Episode 82 – Official Training 2 ‘Popular people’

Thank you so much for your support!  It really means a lot!

Episode 82 – Official Training 2 ‘Popular people’

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” Aernest screamed in relief! 

He was proud of himself to have finished before the indicated time! Imagine if he was left behind! He would have been a laughing stock to his two older brothers! Not to mention, it would’ve been a waste to run all this time just to give up halfway!

“ Ha…” Eugene too was breathing quite hard. Many times, her breathings would jump erratically, as if she was drowning and failing to breathe, however she persisted on. Most importantly, she was relieved that she didn’t eat much breakfast today! She reckoned it would have rushed back up her throat by now if she did!

“….This is my first time completing five kilometers in 50 minutes!” Aedelak’s erratic voice sounded out from beside Eugene. 

“First time?” Eugene repeated, turning her head towards Aedelak. Here, sunlight was shining directly into Aedelak’s brown eyes making them look iridescent. Eugene’s eyes got slightly wide from seeing Aedelak look excited for the first time in a while.

“Teacher Rodriguez makes me run with a log once a month. The time limit I got was always 1 hour and 15 minutes but this time we only got one hour to complete the run!” Aedelak panted as she spoke. “It’s my first time finishing before the one hour elder miss!” Aedelak smiled happily. 

“Right!” Duke Rodriguez squatted beside the three. “Next time we should aim for 50 minutes!” Duke Rodriguez nodded with satisfaction at his words. 

“… Right… 50..” Eugene nodded along with Duke Rodriguez’s words. “50 minutes!” Realizing his words, Eugene sat up!

“I will die, sister! I will die!!” Aernest cried out at Duke Rodriguez’s words! He could already feel tears getting ready to burst out from the thought alone!

Five minutes later…

“And… Time is up!” Duke Rodriguez announced, staring at the hourglass. 

Sitting up, the three blanked stared at the empty road with no signs of Aeselak or even Euria who would have caught up by now!

“…. Sister failed..” Aernest muttered, worried for Euria. 

Around 20 minutes after the one-hour goal, Euria arrived! And 40 minutes after Euria arrived, Aeselak managed to run to the end goal looking like a zombie. 

As if the two girls who had arrived late had already formed some sort of camaraderie, they both stuck together and cheered each other up. Surprisingly, the two didn’t cry and after pumping themselves up to study together, they both fell asleep in unison, like a match made in heaven. 

With Duke Marleigh’s arrival, he easily picked up Euria and Aeselak with one hand and carried the unconscious back to the Paladin building. After that, Eugene, Aedelak, and Aernest got ready to begin their flexibility test!

To Eugene’s and Aernest’s horror, this wasn’t a flexibility test they thought it would be! It wasn’t a test to see if they could do splits! 

Flexibility to dodge apples? What the heck was that?! Eugene and Aernest watched in horror as Duke Rodriguez opened up a box filled with alluring apples!

“This is to see how flexible you are at dodging!” Duke Rodriguez smiled whilst Aedelak sighed. 

Like that, Eugene and Aernest watched as Duke Rodriguez played baseball, throwing pitches at Aedelak who was hit 17 times out of 20. 

‘We shouldn’t play with food…’ Eugene blinked, watching a very chaotic scene unfolding in front of her. 

Boink! Boink! Boink!

All the two could hear were sounds of apples bouncing off of Aedelak’s body. Without a doubt, everyone won’t be able to leave without a bruise. 

Soon… it became their turn. 

For a moment, they were grateful that Euria failed running earlier on because without a doubt Euria would have been weeping in pain!!

“Ahhh!” Aernest screamed; an apple striking his head! 

“Focus Aernest!” Duke Rodriguez laughed, pitching an apple towards Aernest. 

“AHHH!” Aernest attempted to dodge but failed.

Aernest looked at Eugene, pleading for her to save him but what can she do! There was no way she could save him! Sensing that Duke Rodriguez was looking at her, she without hesitation jumped behind Aernest, who was then hit a third time! “SISTER!!!!” Aernest shouted, a transparent glaze forming in his eyes. 

“Hmm?” Duke Rodriguez raised his brows and pitched at Eugene again. 

By rolling, Eugene managed to escape his 2nd aim, before getting hit on the back by Duke Rodriguez’s 3rd pitch at her. 

“Ah..” Eugene bobbed from impact. 

“35 apples left!” Duke Rodriguez announced, to Eugene’s and Aernest’s horror. Turning towards each other, Eugene and Aernest bid their farewells, before running separate ways to hide!

Boink! Boink! Plopp! Boink!

A few moments later…

Escape mission = Fail 

Aernest and Eugene stared at the blue sky as they sat on the ground in a daze. Behind them, Aedelak was soothing the two, patting them on their backs. 

They didn’t last long at all with the incoming rains of apples. Out of 40 apples, Eugene managed to dodge 2, whilst Aernest managed to dodge 1. Although Duke Rodriguez didn’t put as much strength to his pitching as he did with Aedelak, they could tell that their bodies were most likely bruised. 

Salty that they didn’t do well, they somehow managed to crawl their way to the Paladin’s building for lunch with their appearances completely neglected.

When Eugene, Aernest, and Aedelak walked in, Euria and Aeselak along with the Knight-Paladins were already sitting, waiting for them. Everyone’s eyes popped out seeing the three’s bird nested hair, and completely dirtied bodies. — Not to mention, the three were limping as if they’ve been through a lot.

“…..” Aeselak crossed her arms feeling shivers going down her spine. ‘It… It was the flexibility test!!’ All of a sudden she felt grateful that she failed the first test!

“Hey…Did you three fight?” Crown Prince Ren stood up from shock! The three only disappeared with Duke Rodriguez for less than 2 hours!  

“Sister! Aedelak! Brother! Are you alright?!” Euria got up after the Crown Prince and inspected Eugene and Aernest from their shoulders down! Out of curiosity, she grabbed Aernest’s shoulder only to get a yelp from him. In a surprise, she took her hands back!

“Sister. Euria… You can’t touch me for 2 days… Please.” Aernest begged, wincing from the pain. His whole body was sore from all the acrobatic movements he performed earlier on. 

“…. Oh..I understand.” Euria stepped back and turned to Eugene. “I can’t touch sister too?” She asked, to which Eugene nodded. “Yes.” 

“Are you regretting?” Louis asked, rubbing salt to their already painful wounds. 

“Yes.” Eugene replied to Louis in her mind but ignored him in real life. Taking a seat directly in front of him, she heard Louis chuckled which further irritated her. 

——

The food in front of them were basic meals prepared by the Imperial kitchen. Although it was prepared by the Imperial Palace, it wasn’t a Luxurious meal and is only prepared to rejuvenate their depleted energy and guard against any foreign substances that may harm the children. 

Without further ado, the military team of the Paladins wolfed down food in no time. Whatever was in front of them they hogged, scaring the knight paladins a bit. Eugene, Aernest, Aedelak, even Euria, and Aeselak did not pause for one minute, wolfing 80% of the food on the table. 

Whilst Eugene filled her stomach to 90% she suddenly noticed something weird. Something incredibly weird. 

“…..” Pausing her lack of table manners, Eugene quietly thought for a bit. There was something wrong with this situation. 

Blinking her eyes, she scanned across the Knight team to look for one particular person. This one particular person who hadn’t uttered one single word even when she, Aernest, and Aedelak arrived looking like a mess; Ramon.

Ramon’s normal reaction would be to run over if he saw something out of place, but this time around he was completely quiet as if he didn’t realize that she was here in the same room.

“What’s wrong with your brother?” Eugene whispered to Aernest who sat to her right.

Already familiar with Eugene’s weird speaking habits, he replied. “He’s your brother as well and I don’t know what’s wrong.” Aernest glanced at Ramon in curiosity. His brother’s eyes were completely out of focus, not to mention his spoon was hanging mid-air. 

“Ask.” Eugene edged Aernest with her elbows.

“Brother Ramon.” Aernest called Ramon without hesitation. His words, however, were ignored, as if the person he called never heard him. 

‘Weird..’ Aernest pursed his lips, turning towards Louis who looked back at him. “What’s wrong with brother Ramon? Brother Louis.” He asked, glancing back and forth between Ramon and Louis. 

“……” His question immediately silenced the whole knight team who were fighting with Euria and Aeselak over food on the table. Ramon’s spoon that never touched food soon dropped with a loud ‘clunk’, silencing the military team as well. 

“……” 

Quiet, and awkwardness filled the room. Ron Graeme’s ears blushed, whilst the Crown Prince and Louis avoided all eye contact. 

“Did something happen brother Ramon?” Euria directly asked Ramon who looked most desperate, as if he wanted to separate his soul from his body to go reincarnate some world else. 

“……..” Ramon only glanced at her from the corner of his eyes before moving his sights elsewhere. His actions meant, please don’t ask.

Eugene stared at Ramon in shock! ‘He ignored his favorite sibling, Euria?’ Eugene tugged her lips. Glancing at Louis, she wiggled her eyebrows, telling him to fess up. 

“Ha..” Louis sighed, raising his shoulders in defeat. “He got a confession.” Louis admitted. 

“What!” Eugene raised her voice! ‘Ah! Slip of character!’ Eugene quickly brought her hands to cover her mouth hanging from the unexpected answer. 

“Brother!” Ramon shouted! Standing up from shock that his brother betrayed him. 

Ramon’s face being as red as a tomato, not to mention, his lips trembling in embarrassment further proved that Louis’ statement were facts. 

“WHATT!!! Brother are you going to get married!!?!?” Euria excitedly shouted out, clapping her hands at the sudden news! All Euria could think of was her mother and father being in love and Ramon soon becoming like them!

“NOO!!” Ramon turned towards Euria and raised his voice at her for the first time in his life.

“……” Eugene blinked watching Ramon, Euria and Louis go at it. From what she sees, Ramon was completely embarrassed, to the extreme spectrum. But… “Isn’t it a good thing?” Eugene questioned.

Her question however made Ron Graeme, and Crown Prince Ren go extremely red, just like Ramon. 

“…..” Eugene frowned. ‘Seriously, what is going on?’ Eugene couldn’t bear to look at the three going red so she turned towards Louis whilst picking up her teacup. Immediately she regretted because he looked at her as if she was an idiot who did not understand anything and as if she had betrayed his expectations of her.  

Irritated, Eugene took a sip of tea. She was way too tired to deal with anyone, however, one thought did pop into her mind and that was. ‘How on earth did Ramon get confessed to in the first place? Weren’t they at the Military, Knights, and Paladins training ground?’

“…..” As if a ‘Ding!’ bell rang in her ears, Eugene immediately spat out tea! “PFFHH!!!” Turning towards Ramon, she stared at him with completely widened eyes! 

“No… way.” Eugene speechless muttered, wiping her mouth with her sleeves. 

Unconsciously, her face, especially her ears, went red from shock. — This did not go unnoticed by anyone. 

“What’s wrong sister? This is so unlike you.” Aernest wiped Eugene clothes that had spilled from her cup. 

“I wonder who it is…” Aernest muttered. It seemed as if his sister had realized something and was not telling him which made him even more curious! 

Euria agreed with Aernest. “I know. I wonder who confessed to brother Ramon!” In deep thoughts, Euria poked her nose with her index finger. “… Did brother leave the training ground?” Euria suddenly asked. 

“Huh? Aernest looked at Euria. 

“I mean.. There are only men here.” Euria’s final words gave Aernest, Aedelak, and Aeselak the enlightenment of Ramon’s scandalous situation.  

“No way…” The three unconsciously muttered, staring at Ramon with big eyes, just like Eugene once did. 

“……………………………………………………” 

Ramon brought his arms up to his face to hide away in embarrassment. 

“Ha…” Eugene softly exhaled. Never in her whole life did she think something like this would happen in this world. Shaking her head, she calmed down from her earlier shock. 

“Congratulations.” Eugene broke the silence. Anyways this was his first confession and something to be congratulated for!

“Huh?” Ramon peeked at Eugene in confusion. 

“Congratulations on your first confession.” Eugene repeated.

“……” 

“Congratulations brother! You are the first one here to be confessed to!” Euria followed up with Eugene’s words and smiled happily for Ramon! 

‘First one?’ Eugene tilted her head. This was noticed by Ron Graeme who immediately questioned her. 

“Why? He’s not the first one?” 

Pursing her lips, Eugene pointed towards the true number one. 

Following her finger, everyone’s gazes landed on the person sitting beside Aernest. 

“…… Sister Aedelak?!?!?” Ron Graeme, Crown Prince, Euria, Aernest, and Aeselak shouted in unison!

“…..” Aedelak bit her lips at the sudden attention she got. Never in her life did she think that she would get exposed like this by her master!

Her silence, however, confirmed Eugene’s words. 

“When? By whom!?!?” Ramon’s curiosity got the best of him, forgetting that he was the main character of today’s event! 

“……” Aedelak opened her mouth wanting to reply, but words didn’t want to come out. 

Seeing Aedelak struggling, Eugene replied in her stead as the main witness. “It was at the library, a good looking person.”

“Young miss!” Aedelak bit her lips, not wanting Eugene to reveal any more. Her red ears were caught by everyone.

“Wow!!” Ron Graeme exclaimed! This was the golden news he was waiting for! 

“Well, sister Aedelak is pretty so it’s not that surprising! Nevertheless, congratulations!” Crown Prince Ren picked up his cup to toast!

“What did you say?” Ramon couldn’t help but ask. When he was confessed to, he did not know what to say except for sorry. 

“Wel… I…” Aedelak mumbled, staring at her fingers. 

“Not my type.” Eugene intervened. 

“Miss!” Aedelak yelped. She wanted to grab Eugene and run away so bad but she knew she couldn’t.

“Hahaha! Sister Aedelak said that? How cruel!” Ron Graeme banged his hands on the table, laughing his guts out!

“Oh dear..” Aedelak blinked her eyes from embarrassment. 

The only reason why she was rude to someone who had confessed to her was that she was surprised she was confessed to in front of Eugene! Not to mention, in a public space!

“…” Louis stared back and forth between everyone before announcing. 

“This isn’t the first time she was confessed to.” 

His comment, made everyone go crazy!

“WHAT!” Everyone screamed!

“If I remember correctly, she was confessed to when we were 3.” Louis tapped the table with his finger. “It happened again when we were 4 and then at 6 years old.” Louis completely rubbed salt to Aedelak’s wounds.

“Eldest Young master!” Aedelak couldn’t believe her ears! When? No! How did he know that?!

“What?!” Everyone was in an uproar once again!

“She’s popular. She’s always followed by children when she was younger.” Louis added again. 

“Hmm…’ Eugene mumbled, pouring herself a new cup of tea whilst watching real-life drama acting out in front of her.

“Eldest Young Master, If I remember correctly as well, there was one child who confessed to you before someone ever confessed to me!!” Aedelak pointed out facts, not willing to take the attack alone anymore. 

With Aedelak’s words, Louis’ eyes naturally got darker, as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.

“What!” Everyone gasped. Louis was the truest number one?!

“What… what happened afterward?!” Ron Graeme’s eyes sparkled, blinding everyone around the table. 

“He… Eldest young master… pushed her into the lake..” 

“….” Her words silenced everyone up once again.

‘ Louis and his tempter. Don’t learn from him, Ramon!’ Eugene shook her head in defeat. 

“I bet he doesn’t even remember…” Eugene mumbled, silently taking Aedelak’s side and throwing shade at Louis. 

“……” (Louis) 

‘What… You really don’t remember?’ Louis’ silence confirmed Eugene’s words and made everyone’s heart skip a beat for the girl who was brave enough to even hold feelings for Louis.  “R.I.P” Everyone shook their head in unison.

“…….” (Louis)