Two hours were spent with JiYeong attacking Mathieu and being easily blocked.

Or Mathieu attacking and JiYeong not accurately blocking any of his attacks. By the end of the day she’d once again found herself collapsed onto the ground, body bruised and sore from the amount of times he’d caught, slammed or thrown her to the ground.

The most frustrating part was that just a few days ago she’d been able to pin the Faerie so easily. Why was it so much harder now to get a single hit on Mathieu?

“Again you surprise me.” Mathieu said, hands on his hips. He was watching her, that familiar amused look on his face. “You did a lot better than I expected.”

JiYeong closed her eyes, biting back the retort she had for him. It was a compliment, however backhanded. Just take it, and move on. “I don’t see how any of that was good. I didn’t get a single hit on you.”

“None of my trained Knights can hit me either.” Mathieu held a hand out expectantly. There was a barely there grunt when he all but pulled her to her feet with little help from her. “You are a fast learner, JiYeong.”

The sound of her name coming from him caused her to freeze. It was strange, though not unpleasant.

“Ready to go again?”

“You really are trying to kill me, aren’t you?”

Mathieu laughed at that. Something else JiYeong was finding she didn’t mind hearing. “I assure you, I mean you no harm.” He gestured for her to follow him out of the Training Room. “I for one am famished.”

“We just ate lunch like two hours ago.”

“We also just went through two hours of physical activity. You burned off anything you ate for lunch.”

The lightheartedness JiYeong was getting from Mathieu, while refreshing, felt like a personality shift. It made sense that the more comfortable he felt with her the less guarded he would be, but JiYeong couldn’t help but feel taken aback. After all, she’d only apologized just that morning. Was that all it took for him to not be so cold with her?

His underhanded compliments were going to take some getting used to.

“I didn’t burn off anything. I just got thrown around the whole time.”

“You will get better.” Mathieu held open the doors to the dining hall. “You can’t get any worse.”

⚔⚔⚔

The next morning JiYeong found herself awake before Shiloh came to her room. Even though she was wide awake she found she didn’t want to get out of bed; it was warm and comfortable and JiYeong was hoping she could fall back asleep.

Her hopes were dashed as roughly ten minutes later Shiloh knocked lightly on the door, opening it when she heard JiYeong groan in response.

“Miss? Are you awake already? I was expecting to have to fight you awake.”

“I am. Too early.”

“It is earlier than it was yesterday.” Shiloh pulled the covers back, holding her hand out. “You might actually make it in time for breakfast.”

“There’s breakfast?" JiYeong yawned. "Was there breakfast yesterday?”

“Yes of course. You refused to wake up though, so you missed it.”

JiYeong didn’t eat breakfast very often so missing it wasn't a big deal. But the food in Allumia had actual benefits. She relinquished the warm bed, finally taking Shiloh’s outstretched hand and standing. “Darn.”

“You’ll miss it again today if you don’t put a pep in your step.” Shiloh pushed JiYeong towards the Bath.

JiYeong's hair was put into a ponytail again, this time a few strands in the front being braided back after she complained about them falling out of the ponytail and into her face the day before.

Shiloh led her to the dining room, where Mathieu was sitting at the table, arms folded. He didn’t look as awake as he had yesterday, something she found amusing.

“Good morning Prince Mathieu.” Shiloh said, bowing lightly. Mathieu gave a slight nod, not really looking at her. So he seemed surprised when JiYeong sat across from him, folding her hands on the table.

“Ah, you actually woke up early, Champion?” His already deep voice was gravelly and gruff, it was clear he’d just woken up. Her stomach flipped at the sound and she cleared her throat.

“It’s not that early, Captain.” If he insisted on calling her by a title she would return the favor every time.

Luvie and Sustea came into the room, each carrying a plate and a cup of what looked like milk. Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she remembered food in Allumia Crossing had other benefits outside of just sustenance. As she pulled the milk towards her, she tried to wrack her brain for exactly what boosts they would need for training.

Come on Ji, you’re a Culinarian for goodness sake, you should know this! She took a sip of her milk, almost immediately feeling the lingering bits of her sleepiness slip away. The drink was halfway gone before she vaguely remembered something about stamina in the item description.

JiYeong figured that was why Mathieu looked so chipper yesterday. And why he didn’t seem to be bothered by running so much.

“Yesterday wasn’t too bad was it?” He questioned as she began scooping food into her mouth.

“I couldn’t feel anything when we were done.”

Mathieu had a pile of eggs and ham on his fork, toast between his fingers. It was dry. “What do they teach you once you leave Swordman training?”

“Not hand-to-hand combat.”

Mathieu made a face, muttering under his breath. JiYeong was only able to catch “I’ve told them they need to revamp their training” before he pushed his empty plate away and downed his milk. “Do you always eat this slow?”

“Are you always this inquisitive?” JiYeong questioned back, not waiting for an answer as she focused on finishing her meal.

He didn’t reply, simply waiting for her to finish eating so they could head outside.

“So Champion, tell me, how old are you?”

It was a sudden question, one JiYeong wasn’t expecting. Not that he hadn’t bombarded her with questions between the kitchen and arriving outside, but she hadn’t gotten one about her personal self yet.

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“Er…twenty-three?” It came out as more of a question than she'd intended and she winced.

“Twenty-three? A lot younger than I expected.” Mathieu hummed.

“Do I look old?” JiYeong didn’t know how else to take that statement. It was surprising considering the amount of people who assume she was a teenager.

“That is not what I meant. Champions are usually much older than twenty-three. And despite your more...well...you act much older than you seem.”

"Is that a bad thing?"

Mathieu simply smiled and began running.

“Hey!"

The sound of his laughter drifted to her ears as she struggled to catch up to him. Her stomach knotted. It wasn’t a bad sound. The desire to hear it again caught her off guard.

“What are your parents like?”

The question came as she finally reached his side and she nearly stumbled. They didn’t normally talk while running, mostly because JiYeong focused on breathing and not collapsing.

His sudden interest in her personal life was throwing her off, and it took her a moment before responding. Questions about her training or where she was from was fine when she didn’t have to scramble for an answer. This...this made it seem as if he wanted to know her, JiYeong and not the Champion, and she didn't know how to feel about that. She cleared her throat. “I don’t know. I never got a chance to know them.”

A glance up showed her Mathieu’s surprised expression. Questions about her parents didn’t bother JiYeong as much as they did when she was little. She’d been asked about them so often after people learned she lived in foster homes she’d become desensitized to the topic. “How do you mean?”

JiYeong shrugged as well as she could while running. “I don’t know where my dad is and my mom died in an accident.”

“What type of accident?”

“My birth.”

Mathieu slowed to a stop. JiYeong followed suit.

“You consider your birth an accident?”

The conversation had taken a turn she was not prepared for. Most people accepted the fact that it had been an accident and left it at that. After all she was a baby and couldn’t have been expected to know exactly how she died. “Accident” was the easiest explanation.

Being the cause of her mother's death, directly or otherwise, was not something JiYeong had ever given much thought. It wasn’t a good feeling by a longshot but it was one she had learned to accept.

“I mean not really my birth, I guess. But I’m sure she didn’t plan on dying that day.”

“And your father?”

“I was told he stuck around until I was about three and then disappeared. I don’t remember him much.”

“I’m sorry.” He had a sympathetic expression on his face. It was making her uncomfortable and she looked away. “Our father passed away when we were young. In a hunting accident following our tenth birthday. It was...hard for us.”

“At least you had your mom.” JiYeong ran a hand through her hair. It snagged on the ponytail causing her to wince.

“Yes. At least we had that much.” He grew quiet and JiYeong looked back up to find he’d looked away from her, seeming to contemplate his next words. He shook his head lightly, clicking his tongue. “Let’s go.” And he took off running, once again forcing her to catch up.

⚔⚔⚔

“How old are you?"

They'd stopped for a brief break. It had been a quiet run, their conversation hanging over them like a thick fog. They were finally becoming friends, she thought, and JiYeong didn’t want the rest of the day to be affected.

The sun was starting to come up and though she was still winded, she found she was less tired than she had been the day before.

"I am twenty-five." Mathieu answered, adjusting his low ponytail.

A look of shock passed over JiYeong’s features. She tilted her head to study him. While he didn't look young, he certainly didn't look twenty-five. JiYeong shouldn’t have been surprised though, considering the physical shape he was in. "Did you start training at thirteen like others do in the Academy?"

Mathieu nodded, his hands going to his hips. He didn’t seem as unwilling to talk about this as he had been when she’d asked the day we met. "I started Swordsman training at thirteen. I was a Knight by fifteen and a Lord Knight at twenty."

"You haven't wanted to go any higher in rankings?" From what she understood there was a ranking higher than Lord Knight. It hadn't been a playable class, and she hadn't known about it until talking to Shiloh this morning about it.

"Being a Lord Knight is enough for me, for the moment. I never wanted a lot of added responsibility, and going as high as say, Lord Commander would be too much."

JiYeong nodded, taking the hand offered to her. Contrary to her first words to him, she couldn’t imagine being a Prince was a very easy job, even if he wasn’t next in line for the throne. Adding in being the Captain of a squad, no matter the size, and it had to be a stressful job.

Working as a cashier was stressful enough. She didn’t know how she was going to handle this Champion business.

JiYeong brushed her leggings off and sighed. "Round two?"

⚔⚔⚔

Lunch was a sandwich, mixed vegetables and tea. JiYeong wasn't too keen on eating the vegetables, making a face at them as she sat at the table and noticed them on the plate.

"Are you sure you are 23?" Mathieu asked. He watched as she pushed the vegetables around her plate. It wasn’t like she wanted to waste the food provided for her but there was a brussels sprout on the plate mixed in with the cauliflower and carrots.

"Pretty sure I know how old I am. Vegetables are gross."

"They are good for you. They will give you energy." Mathieu had already finished most of his vegetables and was working on his sandwich. He picked up his tea, taking a sip. "Eat them.”

"You're not the boss of me." He looked at her pointedly and she stuck her tongue out at him in response.

Mathieu lowered his cup and took the fork from her plate, stabbing a piece of broccoli and holding it to her mouth. "Say 'ahh'."

He laughed when JiYeong snatched the fork from him, shoving the broccoli in her mouth. The sight of the blush slowly crawling up her throat to her cheeks drew more chuckles from his chest. “I can feed myself.” She grumbled as she felt her face growing hotter.

⚔⚔⚔

JiYeong peeled off her tunic, leaving her in just the fitted undershirt and leggings. Though breakfast had definitely helped with stamina, it did nothing for making her not feel so hot. They'd only been training for an hour and she was sweating and slightly out of breath.

After she tossed her clothes to the side she turned back to Mathieu, dreading what was to come. His eyes moved slowly down her body and it wasn’t until JiYeong shifted her feet that his eyes met hers. Her stomach flipped at the heat behind his gaze. “Hit me.”

It was a request JiYeong hadn’t been able to fulfill yet, still being easily blocked or dodged. But still she came at him, aiming a fist at his gut. At least she’d learned not to go for the face.

Mathieu caught her easily by the wrist and pinned her to the wall, his face dangerously close. It knocked the breath out of her and she sucked in a gasp. And did absolutely nothing to quell the swarm of butterflies that’d taken residence in her stomach. "You are still hesitating before making contact. Are you afraid to hurt me?"

"I couldn't hurt you if I tried."

"You are supposed to be trying JiYeong." It was the second time he'd said her name but it was still strange hearing it. JiYeong felt her stomach flip once more and she frowned - though at the words or the feelings though, she wasn’t sure.

"I am trying. You're just better than me."

"Well yes, but my mother did not name you Champion for no reason." He pushed away from her, flicking her nose. "Again."

⚔⚔⚔

"Do you have a secondary profession?"

It was break time again. JiYeong was laying on her back on the training mat, refusing to move.

Mathieu sat next to her, leaning back on his arms and crossing his ankles. He'd taken his tunic off as well, leaving him in a tight fitting t-shirt. She tried her hardest not to stare. "Being a Prince is my secondary job."

JiYeong rolled her eyes. She should have known he would respond like that. Even though today was the first day they’d actually had conversations, it was surprisingly easy to see just how sarcastic he was. Surprising because she wouldn’t have been able to tell that from just looking at him. Especially not from the first few encounters. It was a drastic change from even yesterday. "So being a Lord Knight is all you do?"

"Being a prince is not just a title. Just because I am not next to be king does not mean I do not have duties in the kingdom."

"That isn't what I meant." She murmured, frowning a bit. Despite his intentions with his words, JiYeong couldn’t help the small feeling of guilt. He seemed far too busy to be sitting with her, eating and teaching her things she should already know.

"What about you, Champion?"

"Well Your Royal Highness, I chose Culinary as my secondary profession."

Mathieu rose an eyebrow at that, having the nerve to look shocked yet again. "You cook?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?"

"Most who choose the path of a warrior do not often choose a service profession as their secondary job."

"Cooking is a handy skill to have." JiYeong rose to lean against her elbows. She looked up at him, hair falling around her shoulders. It had come out of it’s ponytail midway through training. "I spent a lot of time by myself, and I wasn't always close to a town to buy myself a meal."

"I suppose that makes sense."

"Besides," she continued. "What if something happens and I can't fight anymore? I need something to make me money."

"The realm would be losing one of its greatest allies." Mathieu muttered, tilting his head back.

She watched him, a strange feeling filling her chest. She took a breath and swallowed it down, letting out a soft sigh. "Maybe."