The next day, I woke up early so I would be the first one to arrive at the training hall. I heard that they've been training for days and I'd like to surprise them. So, I hid at the viewing area on the second floor.
I was about to fall asleep when I heard the arrivals of some men, so I peeked and saw thirty martial artists warming up. My heart stopped due to shock, when three of them looked at my direction, it was so terrifying! They quickly stood up straight in formation and bowed at me, "Greetings, Your Imperial Highness!"
"Greetings, everyone! If you could act like I'm not here, that would be great. I'm going to surprise them," I could only respond with an awkward smile because I was caught easily by them.
A few moments later, "Jung, wait for us!" I wanted to greet them at that moment, but I decided not to. Father arrived shortly after, who I knew would stay here upstairs. So, I prepared my 'shh' sign. He was a little shocked but Father didn't let it show; he just sat a couple of seats away from me.
I mouthed the words, "I missed the both of you, Father and Mother."
"We missed you, too, Princess." Father smiled warmly at me as I smiled back with teary eyes. I peeped through a hole, only to see the princes occupied with their warm-ups; so I took the chance and quickly gave a hug to my father. Then, I went back into hiding.
The princes' training began and all of the thirty martial artists surrounded them. I wasn't certain on what the training was, but it was no doubt that it's not easy. I also noticed that 2nd Prince Egon wasn't present, it must have been my father's plan to avoid suspicions from the other princes, if we suddenly showed up at the same day.
Four of the princes-- Prince Theo, Prince Jihan, Prince Romeo and Prince Leopold encircled both 4th Prince Henri and Prince Wang Jung. It was like-- they would protect them. The four princes moved towards the martial artists with wooden swords in their hands, and the martial artists also charged forward with nothing in their hands.
The four princes formed two teams-- Prince Theo with Prince Romeo, and, Prince Jihan with Prince Leopold; each teams needed to prevent fifteen martial artists, if they didn't want them to get near the two princes. The first to reach the martial artists was Prince Theo who immediately hit the stomach of the nearest one to him with his wooden sword, then kicked the second one's thigh with his shin, turned and kicked his stomach. While Prince Romeo stayed behind him and pulled one martial artist, then hugged him. Wait, what?
He let go of him and.. *thud* The martial artist collapsed to the ground. Then, I noticed a needle at the back of the man's neck specifically located at gall bladder 20 (GB20) which is an acupuncture point at the meeting-place of the base of the skull and the back of the neck. Prince Romeo pulled one martial artist from time-to-time, then 4th Prince Henri would shoot a needle on the back of their necks.
Meanwhile, Prince Jihan and Prince Leopold worked together really well. They fought back-to-back and defended each other. Prince Jihan was better at sword-fighting compared to Prince Leopold, so they would switch places whenever the latter found it hard to defend. It wasn't that easy to prevent everyone from closing in to 4th Prince Henri's position, so some managed to get near.
That's when I realized why Prince Wang Jung stayed with Henri. He would deal with those men who got through their defenses. Then, I saw Prince Theo and Prince Romeo who got surrounded. I didn't expect what happened next, because the prince who always ran away suddenly bent forward and supported Prince Theo on his back. Prince Theo kicked them away while Prince Romeo circled his position. After one whole turn, Prince Theo jumped down, attacked with his wooden sword and also used martial arts to fight them.
Believe it or not, they've managed to defeat thirty martial artists, because of their teamwork. Not literally defeat them except for 4th Prince Henri's needle, because they viewed the wooden sword as a real sword. So, everytime the martial artists got 'stabbed' by the wooden sword, they were considered out of the fight.
Father went downstairs to congratulate the princes, "Compliments to the princes and the masters of martial arts. Your reward for passing this training is in here, somewhere. I'll be leaving, first."
I waited for the martial artists to leave. Then, it was time to surprise them so I peeped through the hole. But, I was the one who was surprised when I saw the princes naked-- I mean, not fully naked, they were still wearing their loose traditional pants. I immediately backed away that caused me to hit my head on the chair then dropped to the ground, "Aww!"
I tried to cover my mouth but it was too late. I peeped through the hole again and saw all of them looking at my direction. So, I stood up and awkwardly said, "Uhm.. surprise?" The first one I laid my eyes upon was Prince Theo which I couldn't resist to give him a smile. Then, I went downstairs and thank goodness, they already covered their bodies.
"Father didn't let me see you guys for awhile, so you could focus on your trainings. You were all so great! I had to do my best not to shout, so you wouldn't know I was there," I genuinely complimented them. But, I know there's two pairs of eyes looking at me that knew the real reason.
Luckily, I was in between these two pairs of eyes so I linked my arms to them as I said, "I know you're all tired, but, if you'd like to join me in the garden, there's snacks waiting for us."