The father of Lady Hillaria, Sir Kaeso Antia, the commander of this ground, knew about someone equal to Lady Octavi...Before he pointed to someone among us, I knew whom he would point at about the person... Slowly, he raised his hand and pointed at someone beside me, it was Adel...
It didn't surprise me if he pointed at Adel, because I, myself, watched it with my own eyes. Lady Octavi and Adel sparred with each other... The last spar between Lady Hillaria and Adel, surely caught the attention of everyone, like the commander of the ground...Yet, the Crown Prince, Fabian, didn't show up or attend it, so he didn't know how capable Adel was...
"It's her..." said Sir Kaeso, while pointing at Adel...
Before I disowned it, I saw Lady Hillaria and Lady Clara have a concerned face, like they didn't want to go along with him, out of fear of me or being friends with me...I didn't know it...Yet the first one to ask a question about it was Fabian...
"What do you mean by her? She is just a maid..." asked Fabian to him...
"Your Royal Highness, it seems you weren't here when my daughter had a spar with her...She showed some excellent moves and great skill, even my daughter with her transmutation outmatched her...It showed how monstrous she was if she could beat easily my daughter with her transmutation, so she should be equal with Lady Octavi in terms of skill..."
"Still, what you asked was a maid; it was unethical to ask a maid with a proper knight, especially from the White Order. What are you thinking about?"
I was caught off guard when Fabian referred to Lady Octavi as a knight of the White Order...I just knew about the order not long ago, yet I didn't know she was part of it. I didn't know that; it showed me how fragile or foolish I was past these years...Was I ignoring all of that or being ignored by everyone around me?
"If your royal highness doesn't believe me, may my daughter tell you about her capability and skill? Hillaria tells the royal highness how monstrous she is..." said Sir Kaeso, and persuaded Lady Hillaria to tell about Adel's skill when they had sparred to Fabian...
Still, I saw Lady Hillaria hesitant to tell about Adel in front of me, took a lot of glimpses of me as her father started to talk about Adel...As if she were scared of me or being friends with me, she was hesitant or didn't want to tell me about Adel in front of me...
Her father kept persuading her and telling her to tell him about Adel, yet she didn't budge and didn't open her mouth...Seeing her daughter, who didn't open her mouth, Sir Kaeso went to another, Lady Clara...He tried to persuade her to open her mouth about Adel, but yet again, she didn't budge and didn't open her mouth... Out of options, he looked at Milo. As with others, Milo didn't open his mouth...As if everyone wanted to keep Adel's skill in secrecy, or they were afraid of me especially my family, and Lady Octavi with me, it indicated the influence of the Aurelius Family was in front of them...
"As you can't provide me with the evidence about Aurelia's maid, it indicates you are lying to me...It's a shame that a commander like you is lying to me, especially when comparing someone's maid with a proper knight... It's not like the usual of you...If you want a great show of spar, how about you, as commander, have a spar with Lady Octavi? It surely will be a great show to show everyone, I am with pleasure scheduling it for you..." said Fabian, the Crown Prince. I felt some of the tension in his words, even from outside, I saw he was so composure and calm...
"I deeply apologise to Your Royal Highness," replied the commander, his voice filled with regret. "I assure you that there must be some misunderstanding... I would never intentionally deceive you. As for the spar with Lady Octavi, it would be an honour for me to participate and showcase my skills in front of Your Royal Highness." as he was talking, bowing towards Fabian...
"Very well, yet I need to have permission from Lady Octavi..."
"Your royal highness, I think the permission should have been from my lady, Lady Aurelia, not from me."
As Fabian tried to seek permission from me for Lady Octavi to spar with Sir Kaeso, somehow I felt a strong pressure from Sir Kaeso's gaze on me, as he like wanted me to let Lady Octavi have a spar with him. Yet, somehow I felt it was a bad decision to let her spar with him. I was silent completely for some seconds, thinking about the possibility and this bad feeling. Adel was tapping my shoulder and whispering,
"You may politely decline it, my lady...".
I whispered to her back, "Why?" and we started to exchange some whispers in front of everyone.
"It's just my guts that are telling me it's a bad idea to accept the spar..."
Adel had the same feelings as me about this decision, yet why? "Why do your guts tell you to decline the proposal?" I asked her.
"Well, my lady, you have already known about the transmutation of Aurelius Family. It may be his scheme or someone's scheme to reveal the secret of your family to the public."
"Yet, Lady Octavi is so capable and strong. Is there someone in the area who is capable enough to make her use her transmutation?"
"I believe not."
"It's better to ask herself…" I turned my view to Lady Octavi, and asked her, "What do you think about this proposal to have to spar with you? Do you have any objection?"
"For myself, I hand over it to my lady decision…" Answered Lady Octavi.
All the eyes immediately were on me, after hearing what she had said. I could feel the weight of their expectations as I stood there, contemplating Lady Octavi's response. It was clear that everyone was curious to know my thoughts about this proposal from Sir Kaeso. Taking a deep breath, first in my mind, was hoping my decision not lead to a bad path. I finally spoke up, "I grant it, Lady Octavi to have a spar with Sir Kaeso Antia.".
"Very well, then…If Aurelia has granted permission to let Lady Octavi have a spar with you, Sir Kaeso, so may I pla—"
"I will take the charge of planning the sparring." Suddenly a voice came out of nowhere. At once, we turned our body to the voice. Surprisingly, it was the Queen, yet my sight was not focusing on the Queen, it was the person behind her, Lady Anna.
Knowing it was the Queen walking towards us, immediately everyone around me kneeled in front of her, except Fabian the Crown Prince, Adel, Lady Octavi and me. I, just slightly bowed to her and raised my skirt followed by Lady Octavi and Adel.
Fabian went to the Queen, and asked "Dear mother, why are you here? Are there any important affairs that you are coming here?"
"No, my dear son, I just came here because I heard commotion from all the ladies. So I want to check it out. Surprisingly, you want to plan something extraordinary which sparring Lady Octavi a knight from the white order with Sir Kaeso the commander of this ground from the blue order. I want to make that sparring into a grander show." Fabian's eyes widened in surprise as he processed his mother's words. He had only intended for the sparring match to be a small event, but now the Queen wanted to turn it into a grand spectacle.
"What do you mean by a grander show?"
"In three weeks, there will be a hunting event which our master of the hunt is organizing. Yet, all the guests arrive in the capital a week earlier. How about we show this grander sparring between two knights from different orders on a grander stage, and make it a spectacle that will leave everyone."
As for me, I was surprised after hearing that from the Queen. At once, Adel tapped my shoulder and whispered at me as Fabian and the Queen were in conversation.
"You need not let Lady Octavi's skill shown to the public, my lady." Whispered Adel to me with some concerned tone in her voice. "It might be best to keep her a secret for now, especially with all the guests arriving early, especially the other dukes and duchesses," she advised.
"I know the concern about this transmutation out to the public, yet if Lady Octavi can handle it by herself without showing it, it will be okay. And, it should be Lady Octavi's consent whether she wants to take the sparring or not. She seems not feeling any objection about it." I replied in a whisper, and again I asked Lady Octavi about her consent in the sparring to make sure. She still answered it the same way as before, it depended on me.
The Queen and Fabian finished their conversation, and immediately they came to me. As the Queen was walking towards me, I could feel the weight of her gaze upon me. She looked at Lady Octavi and then back at me, her expression unreadable. I knew that whatever decision I made here would have consequences that could potentially shape my life.
As the Queen in front of me, she asked me, "What do you think? Is the grander show a good idea for them?" I felt her tone was condescending as her words went into my ears.
I answered, "Certainly, it's a great idea…Yet, Your Majesty…" I looked at her with both eyes to make me stay composed.
"YET?" Her eyes wide opened, and her brows furrowed in curiosity.
I needed to make this show not include transmutation. I took one step to regain my courage "I want to make a single thing proposal about the sparring…"
"What is that?"
"This sparring, I want both of them to show their raw skill, so I want a ground rule for the show; they can't use their transmutation."
Slowly, she walked towards me as she said, "Well, is it not interesting if both of them hold it back? It wouldn't add an element of suspense and unpredictability to the sparring match. The audience wouldn't be on the edge of their seats, wondering how the fighters would adapt and strategize with their usual transmutation abilities." Until she stopped in front of me, just an inch from me, she leaned her face in front of mine, and she said something unimaginable for me with her soft voice and mischievous smile. "Perhaps, you are worried about the truth about Lady Octavi…" she whispered, as her words sent a shiver down my spine.
I was startled as hearing the word of truth and Lady Octavi made me immediately question her motives and wonder what she knew. I couldn't help but feel a knot forming in my stomach as I anxiously awaited her next words. Yet she didn't finish her sentence; she just showed a simple smirk, and she took some steps backwards from me.
Quick in reaction, I said, "Without disrespecting, it's my proposal for this sparring, Your Majesty. In my memory, I believe it will be the first time our white order shows their skill in public. I hope you are considering my proposal about this sparring or..."
"Or???"
"Or I will not let Lady Octavi take a part of this grander sparring."
I fiercely stared into her eyes, and she was just simply smirking at me.