The sun had just risen over the Capital the next day but unlike the usual silence that was found each day, there was immense hustle and bustle this morning.

The grounds of the Palace held hushed sounds of hurried footsteps as everyone was busy with the task they had received.

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The Dean of the Royal Medical Association would be arriving at any moment to gain an audience with their King and the servants wished to prepare everything before he could reach the Palace.

This influential man was the one who would bring news of the cure with him and discuss with the King the next steps to be taken.

Therefore, everyone was in high spirits this morning as the Kingdom would soon be free from the clutches of the plague.

As the servants hurried to finish their tasks, the members of the Royal family were busy as well.

The King was already in the Fountain Room, where the meeting would be held, and had Duke Brodie with him to assist him.

The Queen was also busy as she was seated in the garden as she discussed with her ladies-in-waiting how they would deal with the re-establishment of the social gatherings which had been halted until now.

Their society functioned with the help of these gatherings where the youngsters got together and mingled, building up connections with each other.

Due to the plague, nothing of that sort had taken place so the Queen needed to make sure that these events resumed once the entire Kingdom had been rid of the plague.

The adults were carrying out their duties towards the Kingdom, the children too were wide awake and focused on their respective activities.

Princess Felicia's training in etiquette and other lessons were being looked after by the helper of the Royal Tutor, Governess Bloom.

She had taught both King Ophire and Prince Draco during their childhood and was an excellent tutor and mentor.

The other two playmates had only been able to learn under her for a few months before they had left for Summer vacation.

However, when vacation came to an end the plague continued its rampage in their Kingdom.

During this time, the Princess' classes weren't halted as she and Governess Bloom both resided in the Palace and had no problem with carrying on with their classes.

One other Miss was able to take advantage of this and that was none other than the only daughter of Duke Brodie.

Miss Glennise was staying in the Capital and was able to join the Princess for classes while Miss Rika Kiron who had been stuck in her Kiron fief was missing out on the lessons being taught.

Miss Kiron had already been slow in her progress so the kind old lady hoped that she would not lag too much behind once she returned to the Capital.

Therefore, right now, only Miss Glennise was with the Princess as they learned more about the geography of their Kingdom which was today's allotted lesson.

The two girls were indoors in the Rose Palace where the Princess resided and hence did not know what was happening right next door.

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The Sycamore Palace, Prince Fritzen's residence resembled his demeanor.

Overbearing and regal as his attitude was, so was the design of the Palace.

Everything in here was according to his preference, just like the training ground which had been constructed as per his wishes and instructions.

The leveled ground at the center of the training area was meant for swords training and that was exactly what the Prince was up to this morning.

With a longsword in his hand, a young boy around nine years old was seen standing with his back straight as he faced his opponent.

On the other side of the training area was another who walked towards the boy with a similar-looking sword in his hand.

The two young boys stood before each other as they prepared their minds to begin this training session.

Both of their heads had luscious blonde hair enough to even make women jealous but their eyes differed in color.

The younger had vibrant blue irises while the older and taller boy possessed sparkling emerald eyes which could entrance anyone who gazed into them.

"Ready?" A slightly manly yet overall awkward voice of someone going through puberty echoed in the silent ground.

In response, the shorter boy raised his head and nodded to reply positively.

Clenching his fists around the handle of his sword, the young Prince made the first move as he pounced towards his Uncle, who was his opponent today just as he was for many months now.

Prince Draco, the teenager going through this awkward phase in his life, did not move an inch as he stared at his nephew and waited for him to get closer.

Fritzen smirked at the slow reaction and decided to make use of this lack of movement to land his first blow.

The Princes were using real swords to practice which meant that landing a blow would result in real injuries and not just purple bruises which were common from wooden swords.

It was Fritzen who wished to learn to wield real swords as this would give them a real sense of danger and help them act fast in the face of crisis.

Draco had found this idea both unusual and intriguing so he accepted and for the last three months, they had been using the sharpest swords and the result was rapid progress in their skills.

Therefore, despite the King's constant suggestion to revert to the wooden swords, these two youngsters refused and continued with the same ones they were wielding right now.

The younger boy appeared before his uncle but frowned when he saw that the other remained unfazed.

Draco took a step back to create distance between them and swung his sword towards his nephew's abdomen.

Fritzen did not lose focus as he dodged with agility and returned the strike to his uncle.

Uncle and nephew went back and forth as they clashed swords, invigorated by the loud clinks and clanks from the metallic swords resonating throughout the training grounds.

Fritzen was still young and needed to push himself to compete with his uncle.

He went all out in an attempt to gain the upper hand in this match but was failing to do so.

This was because, unlike him who was trying his hardest, Draco did not focus on pushing himself to the limit to win.

For him, these matches were practice sessions to learn how to properly control the amount of power he utilized while facing his opponent.

Ever since he had returned from the Roschester fief, Draco's powers had increased by leaps and bounds.

Hence, he did not have to try too hard to win against his nephew who was still too young to unleash his true potential.

While Draco too had just touched the tip of the iceberg in terms of his powers, he did not have to struggle to win these matches.

After all, now his true sparring partners were his shadow guards with whom he battled once his matches with Fritzen came to an end.

He still needed to get better and strengthen himself so he used most of his time to work hard and reach the goal that he had set in his mind.

Fritzen had also realized that he too needed to improve which motivated him to work harder and follow in his uncle's footsteps.

If he wished to find his etcher and become a better swordsman like his father and uncle, he would have to struggle to reach his goal and he was willing to do whatever it takes to stand at the top.

He needed stronger opponents to be able to improve himself and get better than them.

This was exactly what his uncle was, an opponent much stronger than him.

Therefore, each morning, no matter rain or shine, the two Princes battled it out till one of them called it quits for the day only to repeat it all over again the next morning.

The constant clashing of the swords echoed in their surroundings and those watching the match were paying keen attention to it.

Especially two men who were hidden from plain sight but were ready to rush out at any moment.

After all, it was their duty to keep their Master safe from all harm and this included the practice match he was participating in right now as well.

Prince Draco's best shadow guards, Horace and Sigma were on their feet as they were ready to step in and stop the match if something went wrong.

They knew that their master could control the newfound powers he had obtained in the Roschester fief but they were worried nonetheless.

Draco had also given them instructions to step in if ever he lost control and made a move that might put his nephew in harm's way.

While Draco had agreed to use real swords, he was worried that he might harm the younger boy by accident.

Hoping for such a thing to never happen, the responsible teenager had ordered his guards to interrupt them if ever a time came where he could not control his powers properly and harm Fritzen.

He could defend himself from Fritzen's strikes but did not wish to harm him.

Therefore, the guards had been in position to protect Prince Fritzen from being accidentally harmed by their Master.

However, what Draco did not know was that they were also ready to step in if Prince Fritzen ever got close to harming their Master in the slightest.

After all, their main goal in life was to keep their Master safe no matter who it was from.