Catherine and Aycius continued their face-off, and in the blink of an eye, Catherine ran forward. She produced flames in one hand and water in the other. Kyra watched on expectantly.

‘So her second base is fire. Interesting.’ She thought to herself. The blue-eyed woman danced with flames, throwing them towards her father like an expert. She then combined both the fireballs and water, creating steam.

Catherine used the attack as a diversion. She knew her senile father wasn’t the man he once was. He had neither the power nor the strength he once prided himself on. As she flipped into the air, she tore off the gown, revealing the black cropped top and baggy white trousers she wore. A pair of ballerina flats cupped her feet as her hair flew out of its bun.

Aycius coughed as the steam got all around him. He could barely see the silhouette of his daughter, but her mana was enough for him to use to pinpoint where she was. Aycius was not to be underestimated. He used his wind magic to blow the steam away.

Catherine was visible, and he began producing and bending water. Kyra watched as the king whipped the water around Catherine’s feet and dragged her down, causing a loud thud to echo through the throne room.

The said woman coughed up both saliva and blood, and her throat burned. This wasn’t good. Aycius proceeded to create a massive wave of water and push it over Catherine’s body.

The princess was speedy, however. She performed a windmill spin and got back on her feet. Catherine then raised a wall of fire that appeared larger than the wave Aycius had created. The two collided, creating a wave of steam that coated every nook and cranny within the throne room.

Kyra cursed under her breath as the sight of the fight disappeared. Gabriel, on the other hand, was extremely worried for both his father and sister.

Back in the wall of steam, the two Wraiths went toe to toe. Catherine punched her father with an inflamed fist, which landed on his cheek.

A fist-shaped burn mark appeared on the king’s face, and he let out a hiss. The man was quick to retaliate, however. He lifted his arms up, and a tornado began to form. He added water to the mix, and not before long, a large water spout travelled across the throne room.

It destroyed everything in its path, and Kyra watched on in amazement. Not being able to watch much longer, Gabriel stood up and ran from behind the pillar and towards his family.

“STOP!” He exclaimed, sending out a shockwave and dispelling his father’s spell, pushing both Aycuis and Catherine back, and breaking more items within the room.

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“Enough of the fucking fighting. I don't want to be a leading royal! She does! And you’re not knocking at death’s door either. From this fucking day onwards, I’m officially abdicating my place as both prince and crown fucking prince.” Gabriel continued to yell, slowly becoming red in the face.

Kyra watched on in surprise as she slowly walked out from behind the pillar.

“After Kyra is done with my training, I am leaving this place once and for all!” He stopped screaming and left the throne room. However, he made sure to put the fire out with his water and stick his middle finger out at his family.

“Who knew your son was such a brat, aye?” Kyra laughed, looking over at the wraiths. Her smile dropped as unimpressed expressions painted their faces. “I’m leaving.” She quickly said, running after the prince.

******

Outside the gates of Aerion, Luther and his men stood there, their eyes fixated on the palace that piqued through the horizon. They were here, and they were close. Thanks to word spreading around like wildfire, he found out that von Stein was teaching the prince swordsmanship.

“We’ll visit the palace like civilised men and alert the king that the girl he has training his son has killed one of his best men and closest friends. We’ll sit back and watch as Kyra gets her punishment.” He said this as a maniacal smirk grew on his face.

‘I’m starting to feel that it’s more about his father than he’d like to admit.’ Klaus thought.

******

Back at the palace, Gabriel and Kyra stood in the courtyard, staring at the night-filled sky. The flames that consumed the palace had died down, and the staff were dealing with the destruction. The two had been told that Catherine was being held in the dungeon as punishment.

Gabriel knew the feud between his sister and father was far from over. His dad would never allow Gabriel to abdicate and have Catherine take the throne.

“It’s not about my sister being a woman.” He started, his eyes looking down at the grass.

“Huh?” Kyra was confused. “Oh, you mean your sister.” She said,

“My dad is stopping her from becoming queen because he believes it’ll help my mother win.”

“Aah, spousal disputes.” She commented, disinterested. However, Gabriel didn’t get the hint and continued talking, and Kyra couldn’t find it in herself to run off.

“My mother loved all things swords. She had an encyclopaedia of swords, sword styles, and the legends that wielded the swords. It was amazing. She would spend hours reading it to us. My father was a big proponent of magic and wanted us to take the path of being powerful mages, as the place of the sword was no longer important. Kingdoms were putting their best mages on the frontlines and using them to win wars and create diplomatic ties between the kingdoms. I guess it made sense.” He began explaining.

Kyra averted her gaze from the back of the prince’s head. His mother was starting to sound like hers, and she didn’t want those painful memories to resurface. Not to mention Munich and Aycius mimicked each other.

“Our mother had later lost her mind, and slowly the madness consumed her till it killed her. If you were to ask me, I believe my father’s ways had something to do with it.” He spat.

Gabriel then took a deep breath.

“This was the final straw for Catherine. She decided to become general through merit; she was the greatest warrior this palace had ever seen. She used both magic and swordsmanship to dominate the battles she was sent to. So when the news came that she was killed, I couldn’t believe it. I shouldn’t have believed it. There was no one for me to see.” He added.

“That’s how my dad was able to guilt me into swordsmanship. Then I thought if I was overly violent, or if I used the excuse of being treated like a fragile prince to fire enough masters, Father would drop the whole thing and allow me to be.” He concluded his explanation.

“That last part doesn’t make sense. Isaac made it seem like you hated being treated unfairly and you wanted a real master.” Kyra pointed it out.

"Well, in the end, I kind of gave up and embraced the training. Plus, Isaac has the interest of my father before he has mine. He kept pushing the matter as well.” He commented.

“My grandfather did always say, ‘Heavy is the head that wears the crown.’”

“And he’ll be right. Anyway,” he replied. “I think we should turn in for the night.” He stated.

“My bedroom was one of the casualties of the fire.” Kyra spoke.

“Well, you can sleep in my room.” Gabriel spoke.

“Sweet.”