"...!"
She was greeted by stunned silence.
"Why do you want to learn them?" Catherine asked when she had finally gotten out of her surprise that her daughter was actually not joking.
Aristia was already prepared as she knew she'd be asked this, so she answered with ease. "For self-defense. Plus, it will not hurt to possess these skills."
"Self-defense? That is what the guards are for— to protect you." Wilson said.
"Yes, but the guards cannot always be with me, can they? Unexpected situations might occur, though I do not wish for that, and then I will be helpless." She said sadly, pouting her lips and alternating her gaze between the two of them.
"You do not want that, do you Mama, Papa?" She blinked her watery eyes at them and reverted back to her usual 'mama' and 'papa'. She drew out her voice in a babyish tone just to convince them.
[It always works. C'mon! Don't fail me now.]
Her parents frowned at the image that formed in their heads; Their cute and lovely daughter crawling on the dirt, helpless and tears streaming down her face as she cried out at them, 'Mama, Papa, you refused to let me train, now look what happened. It is all your fault. I hate you!' The mental image wailed and beat her chest, grabbing onto their clothes and then falling back on the ground again.
That, and the fact that she blinked her big eyes cutely and called them 'mama and papa', made them give in to her.
[Yes!] Aristia thought as she smiled victoriously, but it didn't go unnoticed by Wilson who just smiled and shook his head at her antics.
***
"Gosh! I didn't expect to say so many words." Aristia muttered when she was out of the study.
[On the bright side, I got my schedule from Mrs. Cedmond and I managed to convince Mama and Papa to let me take those other classes. Even though they said I would only start taking the classes a week later, but that is fine by me.]
She walked to the garden in a good mood while thinking. She needed to train her body. She didn't know when she might need those skills.
She had changed into a light dress as she strolled around the garden, breathing in the fresh floral scent in the air, caused by the surrounding flowers.
When something crossed her mind, she changed direction to the training ground. It was fairly empty as her father had given the knights a day off.
So, Aristia assumed position as she bunched up her dress in her hands and began to run around the field.
[I could have been conducting my morning runs and regular exercise even without the classes being set up, but it looks like I have become lazy during my stay in this world.] She thought as she began to run.
She hadn't even run half the size of the training ground when she started to pant for breath.
[I haven't even run halfway and this body is already tired. It was to be expected though, as I'm sure this is the first time this body is engaging in exercise so it probably isn't used to it. Plus, this dress is not making this easy.] She scoffed.
At the age of five, she had already gotten used to short distance, little morning runs as she would always join her brother whenever he was exercising.
She ran until the body was almost at its limit and then she stopped, panting for breath as she tried hard with her palm on her chest to calm her racing heart which was beating quickly due to the vigorous exercise she just had.
She glanced around the area, remembering how she had just blamed book world's Aristia for her lack of exercise.
[But this training ground is really huge...]
Meanwhile...
From a window in the mansion overlooking the training grounds, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess watched their daughter as she ran around the field.
"What is my daughter doing, Henry?" The Grand Duke asked his loyal Butler the obvious, his hand wrapped around his beloved wife's shoulders.
"It seems that the princess is taking a run around the training grounds, Master." The Butler, Henry replied.
"Hmm... it seems she is serious about wanting to train. Perhaps, I should really agree with her request." Wilson muttered, clearing his throat a little when his wife turned to stare at him.
"Oh. Perhaps you should really agree with her request to train, huh?" The Grand Duchess narrowed her eyes as she stared at her husband with a smile that made his throat dry, and he gulped nervously.
"No! That is not what I meant to say. We have both already agreed to allow Tia train. How could I have second thoughts about it?" Wilson smiled flatteringly, trying to placate his wife and choosing his words carefully.
"Hmph." Catherine huffed and removed his arm from around her. She turned away from the window to walk away and Wilson followed behind her as he implored pitifully, "Wait for me, my love."
As they left, the Butler shook his head with a smile as he caught the small smile the Grand Duchess tried to hide from her husband.
"Only the Madam can make the Master act this way," He turned his gaze outside the window. "And of course the little prince and princess." He said, as he left to bring the little princess a glass of water.
***
"You have worked hard, Princess Aristia." Butler Henry said with a smile, as he handed Aristia a glass of water.
Aristia wanted to ask, 'Is this considered working hard?' But she settled with saying, "Thank you Butler Cedmond, I will try harder." She smiled at the middle-aged man who smiled at her the same way Mrs. Cedmond smiled at her.
[They sure are husband and wife.] She thought as she walked back to her room to wash off the sweat from her body.
Adeline had returned to being her shadow, walking close behind her. When she heard that Aristia had been running, she walked around her and asked with worry, "Princess, are you alright? Do you feel pain or discomfort anywhere? Are you hurt? Do I need to—"
"I'm fine, Linny. Really. I'm not hurt anywhere. Stop worrying, you'll get wrinkles." Aristia interrupted with a smile, smoothing out Adeline's furrowed eyebrows with her thumbs.
It wasn't easy for Aristia, but Adeline leaned closer when she saw her hand stretching toward her.
"Are you really alright?" Adeline probed.
"Yes, Linny. I'm okay." Aristia assured, even though her legs hurt a little.
After her bath, Aristia sat on a chair in her room and opened a drawer. She took out a book with words written on the front page and marked the first option on the list:
{Convince mama and papa to let me take other classes✓}
She wrote it like that in case they discovered the book. They'd wonder why their daughter wrote 'the Grand Duke or Wilson' and 'the Grand Duchess or Catherine' instead of 'Mama and Papa'.
She placed the book back in the drawer.
"I feel like I'm forgetting something…" Aristia paused as she tried to recall. "Gasp. The famine!!! How could I forget?!!! I hope Father has been making the necessary preparations. There's still about two years until the famine. I'll be seven years old by then if I'm still in this world."
She was conflicted because, call her crazy, but she was enjoying her stay in this world, even though she also missed her parents and wanted to return to her world.
She sighed tiredly. It wasn't in her power to go back.