Chapter 9

Standing by the training grounds as I'm dressed in a light weight blue jacket with white tight pants. There was a brooch put on the center of my collar which was pretty in its own way as it had a blue gemstone in the middle. I refrained from putting any other jewelry since I'm going there to train, not to look pretty. I'm standing on the sidelines watching the knights train. They are all sparing each other and putting their sword wielding skills in action. I must say all of them are very talented as they avoid getting hurt and wielding their swords in such heroic ways. Ah this makes me want to master my sword skills quickly! It'd be so much fun going against every one of them. The knights are finishing up their training as they gather up to grab something to drink. I watch them closely, just admiring their skills but still the panic attack was slowly showing up its appearance which made me worried. Even when I'm just watching them from few feet away, I still feel like I'm suffocating….just when are these symptoms going to go away. I hate how its restricting me from doing things which other people can easily do. But I'll fight these symptoms and become the person I'm meant to be!

Lost in my thoughts like usual, I didn't realize Isaiah showing up. He's standing right next to me as he grabs my hand, making me startle. While smiling at me, he says "Hi sis! Are you excited?? I've been waiting for so long for our training lesson!" His excitement apparent in his voice but his smile was reassuring me that I'll be fine even with men around me. I'm truly grateful to have him here with me!

"I'm excited too! I just watched them finish sparing and it looked so fun!" I told Isaiah with a smile on my face. The knights were making their way out of the training grounds and the Captain was walking towards us. Me and Isaiah greeted him to which the Captain gave a big smile.

"Your Highness, you don't need to greet me! Next time you both should just also address me comfortably." He informed us as we started walking towards the small training grounds.

"But that wouldn't be respectful!" Isaiah responded back with confusion.

"I agree! But as time goes we'll get comfortable to address you as Gabriel." I said.

We continue walking for few more minutes and when we arrived there was a table prepared with three wooden swords, two small swords and one big one.

"To be honest,…I'm a little scared" Isaiah whispers to me. I glance up towards the Captain and see that he's setting up something.

"Me too…" I whispered back. We both make an eye contact and it looked as if we both were about to back out. Our eyes were communicating with each other as the Captain started informing about what we were going to do today. Isaiahs eyes were expressing "I'll leave if you leave!" And on the other hand, mine were communicating "No! I'll go if you go!" But again it was too late as the Captain handed us our wooden swords. Once again looking at each other and realizing that there was no way out now.

For an hour or so straight, the Captain had been telling us about how to wield a sword and have been doing different sets of techniques to wield the sword. And I am so done with this. Why is this so god damn hard huh? Like isn't this supposed to be easy or at least manageable but it feels as if my arms are about to break off. Ahhh I'm going to cry! This is too much and the Captain said this is not even the actual training….Oh my, I'm so screwed. It's only going to get worse from here on.

I look over at Isaiah and he seems to be struggling just like me but why does he look more composed. I kept staring while doing my sets and suddenly Isaiah looked towards me. We both make eye contact, his emotions revealing itself and I can see the suffering apparent. To our luck, the Captain noticed our expression and gave us a 10 minute break. We instantly dropped the wooden sword and plopped down on the ground, not giving a single thought about our clothes.

"You both must be really tired?" The Captain asked us.

"Yes! Why is this so hard?" Isaiah asked as the Captain giggled.

"I know it's not supposed to be easy but wow I didn't think it'd be this difficult!" I said as I'm massaging my arm and hands.

The Captain looked at us both with his black eyes and a grin on his old face which displayed the hardships he has been through. The hardships of protecting the imperial family from assassinations and the war—these are the duties of a faithful knight who is loyal to the Southern Empire and the Imperial family.

"I'm glad you both didn't escape! I can see potential in both of you but especially Princess Irene." The Captain said while turning his head slightly to look at me. "It's my honor to be teaching you both!" He looked genuinely happy and excited to be our teacher.

"It's our honor to have such a talented Imperial Knight teaching Isaiah and I swordsmanship. We're immensely grateful though…the training sure is difficult." I expressed my gratitude to the Captain but mumbling the last bit of the sentence. Despite that he still heard me which spooked me out.

"I'll make it less difficult for you both, My Lady!" The Captain laughed.

"No no, it's fine. We're fine with how things are going right now!" I embarrassingly yelled.

"Yes it's fine!" Isaiah exclaimed. To which the Captain only laughed at our flustered expressions.

"Hahaha, I'm just kidding! Let's get back to our training and then we'll call it a day."

We immediately got up, picking up our wooden swords to practice swinging the sword with all our strength. The training lasted for another hour or so of us practicing swinging our swords in different directions. By time, wielding the wooden sword was becoming easier and on top of that, me and Isaiah were getting praises on how well we were doing despite it being our first day training. But the reality is that it'll only get worse from here on since swordsmanship isn't something anyone can pick up on and it comes with extensive amount of training to perfect every move. The training is only going to get more exhausting and aggressive which makes me scared but that's exactly what I want.

"Well then I'll see you both tomorrow!" The Captain said as we bid each other farewell. Me and Isaiah start making our way out of the excluded training ground. We're both covered in sweat and so exhausted that we can barely walk. I wish I could have someone carry me to my room.

"Sis, did you enjoy it?" Isaiah asked.

"Yes! And did you?" I asked back with a big smile plastered across my face. I was happy to receive my first training and in no time, I'll be a Knight as well.

"Not so much but I enjoyed that I was with you!" He said with an even bigger smile. I feel bad for having him train with me when he doesn't even enjoy it. "Honestly I was shocked at how determined you were when training but I can see that you'll become a great knight in the future. With your strength, I know you'll be able to protect me well…though I wanted to be the one to protect you but it seems I have a long way to go." He looked so dejected and gloomy with that realization.

"I'll alway protect you, Isaiah! But you also need to train with all your strength because god forbid that a time comes where I'm not there to protect you. You need to be able to protect yourself! Understood?" With all seriousness, I looked at Isaiah.

"Yes, I understand!"

"Ok, good!" I smiled at his confirmation. We continued to walk towards the palace as we chattered about the training, also about what we liked and hated about it. All I can say is that the first day at training was a success.

Few months have passed since me and Isaiah started training. We had also started learning horseback riding which has been quite fun, sometimes me and Isaiah go ride our horses off alone. My horse who I've named Dakota which means ally, is a pure breed black horse which is known for its speed and I will be honest there had been times when she almost threw me off of her because of how fast she goes. And Isaiah has a white pure breed horse who he named Apollo. The training has started to get even more aggressive to the point we both have scratches and bruises all over our body. I feel bad for our maids who need to look after our wounds and cover it up diligently. No matter how many times me and Isaiah get nagged by Lily, to be careful while training, we always end up coming back with even worse bruising. It's honestly funny since whenever Lily is nagging us, we have to conceal our laughter but as soon as she leaves the room to get medication, we are on the verge of dying from shortage of breath. These small moments has been keeping this journey even more memorable.

Today Father, Isaiah, and me are having a tea time out in my garden since it has been a while we all have gotten time to talk and catch up on everything. As soon as we arrived at my garden, Tulip ran straight up to us with his tail wagging right and running in circles around us. We all took turns petting him and walked towards the garden gazebo where the tea and desserts were displayed prettily. Tulip followed us closely and sat down on the ground next to me as we made ourselves comfortable on the chairs. The garden was so lively compared to the beginning of spring. The flowers were fully blossomed and overall gave life to the garden as the sweet smell from the plants traveled through the place. It was autumn now and winter was soon going to come. The summer had came and went by quickly but during that time, I had seemed to relive those moments again. The three of us visited my mothers grave which was at the Heavenly land next to the Imperial Palace. That land was called heavenly because of the land being covered with white flowers and a sparkly lake which held the the prettiest fishes. Usually the grave of a royal is put in the Imperial graveyard but I had convinced father to put mothers grave on that land after all it was my mothers land to begin with. It had officially been a year without mother…something I still can't comprehend.

"You both have no idea how happy your father is to finally get some of your guys time. It seems like you guys have become more busier than me; And I'm the Emperor." Father said with a discontent expression. It honestly had been a long time since we properly sat down and talked about what's happening.

"Aw Father we're sorry for not spending much time with you." I said with a gloomy expression.

"We're sorry!" Isaiah said as well.

"Ah it's fine! Now tell me how had training been." Father asked us to which we both started excitingly talking about our experiences and how tough the training had gotten.

"Irene, I heard you are advancing pretty quickly."

"Oh yes! Captain Gabriel says that I'm very dedicated and vigorous! He also said if I can put all my dedication at training, I can become a really powerful Knight!" I excitedly tell father but I see fathers expression change instantly from cheerful to serious.

"Yes father! Sis is really strong and can wield a sword immaculately." Isaiah says in a bragging manner.

"Irene, just be careful and don't do something that can be dangerous." Father tells me in a serious but worried expression. It was clear that father was worrying about something. Unknown to me, father was thinking about the possible outcomes that can come from me being powerful at swordsmanship. "Irene definitely has the will to learn and perfect everything but this makes me worried. I thought she would be decent at swordsmanship but looking at how much improvement she's making, it scares me. What if she ends up sacrificing herself to protect the empire? I know that's something she'll do…ever since that incident, she has changed so much. I wish I could have my little cheerful daughter who always kept her head in the books but I'm glad she has found something she enjoys just as much. I just hope what I'm thinking doesn't happen…" He thought to himself, completely being lost in his farfetched thoughts.

"Father!" Me and Isaiah both yelled when we noticed father was spacing out.

"Ah my bad! I seemed to have wandered off to my thoughts." Father says quickly.

"Is work getting harder? If you want, I can start learning about how to handle empire affairs." I said with a worried look.

"Maybe later you can start helping! Right now, focus on your studies and training." A affectionate smile was apparent on fathers face.

"Ok as you say, Father!…Oh father, I wanted to ask you something." I abruptly said.

"What is it?" Father looked at me with a curious expression.

"Is it possible for me and Isaiah to go to the Northern empire for my birthday? It'd be a short trip and I was thinking of bringing Captain Gabriel with us and the high ranking knights so you won't have to worry much. I know you won't be able to join us because of your duties but I really want to keep going to the North for winter." I asked with desperation clearly written across my face.

For a second, father had a blank expression which made me think that father would refuse but then suddenly the blank expression turned into a grin. "Yes you can go! Also you don't have to worry about visiting the Royal Palace in the North since I already planned it out with the King and I also had a small palace built on the other side of the Royal Palace. You won't have anyone disturb you when you visit the North during the winter and I have already gotten female maids and knights to look after the palace. The trip will go by with ease but I wish I could join too!" Father seemed excited to inform me about all that but then had a regretful expression as he finished talking.

"Aww father, we can all go together later in the future!" Isaiah said before I could even get myself to talk.

We continued with our tea time and later went on a walk with Tulip. The whole day went by quickly just like the rest of the year and in no time, we approached winter—the season which is known for its coldness.