A shuffling sound was accompanied by a razor-sharp crimson blade sweeping past my ears.

After dodging the attack, I immediately countered with a horizontal swipe kick to the ankle of my assailant. It should have been enough to knock her off her feet.

But, just as it was about to hit her, she took a quick step back, like a stray cat, and avoided the strike by a hair's breadth.

She charged at me with a thrust, which I deftly directed to my left, followed by a kick to her gut.

And, once again, she skillfully stepped back to avoid being hit.

"Nice back step," I said, giving my attacker a thumbs-up, which she immediately reciprocated.

"Also, a nicely executed dodge. I didn't think you'd be able to avoid it. " My assailant replied with a thumbs up.

"Does that mean you sent that attack with the intent of chopping off my head?"

" Yes, that was the project." My assailant declared, as if stating something extremely trivial.

We both looked at each other in the eyes for about 10 seconds before laughing.

"Can you two do something a little less dangerous? Take a look at your guardian’s," Mael said, pointing to Leonore, who appeared more stressed by our fight than we were.

Ramia was, indeed, my assailant. In the backyard, we were sparring.

"This is harmless. We're enhanced on Aina to protect ourselves but not to attack. We'll be fine, " Ramia reassured as she repeatedly slammed the sharp-edged side of her sword against her palm.

"We were enhancing ourselves on Aina to defend ourselves but not to attack; see, it's completely safe," Ramia said confidently, hammering the sharp-edged part of her sword against the palm of her hand.

"That said, I'm both amazed and creeped out by how well and how quickly you two got along, " Mael said, sitting on a chair in the backyard under a parasol, a book on his lap.

"You know the saying, "birds flying flock together?"" she said as she put her hand on my shoulder.

"It’s "birds of feathers flock together." Mael corrected."Now I finally see why Grandfather was so eager to introduce you two to one another."

"It's basically the same to me."

Actually, Mael, Grandfather wanted us to meet up for another reason.

"That being said, it came as a big surprise to me. You never told me you were so skilled with the sword. "

"I wasn't trying to hide anything. After all, it was the first time I'd ever used a sword-shaped weapon in a real fight. I'm more of a daggerman than a swordsman, " I mentioned, after confirming that Syrus was not present.

"So you defeated Ramia at her own game."

"I wasn't beaten; he fainted, not me," Ramia responded defensively.

"Yeah, yeah."

That's right. I apparently fainted after, or rather during, our fight, and I only have hazy memories of what happened. I remember laughing with Ramia and then seeing Luke among the spectators of our "battle," and that was all I could remember.

The next souvenir I had was of myself waking up in my bed later in the afternoon. I was greeted by a furious Syrus, who was curious about where and when I learned to use a sword and aina so well. I only managed to shake him off by telling him that I had awakened it a year before and that I was skilled with swords because I had trained myself in the library. I'm afraid I'll have trouble explaining this to Maa when she arrives.

Ramia was escorted back to the Aubrecht castle by her father.

At first, I panicked because I assumed that upon her return, she would despise me even more; my initial plan was to beat her at her own game, as Mael had suggested, and assert my dominance over her.

I wasn't expecting the duel to devolve into a wrestling match, but thank Goddess, the duel wasn't futile or, even worse, backfired. It even produced some fantastic results.

She returned the next day, after her father had brought her back to their castle.

I'm not sure why, but when we met, we were inundated with laughter, just like the day before.

After that, we both decided to let go of our previous animosity without even speaking to each other, putting an end to the animosity between her and Mael.

It's been four days since that incident.

Since then, we've been doing this type of sparring on a regular basis. We would spend the majority of our time in the library in the morning.

I could tell reading wasn't her forte, but she was doing her best not to be a hindrance in the library.

I took a seat next to Mael to polish the edge of my sword.

It was the straight sword Grandfather Emilien gave me for my birthday; I wasn't as used to using it as I was to Martha and Olga, but I'm sure with enough practice, I'd be fine; it wasn't the sword's fault, but rather mine.

Come to think of it, I haven't given this sword a name yet.

What about Amanda? Or Mara? Or maybe Cassandra?

That’s it. That will do.

"Cassandra, that will be your name," I said as I ceremoniously held my sword in the air.

"What, Cassandra?" Both Mael and Ramia simultaneously asked.

"That's the name I came up with for this sword."

"A name? for a sword? "

"Yes, doesn’t your sword have one?" I asked as I pointed at the sword she had.

"No, naming inanimate objects is something lonely people do; in fact, even lonely people like Mael don't do that."

When I looked at Mael, he was nodding slowly, his gaze judging.

Sorry for being who I am; I did not choose that lonely life; rather, it was that lonely life that chose me.

"Speaking of loner, Mael, why are you always here every day?" You almost never participate in my training sessions unless I drag you out of the library. Is it because you're afraid I'll take away your lovely friend? "

"That's not it, I'm just here because I can't read in peace in the library, and I still somehow have the creeping feeling that you two might try to kill each other the moment I look away," Mael immediately responded, visibly embarrassed by Ramia's question.

"Is that so? In any case, you should join us in our sparring session; I'm sure if you train with us long enough, you'll be as agile as us with your aina. We'll assist you in reaching your full potential. " Ramia stated confidently while unladilikely showing off her biceps.

"No, thank you." I'm fine the way I am; I don't need Aina to become who I want to be. "

"Such a waste. That’s what I hate about you, Mael, your lack of ambition. " Ramia retaliated angrily.

Whoa, that escalated too quickly.

She seemed really upset. Not that it was a premier for me, but it was my first time seeing her get upset so directly against Mael.

"Don’t mind her, she doesn’t really mean what she says, she's just upset over the fact that I can take the lead of my family, whereas it’s a little bit complicated in her case. "

Oy, Is it really okay to say that in front of the interested party?

I looked over at Ramia, and she didn’t seem to mind the slightest.

Oy, Is it really appropriate to say that in front of someone like this?

I looked over at Ramia, who didn't seem to mind in the least.

"I deserve it too, so that you'll know." When their gazes met, she barked.

"It doesn't change the fact that you have a younger brother and that only men can ascend to the throne of a ruling family."

"As if I care."

"You don't like your little brother?" I ventured.

"That's not it; I adore him, but it's unfair that he and I don't have the same opportunities, Mama, Papa, or even Great-Grandfather... I’m sure I can do whatever he can do and I'm even sure I can do better than he. "

"This isn't a question of fairness; it's just the way things are. You must accept this or else you will face a slew of problems in the future. "

"But I heard in the Mellen Empire, they have the empress Anne-Lore at the helm, It -"

"Do you know how she got to the throne, it was by offing her brother. Unless you want to do so, you should abandon that stupid idea of yours."

"But I heard that in the Mellen Empire, the empress Anne-Lore is the ruler, It -"

"Do you know how she came to occupy the throne? By offing her brother; if you don't want to do that, you should abandon. "

"They battled, and he was defeated. The competition was fair. This is what I expect of Elliel; I want him to show me that he is superior to me. It's not just that, just because he's a "boy" and therefore he's superior to me. You have no idea what it's like. After all, you're the first and only child in your family. "

Why do I get the impression that the conflict is more about her being compared to her brother than her wishing to be the head of her family?

Poor Elliel, I wouldn’t like to be in your place. That’s a crazy elder sister that you have here.

"And you, Ronandt ?"

"Eh,..." I blabbered, surprised to be included in this tense conversation.

"What are you in your family?" Ramia asked.

"Huh, my family huh?... I’m the second born in my family."

She smiled broadly, moved behind the chair I was sitting in, and wrapped her arms around my neck.

"Just like me then. Look, Mael, Ronandt, and I. We’re the same, I’m sure he can understand me. " She said to Mael's attention.

I couldn’t see her, but I could tell she was sticking her tongue out at Mael;

"Don’t tell me you’re going to encourage her ?"

"Actually, no- " I could feel Ramia's arm tighten around my neck. "Actually, I don't intend to inherit or fight for any position in my family; I believe there are other places where I could be more useful."

Mael looked at me with wide eyes the moment I made that statement, and I could feel her piercing gaze from behind me.

"The church," Ramia mumbled behind me.

She was right. I intend to attend church.

In fact, I'm bound to.

If everything goes as planned by Luke and everyone, I should be able to reveal myself to the Noble Society and the Church.

But that won't last forever; when Great-grandfather dies and there will be no one to stand up for me, I may find myself back under the church radar.

The only way for me to ensure my safety is to prove to them that I am more valuable as an active member of the church than dead or dissected.

"Yes, I intend to join the church; perhaps one day, like Ramia's great-grandfather, I will become one of the Fourteen or someone in charge of a cathedral, such as the one in the heart of the city. Who knows, only time will tell. "