Chapter 8

I groggily woke up to the sunlight hitting my face and noticed Isaiah snuggled next to me. But then realizing that it was only me and Isaiah in the bed. Father seemed to have already left for work. I nudge Isaiah slightly to wake him up to which he only rolls to the other side of the bed. I try again but this time calling his name.

"Isaiah" I called out.

He opened his eyes slowly and jolted up which startled me. "Mhmm" He sleepily hummed. Rubbing his eyes like a child which was so cute.

"It's the morning! Let's go get ready and eat breakfast." I start to get up to which Isaiah quickly follows me.

"I'm comingg" He sleepily said.

I head towards my room after walking Isaiah to his room. Lily started to prepare a bath for me and picked out my dress for me. I usually just sit on the couch in my room as I catch up on the fantasy book I'm reading at the moment. It took about 25 minutes to get everything ready so I can go take a bath. After the bath, it took another 25 minutes to get ready. Since I'm young, I don't have to spend much time on getting ready. It's always a quick process which involves with me getting dressed and my hair done. Today, I'm wearing a forest green knee length dress which had simple embroider done on. I decided to wear my favorite necklace, it's a gold chain with an emerald gemstone in the middle. I love this necklace for two reasons; I love the color green and…mother had the same necklace like mine. It's the tiniest things in my life that make me feel closer to mother—this necklace being one of them. Mother wasn't much of a jewelry lover, I guess that's were I get it from, but all the jewelry mother had was passed down to me after her death. There are some pieces of jewelry sets that father held onto because of the moments and memories each of them held.

I'm brought back to my senses when I heard my door open. I towards to the door to see Isaiah poking his head inside my room with a big smile on his face. His smile is so contagious that it made me reciprocate the smile back.

"Sis, are you ready?" He asked me.

"Yea I'm ready!" I giggled as I watched Isaiah come into the room.

"Then let's go eat breakfast!" He excitedly said.

We both went towards the dining hall to eat breakfast. Both of us didn't take so long to eat our breakfast since we knew we had to meet Father afterwards. After finishing up, we headed towards our fathers study room and to my surprise, I didn't expect there to be so many knights guarding the place. Without realizing, Isaiah had already held my hand when the male knights came into our view. Isaiahs small gesture definitely brought me back to my senses but still the presence of those unknown men made me feel so uncomfortable, making it difficult for me to breathe. I was slowly becoming rooted in one place which Isaiah noticed. The hesitation in my movement worried Isaiah, he could see that I was about to get a panic attack and instantly went ahead to embrace me into his tiny arms. That small gesture made me calm down.

"It's fine, sis. I'm here for you! We're almost there so just ignore everyone and pay attention to me." He comforted me with his soft voice. It still surprises me at how quick he acts when there are male presences anywhere near us. I didn't expect Isaiah to catch onto my androphobia.

"Thank you!" I faintly smiled at him and continued to walk with Isaiah towards fathers study room. As we walked, the knights bowed at us while smiling but to me, it felt so fake. I know they only have good intentions but my anxiety and overthinking is making me think otherwise. I wonder if training as knight will even be a good idea. Am I possibly making a wrong decision? Though I know, I can back out of it right now but it also feels as if it's too late. When we got in front of the door, the knights guarding the place greeted us and let father know of our presence. The knights opened the door for us to which we both thanked them and headed inside.

"Good morning, Father!" Both of us said with smiles on our face.

"Good morning, Irene and Isaiah!" Father replied back to us. He gestures at us to come sit on the couch by the bookshelf. Me and Isaiah made ourselves comfortable on the couch.

"Let's get to the point. I'll have Sir Charles call the Head Professor so we can get your guys schedule changed which can accommodate for the training and call over Captain Gabriel." Father called over Sir Charles and told him to call Head Professor and Captain Gabriel. I don't know why father is calling for Captain Gabriel but it's most likely to discuss about training. Anyways, Sir Charles is my fathers assistant and has been there for him since father took on the throne whereas Captain Gabriel is the captain of the Royal Guards and he's one of the most royal comrades who has been protecting the royal family with all his might. I've never be able to get the chance to get close to him due to him always being in the training grounds and dealing with the organization of the knights. I do remember some moments when the Captain would come as a personal guard for whenever we'd go out for trips, other than that I don't recall much about him.

Me and Isaiah sat on the couch silently as father went back to working on his documents. It had been about 30 minutes until we had finally heard a knock on the door. As the door opened, Sir Charles came in the view with Captain Gabriel and the Head Professor. From there on the conversation about mine and Isaiahs academic schedule was put in action. Only the adults were talking as me and Isaiah just sat there minding our own business but once in awhile, they'll ask for our opinions. After the schedule was planned, the Head Professor bid farewell and Father turned towards Captain Gabriel to talk about the training.

"Captain Gabriel, you must be very confused on why you were called here." Father said with a smile on his face but also somewhat serious.

"Your Majesty, I wouldn't lie so yes I am very confused but if I was to make a guess, am I called here to talk about training Isaiah?" Captain Gabriel asked with curiosity written all over his face. But his question offended me and made me adamant in my decision. There is no way someone can change my mind about training as a knight.

"You aren't exactly right. Yes, Isaiah will be getting training but you'll be training Irene as well." Father informed the Captain. I looked over at Captain Gabriel and he looked shocked.

"Princess Irene…?" The Captain asked in total shock. "But how can I?" Almost speechless as he questioned himself.

"You are the only one I can entrust my children to; I know you will teach them well so they'll be able to look after themselves when I'm not here any longer. I wasn't able to protect my love, the Empress, and I don't want my daughter or son to get into a situation like that. We both know that the Imperial family has enemies in every corner of the empire. I hope you can train them to their full capacity."

"You Majesty, don't worry! I will personally train them so they'll exceed higher than the knights I have taught!" I could see the determination in the Captains eyes which made me feel confident in my decision too. "I will plan out a routine for training which I'll send over in few hours so I can get your approval." The Captain informed Father.

"That sounds good! Ah do you both have any questions?" Father turned towards us.

"Uhm…I'll do any type of training but is it fine if I can get used to the training grounds first? I am anxious about going on the training grounds with all the knights there since I'm not used to being around them." I nervously asked. I glanced up at the Captain and he looked confused at first but then replied back to me with a smile.

"Yes, My Lady. We can start training at the smaller training ground which the other knights don't use and as you guys start progressing, we'll move to the main training ground." He informed us.

"I like that. Thank you!" I felt a little relieved now.

"Ah you guys will also be taking horseback riding too. So be prepared from tomorrow with this busy schedule." Father informed us with a serious look. To be honest, I knew we'd have to learn all that but now that everything is being organized…I'm starting to get scared.

"Horseback riding too? Isn't that too much, Father?" Isaiah spoke out after a long time of sitting in silence.

"Well all these things are necessary to become a knight but in general, a royal member needs to learn horseback riding later. Both of you are getting your horseback riding lessons early." Father was dead serious. It really is too late to back out now.

"I know you both will be able to do it." The encouragement made me feel a little better but I can already feel that this journey of training as a knight is going to be a memorable ride.

After that meeting, we all had bid goodbye and father had went back to his work. The rest of the day went by pretty quickly as I spent my day in the garden with Tulip. The flowers in my garden were starting to bloom as Spring appeared; this also meant that Isaiahs birthday was coming up too. I doubt there will be any birthday balls happening for a time being since by now the preparations would have began and the invitations would have been sent out but…nothing has happened and considering my fear, I don't think a ball ceremony would take place. I feel sad that there won't be a grand celebration for Isaiahs birthday but I know we both hate such events so I guess it works out. It seems the next ceremony that'll take place would be the debutante but I still have 10 years till then.

I'm sitting at the resting area in my small garden house with Tulip in my lap as I admire the colors of the sky as the sun is setting. The view is extremely captivating. Just like that the day was coming to an end. Starting from tomorrow, a new chapter of my life is going to start and I truly don't know how to feel about it. I know I'll come through many obstacles but what's a life with no obstacles especially with my status. I'm scared that I'll let myself down and most importantly father. What if being a knight really isn't a thing for a Princess? What if I get many injuries? I haven't even reached the age to obtain my magic so for now I can't even rely on my magic to heal me if I do get injured. All these thoughts in my head but I can't seem to find the answers. I just hope I made the right decision.