Chapter 72 - Parent’s Day

Dismiya and Cain boarded a carriage to go to the royal castle. Elysse and Dianna watched as they left. 

Ilvalino stood a little bit behind Elysse and Dianna, looking at Cain with pitiful eyes. 

“Have a safe trip. Cain, we will come join you later.” 

“Bye Bye dad! Bye Bye, big brother!” 

Dianna waved to Dismiya and Cain who were waving back from the window as the carriage pulled away. Dianna and her mom were going to watch Cain’s training. Unfortunately, it was a request passed down from the deputy leader.

It seemed that watching the knights train had become popular among the young aristocratic girls. From time to time a “Open House” was planned. If they didn’t host an “Open House” then people would come in secret to watch and that could be dangerous. 

It seemed that a lot of people from a lower status also came to the tour. Naturally, the Duchess and her daughter were not allowed to come on that day, so they had their own private tour instead. 

“It is natural for parents to want to come and see their kids doing their best. If you want to come and see let me know in advance and I can arrange it at any time.” The deputy leader had said to Cain who ended up not telling his parents. 

In the corner of the training area, there was what looked like a turf tent built, inside a small wooden stone burned. There were chairs placed for sitting and that was where Elysse and Dianna watched the guard knight training.  

It could be dangerous if someone’s hand slips during training and the wooden sword flies, or if two swords collided hard a chunk of wood could fly, so the practice was conducted at a distance from the tent. 

“Right now, Cain is practicing with my son Geraint. His younger brother Chris is practicing with his Royal Highness Prince Arundilano.” 

“Oh. So, the deputy leader has two sons who are training to become knights. That is promising.” 

Standing right next to the tent, the deputy leader Fabian Verfadia explained the training. He was older but had a good physique. He praised the young children for working together to improve their skills. 

In fact, due to Cain, Chris, and Arundilano being potential targets, the more they practiced the more skilled they would become. Before, Arundilano had a hard time keeping up with others physically, but now he could participate in the runs before practice. 

They were doing an exercise where they would raise their wooden swords, lower them, pass them on to their partner, practice delivering a blow, then stop. As they were doing the exercise Cain and Geraint were having fun chatting. 

Arundilano was talking happily with Cain as they practiced and Cain stroked Arundilano’s head. When she saw that Dianna stood up and walked in front of the deputy leader. 

“Missus Dianna. It is dangerous to go outside the tent.” 

Fabian kindly cautioned Dianna and tried to usher her back to her seat. However, she stood her ground and said, “Mister deputy leader. Please allow Di to join the training.” 

With a smile, Fabian raised his head. Elysee said in a panic, “I told you, you can only observe!” 

Despite her mother’s outburst, Dianna didn’t look away from Fabian. 

“You can’t wield or dodge a sword in a dress like that.”

As he explained he tried to usher her back to her chair once again, but Dianna refused to move. 

“Il!” Dianna called. 

From his unnoticed place behind her, Ilvalino appeared with a knapsack on his back. He lowered the knapsack and respectfully offered it to Dianna. He lowered his head so that he wouldn’t meet the gaze of Elysee or the butler Parepantle. 

“I have sportswear! Please allow me to join the training!” Dianna requested again with shining eyes that stared straight at Fabian.[Read this novel and other amazing translated novels from the original source at the “Novel Multiverse dot com” website @ novelmultiverse.com]

“Il?!” 

“Ilvalino!” 

Ilvalino picked up the knapsack that previously had the sportswear and held it close to his chest as he ignored the disapproval from Elysee and Parepantle.  

The children and the knights that were training looked toward the tent when noticed something was going on. Fabian scratched his head with a troubled look on his face and contemplated what to do. 

“What is the matter? Has something happened?” 

Arundilano stopped training and began to walk toward the tent as he called out to them. Behind him Cain, Chris, and Geraint followed. Fabian explained that Dianna wanted to join the training. Arundilano let out a breath then nodded as he glanced at Cain. 

“Dianna. You promised you would just watch. Also, those clothes are not suited for training.” 

Cain tried to explain to her in a kind voice, but Dianna proudly presented her sportswear again. Cain looked to Ilvalino who was holding the knapsack reverently with a smirk on his face. When their eyes met Ilvalino looked away awkwardly. 

“If you get injured Dianna, I will cry. So, for today just watch. Dad also said that you can’t use swords.” 

“I want to train with you too, big brother. Di won’t get injured. Please, big brother! You can keep a secret from dad!” 

It wouldn’t be a secret if they trained in the presence of Elysee and Fabian, but that was Dianna’s theory. Seeing Cain’s troubled face Arundilano stepped forward. 

“Why don’t we have a match and see if Dianna can get a touché. Dianna and I are the same age and unlike Chris, I just started training. Would it be okay if you knew that Dianna wouldn’t get hurt?” Arundilano suggested. 

Like he said he had just started but already in the two months he had been training he had gained confidence and was rapidly growing in his ability. 

Of course, Arundilano wanted to show Cain his good side. If he could defeat Dianna without injuring her and cause her to quit as Cain wanted, then he would be praised by Cain for sure. 

At this point, Arundilano only trained with Chris because he was physically weaker than the others, but he wanted to show Cain how much he had improved, since Cain only trained with Geraint. 

Fabian whispered to Elysee, “If she joins and she doesn’t like it she will naturally quiet. I will follow her closely and make sure that she is not hit. So why don’t you let her give it a shot?” 

Elysee allowed Dianna to do one match and cautioned her to not get hurt. 

Dianna changed from her dress into her athletic gear behind the tent, then she took the wooden sword that was handed to her and shook it. She said, “This is a lot heavier than Ariad!” 

Arundilano and Dianna stood facing each other. Arundilano’s mind was filled with thoughts of how he could adjust the way he held his sword for this match. 

Cain stood in front of the tent. His face was pale, and everyone except Ilvalino, thought it was because he loved his little sister and didn’t want to see her get hurt. 

“Begin!” 

At the command of Fabio, Arundilano attempted to raise his sword above his head while taking a step forward. At the same time, she heard the command Dianna lowered her head and crouched down. She thrust one leg forward using her momentum. 

She didn’t raise her sword straight up in front of her but instead raised it to the side a little. Since her body was angled forward the sword followed the path of her body. Dianna swung the sword forward with her core strength as she spun her body. 

There was a dull thwacking sound. Fabian had stepped between Arundilano and Dianna. His palm had blocked Dianna’s sword, preventing it from hitting Arundilano. The other hand was supporting her because had been taken off balance. He released her then touched Arundilano’s arm and lowered his sword. 

“Ouch. That is probably going to leave a bruise tomorrow…”

Fabian said as he shook his injured hand and smiled wryly. Elysee had hidden her mouth with her fan but there was a twinkle in her eye. 

“Cain. You now have a story to tell when you return to the mansion.” 

Fabian whispered to Cain in a low voice that slithered along the ground and was only heard by him.