Chapter 30: Weakling (3)

Author's Note: Here's the chapter. As always, let me know if you find a mistake, and please follow, rate, and favorite since it really helps bring more visibility ^^

'You're giving me the choice to watch one of the two swordmasters in the kingdom train my siblings and the palace guards, and all I have to do is get beaten black and blue during a sparring match?'

"Sure, why not?" Caellum nodded in acceptance.

'What a fantastic opportunity.'

'Who cared about a little loss of dignity and a few bruises? The body would heal, and it was an important chance to gain an awareness of the strength of those around him.'

'Seeing a sword master up close and not as an enemy was an invaluable lesson, especially because Caellum had suspicions about how Hollow had won his fight. And if he could see the rest of his siblings in action, it certainly wouldn't hurt.'

'High risk, high reward, and I'll immediately surrender if the beating is too rough. It wasn't like the knight commander was going to let him die in front of all these people while he was still on palace grounds, right?'

"This is not just one spar where you quit as you like. The match doesn't end until I say so or until there's a winner, according to my criteria," the knight commander repeated, not liking the unseriousness of the 13th prince's response.

He could see that those purple eyes were plotting something and could smell the stench of a coward coming from the 13th prince.

Hearing the knight commander's words, Caellum clicked his tongue in disappointment.

'Damn perceptive old man.'

"Well, I still accept. But are you going to coach me, or are you going to let me get beaten up? These hands of mine have never held a training sword before, so I'm not exactly sure what goes on in a spar. What if I do it wrong?" Caellum held out his pale hands that were callused from doing chores, not from holding a weapon.

"You're not a child. If you can get into a bar fight after wasting your life away by drinking, you can figure out the basics of holding a sword and swinging it in the right direction. Before you get any coaching, it's better to see what skills the 13th prince possesses, if there are any at all. 6th princess?"

The knight commander turned to Francesca, who was still glaring at Caellum off to the side.

"Yes, sir."

"Since you're the weakest one here, you'll be the sparring partner of the 13th prince today."

"Do I have to? He looks so weak." Francesca gave Caellum a disparaging look, but Caellum simply nodded in agreement.

"You're right, I'm very weak. Most likely weaker than a child, so please take it easy on me and don't beat me up too badly, 6th princess."

"You- don't you have any dignity as a man? Aren't you ashamed to say that aloud?"

"Not at all. I'm a weakling, and I recognize that even if the knight commander called you weak, I can't compare to you. People should be self-aware. It makes going through life easier."

"Wh-what is wrong with you?!" Francesca could only stare at Caellum with her mouth open. Had he always been this cowardly and shameless?

"Perhaps a maid dropped me as a child? Or perhaps all of the terrible things I was forced to eat finally caught up with me and gave me mental damage," Caellum quipped, causing Emrys to snort quietly while the 12th prince gave him an empty stare.

"Enough! This is not a place of play. Both of you, to the ring." The knight commander ordered with a disgusted look at Caellum before turning to the guards standing in formation.

"One of you, preferably the one who's interested in being assigned as the 13th prince's guard and eventual knight, go get the 13th prince a training sword. It seems he came to the training grounds unprepared."

The guards stared at each other silently; nobody wanted to move or be associated with Caellum until a familiar female voice sounded out from the back.

"I'll do it."

When Caellum turned, he saw Zahra step out of the formation and move to the front with a resolute face.

"Name?" The knight commander's face was cold as he looked at her.

"It's Foxvaine, sir."

"You're still here?" The knight commander's tone was even colder than it had been when he was speaking to Caellum.

"Yes, sir. I've been working hard at every post I've been assigned." Zahra replied, her expression calm and unbothered.

"Do you understand what you're doing by volunteering?"

"Yes, sir," Zahra replied resolutely while a couple of the guards snickered.

"Your loss. Go fetch the 13th prince a training sword." The knight commander ordered.

"Yes, sir."

As Zahra ran off, Caellum glanced between the two people thoughtfully before noting down which guards were snickering and which ones cracked a smile.

'Is there some history that I'm not aware of here? I thought he was just a shitty boss who didn't promote hard workers. Don't tell me he's sexist? Nah, it can't be since he's training the 6th princess. Did Zahra do something to him? But she's so diligent.'

'Maybe Yaga gave him food poisoning, and he's taking his anger out on Zahra?'

The possibilities were endless, so Caellum decided to focus on subtly stretching his stiff body while Francesca laughed at him rather than think about it.

Zahra quickly returned with a petite wooden weapon that was closer to a dagger in size than a sword.

Meeting Caellum's eyes, Zahra carefully handed it over with a polite bow.

"Here you go, your highness. I brought the lightest weapon we have since I thought you might prefer something easy to wield over reach, and it's wrapped for left-handed use since I notice you prefer that hand."

"Thank you." Caellum swung the smaller training sword around with a satisfied nod.

It wasn't too heavy, and just like Zahra said, the handle felt good in his left-handed grip.

"Of course, your highness. Good luck with the spar." Zahra bowed politely at Caellum.

"Get back in your position, guard." The knight commander ordered with a still displeased expression.

"Yes, sir."

As Zahra stepped back in line, Caellum followed the knight commander as he led them to a square sparring ring packed with dirt.

As he and the 6th princess stood at the center, the rest of the attendees spread out. The three princes and the knight commander on one side, and the rest of the guards spaced in groups of 2 or three people, except for Zahra, who stood alone.

Cracking his neck, Caellum glanced at the knight commander expectantly while examining his surroundings.

"This is a training spar that will test your skills or lack of them. First to five strikes wins. If you run away or run out of the ring, then the match is over, and you'll be disqualified. 13th Prince, am I clear?" The knight commander looked specifically at Caellum, who saluted with the wooden sword.

"Crystal."

"6th princess. Try not to disgrace my teachings."

"Yes, sir," Francesca replied as she held her sword at the ready position.

"Begin!"

At the knight commander's shout, Francesca immediately dashed forward and whipped the sword directly at Caellum's neck, in a swift move meant to end the match and probably his life in one quick stroke.

Having expected her to do something dramatic based on that brash personality, Caellum gracelessly fell to the ground, picking up a fistful of dirt and quickly throwing it at her face.

"Eeek!"

As Francesca tried to avoid the dirt that flew into her eyes and mouth, Caellum dashed forward, tripping her with his sword, then smacking her five times on the same leg before retreating as far as he could while Francesca fell to the ground, her sword dropping as she wiped at her dirty face and eyes.

Looking at the knight commander, the stoic princes, and the guards who had immediately quieted down as they stared at him, Caellum smiled cheekily.

"I think I won, right? Lucky~."

"You- you cheated!" Francesca sputtered from the ground as she glared at Caellum with a dirty face.

"How?"

"You threw dirt at me!"

"So?"

Caellum didn't understand what the problem was.

"That's cheating! That's a weakling's way of fighting." Francesca yelled angrily as she hopped to her feet.

'Are you stupid? Miss princess, this is how weaklings fight! You think I can go head-to-head with you, who's been receiving training for who knows how long? With this body? I would die immediately! Look, I'm already out of breath!'

"I won, right? Do I have to keep going, Commander?" Caellum asked the knight commander, deciding to ignore the completely unreasonable 6th princess.

Instead of responding to Caellum, the knight commander turned to chastise Francesca.

"That was a completely pathetic showing, 6th princess. Completely disgraceful and a waste of the years spent looking over your training."

"It's because he cheated! I don't accept the result! Let's go again! You! Fight me again." Francesca hopped to her feet and pointed her retrieved wooden sword at Caellum.

"No, thank you. I'm satisfied with the sparring result. Who's to say I'll be so lucky next time?" Caellum said as he backed away while keeping an eye on the fuming Francesca, who was stomping her foot like a raging bull.

Truthfully, he hadn't expected to win, so he was quite satisfied with the result and had no desire to challenge fate.

"I said again!"

"Knight commander, sir? Don't you think I've done enough?" Caellum quickly pleaded for leniency.

The knight commander stared at Caellum with a stern expression.

While he didn't like the way Caellum won using cowardly, dirty tactics, technically, it wasn't wrong. In a battle, anything was allowed.

But that didn't mean he would encourage cowardly behavior.

Meeting the 13th prince's eyes, the knight commander gave the order.

"Again. Begin."

"Yes!"

As Francesca dashed toward him at high speed, murder clear as day in her amber eyes, Caellum immediately turned and began running for his life.

Unfortunately-

Whack!
Whack!

"Stop running, you damn weakling!"

The 6th princess immediately closed the gap and, with unbelievable strength, struck both his legs twice in a row and sent him flying forward into the ground.

As Caellum rolled in the dirt, his arms protecting his head, before he could even orient himself, 3 strong blows quickly struck both his arms and his chest, completely knocking the wind out of him.

While he lay there gasping as he tried to get a breath of air, a shadowed figure stood over him before a dull object dug into his throat.

"Surrender, weakling."

Wheeze.
Wheeze.

He couldn't breathe.

"I said surrender!"

'You've won. What more do you want?'

Instead of responding, all Caellum could do was gasp for air as a throbbing pain radiated through his chest.

"Francesca, leave him be."

"Pathetic."

"Shameful."

With the sound of the princess talking and guards murmuring as the backdrop, Caellum forced himself to try to get a proper breath until he could finally take a deep breath. Then another one.

By the time he finally caught his breath and was able to stand up, Francesca had walked back over to the princes and knight commander, leaving Caellum covered in dirt and standing alone in the training ring.

As he met the knight commander's eyes, the man snorted in annoyance.

"That was a disgraceful showing. For both of you, but especially you, 6th princess."

"But I won the match!" Francesca protested.

"The skill and strength level between the two of you is like the distance between the eastern and western continents. You should have never lost the first round. No need to come train with me next month, I can see that your skills have regressed, and you need to go back to the basics." The knight commander chastised.

"But-"

"Enough!" the knight commanders shouted. Francesca snapped her mouth shut and shot a glare at Caellum, making it clear that she blamed him for this.

"Pteh." Caellum spat out a mouthful of dirt while ignoring her and staring at the knight commander.

"May I stay and watch the rest of the sparring today? I technically won one round, right?"

"I wouldn't consider that a win, but it was certainly a waste of time. You talked about being self-aware. Get out and watch. Hopefully, you learn something." The knight commander pointed to Caellum, who found the energy to salute sloppily before staggering out of the fighting ring.

Everything was aching, and his legs were shaking, but at least he had made it through the forced spar without being knocked unconscious, losing teeth, or getting a nosebleed, which was a win in his books.

When he stepped out, guards and his siblings shifted to the side, leaving him to stand alone, which suited Caellum just fine since he didn't have to struggle to get a good look at the ring.

'Now, if he could get a chair so he didn't have to stand, it would be perfect.'

'Would he still be able to see properly if he sat on the ground?'

"12th prince. 9th prince. Show them what a proper spar should look like." The knight commander ordered the two younger princes, who were his priority today.

"Yes, sir! I hope you'll actually fight today, Emrys," the 12th prince replied enthusiastically while sending a challenging look toward Emrys, who smiled gently.

"Please take it easy on me, 12th brother."

As the two princes stepped into the ring, a quiet voice got Caellum's attention.

"I brought you a seat, your highness. It looked like you needed it, so please sit down. And I also brought you some water to rinse your mouth and face as well."

When Caellum glanced to the side, he saw Zahra who was holding a simple wooden stool with a cushion and a pitcher and cup of water, he actually wanted to shed tears.

'This…wasn't she an angel?'

'Who cared about her fighting skills. With this much care and attention to detail, he should just knight her for the next couple of months before passing her over to Emrys.'

"Thank you."

"Of course."

With a relaxed heart and mind that completely ignored the people staring at him, Caellum sat comfortably, rinsed his face and mouth, and prepared to watch a spar between princes.