, taking part in different drills. The playgrounds were full of children climbing the tyre bridge one by one, laughing.
The whole place felt alive with this kind of scene. Selpe wished that if their Singing Street were like this, it would be so much happier and interactive.
At the gate stood a gatekeeper who was almost at the level of the Sanctified. He was known as the Great Giant. He could read the thoughts, motives, and intentions of anyone before him, which made him the most dangerous person in the royal city. A single harmful thought toward the royals or the kingdom could make someone fall and be beheaded without mercy, without even knowing when or how it happened. It would take a second, maybe even less. Even in the State of Heavens, everyone knew about the Giant Gatekeeper.
Suddenly he became invisible after appearing for a second.
However, he didn't check everyone who passed through the gate, because if a person's intentions were good and they had a reason to visit the royal castle, he would do nothing. That was his kindness. That was what made him unique and stand out among all. And he didn't really appear; he stayed invisible, only becoming visible when he needed to.
Selpe tried her hardest not to think random bad things against the royal, because who knew if she mistakenly thought something wrong about the kingdom, and she would cease to exist. Her growing curiosity to prove whether the Giant Gatekeeper was real or not made it worse, but she could take no risk, so she forced her mind to think of kissing Ibaan day and night instead. She laughed to herself, thinking that if it were someone else, they would have fallen to their curiosity. Take Ibaan for example—he would be dead right now, because he would definitely think something bad about the royals, like beheading the King himself.
Anyways, she and the President, who was calm and composed, passed through the gate without receiving any judgement.
Now that they were inside the walls, Selpe was quite astonished by the infrastructure and the outer castle gardens and grounds.
The royal castle stood tall like a quiet dream made real, its white walls shining under the sun, and above that it stretched into the sky almost endlessly, with clouds misting around it. She felt as if it were the tower of the Sanctified where the King held meetings with the generals, but she couldn't grasp that it held far more mysteries and power. Around it spread wide green grounds kept only for the King's bloodline. The gardens were filled with soft grass, trimmed hedges, and quiet stone paths. Open fields lay beyond, made for princes to train, run, and test their skills.
It was maybe the first time Selpe had seen a castle like this—maybe not—but nothing this perfect should even exist. It felt too ideal, too flawless. For normal people, a place like this would sound like a myth or a made-up lie. In reality, no castle like this should stand.
From the spot where the great white tower rose endlessly into the sky, there was an open slab at its base.
The President looked at Selpe, and his eyes turned bright purple. In the next moment, they found themselves standing on the wide slab from where the tower emerged.
The great door of the tower opened as the President spoke the code that unlocked it. Only the matured princess, the generals, and the Sanctified ever entered this place. Because of that, the authority had set many layers of codes, woven by the Totla himself, to open the door. There were even different kinds of codes. The one the President used was the Sanctified Code. The generals had their own, and the princes had theirs.
They entered.
Quietly defying its outer structure, the inside stretched even farther. It took almost the same amount of space as the area occupied by the entire castle.