8. Grand Promotion

“On the contrary, it is you, Rogan Bentley, who has acted against the code of chivalry—is it not?”

With those words from the princess, the entire situation reversed.

“W-what!?”

Suddenly finding himself the target of her accusation, Rogan cried out involuntarily.

Reet was equally shocked.

“W-wait, what wrongdoing did I supposedly commit!?”

So flustered was Rogan that he forgot to use honorifics.

Ignoring his desperate protests, Princess Iris spoke with resolute authority.

“Bring them forward!”

At her command, a knight emerged from the crowd, flanking two of Rogan’s attendants.

“These men used enhancement magic on Bentley during the previous match,” she declared.

“W-what…”

Rogan fell silent.

Reet also reeled from the revelation. He had never imagined Rogan would resort to such cheating.

“You mentioned your father holds a high position in the knight order personnel bureau. In that case, this matter will be reported through proper channels,” the princess continued coldly.

“B-but Your Highness! Please, wait!”

Rogan collapsed at the princess’s feet, head bowed, tears streaming down his face. His arrogant demeanor from moments before had evaporated entirely.

If word of this reached his father, the man’s career would be ruined. And if the commander’s son’s reckless actions cost him his position, what treatment Rogan would receive afterward scarcely bore imagining.

He might even be expelled from the family. Stripped of nobility and unable to become a knight, his dreams of a grand future would crumble to dust.

Knowing full well what awaited him, Rogan clung desperately to the princess.

“P-please, I beg your mercy!”

But the princess remained unbending.

“The sin of desecrating the sacred knight recruitment exam is no light matter. Take him away!” she commanded her subordinates.

But then,

“Wait, please,” came a voice.

It was Reet who had raised his objection.

“What is it?” the princess asked.

Reet answered her question.

“Would it be possible to overlook it this time?”

The unexpected suggestion made Rogan look up sharply.

“Why do you seek to protect this person?”

How am I being so kind to someone who mocked and belittled me repeatedly? Reet realized he was being far too compassionate. But when he imagined what awaited Rogan—expulsion from his noble house—he felt only pity. I know the pain of expulsion better than anyone.

“There are no actual victims here, and this is his first offense. Please, I ask for your leniency.”

At Reet’s words, the princess fell silent in thought.

After a moment, she spoke.

“…Very well.”

At those words, Rogan pressed his forehead to the ground. “Oh, th-thank you! Thank you so very much!!!”

In that moment, there was no trace of noble pride left in him.

“…Not only strong, but virtuous as well. You grow ever more suited to knighthood,” the princess observed, her gaze lingering on Reet as she nodded.

And then she spoke further.

“I wish for you to serve me directly as a palace guard knight.”

At those words, murmurs rippled through the crowd.

“A p-palace guard knight!?”

“Impossible! An immediate promotion to palace guard knight is unprecedented!”

“Wait, can a commoner even become a palace guard knight!?”

Reet himself was stunned.

Palace guard knights were the flower of the knighthood—an elite among elites. Only those who had risen above the fierce competition among knights could receive such an honor.

“I shall formally appoint this man as a palace guard knight. Examiner, you have no objection, yes?” the princess announced.

The examiner visibly wavered at her words.

“Y-Your Highness! However, the law states that palace guard knights must hold Seventh Rank or higher! This is written in the code!”

The examiner was correct.

Knights had a ranking system called positions.

Starting from the lowest, Ninth Rank, the rankings ascended all the way to First Rank, held by the commander of the knight order itself.

Those who passed the recruitment exam began at Ninth Rank.

This meant that no matter how exceptional, no one simply became a palace guard knight immediately.

But the princess swept such concerns aside.

“Then I shall grant this man Seventh Rank. Is there any objection?” she said, overriding all protocol.

“W-what…!!”

The assembled knights fell silent in shock.

And there was good reason for their astonishment.

Most ordinary knights reached Seventh Rank only at retirement.

It took decades of service to finally attain that rank.

Yet the boy before them was about to skip all those decades and step directly into Seventh Rank.

“True, the law states that palace guard knights must be Seventh Rank or higher. But I see no law forbidding the granting of Seventh Rank to a new knight, do you?” the princess reasoned.

“Th-that is true, but—”

“I desire this man, come what may. Inform the personnel bureau. Understood?”

“Y-yes, understood…!”

With the princess’s decisive word, Reet’s fate was sealed. He would become a knight—specifically, a Seventh Rank palace guard knight—without ever finishing the exam.

The shock of the rapid turn of events left him no time to process what had happened.

“From today on, I shall count on you,” Iris said, extending her hand.

Reet hesitantly reached out and took it.

“Y-yes, please take good care of me!”