Astonishing Changes (1)

The atmosphere in the dining room can only be described as unsettling. Diamond's sudden brashness. Raja's frightened expression. Duke Stoneborne's piercing stare. The maids' and other workers' tense bodies.

"Raja," the duke finally says after calling the knight into the room. "You understand that Diamond's disappearance and traumatic experience stems from your lack of supervision and ability to sense your master. Correct?"

"Y-yes, Your Grace." Raja attempts to look up at the duke, but the strong cold glare he is receiving from him is too strong. "If I was better trained in tending to a smaller master, then this wouldn't have happened to the Young Lady."

Leaning back in his seat, Duke Stoneborne loudly sighs. "You must be disciplined for your inadequacy; however, it is also my mistake as I didn't realize how difficult it is to watch over children. Moreover, Ruby and Diamond's bodies are artificial, so they lack a soul which leaves them undetectable from Heightened Senses. In light of this, Diamond will give you your punishment as I have no right to discipline someone in an aspect that even I lack in."

The room becomes audibly silent. There aren't even sounds of whispers as the workers in the room cover their mouths from the duke's statement. Duke Stoneborne has always been a perfect person. Very rarely does he ever make mistakes and even rarer when he says it out loud. Simultaneously, the maids, cooks, and other workers in the room shift their eyes to Diamond, the girl who caused the infamous duke to admit his faults.

Diamond sits up straight and looks directly into her escort knight's eyes. Something that she always had trouble doing to anyone other than Ruby. "Raja, your punishment is to teach me swordsmanship."

Stunned by Diamond's clear and demanding tone, Raja immediately kneels in front of her. "My Lady, I believe that I deserve a harsher punishment for my actions. You almost died due to my inadequacy. If it wasn't for Prin-"

"Raja," Diamond calls more firmly. "I didn't ask for your opinion. I am small and weak. I have very little stamina and even less strength. Your punishment is to diligently train me. Starting from building up stamina then strength. Once I am strong enough to swing a sword, you will teach me swordsmanship. You will make me a swordswoman who is strong enough to protect my sister from anything. She will be inheriting the title of Duchess. The only thing that I can do when that time comes is to support her and to be her strength when she needs me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand, Princess Diamond." Combined with sudden admiration for his master, Raja's determination to protect Diamond greatly increases. The fire in his eyes shines brighter as he sees Diamond in a new light. "I will work my whole life to train you into the strongest swordswoman that can defeat anyone."

While the servant and master are settling the punishment, Duke Stoneborne watches in confusion. The girl who has been so incredibly soft spoken, has a hard time looking at people, and has never made demands is shifting into a cold and focused child literally overnight.

-Of course, when someone goes through a traumatic event, they change depending on the severity. However, they almost never do a complete 180 flip of their personality.- The duke ponders, scratching his chin.

-Has Diamond always been like this but pretended to be a shy child to assess her situation? From what Doctor Pledais said, the child of water can also wield ice and gaseous elements that pertain to water. Wouldn't that mean that she's an even more dangerous child than Ruby who can only burn things with fire? If she learns how to manipulate water, Diamond could kill someone by freezing the water inside someone's body or creating poisonous gas in a room. Swordsmanship is basically a backup if you look at it.-

"Father," Diamond says, snapping the duke out of his train of thought.

"What's wrong, Diamond?"

"I will begin my training immediately after I finish eating. Delaying this any further will only make me upset."

"Make-" Catching the words that he wanted to say, Duke Stoneborne recomposes himself then clears his throat. "If that is what my daughter wishes, then I have no right to refuse. As long as you are clear in your decision and won't regret it later, then I can only watch from afar."

"Thank you, Father," Diamond responds before turning back to finish her lunch.

---

"How is Ruby's condition?" Duke Stoneborne asks Doctor Pledais as soon as he enters Ruby's room.

"Her mana is still never-ending," the doctor answers as he steps away from Ruby. "The crown can only hold so much. After hearing what you told me yesterday, I was assuming that she used a lot of mana, but it seems as if she has an infinite amount of it."

The duke stands at Ruby's beside, reaching out a hand to move some pieces of hair that sits on her face only to stop midway and retracting his hand. "Do you know when she will wake up?"

Shaking his head, the doctor brings out a book from his bag. "That will be hard to guess. Mana exhaustion affects its users differently depending on the amount used and what it was used for. However, I might have the answer to the question you had yesterday."

"I asked several questions yesterday, Doctor. You're going to have to be more specific."

"You said that you saw a pair of fiery wings sprout from the princess's back yesterday." The doctor flips the book open to the marked page and shows the duke. "There is a mythical creature that is said to be created, killed, and reborn using fire. The phoenix is an immortal bird that is engulfed in flames its entire life. My speculation is that since Princess Ruby is the child of fire, she might have subconsciously called upon the fire for help. A phoenix heard the call from its master and lent its wings to her."