To say that the once spotless, the well-maintained room had been destroyed beyond repair wouldn't be a far stretch as Granny walked out dragging Nyx by the neck like a kitten.

While Nyx's face hadn't been touched, probably because she would soon be going out in public, dark bruises could be seen on her arm's and legs, causing her scars to stand out even more impressively.

While Nyx and Granny fought, Harold and the guards were standing in the hallway talking. The guards, trying to block out the sound of their charge being beaten in the nearby room, wanted to discern who Granny was. However, Harold kept changing the subject, telling them it was better if they didn't know.

But what both sides agreed on, was that the old woman that was called Granny by the prince was something else. Ignoring her strength, she had got Nyx to talk within five minutes of meeting her, a feat everyone else had failed in even with a weeks head start.

Nyx's head hung low while her mind was lost in thought.

The old woman had been the first cultivator she had ever fought that had not been trying to kill or capture her. Knowing it was impossible to win, Nyx decided to use their fight as a chance to practice and try out different techniques.

As if sensing Nyx's mindset change from wanting to kill her into wanting to practice and refine skills, Granny was more than happy to hold back even more and even provided some pointers.

However, no matter how much Nyx's actions delighted her, Granny was on a schedule and was forced to end their sparring session with Nyx's crushing, one-sided defeat.

Nyx mumbled something, so faint that not even Granny, with her exceptional hearing, could hear.

"What was that?" asked the old woman as she lifted Nyx as if she was weightless until they were face to face. While the princess's change in attitude was for the better, at least in her eyes, Granny knew that she needed to be firm or the spoilt girl would run amok sooner or later, especially when she gained more strength.

Nyx sighed in her heart, she had already spoken so what did it matter. It was becoming annoying not saying anything anyway. It didn't mean she had to answer every question. She could just be selectively deaf after all. "Just wait until next time."

Granny had half been expecting an insult, so when she heard that not only wasn't Nyx intimidated by her power but was even planning on fighting again, she couldn't help but smile. "Ha, and I feared you had turned feral and lost your mind. Good. This is good. You will need this mindset for the trials you are about to face."

The old woman's words were foreboding, but before Nyx could ponder them, Granny had picked up her bag, the one Harold had rescued and walked into a nearby, empty room before closing the door.

What sounded like another fight erupted from the other side of the door a few minutes later, but after a thud that shook the wall, everything went quiet again.

The expressions on the guard's faces were smug, feeling Nyx was receiving her due for what she had put them through the night before, but Harold was looking anxious and couldn't help but pace.

He was a layer three core cultivator at the age of sixteen not because of his genius, but because of the old woman. Just thinking about the training he had endured, and what might be happening to Nyx, caused him to sweat.

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Five minutes later, both women walked out of the room. A conflicted look of victory and defeat on their faces.

For Nyx, she had been forced into a blue, overly ornate dress. A white shirt underneath covered Nyx's cleavage, and the dress covered her shoulders and upper arms. Long white gloves covered the rest of her exposed skin so that only her neck and face were revealed, hiding all of her scars from view.

Her black hair had been brushed and clipped back on one side in a hairstyle that was popular in noble circles at the moment for women with short hair. However, it was clear that Nyx was extremely uncomfortable with it, continually twitching her head as if to try and dislodge the hairclip.

This had been Grannys victory. The bra that remained in her bag, as well as the high heel shoes, had been her defeat.

Granny couldn't help by a sigh, she kind of understood the princesses reluctance with the bra, at least thought she did, as she cultivated body arts herself. In the end, after another minor confrontation, they had compromised by binding her chest with wraps.

Though it made the dress's cups a little baggy, limiting Nyx already small bust size, it wasn't like the princess was going on a date or to a political event.

However, not wanting to wear the shoes continued to baffle Granny.

"Spoilt brat, I hope you stand on broken glass," huffed granny in a somewhat defeated voice. The blue dress only came to Nyx's ankles, and so, at the moment, she was standing barefoot.

This, like the bra, was one of the things Granny felt she wouldn't be able to beat into the princess and while it was still possible to achieve, returning with an unconscious princess or one that had been tied up, was definitely a worse outcome.

Nyx cringed a little, remembering the time at the manor when she had lacerated her foot. However, even with that painful reminder, she didn't regret her decision.

The high heels in the old woman's bag would only hinder her ability to attack, defend or if the chance arrived, escape.

Looking up at Granny, who was looking back with a mocking smile, Nyx had the feeling as if the old woman could read her mind. Sighing Nyx felt her shoulders drop. She knew that escaping with Granny around was as unlikely as her growing wings and flying away.

With a signal from Granny, the guards formed up around them, and they started walking towards the massive, square stairwell at the centre of the floor. They were currently on the top floor, thirteen stories high, and so, it would take a while to reach the ground floor, especially with all of the makeshift barriers that had been set up to keep Nyx in.

Nyx couldn't help but sigh as she passed all the guards, pretty much one for every doorway or large window, some even standing at points were the corridors merged.

As they passed, Nyx couldn't help but notice the look of happiness and relief evident on their faces.

Typically they would only provide security for essential locations or events, but wouldn't need to do much. The role of keeping Nyx inside the building, while the royal guard locked down the surrounding area, however, had been anything but easy.

Someone, nobody knew who, had given the princess the nickname of Shadow Princess, and when they were amongst friends, this is what they would call her.

When they reached the fourth floor, Nyx glanced into the double doors that opened into the stairwell and saw a horde of children, staring out at her. They had apparently come to see the princess passing.

Nyx felt a shiver crawl down her spine as her steps faltered. It wasn't the children, but the number of eyes that had locked onto her that caused a minor phobia from her original life to surface.

Nyx had never been good with too many people focusing on her, feeling incredibly self-conscious and threatened. This was another reason why she felt so attracted to the darkness, something that could hide and protect her.

Luckily the children were being held back by a few nurses, and without sparing another glance at them, or responding to their cheers and waves, Nyx increased her pace.

Both Granny and Harold displayed a complex expression at this, believing that it was due to what happened to the princess body that she had such a reaction when seeing children.

If they had thought about it more, they might not have told the nurses of the child ward that the princess would be passing, but at the time, they thought that seeing the young, smiling faces of children would help her to relax.

Watching Nyx's pensive, uptight appearance as they descended the last few flights of stairs seemed to prove their thoughts, however, little did they know that Nyx had already completely forgotten about the children. Instead, she had a sinking feeling that what she was about to experience would be much worse.