Sword training

 On cool and refreshing mornings, the wind blows causing the leaves to fall from the trees. Fallen leaves flew across the courtyard of the Empire, which was holding practice in the green courtyard. Of course, enjoying the air this morning adds enthusiasm to practice.

"Today's practice is a battle, where a representative from the Imperial side will be your opponent."

 The stern voice of a guard adds to the tense impression, not to mention that the opponents presented have not yet shown their noses to make them curious.

"Who do you think will be our opponent, huh?"

"I thought that it was the Emperor who would step in."

However, the shake was the answer to that suspicion.

"There's no way we can fight the Sword Master alone?"

 While they were busy talking, someone who was in the back row was shocked after seeing the stature of a person who was very familiar with crossing the line of Princes and Princesses.

"Prince Clovis?" She mumbled.

"What's the matter, Elie?" A boy asked while watching the girl beside him.

"Nothing," she replied.

Meanwhile, the boy felt strange with the girl's focus on a tall body walking towards the training field.

"You noticed him again, Elie." He said.

Elie's face turned towards the boy beside her.

"I just can't believe that he will be our opponent, Zavei."

Surprised came Zavei who immediately turned to a tall, black haired man who was already standing in the field.

"I can't believe this," Zavei muttered while shaking his head.

But Elie already knew that this would happen, yesterday she got information from Zavei regarding this training.

*𝘛𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭-

"Isn't there going to be sword practice tomorrow?"

Elie turned her head with her hands still playing in the river water.

"How did you know?" Elie asked while wiping her hands on her handkerchief.

Clovis glanced at his sword hilt. "Actually I was appointed by the Emperor as your trainer."

Elie was shocked to hear this, "Then I will see Prince Clovis playing sword?" Her eyes twinkled.

Clovis chuckled at the excited face of the girl beside him. "I haven't agreed yet, but seeing you makes me want to accept the Emperor's offer."

Elie clasped the backs of Clovis' hands.

"Mister will come, won't you?"

Couldn't take his eyes off Elie's face that kept staring at him. Clovis ended up nodding his head in response.

"You'll see tomorrow," he replied.

*𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘯𝘥-

Elie grinned. "So in the end he agreed to the Emperor's offer," she muttered.

Seeing a tall man with a sharp gaze, all the attendees immediately whispered when they realized who was present.

"Isn't he the Son of the Emperor?"

"Yeah, he's the one who appeared in the archery competition a week ago."

"This is the second time I see firsthand how he looks."

Hearing the talk heard by her side, a girl felt her ears burning, she couldn't even concentrate to pay attention to the son of the Emperor.

"They are too lowly for Prince Clovis."

But suddenly someone nudged her arm from behind as the line started to make a circle.

"Who dares-"

Before she could swear at the person who nudged her, the girl's lips immediately closed when she saw who was walking behind her.

"We meet again, Princess Anette."

That familiar voice that felt annoying when she heard it, the gray haired girl she met yesterday, who else but-

"Princess Elie." She glanced at the face that looked arrogant to her.

Elie noticed how Anette's brows scrunched up after seeing her.

"Don't get too upset, your face will scrunch up quickly."

 Elie sneered as she walked ahead of Anette with a small smile on her face. Seeing the arrogant back of the girl who walked past her, without a second thought Anette picked up a small rock that was near her feet.

"You little bitch-"

 Her words were cut short when her hand was stopped from behind. Because her annoyance was starting to burst, the girl turned to see who had hit her hand. But, she didn't have time to utter a word, her mouth felt numb again after seeing two blue eyes staring flatly at her.

"Act your age, Princess Anette."

The rock that was in her hand fell after Zavei passed her by looking down on the girl.

"Those two damn siblings," Anette growled.

 After everyone gathered around the field to watch the practice, Clovis who was appointed as trainer as well as their opponents began to prepare himself.

"Prince Clovis, is there anything else you need?" A guard asked.

Remembering everything that was required, Clovis shook his head.

"Everything is complete, you can watch from behind."

And then, Clovis turned around, inadvertently his gaze landed on a girl who was already standing among the assembled Princes and Princesses.

She's here. He thought.

By preparing his strength, Clovis returned to focusing on giving training. His eyes glanced at the Princes and Princesses present.

"Okay, I'm Clovis who will be your trainer and opponent today," he explained.

 Cheers sounded excited from the crowd of participants around the field. Clovis's attention was drawn to the wooden sword lying on the ground, then he walked toward it.

"I will explain how to hold a sword properly and correctly, and therefore I will form you into groups," he said.

Clovis raised his hand, signaling the guards to do the distribution as he directed.

"I will divide into 5 groups, with different flags." He said giving instructions.

 Then the guards distributed 5 flags randomly to the Prince and Princess who had the opportunity to become leaders in the group. After that, the guards held random negotiations to determine group members according to their respective flags, and it was done fairly so that the Princesses and Princes did not feel wronged.

"Looks like each group is evenly divided, correct?" Clovis asked while checking each row.

"Yes, Prince Clovis!"

Clovis nodded in understanding. "Alright, the flag I summoned has to go forward with the group, got it?"

"Yes, Prince Clovis!"

 𝓥𝓲𝓮𝓓𝓻𝓪

"You all have good stamina, but when you attack it will be easy for your opponent to take down."

 A firm voice and also quite a tough attitude when giving training, made everyone who witnessed it shiver when they saw how serious Clovis was giving directions.

The blue flag group had finished carrying out the "Sword Aiming" exercise taught by Clovis.

"Yellow flag the last group, please step into the field." Clovis switched to replacing his broken wooden sword.

Once he had replaced his wooden sword, he turned to face the group who had already taken their places.

"Are you all ready?"

Clovis's gaze landed on a girl who was standing in the front row with her amber eyes that had been on him all along.

"We are ready, Prince Clovis." The girl replies as the group leader.

She looks cute when serious like this, he thought.

Clovis cleared his throat, clearing his mind.

"Alright, please step forward Princess Elie." He said pointing his hand to welcome Elie.

 Elie nodded with a sword ready in her hand. The girl's body was already standing in front of Clovis nervously when she caught Clovis's face sparkling in her gaze.

I will lose if the opponent is him. Elie thought, her palm gripped tightly around the wooden sword.

"You ready, Princess?" Clovis asked while rolling up his sleeves.

Elie nodded, "Please teach me, Prince Clovis."

 Clovis swallowed a smile, for some reason, the girl in front of him looked very cute to him. But his face turned straight and serious again when he felt the gazes of the people around him.

The man's gaze shifted to Elie's grip on her sword.

"You can relax your palms, and position your right hand on top of your left if you want to use both hands to attack." Clovis gave directions by moving his body closer behind Elie.

 Feeling the aura close to her back caused Elie to have to endure her nervousness. However, because of her nervousness, she misplaced her hands.

"Ah, how is this?" Elie muttered while changing her hand position.

"If you are facing an opponent, you must not feel nervous or worried, Princess Elie." Clovis held Elie's hand from behind the girl's body.

His hand held mine.

 Elie's thoughts were chaotic, especially when Clovis adjusted her fingers on the hilt. Not to mention the stares from the Princes and Princesses watching them.

"Yes Prince, I understand."

Elie quickly corrected the way she held the hilt of the sword and the position of her body.

Elie's eyes glanced at Clovis's face who was watching her. "Am I correct, Prince?" She asks.

 Clovis checked Elie's body position which was correct to start attacking, and also the position of the girl's hand that was pointing her sword. Clovis turned to the Princes and Princesses who were watching the yellow group train.

"You all can see that the position shown by Princess Elie is a suitable position for beginners when it comes to fighting." He explained.

The Princes and Princesses who heard it gave a reaction of understanding with several nods.

"Then, next I will give an example of how to deal with a large number of opponents."

Clovis backed down to the line on the field, facing the person behind Elie.

"Princess Elie may step back and go ahead with the next one."

Hearing Clovis telling her to back off, she took a step back to the back row after finishing her lesson.

"He's so cool when he teaches." She muttered as she smiled.

 While watching the training, Elie felt something strange about her. Even more so when she saw how serious Clovis was when he explained every basic step of swordsmanship. The man's gaze occasionally turned to her, then a little smile that she could see from a distance.

What is really happening to me? Elie thought.

 While the girl was busy fighting with her thoughts, suddenly there was the sound of a sword tapping against a rock. And drew his attention to the source of the sound, which turned out to be the sound of Clovis's sword.

"You can learn how to sword by relying on your mind and your imagination when thinking about how to face your opponent. Because that will be your learning to increase your fighting strength."

"Do you all understand?" He asked.

"Yes, Prince Clovis!" Screams sounded in unison.

Clovis put his sword back into the scabbard attached to his belt.

"Okay, since the Blue, Red, Yellow, Green, and Brown groups have done their best. You all will get a reward that will be distributed to your group leaders after the practice is over."

 There were loud cheers after Clovis gave gifts to each group. But what makes a girl more stunned is when her gaze is directed right at the face of a man who looks proud when he hears the sound of cheers around him.

How can someone as beautiful as him, still have someone who hates him?

 The girl thought while watching the side of the face of the man who was still greeting the Prince and Princess who were coming towards him. Not wanting to be in a corner alone, her steps pointed to the man who was presenting gifts to the group leaders.

"I'll get one too, Prince?" She asks with a smile.

"Princess Elie?" Clovis's gaze moved to the girl who was standing not far from him.

"Yes, Prince Clovis?" Elie replied by tilting her head, not forgetting the smile that was still on her face.

Clovis's mind was battling when he saw the smile that couldn't leave Elie's face, which added a cute impression to that girl.

"Ah, I'll give your group a present too," Clovis turned to take a cloth containing a gift.

But his movement stopped when a hand grabbed his arm. Clovis glanced at the girl holding his arm, her amber eyes silenced him.

"Did I make you proud?" She asked curiously.

 Hearing that made Clovis chuckle. His fingers went to the back of Elie's hand that was gripping his arm. Without hesitation, he grabbed Elie's palm so that the girl's face showed a surprised look.

"I didn't expect that you would be that cute when holding a sword," Clovis replied with a mischievous smile.

Elie narrowed her eyes. "Am I just the butt of a joke for you?" She felt annoyed.

 Seeing the cheeks of the girl in front of him puff up, Clovis couldn't hold himself back and ended up pinching Elie's cheeks which looked like a squirrel to him.

"I will see how you progress in swordsmanship in the future, Princess Elie."