Nicholas' POV
The next morning came, and I woke up good and great. Adrian and Father must've been asleep still at this hour, which is 5:29 a.m. But the reason why I woke up at this hour is that I could visit Russell's new estate home in Fort Right's Outer District. So, after dressing up, I went there by horse carriage. The trip all the way there was a bit long, but I couldn't imagine how fast it would be on the bus Russell had, as was said and rumored by Kane and his entourage a few months ago.
There I got off and luckily, the estate's caretaker, Marcel, was walking in the front yard when he saw me. "Good morning, Marcel!" I greeted positively while fixing my royal attire and scabbard. Marcel then ran to the front gate and hurriedly opened it. "My good lord!"
I went in, alongside my two attendants and one advisor as my entourage, and started pacing around the front yard, feeling some nostalgia for being in this former hunting lodge.
"What brings you here, my good sir?" Marcel asked me.
"I am here to see Russell May," replied I back, "so we could have a training session."
"Ah, I see, sir. What kind of training session to be exact?"
"Hmm…it would be sword training with some sparring sessions."
Marcel was surprised. "What?"
"Yes, I heard from my spies that Russell-kun can do that and was prolific in that skill."
Third person POV
And then, Russell was sleeping in his room when he heard the conversation between Marcel and Prince Nicholas. The others are still asleep in their rooms. So, Russell got up and looked at the balcony, only to be surprised and become fully awake by the presence of the crowned prince of his nation. "What the…?" his mind said in shock. Russell then hurriedly went downstairs and outside to meet up with them.
"Your Highness?" the young bus driver said to Prince Nicholas.
Prince Nicholas and the others heard that and looked at him.
"Ah, good morning, Mr. May," Nicholas positively greeted him.
"Master Russell!" Marcel said to Russell.
"Good morning, Your Highness," Russell replied back while calming down, "but what are you doing here?"
"I am here to train you in something," Prince Nicholas responded back.
"In what?"
"Sword training."
Russell was surprised once more. "Wait, what?"
"Yes, to sharpen your skills," Nicholas replied with some pride. "I am a very skilled swordsman myself, too."
Russell then thought about it and thought about his sword skills being mediocre, then accepted it. "Okay, I'll do my best to train under you."
"Okay, let's do this now before breakfast time."
Russell's POV
And so, shortly thereafter, Prince Nicholas and I had a training session in the front yard in the dark before sunrise. Prince Nicholas showed me some of his sword skills, which impressed me a lot. Then, we switched our real, metal swords with wooden ones to play it safe.
We began our sparring session. Prince Nicholas was skillful and fast, and I couldn't keep up with his speed and rhythm. This led me to get hit by his wooden sword's attacks, but those attacks were not that painful. But despite that, Prince Nicholas trained me in some of the sword skills I'm having gaps in. Your Highness Crowned Prince, the addressing title Prince Nicholas suggested to address him for most of the time, was kind and understanding to me, giving me some tips and pieces of advice on fighting with my sword. We continued on training until 6 o'clock in the morning, the start of sunrise.