Chapter 116

116 The unexpected encountered

Our heroine, run towards the rear alleyway. Her breathing was irregular and fast. She was nervous, but curious as well. When her hand reaches the figure, a woman looks at her with a frown on her face.

“Yes? May I help you, miss?” Said the woman, who turned out to be the cleaning staff of the building.

“I... I am sorry, I thought you are someone else.” Anne said her apology to the cleaning staff when she walk back to her table, but she still tried to find the woman.

Darla was running into her. She would grab Anne’s shoulder and ask her, “What are you doing running away like that? You scared us.”

“I thought I saw someone, but I was wrong.” Muttered Anne, her head still looking all around the room.

“Anne! do you even hear me?!” Darla was upset. Whoever the person was, Anne was surely invested in seeing the person.

Turning her head around to see Darla, Anne tried to fake a smile at her friend. “Sorry, just let’s go back to our table. The show will begin soon.”

When they go back to the table, David glares at Anne and asked her incessantly, “Where were you? You make us worried!”

“I am sorry, I thought I saw someone... You know what, just enjoy the show.” Anne waves her hand to the stage that is now occupied by dancers and singers.

.....

The show for the exam participants is full of laughter and actually a very good show through and through. Anne has a lot of fun looking at the show with her two friends. The fact that she wanted to have a memory with them as she decide to go back to Viora village after gaining her certification.

She was sure to gain her certification, even though she would probably gain some blows on her stars later on. Her heart ached bit by bit, thinking that she would probably lose contact with the four gentlemen with whom she had a fond feeling. She tried to cast their shadows away, the caring Henry, the sweet Vale, the overprotective Xavier, or even the rude but loving Justice.

“Anne! look! It’s the comedy duo that I have told you about!” Darla was so excited to see every performance, mostly because she never told Darla and David about her intention to go back to her village.

Two hours into the show, the staffs begin to bring the meal of the day, a lunch feast to end the tiring three months’ period of the exam. They enjoyed lunch while there was a singing and dancing performance on the stage. Anne tried to engrave all the memories within her heart. She never knew when they will have time to gather around like this.

Lunch is over, and it is time for the announcement, the chief of staff will read the result for the ten best scores and the rest will have a note delivered to them at their table, they will see the score and their stars if they indeed gain the certification.

The chief of staff that announce the ten best scorers was Chief Carla, she look absolutely stunning in her long flowery dress, smiling from ear to ear to all the participants.

“Hello everyone, so nice to end the three months of grueling exams for the civil servants. I hope all of you have a good time at the capital and, of course, with a good result in hand.” She said to all the participants, and afterward, she open the envelope in her hand, “What I have here is the top ten best scorers for the whole exam, the ten names will gain their certification and automatically get three stars on their resume.”

The hall went livid. They never knew how much bigger the advantage the top ten scorers will get. Heirim, on the other hand already smiling widely. Her eyes met with chief Carla, who reciprocated the smile that Heirim gave her.

Chief Carla opened the envelope and begin to call the names one by one. Three golden pass recipients and two silver pass recipients, and then she called two bronze pass recipients as well. Eight people already get their certification and three stars, and only two spots remained.

“The second high scorer goes to lord Alastor Creed!” Said chief Carla with an enthusiastic word.

“Her nephew, the magic knight, that’s why she was so excited about it.” Whispered David to his two friends.

After Alastor walks to the podium and received his certification, chief Carla read the last name, “and the best scorer goes to lady Heirim spencer! Congratulation lady Heirim, we are so proud of your achievement!” She basically screaming her name and they could even see tears coming from chief Carla’s eyes.

With a display of uncomfortable affection from chief Carla, Heirim gets her certification with a wide smile on her face, she found Anne from all over the crowd, and smugly shows her that she was way ahead of her on the stage with her three stars.

“Don’t worry Anne, that means nothing, at least we will get our certification now, and of course government money for us to live in for the rest of our life.” Said David with a wink.

Darla comes in, “Yeah, who cares about the top ten. For us, the certification is the goal, right?” She said to Anne while drinking more aggrus.

Chuckling at her friends, Anne of course was thankful about how they tried so hard to cheer her up, “Yes... The two of you were right, now let’s enjoy this feast and wait for our certification!”

They drink their aggrus and wait for the staff to come and give them their envelope. The envelope will be contained in their rejection letter or their certification and stars. Not long after, two staff with a tray of envelopes go to their table, one of the men asking for their name.

“Alright, miss River Anne, here’s your envelope, and this is for mister David and miss Darla.” They leave the table and gave them a quick smile, “Good luck.” He said to the three of them.

David has already opened his envelope. He squealed and even had tears in his eyes, “Oh my! A certification, with two stars!”

“Anne! I got two stars as well!” Said Darla while she hold tightly to Anne’s arm.

The two of them begin to dance in front of Anne while she opens her envelope. She knows this would happen to her. She holds a certification with one star in it. They deducted her star out of nowhere. Although she was grateful, at least now, she could give her parents a clinic with a certified healer in it.

There were tears and regrets everywhere. Just as the prediction, the exam participants for the knight job are scarce, and most of them don’t get the certification that they wanted. Anne was already grateful for her certification. After the announcement, the dance party will be held tonight to honor all the participants, Darla already thinking of some dress that they could rent, and while David was already gone, he said something about renting a good suit from the market that was a bit far from their location.

“So, will the four charming princes of yours come and get you to the party?” Darla teased Anne incessantly when they walked together through the marketplace.

“No, they were busy, I don’t even expect them to...” Anne went quiet for a while and gave Darla a glare, “Hey, they are not mine, Darla, you naughty girl!”

She chased her friend all the way to the dress shop. The dress shop is an equivalent of a tailor and costume shop in the same place. There are sections for a rented dress. The girls with a tight budget could wear a very good and beautiful gown for a day, at a small expense only.

Some of the bronze pass recipients were already inside the dress shop. Darla tried to entice Anne with a very cute dress, although our heroine seems to eye on another dress entirely. They were bickering over a good dress for Darla when someone caught Anne’s eyes.

“Wait! I saw Clarice out there walking in the market!” Anne said to Darla, and not a moment later, excuse herself to chase her good friend.

On the outside, Anne chased down Clarice who seems to be a bit confused at the moment, she touch her friend’s shoulder and called her name.

“Clarice? What are you doing here?”

Clarice’s eyes widened with excitement, and then tears came down to her face. “Oh Anne, thank God that I found you!” She even embraces Anne tightly, and not for a second moment, she begins to cry excessively.

“Calm down Clarice, what happened to you?” She tried to calm her friend when she heard a rambling coming from her.

Clarice, almost hysterical, with her squeaky voice frantically spoke to Anne, “Oh Anne, please... Please, you need to come home immediately, your parents! Viora village!”

Hearing her friend’s confession, her heart almost drops, and she felt her world begin to turn upside down. “What happen Clarice? what happened at Viora village?!”