"Oh, I think they would be so happy that their life would be fulfilled if they realized that," she confidently said with a proud smile.
I gave the knights a wave, and they all seemed to be working out even more intensely than before. Ah, the male pride of wanting to show off one's hard work under female scrutiny.
"If only there were enough of me, for everyone. Then, the world would be a much better place," I sighed jokingly.
"Of course, only those worthy of you can win your heart, Crown Princess," Meera nodded her head.
I gave her a nod back. "Anyway, I believe it's time to go greet my brother." I said so, like a cute young girl eager to speak with her dearest brother.
We entered the courtyard as I pulled Mera by the hand. Several gazes immediately shifted to focus on us, causing Mera to become uneasy. They were all the eyes of men, and we were the only two women here, so I suppose it was to be expected she would be this way.
There were supposed to be a few female knights here. Where were they? Not here it seems.
The knights who saw me immediately stood up straight.
"Her highness, the Crown Princess Eliza!"
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One of the knights shouted, instantly catching the attention of the others that hadn't yet realized I was here. They all halted their activities and kneeled on one knee with their heads bowed. I was taken aback by this to be honest.
I held out my hand in a wave. "Please, dear knights, rise. And, pay me no mind. You can ignore me and continue with your work. Don't let me bother you."
The knights complied and stood up. They returned to their work, back to training and swinging their swords, using their spears, and so on, or that was what was supposed to happen. But they seemed unable to focus. Oh, what could the reason be?
"Eliza, my dear sister!"
That voice must be none other than my muscle-for-brains hot-headed brother. I turned around only to see that he was running towards me full-force with a bright smile on his face.
"Wall!"
ZOOM!
Lightning fell onto the courtyard with a boom, forming a cage of pure, brown lightning, known for it's defensive and sturdiness, trapping my brother inside. Meera looked fine, but the knights seemed to have been shocked that I had just thrown lightning on my brother.
But, that idiot was completely fine, without even a scratch on him. Well, I obviously knew that.
"Eli-"
"First of all, don't call me Eliza. It makes my skin crawl," I walked towards him. "Two, don't run towards me with disgusting sweat on your skin. Three, I'll hit you with full-force next time you do this again. Got it?"
My brother seemed dejected, and looked like a puppy now. "I'm sorry. ."
I snapped my fingers, and the lightning cage disappeared. The idiot literally just forgot what I'd told him and ran straight to him. With another snap, I zapped him with enough lightning to kill a normal man, but of course, all that did to him was give him a simple static shock.
"What did I just say?!"
He just gave me a guilty laugh. "Sorry, dear sister. It's just-" He looked at me in the eyes, and silver met silver. "It's been so long since I've been able to talk or even see your beautiful face, sister of mine!"
"Well, I'm here so zip it," I said before sighing. "I came here to give you a little pain, but it seems I'm the one who's been pained."
"Would you like some water, Crown Princess?" Meera asked.
I waved my hands no. "Since this muscle-headed brother of mine has robbed me of my joy, I think I'll be returning to my studies now."
"Wait no." A lightbulb appeared inside my head. "Let me borrow your sword."
"What?"
"What?"
Both Meera and my brother were dumbfounded by my request. Perhaps you were wondering why I asked such a thing. Since this was the training grounds for the knight, their weapons were all wooden swords so as to not injure each other, but of course, it could still kill a person under skilled hands.
And, it's always been a curiosity of mine to try holding the special wooden sword the kingdom made for my brother, considering he usually breaks the normal one just by gripping them too hard.
Also, I refused to be denied my fun just because my idiotic brother acted out of order.
"My sword? Wait, why?" he asked. "I mean, you're welcome to use it if you want but dear sister, you do know of the special circumstances of my sword, yes?"
"And, I don't think I've ever heard of you showing an interest in anything physical, Crown Princess." Meera added.
"Well," I said. "I've always wondered how a sword would feel in my hands. The last time I held one was the fallen branch off a tree when I was four."
"A fallen branch and Prince Ivan's sword are completely different though," Meera said. "For one, everyone knows of how heavy his training sword is. My apologies but I. . .don't believe you'll be able to lift it, Crown Princess."
"And, you're a lady much like our mother, dear sister. There is no need to use one."
"Just give it to me already, munch."
He looked at me, then to the sword as he contemplated. He seemed to make up his mind, and with the support of my insistence, he presented the hilt to me.
"Be careful, okay? Also, it's heavy, so watch out for that."
With a nod, I reached out for the hilt. It was a bit exciting to try it out. The sword was on the longer side, a long sword, perhaps it was called. As I saw earlier, this was indeed a two handed sword, so I held it with both my hands. Of course not that I didn't know that long swords were to be held with two hands.
The moment he let go, my muscles tensed up as my arms received the weight of the sword. I kept lifting the sword.
Damn.
Shocked gasps rang around the courtyard. Many people were shocked that a fragile, little princess like me was able to hold, and even lift up Prince Ivan's heavy, heavy sword, albeit with much difficulty.
That idiotic brother of mine! Is he always swinging this block of stone around?!
It was heavy, too heavy, and the only reason my hands hadn't already fallen from my arms was because I was using earth lightning to buff my strength up, and even then, I had to adjust my posture so I could carry it more properly, I also adjusted my grip.
"And. . .you. . .swing it right?!"
". . Ah, y-yeah."
"Crown Princess, I don't think you should be-"
"Hm!" I poured in more prana into my earth lightning, as I felt strength bubbling inside me. "Just. . .swing it forward!"
I tightened my grip, then I swung forward, slashing the empty air. However, with the amount of strength I have, the force of the swing with the motion of the sword carried me with it as the sword struck the ground.
Dammit.
"Crown Princess!"
"Sister!"