Chapter 51Poliana did a quick stretch and grabbed her sword. After hearing the worries of the royal guards, who were strong and fit young men, she felt like she needed to work harder to not embarra.s.s them. She was only a weak Acreian knightess, and Poliana knew that she had to work harder than everyone.
She knew she didn"t have to become physically strong, she knew that she couldn"t become as strong as the men around her. She had no talent in terms of swordplay or any other combat skills. She was much smaller than them, and it was very hard for her to gain muscles. Her stamina and reflex were mediocre at best.
The only thing that she could do was do her best.
Her body needed to be trained to react. It needed to pull out the sword as soon as her brain recognized an attack. And to do so, she needed to practice as much as possible.
Poliana trained during her breaks every day. She did some basic training by herself and when she gets a chance, she asked other knights to spar with her. Sir Donau was her go-to, they sparred with each other so often that Donau now knew all of her moves and tricks.
At first, Poliana won most of the time, but it changed quickly. Lately, Sir Donau won 8 out of his 10 fights with her but despite it, Poliana didn"t feel discouraged. Sir Donau also never underestimated her.
Even though she lost most of the time, none of the knights ever refused her or laughed at her when she asked them for a spar. This made her truly happy.
When Poliana saw Donau on the practice field, she immediately asked him for a practice fight, and he accepted her challenge. They decided to follow their usual rule, which was to fight with the practice swords, which weren"t sharp.
Poliana suddenly said to Donau, "Let"s avoid attacking each other"s faces."
"Really? Why? That"s a surprise coming from you, Sis."
Poliana always preferred the open spar, which meant that the opponents could use whatever moves on whichever areas of the body he or she wanted. So, when she asked him to avoid hitting their faces this time, Sir Donau was confused.
"Royal guards apparently can"t have scars or injuries on the faces," Poliana answered as she remembered what Sir Ainno firmly told her.
"Oh, that makes sense."
Sir Donau nodded in agreement. He had never seen a royal guard that had any deformities on their faces. Poliana unfortunately already had scars on her face, which means normally, she would"ve been disqualified immediately. She also had an uneven skin tone and sunburns, which didn"t help. Her almost-shaved head made it even worse.
After an hour of sparring, Poliana was completely drenched with her own sweat. She used all the tricks she knew, including using her hidden dagger, but she was no match to Sir Donau anymore. Donau told her that he could now tell what she was going to do next just by looking at her eyes.
In the end, Sir Donau"s sword reached Poliana"s neck and she had no choice but to surrender. Lucius the First, who was watching them from afar, clapped and approached them.
"Good work, Donau."
"I am honored, your highness."
"Your skills are improving every day and it makes me very happy, Sir Donau."
"Your highness, please tell me honestly, who is better in terms of our skill with the sword, myself or my older brother, Sir Howe?"
"Your brother, of course. At your age, Sir Howe was able to fight against two knights at a time."
Lucius the First was not shy about telling the truth when it came to things like this. Donau, who had an inferiority complex against his older brother, was obviously disappointed. His shoulders slumped and that"s when Poliana touched his shoulder kindly.
Just as Sir Baufallo was talented at administrative work, Sir Donau was better at the same department than swordplay. However, Donau"s dream has always been becoming a knight. This was why he volunteered to follow his father into this war as his personal help.
Donau believed that someday, he will be recognized as a great knight. As Lucius the First"s knight, he knew it was possible. The two knights, Poliana and Donau, looked at their emperor with utmost trust in their eyes.
Their belief in him was both joy and a burden to Lucius the First. Just as all the other knights trying their best not to disappoint their emperor, the emperor also did his best not to let his men down. This was why Lucius the First had the strongest and most trustworthy army in the continent.
After telling Donau some encouraging words, the emperor walked away. Watching his back, Poliana thought happily how lucky she was to serve such an amazing man. Her young emperor was the most regal leader she has ever seen in her life. Ambitious, responsible, meticulous, and hard-working.
It was truly the greatest honor to serve an emperor like Lucius the First. Poliana"s life changed completely after she met him. For the first time in her life, she gained a purpose for her life. Lucius the First wanted to reach the end of the continent, and if she could die helping him, she would the happiest person in the world.
Poliana gritted her teeth suddenly and turned around towards Sir Donau. There, she asked him, "I would like another round with you."
"I was going to ask you the same thing, Sis."
Without a warning, Poliana raised her sword and attacked him. Sir Donau blocked her move expertly and swung at her himself. He considered Poliana his sister now, and without hesitation, Donau continued to swing at her with all of his strength.
***
Sir Ainno made sure that all of the knights selected for the tournament worked with minimal breaks. He had no sympathy for them as they complained. Some knights, who were talented, seemed to get the hang of the game while the others still appeared to be lost.
Time pa.s.sed on quickly and finally, it was the day before the tournament. They had no more time to practice.
All of their training paid off to some extent. All the knights could ride their horses and hold their lances without falling now but to Sir Ainno, none of them were good enough to enter the game. He was disappointed, but the Bikpa knights who helped them praised that the result was much better than they had expected.
Sir Rabi, who ended up being trained by Sir Ainno, who was younger than him, shuddered in annoyance and anger. He had no choice since Sir Ainno was the only one in the Acreian army that had any experience with regard to this kind of compet.i.tion.
"That b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Ainno! I"m feeling sorry for the stupid royal guards who had to serve him as their leader," Sir Rabi grumbled.
"I agree, Sir! I thought I was going to die from Sir Ainno"s training," Sir Howe agreed with Sir Rabi loudly, but he was one of the three that benefited the most from Sir Ainno"s instruction.
Sirs Rabi, Howe, and Bentier, they were now the best knights that they could offer.
Sir Bentier, the deputy commander, glared at Sir Ainno and contemplated, "He is too good to be left behind during the battles…"
In the past, Sir Bentier had pleaded with his emperor a few times that it would be a huge waste to a.s.sign a great knight like Sir Ainno as a royal guard. Lucius the First had a good common sense. He realized his own importance and therefore just like any other royalties, he rarely went near the frontlines. This meant that Sir Ainno, as his personal guard, was also left behind in the safety of their base. Lucius the First respected Sir Bentier"s opinion and was willing to consider it, but because Sir Ainno was adamant about remaining as a royal guard, there was nothing that could be done to change this situation.
But even so, Sir Bentier still couldn"t give up on it yet.
"I should ask his highness again."