The attendants serving both Diana Avery and Anna Lutz stood stiff with tension.Not a single one of them dared to move, not even to steal a glance at either their queen or Diana.They were all afraid that even the slightest mistake in their conduct would be seen as disrespect.Diana herself froze when she saw the queen's smile.There was not the slightest trace of warmth on Anna's face.Instead, it was filled with unmistakable hostility and an anger that seemed to be restrained with all her might.Even so, Diana Avery understood why the queen was treating her that way.Anyone would react like the queen if their husband openly fell in love with another woman.She herself would probably hate the woman who had captured her husband's heart.Even so, the queen should have thought more rationally instead of confronting her so openly when nothing had been proven.The marriage had indeed been the king's wish for a long time, but the queen herself knew that Diana had never wanted it."Return t

Receiving Kit's sharp glare and hearing the suspicion in his voice, Rhys simply laughed.Yet the laugh sounded forced to both Kit and Kieran.Rhys then said, "Kit, I just don't like that guy and want someone to teach him a lesson. But... if you really think I have bad intentions toward you, then I'm sorry. We've been friends since long before we both signed up for this military recruitment.""I hope you won't overthink it," he added before giving Kit a light pat on the back and walking away.However, Kit had already become suspicious of his friend and could only shake his head."Be careful, Kit," Kieran said.Kit nodded in understanding.Ironically, Kieran and Kit had only met during the palace entrance examination.Yet, for some reason, Kit felt that Kieran's friendship was far more genuine than Rhys's, whom he had known for a year."By the way, what do you think we'll be facing tomorrow in the second round?" Kit asked, trying to take his mind off the unpleasant exchange with Rhys.K

Mikael patiently replied, "Why are you scared? He won't be your opponent, Ayden. He's only the supervisor of the second round."Ayden took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.Cliff Greenfield then began explaining the rules for the second round of the selection.Like the first round, the second round consisted of two sessions. During the first session, each participant would be paired with a partner, and the two would be bound together as a team throughout the entire session.They were required to work together with their partner. Whatever score they earned would be exactly the same. There wouldn't be even a single point of difference between them."As for the second session..." Cliff paused. "We'll explain it after you've completed the first one."Everyone let out disappointed sighs.But then Cliff continued in a cold voice, "However... there will still be an elimination. Any pair that scores fewer than forty points will be eliminated automatically and won't be allowed to pro

Before Kieran could answer Kit's question, his friend spoke again with a sarcastic tone."So, is your teammate the one who poisoned your mind, Kieran?"Mikael Avery, now the target of Kit's glare, remained silent. He simply met Kit's gaze with an indifferent expression, offering neither a reply nor a denial.Kieran quickly stepped in."Forget it. Let's not argue about this. Kit, go back to your teammates. The second round is about to begin."Kit let out an irritated snort, but since they were in a public area with numerous soldiers and palace staff watching all the cadets, he chose to leave instead of losing his temper.Kieran let out a sigh of relief as his friend walked away.Mikael, meanwhile, remained silent, his eyes fixed on the large monitor ahead. The weapon selection process was nearly complete.At that moment, Cliff Greenfield spoke again."There aren't many rules for the first session of the second round. Your objective is simple: eliminate your targets using whatever weapo

Rhys ignored Kit's shocked expression and quickly joined his teammate in going after the Grade-3 soldier carrying the white doll.The moment they landed a successful shot, a display panel appeared, announcing that they had earned 10 points.The two of them laughed happily, as if they didn't care in the slightest about what they had just done.Meanwhile, Kit, who was still staring at them in disbelief, strode over."Rhys, why did you do that?"Rhys stopped laughing, turned to Kit, and raised an eyebrow."What exactly did I do?"Kit let out a sarcastic laugh."You just stole my target, Rhys."Dilon, Rhys's teammate, burst into a mocking laugh."Oh, come on. You're not the only one assigned a white target—we are too. Why are you saying we stole it?"Ignoring Dilon completely, Kit kept his furious gaze fixed on Rhys, waiting for his friend's answer.Sensing Kit's anger, Rhys merely