Agenor's Stepmother

That morning the Geraky legion had gathered in the Keelgus valley, south of Prince Agenor's castle. They lined up neatly with their weapons.

In the westernmost line, there is a group of archer soldiers. They were ready to carry their bows and arrows.

Next to the archers were sword-bearing soldiers, and next to them were soldiers with spears.

"General Prince Agenor, the troops are ready to train." A shoulder-length brown-haired man with a part of his hair tied at the back spoke.

"Lieutenant General Argus, you train the spearmen," Agenor said to the brown-haired man before him. The man looks dashing, with solid body muscles. But, he wasn't taller than the second prince of Lagardioz.

Argus saluted General Prince Agenor by placing his right fist on his left chest.

"Lieutenant General Doron, You train sword warriors."

A blonde-haired man with a slender but muscular build paid his respects to the General of Lagardioz.

"And Lieutenant General Eugene, you train archer warriors."

The man with bushy black hair tied behind him saluted, ready to carry out orders.

It wasn't long before the three trusted men of Prince Agenor dispersed to their respective troop groups. Flynt, who was beside Agenor, watched him intently.

Agenor was walking while staring at the troops, and Flynt walked by his side.

"What's wrong, Flynt? Why are you looking at me like that?" asked the prince without turning his head, but he realised that the man beside him was watching him.

"Looks like you're in a better mood than yesterday, Your Majesty." Flynt smiled, staring at the group of sword warriors who were practising fighting.

The atmosphere in the Keelgus valley suddenly turned lively with the clanking of swords and the shouts of the soldiers.

As the prince guarding the western and northern borders of Lagardioz Kingdom, Agenor must regularly train soldiers to improve their fighting skills.

"Is my expression that conspicuous?"

"It may not be obvious to others. But it's pretty obvious to me, because I see you every day." Flynt stifled a laugh until his lips curved.

"It's just your feeling!" denied the prince.

"I'm guessing it must be because you and Princess Sayrena have a better relationship."

The black-winged man sighed as he continued to approach the archers.

"Smart ass! My relationship with her is complicated."

Once in the archery area, Lieutenant General Eugene welcomed the second prince of Lagardioz.

"They are very passionate about training." Eugene confidently boasts of the troops he trained.

Agenor stared at the archer soldiers aiming the arrows at the target. The arrows shot simultaneously towards the board. Some of the darts hit the red circle, while others missed.

"Passion alone is not enough without knowledge and strength."

The black-winged man patted Eugene's shoulder.

"Get me some arrows and a bow!" commanded the second prince of Lagardioz.

A moment later, a slave brought the general prince a bow and a quiver containing arrows. Agenor receives the bow, while Flynt helps his master attach the quiver at the waist.

The archer soldiers stepped aside as General Prince Agenor approached the shooting line. He stood straight with a focused look at the red point and then shot three arrows simultaneously. Amazingly, the three arrows were right on target.

Not quite there, Agenor stepped to the next target board and did the same thing. Amazingly, the result is still the same too. He did so again until the arrows in his quiver ran out.

"You are the best, Your Majesty," Eugene praised. Flynt also did the same thing.

The second prince of Lagardioz did not respond to the compliment. He even asked for more arrows.

After the arrows filled his quiver, Agenor flapped his wings and sped off, carrying his bow.

From the height, Agenor releases his arrow. Again the arrows hit the target. Then he fired two and three darts at once until the arrows in the quiver ran out.

Applause and cheers rang out in the archery area. As Agenor sets foot on the ground, Eugene and Flynt greet him with amazement.

"It's not wrong if you are called a demon on the battlefield. With your skills, anyone will fall to their knees," said Eugene.

"Nothing is instant to get a special skill. Every skill has a high price that we have to pay."

After a while of practising, the weather turned cloudy. Gray clouds drifted across the sky. The sunlight slowly disappeared like a shy girl.

After the breeze blows, raindrops fall to the ground. The scent of the earth quickly spread. Dryland turns muddy.

"Keep practising!" Prince Agenor's order.

The second prince of Lagardioz had lived under pressure since childhood. No wonder he also trains his soldiers hard.

Prince Agenor's bitter experience in childhood happened because of nurtured by Lagardioz queen, his stepmother.

The queen raised a five-year-old Agenor with the same harsh standards she applied to her older eight-year-old son.

Suddenly Prince Agenor remembered one of the dark scenes in his childhood. At that time, he was fatigued because his coach had asked him to run around the palace grounds. But, the queen hit him while resting.

The prince was still remembering the queen's words to him.

"Lagardioz doesn't need a trash and weak brat like you!"

A beautiful woman with a queen's crown stared down on Agenor. The number one woman in Lagardioz hated Agenor for reasons.

She was jealous and angry because the king slept with Agenor's mother after his birthday party.

"Your Majesty, he's still too young for strenuous physical training."

Emil bowed slightly, begging the queen for understanding for Prince Agenor.

"We didn't pay the coaches a fortune to make the Lagardioz kingdom have a trash prince! If you're tired of training princes, you can choose to leave the palace right now!"

The queen said firmly with her beautiful eyes, almost jumping.

"I apologise, Your Majesty," Emil begs for forgiveness. Of course, he wouldn't give up his job. He had just set foot in the palace.

After that, Emil ordered Agenor to return to running around the vast garden of Lagardioz palace.

The exhausted little Prince Agenor finally passed out. After that incident, the queen got a reprimand from the king. Annoyed, the queen didn't allow Agenor to do any more physical training.

Little Agenor was sad because the queen forbade him to attend the physical exercise. He kept remembering the words of the queen who called him trash and weak.

Even though he was young, Agenor knew that if they didn't need him in the palace, they could dump him at any time. Life at Lagardioz palace was harsh. Since childhood, he was often to seeing slaves who were punished and even killed for failing to carry out their duties.