After 10 seconds of laying still on the ground, the juvenile warrior kneeled beside the would-be intruder. She stared at the unmoving figure, wondering how badly she had injured the woman.

“Alda,” she asked, placing a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Are you alright?”

The girl was startled when the woman sprung up into a seated position, almost falling backwards due to how suddenly the woman had gotten up.

“You don’t ask the enemy if they’re okay, Princess Ninon,” the servant said as she pulled the helmet off of her head, allowing her ponytail to fall behind her neck. “But other than that, you did an excellent job. You got me quite well.”

“Please tell me I didn’t hurt you too bad.” the young princess frowned as she followed her sparring partner in removing her own helmet.

“This armor can take punches and kicks well, I’ll just be sore for a bit. Don’t worry,” Alda smiled. “And that play sword wasn’t going to do much to me even if you did land a hit with it.”

“I see,” Ninon nodded as she helped Alda to her feet. “Is there anything I need to improve on?”

“It’s good that you ask. Well, I see that you like thinking outside the box. You didn’t limit yourself to just your weapon and body. You used whatever possible means to take me down. Keep thinking that way and you’ll improve fast. But that last part will need some work. A knife at my throat would’ve been much more impactful than just sitting and asking me if I was fine, wouldn’t it?”

“I… I suppose so.” Ninon sighed.

The girl’s physical strength is something to note, Alda noted. She is truly worthy of both her Karesti and Solich heritages. Knocking me to the ground with only four months of training experience… she will catch up quickly. The only issue is her mentality. She can’t feel for every soul she might have to encounter and cut down.

“It’s okay,” Alda said, patting the girl’s head. “We just need to work on it some more.”

Ninon turned her head to the shrub she’d nearly flattened to the ground.

“I hope Brin doesn’t get upset about that.” Ninon frowned as she thought of the gardener whose qualities created the beautiful garden they were standing in.

“Florberry bushes are extremely resilient,” Alda informed the princess. “It’ll get its shape back by tomorrow morning. He’ll never know.”

“Fantastic work, ladies.” a gleeful voice spoke from the end of the walkway, accompanied by the sound of clapping hands. Alda and Ninon turned to find the voice’s owner standing, a wide grin on his face.

Ninon’s chartreuse eyes appeared brighter than normal as she ran toward him, the well-dressed young man donning a crisp shirt under handsome robes spreading his arms to catch the girl as she jumped onto him.

“Silvan!” she cried as she squeezed her arms around his back. “It’s so good to see you. It has been such a long time!”

“I know,” Silvan admitted as he lowered the girl, allowing her feet to touch the ground again. “Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be wearing your armor. It’s quite heavy. But yes, I’ve been quite busy lately. I took the opportunity to visit as soon as I got it.”

“Were you watching us?” Ninon asked as she led Silvan into the garden.

“I saw everything after you cut the line.” Silvan chuckled. “You gave your opponent a run for her money. Speaking of which…”

Alda approached the two relatives, bowing her head slightly out of respect for the man’s status.

“Pleasure to see you, Your Grace.” Alda spoke pleasantly.

“Good to see you doing well, Alda. I see you’ve got Ninon doing some lessons outside the classroom.”

“A good future empress should be able to protect herself. Wouldn’t you agree, Princess Rhona?”

“Mhm.” Ninon nodded.

Does Rhona know about this? was all Silvan could think of, concluding that the sudden change in the nature of teachings that Alda gave Ninon was a result of the war against Terra. He knew that Rhona went to great lengths to keep Ninon away from Heimat Academy, but not for the same reason Silvan’s own mother did not send him there.

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Alda touched a depression on the back of her armor’s neck, causing it to fall to the ground in one action, revealing a modest shirt that covered up to the middle of her thighs, and thick stockings covering her legs. Ninon did the same, displaying clothes underneath that were not too different from her servant’s.

“Princess Ninon, I’ll go put away our armor. Would it be okay if you stayed in the garden for a short while?” Alda asked.

“Of course.” Ninon nodded humbly.

“Thank you.” Alda said as the armor folded itself via magnets embedded in it, enabling her to neatly pick up both sets with ease, before striding through the walkway.

Alda Silje is no ordinary servant, Silvan noted as Ninon took him by the wrist, leading him to a liquid-methane fountain at the centre of the garden adorned with carvings of their mother Pizna surrounded by various children of hers. She is Ninon’s principal teacher, and on top of that, her combat skills easily rival many captain-rank soldiers in the military. How did she end up being hired by Halsten and his wife?

The two family members sat at the edge of the fountain, and Ninon was ready to speak as soon as they were settled.

“I know just why you came here, Silvan.”

“Is just seeing my favourite little cousin not a sufficient reason?” Silvan chuckled.

Despite the fact that he was the first cousin of Ninon’s father, he was much closer in age to her then he was to him. There were only six years between them as opposed to the 21 years between him and Halsten. Due to that Ninon never treated Silvan like they were a generation apart.

“You wanted to surprise me. The end of my 14th year is soon—in a few hours, actually. I do appreciate that you came, but…”

Ninon trailed off with a sigh, holding her chin in her palms as she rested her elbows on her knees.

“Come on now, what are you feeling so glum about?” Silvan offered a sympathetic smile.

“This birthday is just different. I feel it. I don’t know if it’s because of this silly war, or because of what happened to Aunt Rhona, but I don’t feel excited for it this year. I don’t think anyone else is looking forward to it either.”

“That’s alright. I… I remember the first birthday I had without my father," Silvan said, his voice taking on a tone of reminiscence. "I couldn’t even smile that day. It was only a few months after he passed. The feeling of him being gone was just so fresh and everyone put on a fake grin that day. The guards, the servants, even my own mum. But you know what?”

“What?”

“I’ve had nine birthdays since then. And nothing changes the fact that I get older on each one. That’s always something to be grateful about.”

In a people whose members rarely reached 50, what was supposed to be happy about aging? Ninon didn’t understand, but she did acknowledge that the death of a very close person opened up perspectives other people couldn’t see.

“That’s something to think about. Thanks for telling me.” a soft smile appeared on Ninon’s lips.

“Would you like to head back inside now? Seems like you’ve been out for a long time.” Silvan stood up, offering his arm for Ninon to take.

“Umm… Alda wanted me to wait here, though.”

“Who knows how long she’ll take? Come, let’s go.”

“Alright.” Ninon got to her feet, taking the arm offered to her. At the end of the walkway was a small terrace on one side of the great Karesti Palace. The cousins stepped past the glass doors where they expected to see the walls of the great hall on all sides.

“Why is it so dark?” Ninon asked. Her Detection reflexively activated. Although she knew she and Silvan couldn’t see anyone, she knew they were not alone.

“Alda? Brin? Count Moller?” she cried out the names of the three palace employees she knew would act right away in such an odd situation. But they didn’t respond. Neither did Silvan make any reaction to the darkness of the great hall.

Suddenly a series of crackles hit Ninon’s ears, and then there was light. Before her stood around 80 people dressed in fresh, fine clothing, all with huge smiles on their faces.

“Happy birthday, Princess Ninon!” they cheered in unison. Initially perplexed, she quickly became overcome with elation as she darted toward the seated figure in the middle of the group.

“I can’t believe you’re already out, Aunt Rhona!” the girl leaned over and wrapped her arms around the wheelchair-bound woman’s neck.

“I wouldn’t miss your special day for the world, darling girl,” Rhona squeezed her niece back.

The general had gained consciousness the week before and was healed in most aspects. Much of her spinal cord was still damaged, and a scar below her right eye on her cheek and an eyepatch on her left eye were the only visible traces left of the Red Devil’s battle with her.

“I’ve brought you something special,” Rhona announced as Ninon pulled away. “Lieutenant Colonel?”

Maedoc Antelius stepped forward with a large box-shaped object in his hands.

“For you, Your Highness.” he humbly handed the box to the girl.

There was a latch on the side of the box, enabling it to open it from the top. Rhona nodded, allowing the girl to flip the latch. She nearly dropped the box as a shape sprung out of it. She stepped back to see the thing on the ground, moving, circling around her feet.

“Is that… is that a baby dragon? I thought they went extinct!” the girl’s astonishment quickly transformed into bewilderment, the black-and-purple scaled creature curiously gawking at its new master.

“They were all slain by the Solich’s,” Rhona informed the girl. “But we’ve found eggs all over the moon since then. That fellow is the first one to have successfully hatched.”

“Incredible,” Ninon leaned over so she could touch the young beast, whose quadrupedal height only came up to the princess’ shins. The scales were smooth underneath her palms, but as it grew older they would become harder and pointy. The dragon produced a nasal sound indicating its comfort. “I think I like it already.”

“He’s a boy,” Rhona corrected with a giggle. “Address him correctly. He understands what you say.”

That was the beginning of a splendid night.