Training grounds

Diana woke up to the sound of her maids calling her. "Empress Diana, it's time to wake up." called Estel. Estel was the daughter of a Baron who had chosen to temporarily give up her life as a noble to serve Her Majesty.

"Estel what time is it?" asked Diana as she got up from bed. It seemed as if it was around 9am based on the amount of light entering the room. "It's 9:30am madam, would you like me to choose a dress?" asked Estel politely as she walked over to the closet.

Diana got up from bed and redid the braid in her hair. "Not a dress, choose a pant and a shirt. I'll be heading to the training ground today." she yawned as she headed toward the bathroom.

A faint, "Yes madam" could be heard as she disappeared into the bathroom.

…

"Master, I'm glad to see you've awoken." smiled Drakkon, though his smile quickly fell when he noticed that there were others present. "Drakkon, for the millionth time, call me Diana." she smiled rolling her eyes.

Drakkon ignored her statement as he just then noticed her attire. "Are you planning to head to the training field?" he asked, a bit concerned that she has yet to recover.

"Drakkon, I'm fine, I know my body's capabilities, I'll be fine." she replied sitting at the head of the massive dining table. "Fine. I'll accompany you. I don't want to risk anything."

"Fine, fine. Ask chef Cortez to bring out the meal now." Diana ordered her maid. Estel bowed in respect before leaving to fulfil her master's orders.

About five minutes later Estel returned with three trays of food ranging from meat, to dairy, to vegetables. Diana's eyes shone as she waited patiently for the maid to serve the food.

"Come on, Estel, I'm not getting any fuller just staring at the food." commented Diana in hunger.

"Y-yes, madam." she replied a bit frightened as she began unpacking the food faster.

Once unpacking was completed Diana didn't waste any time digging in. Diana was so busy eating that she didn't notice Drakkon staring fondly at her. Food over her face and everything.

When she noticed, she paused to swallow her food before talking. "Is there something on my face?" she asked adorably. Or maybe that was just how the captivated dragon interpreted the question.

Drakkon stood up staring at the maids as he did so, sending them a message to leave.

"Yes, you do. Right here." he smiled as he wiped the bits of mash potato and mutton off her face. "Thanks." she smiled, giving him a toothy grin.

"You know if you keep eating like this you might catch postprandial somnolence and won't be able to train." "I can't let the chef's hard work go to waste."

The chef that was around the corner peeping with the maids cried silent tears of joy as he heard the Empress compliment his cooking straight from her mouth. He could die right now and be happy.

As soon as the Empress was finished eating she wiped her mouth with a napkin and waited for Drakkon to stand up, as today would be her first day back at the training ground and she wasn't sure if it was relocated.

"This way." called Drakkon as he left through a hall with the Empress jogging behind him, ponytail swinging.

The two walked through the hallway which hung the pictures of Diana from years ago, a fearless warrior who was able to conquer anything. Now? She was nothing but a shell of her former self. Though she doesn't intend to stay this way as she stared at her old paintings with a new found determination.

…

"And here we are the training grounds." Drakkon said with a small smile. Diana looked over the training grounds with a smirk. She was impressed. The training grounds remained in the same spot but it has been upgraded tenfold. Not only that but soldiers could be seen working hard at work.

The first person on the grounds to notice her was Sir Davis. The current leader of the royal knights. Sir Davis cleared his throat loudly to catch the attention of the rest of the knights which he did effectively.

Once he had their attention they redirected their attention to the stand-in Emperor and the beautiful Lady beside. "Emperor Drakkon-" the knights were cut off by Drakkon. "It's just, Sir now, as your Empress has returned." The knights did not question their Emperor- well past Emperor as they went to greet the Empress.

"Empress Diana, Sir Drakkon, we greet you as the battalion of royal knights."

Diana smiled at their respect as she allowed them to go at ease. "Thank you, it was a pleasure to meet you. Feel free to ignore me as I train."

The knights nodded as they continued their training as per requested but had to cut short when they saw her training. She stole their breath away as they watched how quickly and precisely she swung her sword.

"She's amazing." they muttered causing Drakkon to nod. "She didn't become Empress because of her pretty looks. It was because of her skill." they all nodded as that now became clear to them.

They continued to watch her for a while before becoming determined to excel in their training and make their Empress proud.

…

A few hours had passed and Diana was now finished practicing her swordsmanship and wanted to practice hand to hand combat.

"Drakkon! Come spar with me." she called putting a smile on her face. After all, her body felt better after all her training. Drakkon nodded and made his way over to Diana where they immediately engaged in hand to hand combat.

Once more, they had the soldiers' attention as they watched the fight in awe and respect. Diana was giving him a lot of precise hits, but her hits lacked power. Once Diana noticed this, she ended the spar.

"Are you okay?" asked Drakkon concerned about her extensive use of her body. "I'm fi-" Diana's sentence was cut short as she was hit with a wave of dizziness and fainted as the last thing she heard was the soldiers and Drakkon calling her name and her world faded to black.