It's been a few days since meeting the crown prince. Violet didn't ask what happened to Lyra and Lyra was thankful for that.
Lyra was just doing her everyday routine when she saw that the siblings from the Fotiá Empire were coming towards her. "Greetings." Lyra did a slight bow to them.
The siblings bowed back in return. "May I ask what you are doing?" Kyst asked.
"I'm practicing with my sword at the moment, would you like to join me?" Lyra wanted to know Kyst's strength.
Kyst wanted to reject but it's been so long since he last held a sword so he was tempted. He soon agreed. "Shall we have a practice match using wooden swords?" Lyra asked. Kyst nodded his head in agreement.
As the two got in their stance, Kyst could feel some sort of energy coming from Lyra. Lyra could feel the same from Kyst but neither of them commented on the other. Kyst thought that he would be able to easily defeat her since he has been training since the age of 4, but he thought wrongly. She was keeping up with him easily and he wasn't able to hit a single part of her body. Both of them thought that the other was impressive.
'Not bad.' Was what they both thought. It took about 10 minutes for the match to be over, Lyra gave in since she felt that she grasped his strength already. On the outside, she looked tired but only she, herself knew that this was nothing.
"Good match." Lyra said. She reached out her hands to shake with Kyst's hands.
"Impressive!" Hazel yelled before continuing to play with her wooden sword.
Kyst didn't say anything and kept staring at Lyra. Lyra noticed this and smiled at him.
"The match was fun." Lyra said.
"Indeed." Kyst replied.
Both Lyra and Kyst stayed quiet after that. Lyra felt that it was quite awkward so she started talking. "Your stance was nice but their was a flaw with it. When you moved your right arm towards me, it looked awkward. Are you left-handed?"
Kyst nodded. "You should try to practice using your right arm too. You focus too much on your left arm." Kyst just nodded again. Then once again, awkward silence.
After a while, Hazel walked over to them. "Look at those flowers! Your family's garden is quite impressive, Lyra!"
"Thank you." Lyra said. Hazel started talking about random things. Lyra was quite grateful for that since it was awkward without her.
The head butler came out and invited the siblings to stay for dinner, the siblings were hesitate at first but they agree after the butler per-swayed them. After he confirmed that they were staying, he went back inside.
They continued to talk some more until the sun was about to set and the butler told them to come in.
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"Welcome, I hope that you two had a good time with our Lyra." The Duchess said happily. It's been a while since she saw Lyra play with kids outside of the duke's household. One could imagine how happy she was to see the scene where Lyra and the siblings were talking with each other and smiling joyfully.
"Thank you for your hospitality. We had a good time with Lyra." Hazel replied.
Violet and Oliver weren't home at the moment, they were at the academy and the duke was at the palace.
The academy was where the game started, the place that ruined her life.
"You two are welcome to come here in the future." The Duchess wanted Lyra to play with kids her age more. Even though no one said anything about Lyra's personality, everyone in the duke's household knew that Lyra acted beyond her age. Sometimes, she would release an aura that was full of murderous intent before concealing it. If one doesn't look closely they would feel nothing, but all the people of the duke's household were trained so they of coursed noticed.
"Thank you for your kindness, we will make sure to come by often!" Hazel said while nudging at her brother's elbow.
"Thank you for your kindness." Kyst did a slight bow.
The Duchess didn't say anything else and continued eating but everyone could see that she was in a happy mood. After the siblings left, the Duchess called Lyra over to her room.
"Yes, mother?" Lyra came in after knocking.
"Come sit here." Duchess Irene patted the place next to her on the bed. Lyra obediently obeyed and sat down. It was quiet but it wasn't awkward, rather it was calm and peaceful.
"I'm happy for you, Lyra. I'm glad you made some friends."
Lyra didn't say anything. It was quiet again then suddenly, her mother hugged her. "Tell mother if you are sad, mother will help you." Lyra didn't know why but tears started coming out. 'Why am I crying.' Even Lyra didn't know the reason she was crying. Was it because of the pent-up emotions? Was it because she couldn't do anything for her family in her past life? Or was it because of both? Lyra didn't know the answer to her question but for some reason, her heart felt lighter. Irene didn't say anything and kept hugging her. After a while, Lyra asked her mother a question. "Can I sleep with mother tonight?"
Irene nodded. Irene continued to hug Lyra.
When the duke,Oliver, and Violet returned home, they saw this heartwarming scene. "What's happening?" Violet whispered.
The duke and Oliver stayed quiet and didn't say anything. "Let's leave them for now." Oliver said, the duke nodded. They soon both left while Violet was still there. She stayed there for a few more moments before leaving with a smile on her face.
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