Witch's Daughter And The Devil's Son

As Drayce and Slayer walked towards the centre of the arena, the training grounds looked like it was divided into two parts as half cheered for Drayce and the other half cheered for Slayer.

Seren noticed that most of the knights cheered for Slayer instead of the King, and the ones who cheered for the King were the royal soldiers and the servants. Of course, that didn't include the palace officials and royals, though, among them, Ruven was the one most visibly excited. As Ruven stayed at the outer edge of the arena near where the training weapons were stacked, he was beside some of the knights cheering for Slayer. Even though Seren was far too far to hear what was happening, she could guess that Ruven was arguing with them over who was going to win.

'He looks like he's having fun, though.'

As Seren observed the knights cheering for their commander without caring for the King, she could not help but grow curious.

Seren looked at the knight who had escorted her there and stood there to guard. She remembered he had introduced himself to her earlier.

"Sir Rulf?"

"Yes, Your Majesty? Do you need something?"

"I have a question," she started. "Aren't the knights scared of the King? The way they are cheering for Slayer and mocking the other side is a little bit…"

Sir Rulf answered as if this wasn't the first time someone asked this question. "Your Majesty, I am sure you are aware, our king is called the Devil of Megaris by our enemies." Seeing her nod, he continued, "But if you are to ask the knights who is the true devil…they will say it is Sir Calhoun Sanders. Yes, I do not dare lie, Your Majesty. The knights are more scared of Sir Calhoun than His Majesty the King."

It shocked Seren. "How come?"

Sir Rulf gave an awkward cough.

"His Majesty never interfered with the matters of the knights and had completely left it all to Sir Calhoun. That means, no one can afford to offend our commander and go against him as our commander is more ruthless than the King." He then lowered his voice so that the other ladies wouldn't hear. "No one wants to go through the hellish torture that our commander calls training when he is pissed. Thus, we always pray for our commander to be in the best of moods every single day."

While Seren was talking to Sir Rulf, in the middle of the training grounds, Drayce and Slayer faced each other, offering mocking gazes to each other. No one could hear what the two were talking about amidst the noise.

"So, you ready to get defeated?" Slayer asked. In their every spar, they were not a king and his knight but a pair of swordsmen so there was no need for formality.

"I think it's time for you to let down your knights once again," Drayce countered. After all, this wasn't their first time exchanging swords in public.

"We will see. I hope you won't feel bad to be defeated in front of your wife."

"That moment won't come, but even if I lose, she won't mind," Drayce replied as his finger ran down the flat side of the sword. "I will use only an adult human's strength as today's handicap."

"I am not scared of your supernatural ass," Slayer countered. "Bring it on!"

"No need. I can embarrass your human ass even if I give you a second handicap."

If others had heard their exchange, they would have been dumbfounded. Everyone knew they were friends, but this was at some other level of friendship with the King.

Meanwhile, Seren asked Sir Rulf about how this sparring match came about, and whether there was some special reason for this to happen. After all, being King meant that he was so busy, his schedule was mostly determined even months prior.

Sir Rulf replied, "No, Your Majesty, I don't think I could say there was a particular reason. It's just that…"

Sir Rulf started to narrate what happened the previous day.

Inside the training grounds, Slayer was teaching swordsmanship to Ruven as per Drayce's order, but given Ruven's unstable foundations, he was not able to stand even the academy's advanced sword courses, much less the specialized one-on-one training with Slayer. As expected, he whined all the time.

"Sir Calhoun? How long do I have to repeat this stance? Can't we take a break?"

Slash!

"Until your blocking is no longer a mess, Your Highness."

Thwack!

"Aack—wait, stop! Stop! Stop hitting me!"

Thwack! Thwack!

At first, Slayer was still able to swing his sword at Ruven, but it didn't take long for him to use the flat side of the blade to hit his shaking arms and legs, the same way instructors would to hit trainees with a baton.

"I am still a royal prince! How can you be so cruel to me?" Ruven exclaimed after he fell on his back for the nth time. If he was on his own, he would have loved to simply lay on the ground.

"Please pick up your sword, Your Highness. On the battlefield, letting go of your sword means death."

Despite the grumbling, Ruven obediently grabbed his sword once more and crawled back to his feet. "But we're just training. You already saw that I can't block your attack, yet you still go forward with your attack. What if you hurt me?"

"When I exchange swords with a sparring partner, I don't spare anyone, even the King," Slayer commented as he continued to destroy Ruven's pathetic attempts at receiving his attacks.

"I am sure the King, my brother, must have defeated you all the time, Sir Calhoun. You must be seeking revenge through me, right? I knew it. There are ulterior motives for you hitting me. After all, the Second Brother is the best swordsman in this kingdom."

Slayer held the same emotionless expression, his attacks ruthless. "Why don't you ask the King how many times I had defeated him?"

"Not possible. No one can defeat my brother," Ruven continued to argue.

"Believe what you want to believe, Prince Ruven, but focus on training."

Ruven was not ready to back down. "Are you avoiding talking about your defeats, Sir Calhoun?"

He knew his brother was the most powerful and no one could ever stand a chance to defeat him. He believed, even if one searched the entire continent, no swordsman stronger than his brother could be found.

Slayer simply scoffed and continued to attack Ruven to teach him how to defend himself.

"Your Highness, do not look at where you think I am swinging my sword."

"What nonsense—"

"Look at the blade of the sword itself. It is the blade that will hurt you. So you need to know exactly where it is in order to begin receiving it. That is the first step to blocking or parrying—"

"I know that, Sir! The sword instructors taught that in the academy!"

"Then, why aren't you doing it?"

"It's because my hands and eyes aren't coordinated, obviously!"

As they continued to train, Drayce arrived there to check on his younger brother's progress. After having that nice conversation with his wife about Erebus, Drayce headed back to the Grand Palace but then remembered it's been hours since he left Ruven in Slayer's capable hands.

Ruven did not even notice the newcomer's arrival. His entire body was drenched in sweat and covered in dirt from falling to the ground countless times. He looked so exhausted, it was surprising he was yet to collapse.

"Your Majesty, you have come," he heard Slayer say as he put the sword in his hand back on its sheath. Only then did Ruven realize his brother was there.

Ruven trudged towards him with shaky legs, using the sword like some sort of cane to help his balance. "B-Brother…"

That was all he could say as the rest of his words refused to come out because he was too tired.

Slayer gestured for one of the squires at the side, allowing him to give water to Ruven.

While eyeing his brother who looked half-dead, Drayce asked Slayer. "How was it?"

"Not so good, but as long as he doesn't give up, he will show progress," Slayer replied. Ruven looked at him as if he was looking at his mortal enemy.

"Brother, Sir Calhoun said he defeats you all the time when he spars with you and he is better than you."

Drayce raised a brow at that claim and turned towards Slayer to ask what this was about. Though Slayer didn't say those exact words as Ruven intended to cause conflict, Slayer didn't mind it and instead said, "Isn't it true?"

Drayce knew his brother must be exaggerating but he didn't mind it as well. A strange urge to compete rose within him as he smirked at Slayer. "Why don't we prove my brother wrong?"

"I am sure we will end up proving him right," Slayer countered. "How about tomorrow morning?"

Drayce agreed and this was the outcome of their previous day's talk.