The sword lessons had commenced. I could hear the grunts of students warming up in the training hall as Father barks out orders. Of course, I wasn’t there with them. Instead, I was being led by Leila, followed by a couple of knights, into another training hall not far from the one being used by the other students.

“Here we are, Lady Carine, Sir Feyt.”

Leila stopped in front of a set of doors. They were made of dark polished wood just like most of the doors in this household. I couldn’t detect any presence inside the room; no heartbeats or breathing, which meant Mother wasn’t there yet.

Leila bowed once before continuing, “I shall attend to my other tasks, Lady Carine. I wish you well.”

I gave a reassuring nod to Leila before she turned heel and left. I also wished her well deep inside, my eyes glued to her back until she turned a corner.

Leila’s house chores had increased quite a bit as of late. The reason for the spike was the new security protocol; it forced a few of the servants into paid leave. It mainly affected those of common birth or those from potentially rivalrous houses.

I could only hope that whatever this was, really was just temporary like Father said. Increased guard and knight presence? I could live with that. But having less servants in such a large, elite estate? I was starting to worry for Eliza and the others. 

Leila would… probably be fine to be honest. Heck, wouldn’t she be loving it? Though, the less time she stands by my side, the more anxious I would be. I had to admit, I was beginning to rely on her a whole lot more than I expected.

After taking off our footwear, both of me opened the doors into the training hall. What was immediate to me was the smaller size of the room. 

The training hall typically used for the lessons, let’s call it the common training hall, was definitely build with dozens of students in mind. But the size of the room before me told me that it was more of a personal training hall, capable of housing not more than four students and an instructor or two.

We stepped inside and the knights didn’t follow. They stood outside by the hallway, standing guard. The doors closed behind me with a click, it echoed through the still unlit room.

Since Mother wasn’t here yet, and boy was it nerve wracking waiting for her, I figured it would be best that I prepare the room for her arrival to hopefully lighten her mood. I was surprised that the servants didn’t do it themselves, but with the lack of manpower, I guessed it couldn’t be helped.

I approached the long stretch of curtain on the other side of the room and opened them from one side each. In an instant, the room was lit all throughout.

I adjusted the training gear on both of my bodies, making sure none of the straps were loose. After that, I inspected the training equipment and mats. The dust on them was minimal, which meant the servants still cleaned this room before, but with how little the wear and tear were, I could tell they were rarely used.

Then, I heard footsteps. A heavy click followed every rhythmic step. It sounded both familiar and not. The way it paced itself told me it was Mother, but I never heard her wearing something else other than her typical heels or low-heels.

The footsteps stopped in front of the door. I heard them removing their footwear, the source of the heavy thumps. The doors opened with a soft creak. I stood up straight, trying my best to hide my nerves.

Indeed, the person beyond the doorway was none other than Mother. But she wore something that I hadn’t seen in ages.

She wore an old training attire, one that I saw briefly during my earliest days as Carine. It was similar to the training gear Feyt has, but it had some extras that I clearly didn’t. A sword belt that had the family’s insignia. Light leather armor over her frilled shirt with a small dark blue cloth, bearing another insignia.

It was less of a training attire and more of a light armor set for knights.

Her naturally dark blue hair was pulled back and tied into a ponytail, one similar to Carine’s. She wore none of the hair ornament she used to wear. It was then that I truly saw the uncanny resemblance I had with her.

I found myselves unblinking. It was the first time in a while since I saw her wearing something else other than a dress or an over-intricate nightgown.

“Carine?” Mother said, noticing my silence. “What’s wrong?” she said, as the doors clicked behind her.

“It’s nothing, Mother.” I shook my head gently. “You look radiant today.”

Mother blinked, not necessarily caught off guard, but intrigued. “I see, thank you, dear.”

I quickly averted my gaze as Feyt as well. If Mother found Feyt staring blankly at her, explaining his side of the story would be a little bit more complicated.

“Now then.” Mother approached the training equipment and grabbed three pairs of wooden swords. 

She flicked her arm, throwing one of them Feyt’s way. It was only thanks to Carine’s eyes that I could anticipate where it was aiming, my face, and I raised my hand in a panic. I barely caught the blade, my body leaned back slightly.

Mother gave me an ominous side eye as she continued. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

I instinctively gulped, the hand that caught the blade trembling slightly.

What kind of torture awaits me? Would I be allowed to walk out of this room intact? I forced myselves to calm down despite the odds.

Whatever happens, happens. All I need to do is do my best.

Adopting that mindset, I began to steel myselves as Mother started our warm up session.

…

After minutes of silent stretching, Mother deemed us ready for the lessons. She slammed the tip of her wooden sword to the cold ceramic floor. The sound nearly made me flinch as it reverberated.

“First lesson,” Mother said, her voice a whole lot more commanding, befitting her current knightly look. “A spar between the two of you.”

My breaths hitched. 

This again? I thought I was over that already.

“First one hit… will be punished accordingly.”

What?!

I thought we were going to start with the fundamentals again, since, you know, pattern recognition and all.

Didn’t know we were going to speedrun this shit.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep