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Well, at least as ‘normal’ as someone with all those crazy powers could be.

“Something about my face disturbs you.” His sharp jawline seemed to grow even sharper.

“Yes,” I admitted. “Somehow, the human face beneath your helmet is scarier than the mysterious, faceless Knight.”

“Why?”

“I guess because this is the first time I’ve thought about Knights as real people—real teenagers—instead of as paragons of perfection. Soon, I’ll become a Knight too. And I’m not very good at being perfect.” I slouched over.

“Practice makes perfect,” Kato told me.

He didn’t laugh, so I couldn’t tell if he’d meant that to be a joke or a serious statement.

I cleared my dry throat. “I thought a Knight wasn’t supposed to be seen without his helmet on?”

“These aren’t normal circumstances. It’s an emergency. The visibility here is terrible, particularly when I’m wearing my helmet. And, besides, someone once warned me that this fog is hot enough to melt the armor right off your body,” he said, the tiniest hint of humor in his eyes.

I chortled. “I like you better this way, without your helmet on.”

He blinked those pretty blue-diamond eyes, like my bluntness had surprised him. “Why?”

“You’re so normal.”

“I have magic,” he reminded me.

As if I needed a reminder. I’d witnessed firsthand how effortlessly—how mercilessly—he’d handled the Cursed Ones.

“I wasn’t talking about magic,” I said. “Your magic isn’t the issue. It’s your armor. It’s like a shield, a mask. You Knights wear it to cover yourselves up and pretend that you aren’t real people. And that’s dangerous.”

“How so?”

“Because if you pretend for long enough, then you begin to believe the lie. You start to believe you aren’t a person. You should try going around without all the armor on more often.”

His dark brows drew together. “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone as crazy as you.”

I flashed him a grin. “I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“Why would you?”

“Well, you’ve probably seen most of our realm and a bunch of other realms too. And still, in all your journeys, you’ve never met anyone like me. It feels nice to be special.”

His severe facade cracked, and he laughed. “You’re crazy.”

“So you’ve told me.” I winked at him. “Better keep your distance. It might be contagious.”

“I hope your behavior is contagious.”

I looked at him, confused—and a bit embarrassed.

“The way you acted back there in the Garden,” he explained. “Most people lose their head when they see the Cursed Ones. But you didn’t panic; you remained calm and tried to help the humans. If people could ‘catch’ your common sense, everyone would be safer.”

“So…then you think I’ll make a decent Knight?” I asked cautiously.

“No, I don’t think you’ll make a decent Knight. I think you will make an excellent Knight.”

“I guess you haven’t seen where I sit on the Scoreboard?” I said quietly.

Even though we hadn’t finished the Assessment, I could tell I hadn’t performed well.