Arriving at the training ground, I could see some of the equipment of the guard: short swords, spears, longswords, and some light armor. I saw there was a commotion on the training ground, and immediately Milo followed me, walking past me and toward it…While I was looking around the area, I noticed Adel was sitting on the bench, beside the training ground. At once, I walked toward her, with Lady Herallia and Lady Clara following beside me..
While I was walking toward her, she noticed me, and her head turned toward me. At once, she stood up, and came to me…
In front of me, she said, "My lady, you come here??"
"I am curious about what all of you are doing, so I come here…" I introduced the people beside me to her, "This is Lady Herallia and Lady Clara with their maids behind them….and this is my maid, Adeline…"
Adel greeted them…
After the introduction, I asked her, "What is that commotion? Why do a lot of people gather there?"
"They are just watching a sparring match between Cassius and the other guards.."
"Cassius??"
Lady Herallia asked, "Who is this Cassius, Lady Aurelia??"
"One of my two guards…"
Her face became happy and showed a little bit of mischievous, "Hoooo…" She immediately went to the commotion…
"Not again…" Lady Clara spoke with a low tone, and followed her..
When I wanted to walk toward the commotion, Adel stopped me and grabbed my right hand…
I asked, "What's the matter?"
She said, "This Lady Hillaria, my lady better be careful of her.."
"She is my acquaintance, Adel…" I released her grab of my hand, and walked toward the commotion. Flavia and Adel followed behind me.
..
At the commotion, I could see Cassius and someone else at the center of it. They exchanged some swings between each other; Cassius was more defensive than the other guy. But he could find the parry and counter of the other guy swinging, and in just a second, he could disarm the other guy and win the spar.
While I was watching, suddenly Valerie was right beside me, and said,
"You come in here??"
I answered, "I want to check all of you…"
"Like you have seen, the guards in here just want to spar with us…and that's the fourteenth spar from Cassius in a row.."
I was shocked, "Fourteenth in a row?? He must be tired…How about letting him take a rest?"
"We tried, but the captain is not letting him out of the center of the ground."
"Who is this captain? And where is this captain?? I want to talk about it"
"Follow me!!"
Valerie guided me out from the commotion..While I was following Valerie, I saw Lady Hillaria go to the center of the ground with a sword in her hand..It seemed she would spar with Cassius, but I kept following Valerie, and not watching the spar.
Her leading end, there were two men standing, it was Milo and another man.
Valerie pointed at the other man, and said, "He is the captain…"
I walked toward the man; they noticed my arrival and looked at me.
In front of them, I asked him, "Why do you let my guard spar fourteen times in a row, without any rest?"
He turned his body to me, and said, "This is my training ground, girl…so everyone needs to obey my own rules in this ground.."
"YOU WANT TO KILL MY GUARD OR WHA–"
Suddenly the crowd was louder; I was curious and immediately checked it…I was surprised by what I had seen. Cassius was down with some bruises, but he was still conscious. Where there were no bruises before the spar between him and Lady Hillaria, Valerie immediately was beside him to take care of him and brought him out of the ground. I went to Cassius, and asked about his condition. Valerie told me to let him take a rest first.
Lady Hillaria suddenly appeared beside me, and said, "My apologies, Lady Aurelia…"
"I know, Lady Hillaria, I will not make this a grudge or feud between us…"
When we tried to leave the training ground with Valerie helping Cassius walk and Adel behind me, the captain suddenly stopped us and said to me,
"There is an order from the Queen, about your maid; she needs to spar with another guard.."
I insisted on the order from the Queen, and said, "BUT, SHE IS NOT MY GUARD, WHY DOES SHE NEED TO SPARRING WITH YOUR GUARD?"
"I just followed an order, girl…now order your maid to the ground at once.."
I looked at Adel, and gave her a sign to get to the ground..Adel went to the ground. First, I thought it would be another guard, but the one who stepped to the ground was Milo.
Adel and Milo were on the ground with swords in each of their hands. Everyone in the crowd thought Milo would be the winner, because his opponent was just a maid. But the captain's face showed a different thought…The spar began; Adel was just standing without taking any sword stance, while Milo took a distance with Adel in sword stance. In a quick second, Milo dashed out to Adel, but in a quick second too, Adel's sword was in front of Milo's neck, touching a little of his neck, and his sword was on the ground, not in his hand anymore.
I could not see what had happened there, and the crowd couldn't see it either. Suddenly her sword was just in front of Milo's neck, but I saw Lady Hillaira, and her face showed a big smile…I felt she would try to challenge Adel, like she did with Cassius. I immediately said loudly to the captain,
"WITH THIS, EVERYTHING HAS BEEN SETTLED; WE HAVE FULFILLED THE ORDER... WE WILL TAKE A LEAVE FROM HERE."
"Girl, surely everything has been settled and fulfilled, but still, this is my training ground, so…" The captain's voice suddenly became loud, "IF THERE IS SOMEONE, WHO WANT TO CHALLENGE HER,
"WHAT!!!" Immediately I watched Lady Hillaria, and like what I had felt, she took a step to the ground…
Lady Hillaria and Adel exchanged some words, Lady Hillaria said, "You are surely a strong maid; that answers my question in my head. Why did the Aurelius family let their precious daughter come here with just one maid? Not bring their order or the golden sword family... I don't know; their maid will be like you..."
Adel said, "I am gladly thankful; you have become an acquaintance of my lady…I hope you will still be her acquaintance after this…"
They started the sparring, and like Milo, Lady Hillaria made a distance with Adel, yet Adel didn't move at all. Lady Hillaira, the first to dash at Adel, exchanged swings. Adel couldn't do what she did with Milo, so she divided the movement of Lady Hillaria's sword to be beside her. But when Lady Hillaria's sword passed beside Adel's right side, she immediately turned her body around and made a full swing to Adel's left side. Adel held the full swing, making Lady Hillaria back off. More swings had been exchanged, where both sides were not losing, but I could see Adel was on another level from Lady Hillaria. Her footwork didn't show any single move; contrary to Lady Hillaria, she used a lot of footwork, but she couldn't find an opening for her.
Suddenly the captain shouted, "USE YOUR TRANSMUTATION, HILLARI.."
At once, Lady Hillaria's hand transformed to become blue, like Cassius's transmutation, but a golden rune appeared at the center of it, like Adel's and Lady Octavi's transmutation. Yet, Lady Hillaria's transmutation did not transform the weapon; it just transformed her own hand. Different from Adel and Lady Octavi, their transmutation transformed the weapon and the hand…
Valerie suddenly said to me with a worried face, "No matter what happens, don't let your maid show her transmutation…"
I was confused and surprised by what she had said to me. I asked Valerie,
"Why did you say that?"
Valerie immediately leaned her mouth to my right ear and whispered to me.
I was shocked, and after hearing it from Valerie, I asked her, "Are you really sure about what you had said??"
She just nodded at me..
If what Valerie said was true, I was trapped, even though I knew how strong Adel was compared with Cassius and the other blue transmutation bandits…
The captain said to me, "Girl!!! Order your maid to use her transmutation in this spar...to make it even…"
I looked at Adel, and her expression showed no worry or remorse; she was just standing there like nothing would happen. I asked her from the side of the ground,
"Is it necessary for you to use transmutation, Adel?"
Adel walked toward me, and in front of me, she just answered, "If my lady orders me to use it, I will use it, but if my lady does not order me to use it, I will not use it."
"But...I want to know, in your view about this spar, do you or do you not need to use the transmutation?"
Adel looked at Lady Hillaria for a few seconds, turned her face back at me, and said, "It's not necessary to use transmutation, my lady…"
Hearing that, it relieved me…But again, everything was set up; no matter if Adel used it or not, the information would be easily known. Lady Hillaria, apparently from what Valerie said, had her blue transmutation at the edge, as shown by the golden rune at the center of it; the rune indicated the final transmutation in that stage. If Adel beat her without transmutation, it indicated she was stronger than the final blue transmutation, so she must have had a higher transmutation, and it was a black transmutation... Cassius told me that black and white transmutation were so rare, and Valerie whispered to me that there was a chance that the palace wanted Adel to show her black transmutation, so the Queen took her to the training ground.
What I needed to do, the outcome of this spar would be the same. The identity of black transmutation would be revealed in different ways....
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??"
Suddenly, I heard the familiar voice of a man from behind the crowds; everyone immediately turned their view to the voice…I saw everyone make a way for the person, and after that, I could see clearly who it was; our eyes met. It was the crown prince, with Lady Anna beside him. At once, he walked toward me and said,
"Aurelia, I don't know you are here??? And who are they?"
I was surprised that the Crown Prince didn't know I was invited to be in the palace..
Wait!! I could talk to him, and to stop the spar, I said to him, "As you can see, your royal highness, they are my guard; one of my guards is in back condition because the captain of this ground.."
"What did he do?"
"He ordered my guard to spar for the fourteenth time in a row, and now he wanted my maid to spar, even though she is not my guard.."
"What!!! They can't do that…" He raised his right hand and shouted, "HALT THIS SPAR!!" He walked toward the captain..
While the crown prince and the captain exchanged some words, I sensed someone watching me. I searched for it, and it was Lady Anna grinding her own teeth. Her intention was not only at me, but at Cassius and Valerie too, most of it at them rather than me...
A few minutes later, the crown prince came back and ordered Adel and Lady Hillaria to step off the ground. At once, they stepped out from the ground; Adel went to me, and Lady Hillaria went to Lady Clara... The crown prince walked toward me…
In front of him, I showed some gratitude and said, "I am so grateful for your help and your kindness in this matter, your royal highness..."
"It's nothing… Aurelia… Don't be stiff at me; you can call me by my name."
I was shocked; it seemed he had changed. I said, "I can't do that for now…We will excuse ourselves from here; my guard needs to be treated."
"Wait, Aurelia!!! There is something; I need to say it to you."
I was surprised, turned back at him, and asked, "Surely,
"There will be a party at the palace in two weeks..."
Hearing that, I knew where this would be going, and I saw Lady Anna beside him, who seemed more anxious about it, grinding her teeth more, and biting her own finger.
"Will you be my partner in that party??" He asked me…
Immediately, everyone at the training ground was shocked into silence.
I asked him back, "I thought of your royal highness.." I took a glance at Lady Anna, "Already had a partner for this party…"
At once, he held both of my hands and said "Do you decline my invitation, Aurelia? Or do you already have a partner?"
I looked around, everyone seemed surprised. From everyone in here, I could see our betrothal was still a secret, not made public.
I immediately released his hands, and said, "I do not decline your invitation nor have a partner; I gratefully accept your invitation, your royal highness…We will excuse ourselves... to treat my guard."
I was leaving the training ground…
The crown prince asked, "Wait, Aurelia!! How long will you be here??"
I stopped for a second and looked at him, "You can ask that with her majesty…" I continued walking out from the training ground with everyone, while Valerie was helping Cassius to walk…
While I was walking out of the palace, in the hall, Milo came to me…He told me that his duty would be over until dusk, so he would come with me to the house. I just told him, Do whatever you want to do.
At the front of the palace, my carriage was already there, so I asked Cassius and Valerie to go inside the carriage. They went inside with me, while Adel went to the front to steer the carriage, and Milo went to his horse. We left the palace that afternoon.