Chapter 16

The past few days have been unnecessarily annoying! I've been under Prince Haven's watch as he closely watched me train and even went as far as seeing who me and Duke Aspen were conversing with. At one point, he personally asked Eva to spar with him since she's a high ranking female knight who closely converses with the Captain and the General but by the end of the sparring, there was clear disappointment on his face because he had won. So far, he has sparred all the high ranking female knights and the only person left was me but I've been avoiding it completely. Even if I was to go against him and put minimum effort, my skills would still display themselves and someone as talented as him would catch onto it very quickly. On top of that, I know magic and have mana flowing through my body which even the Northern Royal can know with one glance after all we have a close alliance between both royal families. Just like how me and Isaiah were taught about magic, the same went for Prince Haven and Princess Anastasia so the only thing I can do now is be careful about using my magic.

I immediately left the training ground as the sparring finished between Eva and Prince Haven. I made my way to find Captain Gabriel so I could talk about the upcoming battle. This battle could determine who gains the victory in this war so we have to be meticulous of how we plan everything out. The goal is to finish the war in 4 months…well that's what both King Mallick and my Father want. It's just the beginning of spring but instead of flowers blossoming, there is blood spilling. I can't help thinking about the last time me and Isaiah had a hangout for his birthday; he'll be turning 17 years old this year and once again I won't be the first person to wish him happy birthday. I wish I could make an impulsive decision and kill the authorities of Western Empire, they are already weak now so what's the point of waiting. …But I can't do that since it could all end miserably. "Ugh I don't even want to meet Captain Gabriel now, let's just head to my room." I mumbled to myself. I spent most of my day in my room and only went out when it was my time to train and for dinner. It's been a pain in the ass trying to avoid Prince Haven and his piercing gaze which seem to follow me whenever I'm in his presence…has he caught onto something?? Ughhh I think I'm going to get indigestion because of him. I can't even peacefully eat my dinner.

"Seems like Prince Haven isn't going to back off so easily." Duke Aspen sighed. Currently, I am having dinner with Duke Aspen and Captain Gabriel.

"Has he asked to spar with you?" Captain Gabriel asked with worry.

"No…not yet?" I replied back with uncertainty because I don't know if he will in the near future. I need to think of a way out!

"Is he still keeping a close eye on you?" Captain Gabriel asked again.

"Mhm" I continued eating while Captain Gabriel sighed with worry.

"There is nothing we can do and Prince Haven will see your skills on the battlefield but try to avoid showing your face during the battlefield!" Captain Gabriel whispered as I finished eating.

"I know. I'll take my leave now." I left with my dirty dishes. As I walk out of the cafeteria, I end up making strong eye contact with Prince Haven and for some reason, it seemed as if he really caught onto something.

A month or so had passed since we had started preparing for the upcoming battle and the day was right around the corner. Since we were getting closer to the battle, Prince Haven had stopped paying much attention to Duke Aspen and me. Though it seemed like we were out of Prince Haven's radar, there were still eyes watching us. He really wants that knight to fight alongside him, but I'll politely reject. It's the day before the battle so me and Captain Gabriel were training in the empty training grounds while everyone was resting or preparing their armors.

I felt someone's presence nearby so I abruptly stopped and gestured to Captain Gabriel to remain quiet. Just then I heard some footsteps coming towards us as I plopped down on the ground.

"This was better but you need to be aware of your opponents intentions!" Captain Gabriel spoke out, trying to make it seem like we didn't notice Prince Haven's presence. I nodded as I tried to catch my breath.

"Duke Astleys assistant general is training while everyone is resting. I didn't expect that!" Prince Haven said, making his presence known to us. I immediately got up to greet him.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" I said with a slight smile.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" Captain Gabriel said right after me.

"What's your name?" Prince Haven asked out of nowhere.

"Pardon?" I asked with confusion.

"You didn't give your name when we met last time." He said nonchalantly.

"Ah my name is Lainey." I replied back.

"…'' There was a silent pause which made me feel uncomfortable but then he continued talking. "…Lainey like the late Empresses middle name?" He questioned which made me glance up at him. I didn't expect him to know my mothers middle name. What should I say now??

"…..Ah yes! The late Empress had named me since my family had served the Imperial family for generations." I lied but it seems that he bought my lie.

"Perhaps…were you Princess Irene's knight back at the palace?" He continued questioning me but why is he asking about me??

"Yes, Your Highness." I lied once again.

"Then why are you here and not with Princess Irene?" He curiously asked.

"Her highness went abroad for further studies and took Sir Grayson with her." I continued lying. I mean the real Irene is in front of him but in disguise.

"…Abroad?" He mumbled. It seems like he didn't know.

"If you don't mind, shall I take my leave?" I need to leave before I tell even more lies.

"No. Stay to spar with me!" He demanded and all I could do was stare back at him. "Uhm what the fuck?! He really won't leave me alone, huh??" I thought to myself.

"Uhm your highness, she has trained for the past 3 hours and she needs to rest for the battle tomorrow!" Captain Gabriel spoke out.

I watch Prince Haven look at me up and down, examining how tired I looked. "…You can leave." He finally said. I bid farewell and quickly left the training ground.

The battle was brutal just like the other battles—a lot of bloodshed and dead bodies. For the first time, I got to see Prince Haven fight…and I was left speechless at how skilled he is. He lived up to his battlefield name, the ferocious knight. Throughout the whole battle, I had to be far away from Prince Haven so he wouldn't catch onto my skills. Even with me not directly fighting alongside him, we had still won the battle which meant that the war was favoring us now. After returning back to the base, we had immediately begun preparing for the next one since the battle lasted for more than a week. There was no time to waste and an attack could take place at any time since now the Western Empire is in a weak state. But this time, we are going to initiate the battle to showcase that we have the upper hand now. Everyone thought that battle was going to be a quick one but it ended up to be pretty long as well. Now 2 months have passed and we need to wrap this war up in a month. In this month, the last battle is going to take place…we had lost our previous battle due to unknown reasons but it seems that the Western Empire has brought out their secret weapon. Presently, we are back at the base and trying to figure out what was the sole reason for our defeat. Well I'm not attending the meeting because it gets extremely boring and I can't even share my opinions so why even mind joining such a meeting. All the knights are training in the training ground while I'm just wandering around the hallways. Out of nowhere, I feel this weird feeling in me…like something ominous?

"Heyy, Lainey!" I heard Eva call out. I decided to ignore the feeling I just felt.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be training?" I asked her.

"Yea, I am currently heading there! But to be honest, I don't want to train. I'm so tired!" She said with a sad face.

"Aww hold on for a little bit longer and soon the war will come to an end! Then you can rest as much as you want!" I smiled as I encouraged her. Suddenly, I get the same feeling again—that ominous feeling. "Eva, you should head to the training grounds before you get even more late!" I reminded her.

"Ah right! I'll see you later!" She waved at me, making her way out the hallway. I cautiously start to examine my surroundings; I could lightly pick up on someone's presence, it seems like someone is deliberately trying to conceal their presence. I follow my instincts and come face to face with a man in a black cloak. His whole presence is wrecked of magic but not the gracious type of magic….it's sinister. He rapidly brought out a knife which was an inscription of unknown writing.

"I'll kill you right this instant! So move out the way!" He yelled, the voice echoing throughout the hallway. Without thinking much, I took him down in one move. Anyone could tell he wasn't skilled enough but then he tried to attack with his inauspicious magic which could've left a fatal injury if it wasn't for my magic. Due to his sudden attack, I lost my grip on him and he instantly went down the hallway which led directly to the meeting room. I got up and noticed that he left his knife behind. I ran behind him as I saw small silhouettes of people leaving from the meeting room. I instantly tackled him down which made him groan loudly and took him into a small dark corner with barely any light.

"You're really trying to escape, huh?" I asked.

"Let me go!" He screamed once again. I could tell his life was deteriorating.

"Why exactly are you here?" I questioned.

"To…kill the Prince!" He replied back with a slight smirk which made my blood boil.

"Yeah, right! How can you kill the Prince while your life is perishing away? You don't look so good!" I sneered as I twisted his arm even more which made him welp in pain. But once again, he used his magic on me and blurred my vision which instantly made me lose my grip. He ran away after pushing me but soon I got my vision back and went behind. I saw Prince Haven and Sir Edwin come out with Duke Aspen. Why are they still here when everyone else left?

"SIR EDWIN! PROTECT THE PRINCE!!" I yelled on top of my lungs as I brought up the knife the magician had dropped. I immediately aim it at him and throw it directly piercing through his back. We all watched the magician's whole body turn into dust.

"What…was that?" Sir Edwin asked with horror.

"They had sent an assassinator…to kill Prince Haven!" I tried to catch my breath but I was shaken up by what had happened. I walked towards the pile of dust which radiated sinister magic.

"Lainey, are you ok-?" Duke Aspen started to speak.

"…Black magic!" I spoke out. The three of them noticed that I was only paying attention to that unappealing black pile of dust.

"What?" Prince Haven asked.

"They are using black magic! The reason he turned into dust is because of the inscriptions on the knife but even if he was to kill you with it, you would die instantly but not turn into dust." I informed as I felt the dust.

"Why did he turn into dust?" He questioned.

"I believe he's the one who made the inscriptions on the knife and…because he was already dying." I answered, looking up at him. "…Their secret weapon are magicians who know black magic and seeing how ominous his aura was, it seems they are quite powerful! We'll have to take the initiative on this battle too but rather secretly so we can first get rid of these magicians and when that's done, the Western Empire would surrender instantly. Though this has a lot of risks." I informed them as I unconsciously rambled on.

"We could make something work with that plan…I can't believe they went ahead to use something that is banned in all the territories." Prince Haven angrily said.

"Ah…" I mumbled lightly after realizing that I just rambled on about this.

"Edwin, give me information on any recent black magic activity." They both left, leaving me and Duke Aspen behind.

"…Why'd you put yourself in danger like that?" Duke Aspen worryingly asked, running his hand through his hair. I could tell he's stressed.

"I did what I had to." I replied back, bending down to examine the black dust once again.

"…How did you know there was a magician here?" He asked with an overly calm manner.

"I felt it." I said with a blank look.

"Why do you make me worry so much?! But you are never fazed by it." He lightly yelled at me, gripping my wrist which prevented me from walking away.

"Let go of my wrist! Right this instant!" I demanded, my voice filled with hatred.

"I'm sorry, My Lady!" He released my wrist with guilt apparent in his eyes.

"I don't understand you, Duke Aspen! First you say you don't care if I die and then you say you are worried. Please pick which one it is!" I argued. "I don't want to spend even another second here so I'm leaving." I added and walked away from him, leaving him standing there alone. I really couldn't understand him, if he really hates my presence then what's the point of pretending to act like he worries about me!!

After retreating to my room, I got ready for bed as I took a bath to help relax my tensed muscles and changed into my nightgown. I had also taken off my magic stone and in my original appearance. At the beginning, I never took off my magic stone and got so comfortable in my disguise that I couldn't even recognize my actual face. During those times, I had to stay in disguise because we stayed in tents and it wasn't secure so I had to be extra cautious but whenever we got to an inn, I started to take my magic stone off so I could remember how I actually look.

It was pitch black outside now. I've been rolling around in bed for a few hours and still haven't fallen asleep. I should go on a short walk to get myself a little bit tired. I got out of bed and put my robe on as I left my room. It seems to be around 1 am so everyone should be sound asleep, I doubt I'll run into anyone. My room was in the corner and no other rooms were next to mine, even if I was to walk around, I wouldn't run into anyone but still I sigh in relief looking around in the empty hallway. With a peaceful mind, I start walking around and it hasn't even been 10 minutes when suddenly I hear some footsteps but I continue walking since the sound seemed to be far away. I took a turn, thinking I won't run into whoever I heard a few minutes ago.

"What the fu-?!?!" I mumbled to myself as I looked at the two people standing a few feet away from me. Both Prince Haven and Sir Edwin were standing there, conversing to each other and for some reason, I couldn't move. Why now?! I feel a panic attack coming! I shouldn't be feeling like this since I've healed so why does this panic attack feel the same as the ones I used to have or…maybe it's because I didn't expect to see them here at this moment. I…I need to hide right this instant!

I quickly hide behind a wall which was the hallway that lead to the training grounds. I had noticed that Prince Haven had sensed my presence and was about to turn around. I completely forgot that I was in my original form and if he had seen me, there would've been a huge problem! That would've been so so bad! I need to leave this instant and get my magic stone. Ugh what am I going to do about this panic attack? I can barely even breathe…somehow I need to get back to my room.

It took awhile but I managed to make my way to my room without making much noise and to my luck, he didn't check if anyone was there. I need to be even more cautious while going out. How can I be dumb enough to leave without my magic stone?? I'm over this! We need to finish this war once and for all.