“Take care, Reyna,” Kyrat said gently. “You shouldn’t push yourself.”

Reyna nodded. She felt uneasy about being left alone, especially after… everything. But she knew everyone needed some rest, and she knew Kyrat would be swamped with visits from palace officials since the incident. He couldn’t afford to linger.

After a quiet exchange of faint smiles and nods, the door closed with a sharp click. His footsteps echoed down the hall, growing fainter with each step.

Reyna watches the closed doors for a moment longer. Now that everyone had left, she was alone with her thoughts.

The room was silent compared to the shocked reaction from the three of them about her proposal earlier. Though both Carine and Feyt were silent when she laid out the details of their training, she could guess what they were thinking just from their still faces.

They were excited by the prospect.

She chuckled faintly, thinking how much she had made their day. But she still felt a small sense of reluctance, and it all stemmed from one thing.

Feyt.

The image of Feyt lingered stubbornly in her mind; his voice, his face, and the memory of how he fought beside Carine with absolute resolve etched into his eyes. And Carine… who trusted him completely.

That kind of trust was something Reyna had rarely seen.

She remembered how most people looked at Carine for the first time. They would be intimidated, perhaps unnerved. Whether by her title, family history, her cold reputation, or that sharp-eyed stare she always wore, they kept their distance. She could hardly blame them.

Watching how her life had been, Reyna realized something. She had raised a mirror of herself.

Carine’s isolation, her rigid mannerisms, and the way she held herself apart from others; it all traced back to Reyna’s own choices. A strictly scheduled life within the estate, where her outings were often limited to only the most necessary events. There was no other way she could’ve turned out.

A small part of her… regretted it.

But she knew there was no other choice. Carine needed to grow up strong, even if she wasn’t born to be. Be it strong mentally or physically, Reyna wanted to hone Carine’s every aspect into the best it could be.

There was a cost for all of that, however. Though she was now formidable in both body and mind…

She had watched Carine sit alone during lessons, wordless in the back row. She remembered how often Carine was the last one left without a sparring partner, paired only with lingering students or, at times, with Kyrat himself.

But ever since that boy came… Carine was different.

For the first time in Reyna’s life, she saw her daughter’s formidable self falter. She hid it quite well; no one other than her could’ve ever spotted it, but it was definitely there.

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The way her voice would waver slightly when speaking to him.

The way she’d suddenly decide to bathe before their meetings, always claiming it was a coincidence.

The way she held back or lacked focus whenever they sparred together.

Feyt himself was different.

Unlike the others, he didn’t keep his distance. He didn’t shrink away or flinch in her presence. He was nervous, yes, but it wasn’t fear. Reyna could tell. During sword lessons, he sat beside Carine closely, far closer than most would ever dare.

She had even heard whispers from passing maids about the two of them sneaking off into the dance hall by the courtyard. Though she chalked it up to senseless rumors as always, she knew how big a chance there was for that to be true.

It was all… new territory for Reyna. And it irritated her to no end.

She wanted Carine to change, yes. Not to be so cold as herself and to be able to stand together with others whom she could call friends. But this… it all happened too fast, so fast that she couldn’t believe this was a simple friendship.

And to think it all happened because of one boy… one commoner even.

What truly happened in that cave?

There were far too many holes in the story she had been given.

First was Carine being kidnapped in the first place. Second was how she had somehow trained an untrained boy in the Sareid style within hours. Third, that same boy, a mere acquaintance of hers at that point, had stayed behind to help free her… when he’d already been given a chance to escape?

Countless theories echoed constantly in her mind as days went by.

Could that boy have worked with the bandits? Could a drug be involved? Could the boy have had some kind of Dark Magic affinity?

Her theories grew wilder with each passing suspicion.

But in the end, it all comes down to one thing.

Was Feyt truly protecting Carine for her sake? What other motives could he have had?

But that day, that cursed day she vowed never to forget, when Reyna had struck her own daughter in a feverish, twisted pursuit of protection… the memory of those two faces would not leave her.

They didn’t even look at each other when Leila urged them to run. Instead, they both picked up a fallen sword each, and stood side by side. It was like they understood each other without even uttering a single word.

The way they fought was a feast for the eyes as well. Somehow, they had twisted the foundational movements of the Sareid style into a two-person dance that was fluid, precise, and almost beautiful to watch.

They covered each other’s openings. They used each other’s movements as leverage. It resulted in a harmony of attacks that not even Reyna could break through. Not with her speed.

How deeply must they trust each other to move like that?

How many hours have they spent training behind my back to achieve that kind of synergy?

As for Feyt…

Despite having been defeated by Reyna in a spar easily, he continued to face her without a flinch, keeping a stable yet determined gaze directed at her as he stood beside Carine. It was as if protecting her was a given, something he had to do, no questions asked.

As if Carine’s life were his own.

It was vexing.

It was admirable.

Infuriatingly admirable.

She didn’t want to admit it, but she had to: his conviction was real, and it was unshakable. It was the kind of resolve that couldn’t be trained into someone. It was a devotion, and he had chosen to devote himself to Carine.

Still, Reyna wasn’t going to melt into sentiment just yet.

Yes, she had already announced that she would train him. She would forge him like a blacksmith would an iron. If he were to become Carine’s bodyguard, he would earn it through bruises and blood.

He would protect her; that was Reyna’s demand of him. She knew he would do it. But perhaps, in time, he could rise above that. Perhaps become her personal knight, her sword and shield, if he proved worthy enough.

She could allow that much, begrudgingly.

But the very idea of him being something more than that to Carine?

No.

Absolutely not.

She wouldn’t even let the thought cross her mind.

That was still a line too far.

…Right?

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep