Yun Zhe turned around in confusion, only to see Serena draw her longsword. Yun Zhe looked at Serena, then took a half step back. Serena held the sword with both hands and forced a smile, "Don't worry, I just want to officially appoint you as a knight."
Yun Zhe hesitated and looked at Serena, while Andrew and Xi Xi, who had not yet left the castle, looked at Serena in surprise.
"To appoint an Aruru as a knight... Miss must be crazy," XiXi lamented inwardly.
Yun Zhe initially considered refusing, but after weighing the options, he abandoned the idea. He hesitantly approached Serena, not because he suspected her of having ulterior motives, but because the public's reaction to his becoming a knight was indeed overly negative. However, this also stirred a sense of indignation within Yun Zhe. "What's wrong? What's wrong? My grades and performance aren't good enough to be a knight? I think I'd be good enough to be a baron." Thinking this, Yun Zhe slowly walked to Serena's side.
A servant quickly placed a cushion in front of Serena, and Yun Zhe knelt down and lowered his head.
Serena, holding her longsword, looked at Andrew to the side. Seeing Andrew nod, Serena patted the sword across Yun Zhe's shoulders one after the other, then laboriously sheathed the sword and gestured for Yun Zhe to stand up.
Yun Zhe looked at Serena with some surprise. "You, don't you need to say something?"
Serena breathed evenly, "No need. You are my knight, from this moment on, forever. I believe you will be my most loyal knight."
Yun Zhe looked at Serena with surprise; her thoughts were exactly the same as what she had said. She actually believed that Yun Zhe would be a loyal knight who would always be loyal to her.
"Where does your strange confidence come from, young lady?" Yun Zhe chuckled self-deprecatingly, then, seeing Serena's cheeks gradually turning red, he quickly suppressed his laughter and solemnly replied, "Countess Serena, from this moment on, I will be your loyal knight, until death do us part!"
Serena then smiled. She looked around, and Andrew reacted for a moment before clapping. The others followed suit.
Yun Zhe smiled and gestured to the people around him, then walked to Andrew's side. "Lord Andrew, I would like to ask what I need to do after becoming a knight?"
Andrew thought for a moment, “You will need to recruit two to five servants, but the key is that one of them must be a boy between seven and ten years old, to serve as your page. He will follow you and serve you, and you will teach him everything it takes to become a knight. When he turns fifteen, he will become a novice knight, and two years later, at seventeen, he can become a knight if you wish. This knight will be loyal to you for life, which is what a knight must do. Once a page is seventeen, you will no longer need to recruit children to train the next knight.”
Yun Zhe opened his mouth, then asked, "What benefits would it bring me if this apprentice knight became a knight?"
Andrew frowned. "You will gain loyalty."
Yun Zhe was utterly puzzled. "We're all knights, what loyalty is there to speak of?"
Andrew suddenly realized that he had forgotten an important piece of information in his previous explanation. "Ah, I see. When a page becomes a knight, you become a knight commander. You will have your own coat of arms and will receive a certain amount of land and people. Of course, more often than not, as long as you have enough land and people, you can become a baron."
Yun Zhe nodded. So, it seemed to be a ten-year knight training program. The final result would be that a lucky boy would become a knight, and a knight would become a baron. At the very least, they would be knights with fiefdoms.
“As for things like chivalric codes and creeds,” Andrew pulled out a neatly folded, yellowed sheet of paper and carefully handed it to Yun Zhe, “you can take it and make a copy, then return it to me.”
Yun Zhe took the book, opened it, and glanced inside. It was filled with words like pity, honor, and loyalty. He quickly closed it and tucked it into his pocket. Yun Zhe sighed inwardly, "This time I guess I'm going to be a mediocre knight..."
"Are there any requirements for choosing a pageboy?" Yun Zhe put away the papers and continued to ask.
“Um…” Andrew carefully chose his words. Usually, pageboys were children of lower-ranking nobles, but for lower-ranking nobles like them, they could probably only be found among the free people. As for someone like Yun Zhe, it seemed that he could only rely on luck.
“You’ve gathered all those children together, why don’t you just look for them from there?” Andrew said, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
Yun Zhe nodded, grateful that Andrew hadn't revealed everything he was thinking.
A huge canvas has been erected over the fence where the children gather for their daily lessons to protect them from the unpredictable summer rains. The children have just finished a long and tedious lesson and are gazing longingly through the fence at the outside world, at the endless forest and their busy families nearby, how they yearn to go out and explore.
Amidst the eager gazes of the children, Yun Zhe stepped through the fence. The children's eyes towards Yun Zhe were not exactly happy and friendly; at the very least, they seemed somewhat disinterested.
Ignoring the awkward situation, Yun Zhe walked among the children and announced loudly, "I have some good news to announce: I have become a knight, and now I need to recruit a page. Anyone who is willing can raise their hand."
Contrary to expectations of enthusiastic participation, not a single one of the hundreds of children raised their hand.
Yun Zhe was somewhat embarrassed. He hadn't expected this situation; he, who always prepared for all eventualities, had completely stumbled this time due to his lack of preparation. He hadn't even prepared persuasive words; he had only prepared the kind of words used to comfort the children who hadn't been selected.
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