It had been a few months since Ai had started training and for the time period, she had ordered the servants not to disturb her unless it was an emergency. She had to admit, the seclusion had boosted her training process tremendously.
Not only did she boosted her eastern martial arts, but she had also caught on the ropes of western methods. It was quite satisfying to see the fruit of her hard labour.
Ai willed her inner energy at the blade of her sword and cut down a tree effortlessly. The tree trembled from the force of it before falling down completely. She smiled happily at that and looked at Kit. If not for Kit's patient guidance and mentorship, all these would not have been possible.
Ai's mind wandered to the time she had with Kit. Though slightly shy, Kit was a skilful mentor. From the basic to advanced techniques, his knowledge was way more than she had expected. From the way he explained the methods, one would believe he is a martial arts master from a reputable school.
Kit had been so gracious and kind to her that Ai felt guilty hiding her past life from him. It's not that she had purposely hidden it, it's just the conversation did not come up so she had not relayed such information to him. But Ai had wondered, would he hate her if he finds out who she was in her previous life? After all, Kit hates pretences and schemes and she was the queen of it.
Forcing her mind not to overthink, Ai focused back on the task at hands. She had mastered this technique but she still needs to practice more to be better at this.
As Ai continued to cut down trees after trees like a raging tornado, Kit gazed at his young miss. Yes, his young miss. To be honest, spending time with Ai had been the best moments of his life and he felt completely proud of her. Though she was born with weak institutions, she was relentless in pursuing her goals. Despite the difficulties, she had persevered and trained hard that in no time, she was able to master such an advanced technique.
"Ai, that was... impressive...", Kit breathed. After getting to know him for a few days, his young miss had insisted that he called her by her first name. Even though it was not a proper decorum for a servant to address their master as such, Kit could care less. He only needed her permission and that was all that mattered to him.
"Thank you, Kitty!", Ai replied happily, causing red to bloom on the young man's face. He remembered how the young miss decided that he would be given a special name at their first training. A fool he was, he agreed undoubtedly even before finding out about it.
A slight sardonic smile graced his lips. Despite the obvious effeminate nature of his name, he secretly loved it. He loved that Ai gave him something special only to him and that made him feel very proud. If he could, he would be flaunting such reward in front of his past masters, and he was sure they would be very jealous of it.
Kit's thoughts went to the first time he met Ai. She was talking to his previous young master Akiyo back then. Even though he didn't mean to eavesdrop, something pulled him forwards and he couldn't help but listen in. At first, he was a bit reluctant in making contact with her since his childhood home was filled with scheming snakes. But for some reasons, he could not bring himself to hate her and some of her past life actions resonated deeply with him. If you love someone, you will want to possess them and make them only yours.
Despite the scheming nature of it, Kit did not find anything wrong with wanting to do everything one can to possess the one they love. Nothing is fair in love and war, that's what he knows. If anyone tried to take his young miss away, he would have reacted the same way.
As of now, Kit felt content spending time with her and did not feel any threats in winning her heart. But being a cautious person he is, he has a secret backup plan. He did not think he would ever use such for countermeasures, but Ai is truly precious to him.
Even though not many people know this, his maternal side of the family in the west is affluent and powerful. They worked under the western queen as secret agents while masquerading as affluent nobles in the kingdom. His mother was one of the secret agents to infiltrate Shinto, and when she passed away, she passed her duties down to him. Because of that, he has many ties with the west, and if he wished, he could just lift his fingers and take his young miss away.
At the pavilion across the training area, Hakura and Saito stood watching as their little girl cut down trees after trees so effortlessly. At this rate, their back forest would be empty soon and firewoods for winter would be stocked up for more than their lifetime.
"Saito, what do you think of Koyozoki?", Hakura asked his son.
Saito huffed, he still wasn't happy that his baby sister didn't engage him to teach her but it seemed that Koyozoki was indeed a good teacher. His sister had mastered such a difficult technique in a matter of a few months and this was truly an impressive deed.
"His background is still shrouded in mystery and I couldn't find out anything about him. But from the way he treated Ai and the ability he possessed, I think he could be a reliable asset to her... for now", Saito replied as he took a sip from his tea.
Hakura felt like he wanted to start crying, his children were growing up to be incredibly strong and smart. Saito is intelligent and perceptive while Ai is strong and unconventional. His little girl reminded him so much of his deceased wife, Michiko and he felt a lone tear fell down his cheek.
"If only you could see how our children turned out to be, my love.. ."