It has been a week now and we have been constantly practicing with both my magic and physical training. Terrence is an excellent teacher, obviously. And I could see a lot of improvements from all of us.
The princes mostly since I still find the time to sleep somewhere when Terrence isn’t looking.
Ace is surprisingly a good teacher in magic as well. He would occasionally threaten me whenever I make a mistake, but he doesn’t really follow it through.
“One more lap, Viex.” I commanded as I tried to maintain the flow of magic onto Viex while practicing my whip. It’s very hard to multi-task especially when I just got distracted by a pretty butterfly.
“FOCUS!” Ace snapped beside me that I immediately looked towards my targets once again.
“Yes, boss.” I said and hit the training dummy with my whip again.
‘Master, it’s almost my time.’ Custard says in my mind.
I watched Viex. As soon as I saw him stepping over the boundary, I cut off his supply of magic and transferred it to Custard. The moment that Viex turned back to his smaller form, Custard already finished morphing and started running.
“Very nice transition. You’re getting good at this.” Terrence applaud as he watched Custard doing his lapses. “Now, why don’t you try evading some attacks?”
“What attacks?” The moment I ask, I saw a fist flying in my direction. Unconsciously, I moved to the side to dodge it.
“Well done, princess. But can you keep up?” Terrence smirked as he continued to throw punches and kicks in my direction. Evading isn’t a problem for me because the princes already taught me that long before Terrence started teaching. My problem right now is that I have to constantly keep in mind the amount of magic that I am feeding Custard.
I withdrew my whip and turned it back into a sword as I block and parried most of his attacks with it.
‘Master, I am running low.’
I gritted my teeth and transfer magic back to Custard.
“Hey. You’re giving him too much!” Ace chided behind me as I continued to dodge and block them both.
“Hold on. It’s too difficult to-” I tripped on a pebble while moving back and landed on my butt. I heard a yelp and saw Custard morphing back into a smaller size in the middle of running. He flew and crashed into Viex and they rolled around repeatedly on the ground before coming to a stop. I sighed. I guess this was still too difficult for me to handle.
Terrence crouched down in front of me. “Don’t feel so bad, princess. You actually did pretty well considering that it was your first time to fight and transfer magic at the same time.”
I pouted and drew my knees closer to my chest. “I feel that it’s too impossible.”
“No, it’s not. Prince Ace could do it.” Terrence said and pointed at Ace, who was currently standing behind me. Ace picked up my collar and hauled me up on my feet.
“You were transferring too much magic onto your wolf.” He said.
“I had it but I just can’t control it properly while fending for myself.”
“Keep practicing until you are able to do it with your subconscious.” He simply stated and looked up as the sun was beginning to rise. “You should leave now.”
“What?” I complained and immediately turned to face him. “I’m sorry, okay? I know that I have been a difficult student, but you can’t just dismiss me. You said it yourself. I just need more practice!”
Ace looked at me weirdly as I grabbed him by the collar. He started to sigh my pry my fingers off when I began to talk once more. “Please! I wanna learn my magic. Don’t cast me away!!”
At this point, Ace finally snapped and grabbed my shoulders to push me back. “I said that you should leave because you still need to pack before we head to Fred’s today, you dumb imbecile!”
I watched him. “Isn’t that suppose to be on the 6th?”
“It is the 6th! Have you forgotten that we are supposed to be staying in Hazel for the day as guests? Then attend the coronation tomorrow?”
My brow furrowed in disbelief. That can’t be right. I have been marking my calendar every single day. It is impossible for me not to know the exact date. “Is this a joke? I have been marking my calendar correctly.”
“Rose.” It was Ren who suddenly decided to join in on our conversation. “Are you sure that you are marking the right month? Did you tear off the previous month?”
I stared blankly at Ren, who was whipping sweat off of his body. I didn’t. But hey, nice abs.
I took in a deep breath and began to smile calmly. I shook off Ace’s hands on my shoulder and began to pat the wrinkles down. “Thank you for the lesson.”
“You forgot to change the month, didn’t you?” Ren asked suspiciously.
I gave him a sweet smile and laughed sweetly. “See you all in a while! Custard, Viex, let’s go my beloved partners.” I began hopping my way back to the castle.
“It’s obvious.” I heard Nate say in a hushed tone behind me as I was retreating from embarrassment. “She really did mark the wrong month.”
As soon as I was back in the castle, I ran towards my room in a panic. How? How could I mark the wrong calendar?!
‘Master, slow down.’
‘Princess, why are you in a panic? Are you under attack?’
‘Yes, Viex. I am going to have a heart attack. I forgot to pack my belongings!’ It was amazing how fast my feet can move when I am in a panic.
As soon as I got in my room, I saw the maids carefully folding my dress in a suitcase already. “Princess!” One of them gasped when she saw me. And then they all bowed. “Forgive us. We noticed that you have not packed anything yet and decided to assist you. We have prepared both casual and formal dresses that we feel would suit you. Some of your essentials have also been packed as well as your main dress for the event.”
I gapped and fell on my knees in shock.
“Princess?” One of the maids looked worried. “Princess, we’re sorry if we somehow offended you-”
“Thank you!” I cried and got back on my feet. “After all of this, tell me your names so I can ask my aunt to give you some bonuses.” I headed over to them and assisted in packing my belongings.
With the help of my maids, I was able to finish on time. I even have a couple of minutes to dress up a bit. I am still not a fan of dresses, especially with the number of slacks that I wear more often now that I am in training.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing that we could do now because we are going to Hazel, where there will undoubtedly be a lot of nobles and prying eyes in every corner. And as a damn royal, we have to look presentable.
A butler came to fetch my belongings. I still have my weapon with me because as per sir Terrence and PRINCE Ace’s lessons - never leave your weapon. I stared at my whip until an idea occurred to me.
I separated the grip of my whip and placed it under the small ruffles of my skirt. Then I coiled the whip around my arm and pressed it together with magic to make it harden. Now it no longer looks like a weapon. Now it looks like a black fancy arm bracelet.
I grinned proudly at myself. It looks like I learned a thing or two on magic.
“Come on guys.” I told Viex and Custard as I started to head out of my room. We walked all the way outside of the palace where everyone was. I saw the princes dressed nicely in their formal attires as they facilitated the men on where to place each item on the carriage.
Ace was wearing a black and gold button-down suit with red detailing at the cuffs. Nate wore a white suit with a red vest underneath it. The wolf prince was wearing a navy blue suit that looks too fancy to be worn as casual attire.
I looked at him and wondered how long has it been since he got here. I narrowed my gaze at him and simply pretended to smile as our gazes met. He grinned as well and started to march towards me and offered me a bouquet of flowers.
“You look beautiful, Princess.” He says and offered me the flowers.
My smile became tight as I took it from him. “Thanks. And now,” I shoved the bouquet to his face, still smiling while he practically ate the whole thing. “Can you tell me what you’re doing here, Dan?”
******[KINGDOM OF TEREAU]*****
It has been a week since Prince Kellar has been visiting Stella in her prison. Honestly, it has become a routine for the two of them. Kellar was still worried about his father’s plans on making her a sacrifice.
“Leo, am I going to die?” Kellar almost choked at the question. Stella did not miss this and immediately concluded. “So it is true and you knew.”
Kellar dropped his bread to his lap shamefully. “I’m sorry I didn’t bother to tell you. No, actually, I don’t know how to tell you.”
Kellar saw Stella shaking in fear as he confirmed it. Stella’s lips quivered as she began to cry silently. Kellar looked at Kaya for help, but the spirit that could only be seen by him didn’t know what to do either.
“Stella, I’m sorry.”
“Is this the reason why you come here every day to give me food? To at least ease up my pain before I die?” She wasn’t angry. More like she was sad.
“Stella, you’re not going to die. I will find a way on how to let you escape. And how to contact your sister.”
“I told you I do not have a sister...”
“You do! And when I do figure it all out, I will help you escape.”
“How? Aren’t you a servant here who’s treated poorly? If you knew how to escape, then you would have done it already.” She pointed out.
Kellar winced. Every day after his training, he would be badly beaten up and bruised by his brothers. And since his route always goes from the training grounds, to the kitchen, and then to the dungeon, Stella could see his fresh cuts and bruises. It also strengthened the impression that he is a servant rather than a prince.
But that is the problem. Even though he wanted to leave, he can’t because he’s a son of Ferius. If he leaves and if people will find out about his identity, the other nobles would kill him.
“You could hardly protect yourself. How can you even help me escape?!” She demanded and began to weep. Suddenly, the temperature began to drop that Kellar and Kaya moved away from Stella.
“Stella?” Kellar’s eyes widened as swirled of icy wind gathered around the girl. Where she sat, the floor began to turn into ice.
No way.
If this continues, the guards would start to notice. Kellar immediately reached through the bars and grabbed her hands. “Stella, calm down. Can’t you see what’s happening? Look around!”
Stella uncovered her face from her hands and started to look. Her eyes widened in confusion as she looked at the icy wind around her. Even Kellar’s hands were starting to freeze.
“Leo!” She let out a horrified gasped as she watched his hands turning to purple. “I’m sorry. Did...did I do this?”
“Stella, I’m fine.” Kellar fought through the pain just to calm her down. Because if she doesn’t, he will lose his hands. “First of all, I want you to stay calm and breath.” He instructed.
Stella looked from his hands and then to his face before she nodded. She fought off the rest of her tears as she tried to calm her nerves. Very slowly, the wind died and all that was left from the memory of it was the ice surrounding where she sat and the first bitten hands of Kellar.
“I-What’s was that? How did I-” She began to question herself.
“Stella, don’t think too much about it or it might happen again.” Kellar said, even though he was as confused about it as her. Isn’t she suppose to be like her sister? A tamer?
Kellar glanced at Kaya. Come to think of it, Stella never mentioned a floating orb since the beginning. “Stella, can you see him?” He pointed towards Kaya, who was floating close to her.
Stella followed to where he was pointed and raised her brow at him. “What are you pointing at?”
Kellar dropped his frost-bitten hands on his lap. Stella isn’t a tamer. She was something else.
Come to think of it, the last bloodline of tamers was a mixture of a tamer and a fairy. Stella’s sister must have inherited the blood of the tamers while Stella…
...she inherited the blood of a fairy. A winter fairy, a rare breed. So rare that the only known winter fairy in this realm is Prince Chace.
If his father finds out that she is not a tamer, who knows what he’ll do? She has to know. She has to know, otherwise, she won’t really get the amount of danger that she’s in.
“Stella, I will tell you what I know. But before that, you must promise to control your emotions. No one must know about this.” He gestured to the ice around her that was slowly melting. “Promise me.”
Stella was still shaken up about what happened. Her gaze still fixed guiltily at his frost-bitten hands. Still, she responded. “I promise.”
And that’s when Kellar told her everything that he knows about her.