Days later...
"We are visiting your aunt and uncle tomorrow." Catherine suddenly announced. They were all having dinner in the dining room when she announced the news.
Aristia nodded, "Aunt Alistair would be so happy." She couldn't forget that beautiful woman with scarlet red hair and emerald green eyes.
"Not the Duchess." Wilson corrected and Aristia raised her eyebrows. "It is the Queen, the wife of my brother the King."
"Oh. That Aunt." Aristia turned back to her food.
[I wonder what the royal family will be like?]
"Where are we going to, Tia?" Alaric asked. He had not been paying attention.
"We are going to the Royal Palace, Al. To visit our uncle's family."
"Oh! Brother Ivan promised to let me ride horses with him." He exclaimed excitedly.
"He did?" She asked rhetorically, I'll looking at him. "Do you like horses, Al?"
"Yes, I do. Very much." Alaric smiled widely, causing a smile to appear on Aristia's face.
Why was her little brother so cute?
They all retired to bed after dinner. Alaric fell asleep quite quickly in the middle of the story Aristia was narrating.
Smiling at her adorable baby brother, Aristia adjusted the blanket to cover him properly. She got into the blanket and closed her eyes.
***
The next morning, she was informed that her classes for that day had been cancelled but the training with the captain would still hold. So, she put on her training suit and grabbed two apples for herself and Alaric, which they ate on the way as she and Alaric walked to the training ground.
She took Alaric with her because he usually had nothing to do during her classes and he wanted to join her.
Each time, Alaric would always run short distances with her since he was too small to run longer distances and he couldn't join in the other training methods.
It was still early in the morning as the training was moved to be held in the early hours of the morning, even before she took a bath.
The training would hold before the family had breakfast. Aristia felt it was to avoid people finding out, like the knights. But it was also good because it meant she didn't have to take baths twice every morning.
Captain Hugh had already arrived when they got there.
It seemed that he always ignored the fact that she was a five year old and assigned her different tasks, but she wasn't complaining as it was good to have someone willing to push this body's limits.
The Grand Duke and Grand Duchess, who would always give in at the slightest whimper from her weren't really the best people for the job.
"Good morning, Sir Hugh." Aristia greeted her trainer the moment she stood in front of him.
"Good morning, Princess. Run the usual one lap around the field as a warm-up." He instructed immediately and received a nod from Aristia.
The warm-up training had progressed from running a lap in half the field to a lap around the whole field. The good thing though, was that she was allowed to stop in between, even though it was only for a few seconds. It took up majority of their training time.
"It seems the little Prince is once again joining in the training." The Captain stated as he stared at his future student, Alaric.
"I am, Sir Hugh. I'll always go with my sister whenever she's training and wherever she's going." Alaric confirmed quietly as he held Aristia's hand.
[Aww, that's so sweet.]
Captain Hugh nodded, staring at their joined hands. After glancing than a week of training Aristia, he was aware that the siblings had a close relationship.
"Very well then. You can begin." The Captain waved his hand as he ordered.
With a nod, Aristia and Alaric began to run around the field. Aristia had already told Alaric that he didn't have to run the whole lap. He just had to run until he was tired. So as Aristia ran the end of one lap, Alaric stopped a lot earlier, going over to the bench to rest. That was where he usually ended his run.
By the time Aristia completed her one lap around the field, she was panting for breath and sweating as her legs shook. It was a usual occurrence. Her legs didn't hurt half as much as it did the first time she had run, it just ached a little. The sky had brightened up a lot more.
Captain Hugh was sitting beside Alaric on the bench. Seeing that Aristia had successfully completed the assignment, he stood up and approached her.
"Well done. As you have progressed satisfactorily, we are moving on to the next part of our training; sword training." The Captain was already fully convinced that she was serious about training and wouldn't just quit halfway. He already had a very good impression of this peculiar but industrious little princess.
Aristia nodded happily. [Finally! We're moving on. It was just running around the field and stretching exercises previously but now, I can finally do something else.]
Those were her thoughts as she went to pick her wooden sword from the shed where the training equipments were kept. She handed the other one to Alaric. The swords were just the perfect fit for she and Alaric's little hands.
Aristia held her waster* as the Captain walked over to help her assume the correct stance. He did the same with Alaric, saying;
"Chest lifted, shoulders relaxed and back. Keep your legs a comfortable width apart, and your eyes focused on your opponent. You need to monitor your opponent's moves to discover any weaknesses or opening in which you can strike to attack your opponent or leave them defenseless."
Aristia nodded to show she understood the Captain's instructions as she assumed the right stance with her sword in hand. Pretending the air was her opponent, she imitated the action of striking the air.
Alaric tried to imitate her. He failed. Badly. But Aristia wouldn't deny he looked absolutely cute.
She had rules when it came to sword fighting; Don't get hit, make sure to hit your opponent, and most importantly, look d*amn good doing it. She liked to think she was good at them all.
The training continued for one more hour and then it ended. Aristia and Alaric went back into the mansion to take a bath and have breakfast.
Now alone in her room, Aristia opened her book and ticked another goal.
{Start training.}
Aristia nodded in satisfaction and dropped the book on the table.
"Now, what can I do to earn my own money in this world?" She asked herself. She'd been in this world for three weeks and a few days.
"Hmm... I'm craving a cold glass of orange juice. Is there any way to get ice in this world?" Her thoughts strayed away from the matter she was deliberating on to food.
The next moment, her eyes lit up.
"Aha! I just got an idea. I could open a restaurant just as I did back on earth." She hummed softly as she thought of business ideas. She was convinced that the business would boom.
She turned around and picked up the book again. This time, writing a new goal.
---
*Waster - In martial arts, a waster is a practice weapon, usually a sword, and usually made out of wood, though nylon (plastic) wasters are also available. Nylon is safer than wood, due to it having an adequate amount of flex for thrusts to be generally safe, unlike wooden wasters. Aristia's waster is wooden.