“That ‘hot husband’ of mine stayed behind. He’s challenging Emilia to a rematch,” I chuckle.
“Ah. I’ll prepare the doctors before he gets back, then,” Mina laughs.
Smiling to myself, I unsheathe my sword, then launch myself at my practice dummies, performing blow after blow until I’m sure my fundamentals are perfect as always. After doing this for so many years, there’s only so many times I can mess up; the fundamentals are beyond second nature. Then, I practice my advanced forms, over and over, the sweat gathering at my neckline and then trickling down my back the longer I work. I furiously push myself to work faster, imagining that I’m competing with that demon I met in the forest.
Stronger, faster, quicker, cleverer—
My sword cuts clean through one of the practice dummies, and I stand there after the follow-through, stunned. My breath comes in light pants, my shoulders shaking from the effort.
I’m not getting better this way.
I frown. There’s no way for me to be disappointed in myself after giving it my all, but that’s the closest description I can manage for the way I’m feeling right about now. I’m not proud of myself. I’m not fulfilled. I know that if I walk up to that demon and challenge her to a duel, she’d kill me within the first five minutes, even with my imperial human strength. Training with practice dummies can only get me so far.
Maybe I’ve improved since sparring with you and fighting off wendigos!
Aurelio’s words hit me like a runaway cart full of bricks. I’d dismissed him in the context of the situation, but I’ve noticed that he’s looking stronger, and he fought more confidently on the second half of our journey from Krasta. Maybe it won’t help him against Emilia, but the improvements he gained when his skills were put to the test with his life on the line are irreplaceable. There’s nothing like a reminder of your own mortality to force you to reach deeper within yourself.
If I’m going to invade Krasta—hells, if I’m even going to enter this knight’s tournament—I need to have full confidence in my abilities. Right now, the best I can do is shut down in front of a wendigo, shoot fire at an elf, and cower before the combat prowess of a demon. That’s not good enough for the queen of a nation. I need to dig deeper, be better, and get stronger. I won’t get that here, in the lap of luxury.
“Mina,” I say, “tell me if you think I’m crazy.”
“Um…maybe you’re a little crazy, but that’s a requirement for ruling a nation,” Mina admits. “Why do you ask?”
“I’m glad we agree. I’ll be taking leave of my duties for a while. Six weeks, to be exact.”
Mina’s eyes round. “For what, exactly?”
“I’m going adventuring. It’s time I get a little live-action training, don’t you think?”
Chapter twenty-four
Aurelio
Ifall flat on my back, and the air rushes out of my lungs. My vision blurs for half a second as the back of my head smacks into the cobblestone, and in that half a second, a blurry sword races toward my head. I raise my own sword just in time to block a damning blow. The SHING! of metal on metal rings deafeningly in my ears.
“Ah, you have improved. Your reactions are quicker than before,” Emilia says.
I push up as hard as I can, throwing her sword aside. In the space I created for myself, I jump to my feet, shaking my head to clear it. Emilia is already closing the distance once again, her footwork flawless as she feigns a strike and goes for my head quicker than lightning. I don’t have time to process her movements; I can only rely on my instincts as I block, parry, and block again. I can’t think offensively between all the defensive maneuvers that I’m barely pulling off as it is.
Come on, Aurelio, you can’t win if you spend all your time defending!
I see an opportunity to throw her off balance, but I hesitate before I take it. That look in her eyes, and the slight shift in her weight—it’s telling me something I wouldn’t have recognized before, but after fighting that insanely fast wendigo, I understand a trap when I see one. She’s trying to bait me in for an “open” strike, only to shift her weight and strike me from behind. Tensing my legs with all the strength I possess, I stop on a dime and strike Emilia from the front, my blade colliding with hers so hard, my wrists spasm from the reverberation through the sword.
“Impressive,” Emilia muses, smirking. “You caught the feint. Can you catch me, though?”
I see it coming, but I don’t have ample time to react. My eyes round as Emilia suddenly bends back, sending my momentum and my sword straight overtop of her. In one fluid motion, she knees me in the gut, then seizes my shoulders, flips, and slams me into the ground, hard, using her body weight to my disadvantage. My sword clatters out of my hand as she levels the tip of her sword at the side of my neck.
“Do you concede?”
I sigh, closing my eyes. “I concede.”
“Emilia is the winner!” Eren announces.
There’s a smattering of applause from the few onlookers, but through the applause, I hear the roaring laughter of Kharu and the shrill, jeering whistle of Lief.
“Way to go, Aurelio!” Kharu teases. “The Prince acts with such grace, even in defeat!”
My eyes snap open. I glance to my left, shooting a glare into the stands where Kharu and Lief are sitting together.
