Slightly tilting my head to the side, a whistling sound accompanied by a razor-sharp crimson blade swept past my ears. Having dodged that failed atttack on me, I immediately countered with a swipe kick toward my assailant’s ankle. Something which I believed It should have been enough to knock her off her feet, and allow to finish what had to be finished.

But, just as it was about to strike her, she took a quick step back and avoided the strike by the skin of her teeth. Before charging at me again with a thrust that I deftly directed to my left, followed by a kick to her gut that she skillfully stepped back to avoid being hit.

"Nice dodge," I praised, giving my attacker a thumbs-up, which she immediately reciprocated.

"I could say the same for how you managed to dodge my sword earlier, 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?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

" 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 ten silent seconds before we burst out laughing.

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

We were sparring in the backyard, and Ramia was, indeed, my sparring partner.

"We were enhancing ourselves on Aina to defend ourselves, not to attack; see, it's completely safe," Ramia reassured 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 commented, sitting on a chair in the backyard under a parasol, a book on his lap.

"You know the saying," she said as she rested her arm on my shoulder, "birds flock, feather together."

"It’s "birds of feathers flock together." Mael corrected.

"It's basically the same to me."

"Now I finally see why Grandfather was so eager to introduce you two to one another."

Actually, Mael, your 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. "

"So you defeated Ramia at her own game."

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

"Yeah, yeah."

That's right. I apparently fainted after, or rather during, our fight. And though 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, greeted by an overly sarcastic Syrius.

Ramia, on the other hand, was, that very same day, escorted back to the Aubrecht castle by her father, for indeed he was present during our fight.

I have to admit, at first, I panicked, for I assumed that upon her return, she would despise me even more; my initial plan was to beat her at her own game and assert 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 naturally and wordlessly decided to let go of our previous animosity, 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. With Ramia around, we decided to split our day as such, sparring in the morning, and going to the library in the evening. And though, I could tell, reading wasn't her forte, but she was doing her best not to be a hindrance in the library.

I went to take a seat next to Mael to polish the edge of my sword. It was the 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? Before, you almost never participated in my training sessions unless I dragged you out of the library. Is it because you're afraid I'll take away your little book reading buddy? Is that it, ehe?" Ramia asked, with a smug smile on her face.

"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.

Clearly, he wasn’t honest with himself.

"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 unladily 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.

For some reason, she suddenly became really upset. Not that seeing her upset was anything new 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. "

'Oi,

Don’t casually explain things to me like this.

I want nothing to do with this mess.

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

"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 that; 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 it better than he will. "

"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 Meilen 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. "

"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 older sister that you have here.

"And you, Ronandt ?"

"Eh,... what about me?" 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. But still, I insisted,"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.

I was surprised she was able to guess it so accurately. 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 my great-grandfather takes off for the great beyond, and that day comes, there will be no one to stand up for me, and then there will be only myself and the church.

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," I jokingly laughed, "or someone in charge of a cathedral, such as the one in the heart of the city. Who knows, only time will tell. "