"Has everyone gathered?" Ahan asked.0

After their meeting with the Empress, Yulie and the knights gathered once more in a hidden chamber within the Imperial Palace—a secret room Sophien had built to escape from the watchful eyes of eunuchs and officials. There, Ahan distributed the imperial certificates.0

"This is an imperial certificate granting cooperation from the Intelligence Agency. With it, you may access information classified as grade 3 or lower and receive assistance from agents stationed across the continent."0

Yulie gave a slight nod and tucked the imperial certificate into her coat.0

"Each of your trials will be different, so please avoid sharing them with one another. Additionally, you will all be provided with an Elite Guard uniform and an identification card."0

A place in the Empress’s Elite Guard was the highest honor a knight could hope for, yet Yulie found only slight happiness. 0

"As you may already know, you will not be called upon for ordinary missions. However, having entered the Imperial Palace and accepted Her Majesty’s trial, you are all expected to uphold the dignity, loyalty, and qualifications befitting your roles. For this reason, you have all been granted a place within the Elite Guard."0

Of course, it was not that she begrudged serving Her Majesty—far from it. Rather, she knew all too well who stood at the pinnacle of this hierarchy…0

"Your designated grade is Vesilita—a term from the runic language meaning an agent who operates independently. Your privilege is the right to act alone. Even when deployed with other members of the Elite Guard in large-scale operations, you will not be bound by their ranks or chain of command."0

Yulie glanced down at her identification card.0

Yulie: Vesilita0

Elite Guard Identification...0