Please Don’t Remember Me - Chapter 9. Julio Asti (1)

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Julio Asti was the second son of a Count. The Asti family was an ordinary noble family, not particularly politically involved with the royal family, not holding any important office, but neutral and distant.

His brother was in good health, not overly ambitious, and moderately talented. Julio did not care enough about his family to kick him out of the house and take over the title, so he joined the Order at the age of 16, after graduating from the academy as the second son of a noble family.

He thought it would be better to be a knight in shining armour than a civil servant. He spent his days lazily hanging out with the sons of noblemen who were in a similar situation.

The turning point in his life came when he was eighteen.

On that day, the Order was on guard duty for an evening celebration at the Royal Castle. As he was wandering around the corridors, pretending to be on patrol and chatting with a colleague, another colleague, who was a good friend of his, came running up.

“Hey, we’re in luck. The third princess is here today.”

“Seriously, Princess Clara?”

His colleagues’ voices rose, though in a whisper.

“The Third Princess, you mean, like, the fragile little mermaid?”

“Have you ever seen her, Julio?”

“I’ve only seen her from a distance.”

“She’s very pretty. I’ll patrol over here, you go and have a look. She’s sickly and doesn’t come out very often. This might be your last chance.”

“Is she cute? Well, I’d better go.”

Julio left his post and went to the hall where the evening celebration was being held.

The King and Queen were being greeted by the nobles at the royal table at the top of the stairs. Normally the princes are seated there, but today they were surrounded by young nobles at the bottom of the stairs. Julio peeked through the crowd to see the third princess standing between the Crown Prince and the second prince, as if protecting her.

The first princess was a vivacious and stately firstborn. She was now married to a prince of a neighbouring country. The second princess was the daughter of the first consort from an allied country, and was the picture of innocence. She had just announced her engagement to a nobleman from her mother’s country. So, unusually, the third princess seemed to be attending the soirée. She was the only daughter of the second consort, and like her mother, she did not make many public appearances. She was always hidden away behind her brothers and sisters.

She was white and slender, with a delicate face that bore little resemblance to her elder siblings, but her dark eyes showed that she was the daughter of the king. She had long, downcast eyelashes, clear skin and full, red lips. Her cheeks were still young, but her face was elegant and beautiful.

It was certainly a beautiful princess worth the trouble of coming to see.

Julio nodded now at his colleague who had said he was lucky.
But that’s it. The Princess wasn’t something a knight could reach. It couldn’t be helped but to watch her forever. Julio decided to look around the venue and return to his place.

On the way, a good amount of time had passed while governing the skirmishes of the lower aristocrats. Thinking his colleagues must be getting tired of waiting, he walked quickly across the hall to the door at the end of the corridor nearest his post.

On the way, there was a space with refreshments, but it was deserted as the nobles were busy dancing and chatting. As he turned and grabbed a sandwich, he saw a figure behind a round pillar. It was obvious that it was doing something sneaky. As a knight on guard, he couldn’t ignore it.

As he approached unnoticed, he saw that it was the second prince. The prince was talking softly to someone, as if he was afraid of being heard. As Julio peered further, he saw the dark blue hair of the third princess hiding behind his shoulders.

The third princess was smiling and enjoying her cake, not in the reserved way she had been earlier. She also took a handful of the cake from the prince’s plate.

“Come on, you’ve got to eat the first one first.”

“Because I have to eat in a hurry.”

“You’re looking like a squirrel. Just eat slowly.”

They were whispering to each other. It was not so much a conversation between a prince and a princess, but between two close siblings, and Julio liked that.

The princess, with her mouth full of cake while moving her lips, looked more like a pretty princess of her age than the beautiful princess she had been earlier, and Julio lost in the enchantment and was fascinated for a while.

Suddenly the prince turned and their eyes met. Julio rushed to apologize and ran away.

When he returned to the corridor, his colleagues were still standing around talking to each other.

“Welcome back, Julio, how was it?”

“I was caught in a dispute with the baron’s son.”

“Did you get a good look at Her Highness?”

“Yes. Yes, she was beautiful. …… I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful.”

“Oh, I’m surprised Julio said that.”

“We can’t meet the princess, Julio. If we could at least be in the guards, we might be able to ask for help.”

The youngest members of the Order were often asked which of the princesses they preferred, just as the young ladies admired the prince. Julio, who had never been a member of any faction, was now completely in favour of the third princess, Clara. He remembered the smile on her face as she ate her cake, rather than her downcast archaic smile. He was excited to think that out of all the knights, he might be the only one who knew her smile.

The King’s consort and the third princess, who rarely went out, did not have their own bodyguards. Whenever they go out a few times a year, someone from the Knights of the Kingsguard was chosen. This meant that if he joined the Order, he would have the opportunity to be near the princess.

He wanted to see that smile again.

It was for this very impure reason that Julio decided to become a knight of the Knights of the Kingsguard.

He’s always had good motor skills. However, he didn’t want to tire himself out any more than he had to, and he didn’t want to have to wash his uniform if he got it all messy, so he had been participating in the training with about 70% of his efforts.

Now, he worked out 100 percent, or even more, every day until he was covered in rags and scratches. The uniform was soon ruined, and the general affairs of the Order gave him a good deal of grief. It seemed that he had talent, and in no time at all, his swordsmanship’s skill rose sharply. So much that the commander of the Order was even willing to work with him.

“Julio, you’re all serious these days.”

“What’s happened? What’s the matter?”

Julio’s physique was already very different from that of his slack-jawed colleagues. He casually compared the thickness of his arms and his body with theirs.

There was a big difference. But it wasn’t enough.

Julio continued to work harder than ever and was always in the top positions in the occasional private tournaments of the Order. He was able to achieve his dream of joining the Knights of the Kingsguard a year later.

The Knights of the Kingsguard were in charge of protecting the royal family, so they were not only strong, but also had excellent personalities. There was no one to discourage him from working hard, and he spent his days working hard to achieve his goals in good spirits.

The only thing he wanted to do was to be by Clara’s side.

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