Chapter 71 Impending Duel
Big sis Ena looked at her and then stood from the sofa, and I followed her wordlessly, as we put our clocks up to hide our faces, and left the room.
As we left the room, I saw that the receptionist had come back with some sort of tea and some snacks,
She bowed down a little when she saw us, not asking us anything, she remained in the position until we left her field of view,
"Was that necessary?" I asked as I followed after her,
"Yes it was," big sis said, as we exited the building,
"And why is that?" I asked, there was no way that her love life had to do anything with us, she could do anything she wants right?
"She is not the type to fall in….love, she loves to play games, she was always discriminated so she-" she said, but stopped in the middle as if deciding not to say much more,
"Why would she be discriminated against?" I asked not getting how she was different from others,
"She part of the Blood elf tribe, their tribe is…..special I would say, they don\'t need any food other than beast blood to live" she said,
Elyon stopped as soon as I heard that, "she\'s a vampire?" he asked,
"Vampire?" big sis Ena asked,
"Oh nothing, so she needs to feed on blood to live" Elyon asked while changing the topic.
"Yes, something like that. Their whole tribe is quite small, they are discriminated against too, there is a misconception that they drink the blood of other elves, so people tend to keep their distance from their tribe and the people that are related to the tribe in any way." She said,
"Why would people think that?" I asked, a bit disappointed in what I heard, in my heart the image of the perfect world where nothing would go wrong slowly gained cracks.
"Anyway, she use to get bullied a lot when she was a kid, even after we became friends, she would still get bullied, at first she never fought back, however when after my contently telling her to do something about it, she finally fought back, there were times when she would even fight kids that were older than her, with each fight she became cunning and even more cunning coming up with new ways to fight" She explained,
"So what\'s wrong with that?" I asked,
"Well, she changed she didn\'t remain the cute child that never hurt anyone other than when she trained, she used her cunning in everything she could, at times even taking things too far" As she said this she looked to the side as she watched two girls playing by the street,
"So why are you against their relationship, it might just change her by haveing a person she loves" I said,
"I am not doing this for her, I am doing this for that man who knows what Ruby might be thinking she might even be just playing with his feeling" she said, and when Elyon heard this he realized what his sister was thinking when she threatened that man.
"I see so that\'s what you were thinking," I said as I thought out loud, "but if she actually fell for that guy she might actually change or at the very least be tamed" She could change I know people can change, I believed that form the bottom of my heart.
"Ya, you might be right only time will tell" his sister said and then repeated, "Only time will tell"
Cringing from hearing that line Elyon said with a frown on his face "Don\'t act like mom, it\'s weird"
"Oh come on she looked cool when she said that didn\'t she," his sister asked with a grin on her face, "ya, nope" Elyon said as he started to move faster toward the castle that was at the bottom of the Guardian hill.
"Oh come on, it was cool" he said, as she ran to catch up with her brother, "alright it was but just a little bit" he said as he showed his sister a grin and said,
"Last to the castle gates is an old fart" as he was speaking he started ran off,
"On no you don\'t" Ena said as she too ran after him,
*****
"Haaaa…h-how..haaaa…did…..y-haaaa..you…run…so. hhhaaa….fast" Elyon asked as he looked at his sister who looked to be waiting for him in front of the castle gates for some time,
"I have trained for years to control my breathing do you really think you would be faster than me?" she asked, with a smug smile on her face.
"Hhaaaa not haaaa fair" he tried to speak but the air around him seem to be too little as he was gasping for it.
"Anyway don\'t you think you should go in for your classes with Father?" big sis said as she entered through the castle gates,
The sound of rigid breathing stopped as Elyon who was fine just a moment ago started to feel as if his heart would stop, any minute or at the very least burst out of his chest.
"C-can\'t I just say that I am really tired?" he asked,
"Nope, you can\'t as the future king, you should be able to learn the art of combat as soon as possible" she said,
"Can\'t you just be the queen instead?" Elyon asked as he started to fidget around while playing with his fingers looking down,
"I can\'t do that, and you know it. I have my own work that I have to do" she said as she kneed down to come in the same eye level as Elyon,
"Try to do your best," she said as she hugged her little brother,
After hesitating for a second Elyon too hugged her back, trying his best to hide his shaking legs and hands from his sister.
"Alright EL do your best, we will talk to each other at dinner time" She said as she vanished in the countless corridors of the castle,
\'It\'s time huh?\' Elyon thought as he started to walk to a certain area of the castle which was used as the training grounds for the family,
As he walked he looked around the corridors, with each step his heartbeat got faster and faster, his face and back slowly getting covered in sweat.
"Oh you\'re finally here" Zeno\'s voice reached him as he reach the clearing at the back of the castle, it was used as the training grounds for the royal family, and no one other than the members of the family were allowed to come here.
" Y-yes father," Elyon said as he stood in front of his father who was wearing loose robes that were used for combat, with a wooden spear in hand
"How was your first outing to the capital?" He asked,
"I-it was good" Elyon said as he looked down at the ground seemingly counting the blades of grass down there.
"Alright then let\'s start today\'s lesson, pick up your weapon" he said as Elyon walked to the side and picked up a spear made up of wood, and then took a stance after he came back to the center,
"Alright let\'s start," he said, as he ran towards Elyon a spear in hand,
As soon as he reached a suitable distance he trusted his spear,
"EL, as you grow older and prepare to become a king, there\'s an important lesson I want to share with you. While emotions are a natural part of being who we are, as a king, you will need to learn to manage them differently" he said as Elyon dodged the first strike and then stepped back out of his father\'s range,
"What do you mean," Elyon asked as his father leaped towards him while using his spear to block his path of escape to the side as he slashed it toward his head.
"A king must make decisions that affect the lives of many people. You will face challenges, conflicts, and responsibilities that require clear judgment and impartiality. Emotions can cloud your judgment and affect your ability to make wise and fair decisions." He said as Elyon bent down, narrowly dodging the strike,
"However, you know Lord Nova told me something else." He said as he tried to defend himself from an attack from the side, just like he did but from Elyon.
"W-what did he tell you?" Elyon asked, becoming a bit curious about the thing that cat told his father,
"As a king you do not need emotions, if you show your emotions to people so easily they will play you like a fool Zeno remember that you are a king, at times you may feel despair, and helplessness, anger but if you let these emotions show easily then playing you for a fool is just as easy as stealing Toy from a child, he had said at that time" as he said this he pushed Elyon back while completing his sentence,
"I followed that theory," he said with a heavy tone, avoiding Elyon\'s gaze as he looked down. Elyon found it difficult to read his facial expression. The words struck him like a familiar, unwelcome feeling that rose from his heart, a sense of fear that he had become all too accustomed to. He clenched his spear tightly, the tension causing his knuckles to turn white as he prepared for what could be a brutal confrontation, one that might take a long time to recover from.
"However, in my opinion, he was wrong," his father uttered, catching him off guard to the point that he momentarily forgot about the impending duel he was supposed to engage in.
Author\'s note: I was released from the hospital.