Talia quickly arrived at the training grounds alongside Kaelyn.

She could already see the familiar figures of Ritson, Ben, Oscar alongside the other trainees.

Each of them had a determined look in their eyes as they stared down at the mob of nobles facing them.

The nobles each resembled the stereotypical young master, adorned in bright, expensive-looking clothing offering little practicality in these duels whatsoever.

In the lead was Edward who even among such a pompous group still managed to stand out as the biggest eyesore among them.

His dress was by far the most flamboyant of the group adorned with a gold tint and other precious jewels shining in an array of different colours, however, even with the ridiculous display of wealth she couldn’t help but snicker at the sight of his ridiculous outfit.

In her eyes over the top colour scheme made him appear like a round peacock.

Edward let out an over-the-top laugh soon as he saw her his confidence reinvigorated after the scolding he received last time.

Eyeing the figure beside him as if to search for his approval he said, “Look who it is! If it isn’t the fool of a Princess, have you come to watch the show? Why not come over here and accompany us whilst we give these plebeians a trashing! I’ll tell you what, I’ll even let you sit on my lap…”

Edward laughed even more as if he came up with the funniest joke ever.

However realising no one seemed to find what he said funny, he stared sternly at his entourage next to him who upon realising it was their queue to join in all began laughing exaggeratedly.

Edward's confidence inflated greatly after seeing the nobles find his words amusing.

Yet staring at the silent figure beside him a frown appeared on his face as he said, “Oh yes that reminds me, didn’t these fools' parents make you spar this fool, Alistair, in an attempt to try and tutor her the sword? At the time she was so disdainful… only focusing on magic, looking down on you Warriors, now look at her just a crippled burden, useless, if your parents were alive I bet they’d be disappointed they sired such a piece of trash…”

Edward let out another burst of laughter which the nobles followed.

Alistair on the other hand remained expressionless as he stared at the beautiful girl across from him.

Among the group of nobles, he looked like a complete outlier. His clothing which appeared simple was good quality material with high resistance to damage. A sword was sheathed at his waist and his presence gave a sense of pressure.

Despite not being dressed flamboyantly as the other nobles he had the biggest sense of presence among them.

His dark emerald eyes gave off a cold feeling and were filled with oppressive power making it difficult to maintain eye contact.

Despite having cold, unyielding features this did not diminish his handsome appearance at all.

The trainees looked across in rage, all of them clenching their fists in fury at such disrespect at their Princess.

A few wanted to rush over towards Edward now and beat the arrogant look off his face but were held back by their more rational teammates who knew it would only cause more trouble if they allowed themselves to be provoked.

Talia just stared at Edward coldly as she said, “I see… so that’s how you want to begin this with, you feel brave now that you have your escort with you, do you? I wonder if they’ll all be fighting your battles for you today… or you’ll just sit there as every last one of them is sent beaten back by the commoners you despise.”

Edward just stared back in shock with an open mouth at how brazen Talia stared at him despite the intimidating presence of the man beside him.

However just as he was about to reply Talia once again interrupted, “That comment about my parents, you’ll regret that…”

Edward was about to refute mockingly but felt himself go silent as he made eye contact with the cold blue eyes from Talia which at that moment emitted a terrifying pressure as he instinctively felt his legs shake in fear as he gulped.

He only returned to his sense when Talia turned her back and began chattering brightly with the trainees ignoring him and the nobles completely.

“Hmph… I’ll show that bitch I swear!” He was about to go on another rant but realised that the person next to his gaze appeared to turn cold at his ramblings.

“Oh I meant… that we need to re-educate the Princess on her parent's behalf, my Father is the regent and even he has found the Princess's arrogance has grown far too much recently… she needs to be taught a lesson or two…” Edward attempted to curry favour with the individual next to him making his words appear more eloquent.

“Hmm…” Alistair replied shortly showing clear no interest in communicating further with Edward.

Edward's gaze turned cold as he turned to the nobles.

His thought was brought back to the mocking words of the Princess, ‘Making me look like a fool, hmmm? I’ll see how you’ll mock me once all your friends are lying on the ground crippled, then you’ll share at least something in common…’

Edwards's words turned venomous as he said, “I want you to hurt each of them… make sure none of them will be able to lift a sword again…”

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The noble eyes widened a bit at the harshness of his words but still all planned to obey.

In the end, they had no choice, the Governor held the largest influence at the moment and was most likely to take over the Kingdom, Edward being his son meant they had to listen to him seriously.

Alistair on the other hand seemed to be the only one among them in deep thought as he stared at the Princess’s back view curiously.

‘Just like how I remember…’ the memories of the previous feisty, strong Princess appeared in his mind since her illness he felt that he had lost that person forever but now she seemed to have returned.

‘Maybe Father was wrong...’ he thought thinking about his Father’s judgment of the Governor as someone capable of rebuilding the Kingdom if a man like that could raise a son like Edward he didn’t see why he would be a trustworthy to rule the Kingdom.

‘Yet… just why do you seem so confident?’ Alistair knew the noble's strengths well, although they seemed like a bunch of clowns in reality each of them had received structured training from a young age with the best resources, even if one was untalented, receiving such nurturing would make them somewhat capable and each of these nobles at the very least possessed average talent.

At that moment Talia who was chatting with the trainees seemed to have noticed something turning around she met the eyes of Alistair who was surprised at how intensely she stared back into his eyes.

Alistair who had been expressionless the entire time for the first time smirked and Talia who saw his response scowled turning back to the group of trainees continuing their discussion.

A bright look filled Alistair's eyes as a mischievous glint came across his features, ‘That look... very familiar’ he couldn't help but almost burst into laughter feeling a wave of nostalgia thinking back to when a younger version of the Princess gave him the same glare.

‘Let’s see what you have planned...’ Alistair thought eager to watch the show about to unfold. He had a strange feeling things were not going to go well for Edward.

‘That guy…’ Talia thought not knowing how to respond to him.

He stood alongside Edward, such a despicable person, even if he didn’t usually associate with such a character just standing alongside him demoted your value in her eyes.

It also was clear what Edwards's aim was from the beginning was to form allegiances with his Father the Duke and Talia didn’t believe Alistair was foolish enough to not be able to see through this.

‘I wonder what his aim is...’ Talia thought not able to read the cold-looking youth at all.

Before she could think further the figure of the Drill Sergeant and another fancy dressed man in military uniform appeared.

The Drill Sergeant was here to represent the trainees whereas the man dressed in a luxurious military uniform she assumed was high ranking military officer following the Governor.

Edward's eyes lit up upon seeing the fancily dressed man as he shouted not caring about ranks at all, “Hey! My Father’s not paying you to be this damn slow... Start the matches already, I want these fools to be begging for mercy!”

Seeing Edwards's excited appearance a wave of disdain filled the trainee's gaze.

‘Openly revealing such corruption! Even if your Father has such influence he wouldn't be so stupid to flaunt his position!’ they thought.

Alistair shared the same feeling as even he couldn't resist as a look of disgust filled his features.

Edward though didn’t seem to pick up these gazes at all as he still arrogantly strutted around like a proud peacock.

The fancy-dressed military official seemed a bit embarrassed by his words but didn't dare refuse him.

‘His Father truly raised such a trash of a son...’ he thought but he still said, “Alright... Let’s begin, we agreed beforehand the matches will be 1v1 everyone will have the opportunity to fight an opponent... We will track the score and decide a winner at the end depending on all aspects.”

The man was truly clever even with the odds stacked in the noble's favour he left some leeway in the circumstance they may lose for them to claim some face.

The Drill Sergeant also saw through him and snickered, ‘It doesn't matter how you see this up... If you lose every match let me see how you can claim anything from this but a humiliating defeat...’

The first noble was sent to the arena to the boisterous cheers of the noble.

“Go on Edgar! Show that commoner the power of us nobles!” said a noble.

“Yeah teach that arrogant Princess a lesson!” another noble said.

Edward was smiling through all this, very relaxed and confident, he couldn’t wait to see the crushing victory.

On the other hand, the trainees appeared professional as a trainee entered the arena opposite the noble.

Although they cheered him on they didn't do it with any boasting or offensive remarks towards the nobles.

Edgar stood across his opponent a look of disdain filling his gaze as he stared at the trainee dressed in cheap, simple clothing.

He spat on the ground in front of the trainee as he said, “Disgusting that someone like you can be allowed into the military... when the Governor takes power I look forward to the reforms kicking out filth like you...”

The trainee stood opposite remained calm despite the provocation of his opponent.

He already knew about such extremist nobles who only believed military training should be given to those of superior birth.

Commoners and those from the poor background were only good at being cannon fodder in the eyes of these nobles.

Beforehand the previous rulers were kind and unjust and did not look favourably upon these nobles, suppressing them gradually moving them out of important positions since they believe this was the right way for the Kingdom to move forward.

The Governor on the other hand undid all of this hard work over the years restoring their influence because he knew they would openly support his position since they had no loyalty to the previous rulers, he could also use this opportunity to further tarnish the Princesses name blaming the trouble they caused on her incompetence.

Although the trainee gave off a feeling of steadiness unaffected by the nobles taunting his hands turned red from how hard he squeezed his weapon.

An officiator came between them readying to start the match.

Seeing the looks between him and Edward it was clear he had been set up beforehand as a dirty tactic.

Edgar nodded at the officiator who immediately started the match without warning.

“I’m going to break you...” Edgar said as he charged perfectly in sync with the officiator.

The trainee on the other hand showed no shock whatsoever as he easily parried Edgar’s reckless charge.

Using his momentum against him Edgar could not even react as he felt his vision go black as he received a backhanded strike sending him into the realm of unconsciousness.

The officiator stood there in shock a blank stare on his face as he saw the pitiful state of Edgar knocked cleaned out on the floor.

Edward who was smiling triumphantly a moment ago mouth was wide open in shock.

The trainees on the other hand cheered loudly as Talia directly said to the officiator, “So, what are you waiting for? Announce the winner...”

The officiator just stared blankly briefly looking at Edward before begrudgingly saying, “Match won by Trainees!”

The trainees continued to celebrate whilst the nobles stared with glum looks on their faces, things already not going how they had planned.

Talia just smirked thinking, ‘This is just the start...’