TAKING ADVANTAGE

"Luca!" I shrieked. "Why on earth did you do that?!"

Poor Elliot! He was such an innocent boy. It pained me to see him being thrown like that on the ground!

I ran up to them, offering a hand to help Elliot up.

"Elliot, are you okay?" I asked.

Elliot only looked flustered at my sudden appearance. "I'm fine, Y–Your Highness! D–don't worry about me! P–please!" He didn't take my hand and quickly got on his feet on his own.

I elbowed Luca in the arm. "Why did you do that to this poor boy?!" I demanded.

Luca raised his brows. "Poor boy? Don't underestimate him, Lena. He is very capable. Although… I do admit, he doesn't look very capable at all at this moment." Luca laughed and thumped Elliot's back. "Look what you've done to him, Lena. You've turned my best fighter into a blushing boy!"

Elliot's face was beet red. His eyes were trained on his feet. Captain, please…" he mumbled, sounding very embarrassed. "I'm really okay, Your Highness. It was just a demonstration… I'm sorry."

"Why are you apologizing?" Luca asked, still laughing.

"Shut it, Luca," I said, glaring at him.

I guess it was my fault. I knew my presence, as the princess, deeply unnerved Elliot. He mustn't be used to dealing with royalty before. I decided to show him that I was just an average woman, without the title.

I approached him and peeked under his lowered face so he could see my sincerity as I flashed him my most kind smile. "Are you sure you're not hurt, Elliot?"

His eyes met mine and he jumped back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" he said frantically. "I didn't mean to…"

"Don't be scared of me, Elliot. I don't bite," I joked pathetically.

That only earned a snigger from Luca. Elliot seemed more flustered than ever, refusing to meet my eyes.

"Alright, Lena," Luca said. "Any more of that, and he'll be pining for you for the rest of the week."

"Captain, no!" Elliot said helplessly. "I mean, Her Highness is truly beautiful, but I would never dare do that…"

I smiled at Elliot's visible discomfort. He was so adorable. I couldn't imagine him being the 'best' fighter, as Luca had said. It's like picturing a puppy amid a pack of rabid wolves. He looked pretty much defenseless.

But I ate my words soon enough.

Luca and Elliot took turns being the attacker and the defender. Turned out Elliot was, in fact, very capable. Luca was twice his size, but he managed to easily throw Luca off during their demonstrations.

"You have to use the enemy's own weight against him," Luca explained. "No matter how big he is compared to you. In that case, probably everyone you encounter," he quipped, which made me glare at him. "As long as you have good technique, you can overcome anyone.

"Instead of resisting, use the force of his attack by going with it, like following the flow of water, and directing it to your advantage. Use it to throw him off balance, and then counterattack his weak points."

"How do I counterattack?" I asked.

Luca pointed out the weak points on Elliot — the head, back of the neck, solar plexus, knees, and between the legs. "With enough force to any of these points, that will give you time to run away while the attacker is temporarily debilitated. Alright, enough talk. Lena. Now it's your turn."

"What?!"

"Try out the forms we'd shown you. Practice with Elliot. He's going to go at you, and you're going to push him off balance, okay? Just that part. No counterattacking."

I groaned inwardly.

I faced off with Elliot. Both of us stared awkwardly at each other — me, wondering how on earth I was going to achieve this; and him, looking flustered and worried about accidentally offending me.

"I'll be very slow, Your highness," he said apologetically.

I smiled at him encouragingly.

"Ready, Lena?" Luca said. " Go."

As expected, it took numerous tries before I was able to bring Elliot to his knees.

"Now kick him hard between the legs!" Luca called out cheerfully.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Captain!" Elliot said at the same time.

"Just kidding!" Luca said, laughing. "But do that to the real enemy. Again!"

I rolled my eyes at him. Luca was relentless in his 'Captain mode.'

A great many tries later, I grew more confident. I was getting the hang of it. I told Elliot to be more serious and act like he was really going for me. That's the only way for me to know how it would be like in a real situation.

Elliot hastened his speed. It got harder, but I persevered.

"Yes!" I finally said after a while.

For the first time, I'd successfully thrown Elliot on his back on the ground. He was heavier than me, but following the principle that Luca taught me, I was able to do it.

"Well done, Your Highness!" Elliot said, his face shining proudly, despite being on the ground.

I grinned and extended a hand out to him.

This time, he accepted my help. We stood there, grinning at each other.

It made me happy that he wasn't as intimidated by me as he was before. Trying to throw him off a hundred times had enabled us to form a bond of sorts.

"Okay, enough."

It was Luca. His voice sounded low, almost like a growl, as he pushed himself between me and Elliot.

I stared at Luca's narrowed eyes and set jaw with curiosity.

Wait. Is he…?

To confirm my suspicion, I looped around him and linked my arm with the taken-aback Elliot.

"Why? Elliot and I have a good partnership going on," I said. "We should try it again."

"No." Luca's eyes got even narrower. "Take five, Elliot," he barked.

"Oh… umm, okay, Captain." Elliot bowed to me and entered the barracks, leaving me alone with Luca.

"What is up with the hostility?" I told Luca.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I couldn't help it. I grinned.

"I don't know, Luca," I said in a singsong voice. "It seems to me like you're kind of jealous."

"Very funny," he said dryly. "I just want you to practice on me."

"You?" I said incredulously. "No way, you're huge!"

"Do you seriously think that every enemy comes in the same size? Come on. Time for you to practice on a bigger target."

I sighed heavily as Luca moved farther away.

"Here I come!"

"Whoa— Wait! Aah!"

The sight of Luca's tall figure playfully bounding up to me froze me in place. I didn't have any time to react.

He held onto my shoulders to stop himself from tackling me full-on.

I stared up into his eyes, still frozen. He was so close!

"Sorry," he said, grinning. "Why didn't you defend yourself?"

I tore my eyes away from his face, ignoring the fluttering in my stomach, and pushed him away before I totally lost my mind. "You didn't give me enough warning!" I said defiantly.

"When you meet bandits on the road, they don't announce their presence before attacking. There's no warning at all. They mean to catch you off guard, that's why it's called an ambush."

"Gee, thanks a lot, Captain Know-it-all," I snarked.

He laughed it off. "You're most welcome, Princess Sarcasm."

I continued bickering with Luca for the rest of the afternoon. I put up a casual front every time he partnered with me, despite being electrocuted internally every time I touched him, or when he physically helped me correct my form.

There was no way to avoid physical contact, but I was subconsciously taking advantage of that in the guise of training. My fingers moved by themselves to slightly explore the muscles on his arms beneath the thick fabric of his shirt whenever I attempted to defend myself.

It's just training, I keep telling myself. There was nothing wrong with that.

Who am I kidding? I know my intentions were completely inappropriate, and I was acting like a conniving idiot.

But I didn't care. I enjoyed every moment with Luca.

I only had two pitiful hours in the afternoons reserved for him, and I was going to make the most out of it. It has been hard enduring my earlier lessons, wishing for time to speed up until the afternoon. Which is ironic, because by then, I'd wish for time to slow down once I'm with Luca.

I made sure to spend time with Cece too. I hadn't abandoned her. We're constantly together for the most part of the day, but I'd still hang out with her after my training. Luca joined us occasionally. I wasn't insecure about the two of them anymore. We were all friends.

Overall, my emotional health is at its peak, finally achieving a satisfying balance between my royal duties and my relationships. I've reached a good point in my life. I was content.

By the start of the second week, my training finally moved on to something I was really excited about.

Archery.