Chapter 2 - Princess Lover!

Isabella Bulwark, Mighty Knight of Harland, was climbing the spiral stairs of the western tower with a big, circular food tray at hand. She radiated an aura of stoic professionalism and purpose like a senior maid.

A senior maid with armor and a sword instead of a uniform and a broom. Many of her fellow knights would see carrying food like a servant demeaning but as a Royal Guard, she did not have such luxuries.

Tending The Princesses' needs fell upon her trusted guards in the absence of reliable servants. In case of any assassination attempt she vigilantly watched Lord Alvin's cook's every step. He first minced the meat into very small pieces with a curved cleaver. Then added some salt, black pepper, and flour and proceeded to knead it like dough for five minutes. After cooking the patties he made in a large pan, he prepared three big plates of them with rice, baked potatoes, and salad on the side. Isabella chose a random plate and made the man eat it in front of her.

Seeing he was doing fine after waiting for ten minutes, she put the remaining two plates and a bottle of sealed wine she randomly grabbed from the cellar on the tray and went straight to the western tower of the small castle where Princess Marie currently resided.

After finishing the stairs and reaching her destination, she greeted Nathan and Archibold, other Royal Guards, with a short nod. They replied in kind and cleared the way.

Knock Knock

"Come in."

Marie lift her head from the documents in front of her and looked at the visitor with joy first and confusion right after on her face.

"Bella! Why are you here? Did something happen?"

"I brought lunch, Your Highness."

"Oh... It's noon already isn't it? I swear it feels like we just had breakfast. I am wasting so much time."

It was upsetting to see her too hard on herself.

Although the face she makes when she is frustrated is so cute. Isabella couldn't help but think.

Her cheeks becomes as red as her hair. Truly, pale-skinned women are a gift from the heavens for all the suffering we mortals have to endure.

"You are looking at me like a sixty years old man again."

"I was thinking about how cute you are." She answered sheepishly and put the tray on the dining table.

"Now come and eat before you work yourself to death."

"How can I refuse my knight in shining armor." Princess smiled and took a chair after giving Isabella a quick kiss on the lips.

"I had them prepare a local delicacy for you."

"Really? I thought they didn't have much to offer on the culinary front since nothing grows out here."

"Our host, Lord Alvin would be offended by that remark."

"That's why we are eating here and not in the common hall with him dear." Marie chuckled.

"Let's see If you can say that after tasting such a fine example of their cuisine. Behold, meat patties with potato and rice!"

They both broke into laughter and started digging into their plates.

They talked about how they missed eating cinnamon duck in the royal gardens and other good old memories. Neither of them was willing to spoil the mood by bringing up their oncoming clash with Marie's little brother, Peter.

"I need to go back to work. There are still ravens to send to my supporters amongst the nobility. Not that any of them will dare to send help when I am trapped like a rat here and Peter holds my only exit."

"Do you have to? I can see how all this stress is affecting you. I think a little break would help." Isabella asked with a concerned tone.

"Hmm. A couple of hours can't hurt, could be helpful even with the right... distraction."

Without another word, she started to kiss Isabella's neck and take off her armor piece by piece.

***

Nathan and Archibold ignored the moaning, short screams, and giggles coming from the room. The relationship between Princess Marie and Isabella Bulwark was already an open secret amongst the upper echelons of Harland society.

"I really missed Her Majesty's old chambers in the royal palace," Nathan said after thirty minutes."They had soundproofing enchantments."

Archibold didn't answer.

***

Rachel woke up three hours after her father left the city. Not fully rested but she felt energized enough to brave the rest of the day.

If I wasn't in too deep to quit I would rid of this cursed skill right away.

[Insomnia] is normally a status effect like [Starvation]. A person gets it after long periods of insufficient sleep and needs a long rest or healing from a priest to remove it.

Due to her ambition Rachel spent her teenage years as a night owl, training day and night, often ending up with [Insomnia] and needing a few days of rest. With repetition, she realized although the effect made her restless and weak It also compensated for sleep and let her function barely. She never got a good night's sleep under Its effect but she was never completely out of commission either.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

So as any good masochist would do, Rachel withheld the treatment and kept pushing herself with very little sleep. For a month she refused to get healed and continue training. Just when she was nearing her limit the system rewarded her with a skill version of the [Insomnia] effect.

**Ding!** You have willingly inflicted yourself time and time again with Insomnia, refusing treatment just to keep going and utterly destroying your natural sleep cycle. Now, you can utilize it to train even more.

[Utilized Insomnia]: You require very little sleep to function and can never sleep more than three hours a day. Quality of sleep is determined by skill level.

As promised the skill allowed Rachel to train more every day but made her feel miserable all the time.

It never let her just shrug off the sleep deprivation entirely but every skill level made it slightly more bearable.

I will sleep for a year after replacing it and throw a big party when I wake up to celebrate.

[Utilized Insomnia] occupied a valuable general skill slot. In theory, she could use it indefinitely as a training cheat but the rewards would diminish when she reached higher tier classes and skills that are harder to level.

She got off the bed and took in the room with a yawn. Most of her two dozen roommates were in physical training with Captain Lancer right now. five night-shifters like her were asleep, Ruth and four other girls she forgot the name of.

She focused on [Detailed Senses] and smelled her body.

Not horrible but I should take a bath while everyone else is either sleeping or training.

She took two buckets from their shared bathroom and left for the quartermaster's office to get hot water.

In most military encampments, Quartermasters usually settled close to the armory or food cellars depending on the circumstances but Princess Marie's personal forces had a different set of priorities. The most valuable possession they had was an enchanted metal plate. The Princess gifted it to them so her soldiers would always have hot water. On their first day in Barerock, Quartermaster Liam had them prepare a water basin and dropped the magically heated plate inside of it so they could use the steaming water to bathe.

She reached the quartermaster's room next to the water basin and knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"Good morning Sir."

"Good morning soldier. What brings you here?"

"I need hot water for a bath Sir."

"Really? Did Lancer finish morning training early?"

"No Sir. I was on patrol last night."

"Oh, that makes sense. You are Rachel, right? The one who doesn't sleep."

That surprised Rachel.

"How do you know that?"

"Heh. Did you think nobody noticed you doing burpees in the training yard all night? One of the servants woke up Lancer once, saying a weird woman was jumping from wall to wall with one hand."

Rachel's cheeks reddened.

"I didn't think it would be a problem."

The old man waved his hand dismissively.

"Don't worry we've all gotten used to it. Now let's get you some hot water."

They left the office and went for the water basin next to it. The Quartermaster opened the door to the small wooden building with no windows and hot steam rushed out.

Rachel filled her buckets from the pool inside. She thanked the old man and prepared to leave.

"Young Rachel... I was wondering something but I am not sure how to ask without seeming rude."

"What is it, Sir?"

"Do you perhaps have a skill to help you stay awake?"

She frowned without even realizing it. The superior military officer had a right to ask for such personal information but it was still considered rude.

"Yes, I do."

I hope he doesn't ask for more detail.

"Excellent. I apologize for the intrusion but I might require some help from you with a personal project. I won't share the details now but come see me after your next night patrol. If you agree, Captain Lancer shouldn't complain since we will be using your free time."

"Yes Sir."

Does he need me to collect some herbs? I hope it's not shopping. It can't be shopping there are people for that already... Right?

***

She left the man behind and went straight to her room with two buckets of water. Confirming the other occupants were still asleep, she quickly took off her clothes and go to the bath, an empty room with wooden stools, buckets, a mirror, and a drainage for water.

Rachel took a moment to examine and appreciate her body in the mirror. Her arms, legs, and abdomen were covered tightly with powerful muscles and just the right amount of body fat.

Easily worth all the sleepless nights of busting my ass off.

After unlocking [Utilized Insomnia] four years ago, She suddenly found herself with too much free time at hand and started doing intense general body exercises. Her muscles never gotten too big due to her one-quarter elvish blood but they increased in volume and become stronger every year. Most people only did the bodily exercise for familiarising themselves with their stats. Rachel did it to gain strength. Her stats didn't change but she felt her base strength rise every month. She was faster and stronger even without any stat increases.

She undid the messy bun and let her shoulder-length dark blonde hair fall free. Two bright golden irises like her father's gazed back at her with approval from the mirror.

I guess all this time I spent in the military made me forget how hot I become. I must take this baby on a tour when we go back to the capitol. I don't even remember the last time I wore anything other than armor or night robes.

After meticulously washing her hair, she scrubbed clean every inch of her body clean with a washcloth and soap twice. She dried herself with a towel and put on a shirt and pants.

I am too sore for physical training right now. This could be a good time to work on [Detailed Senses]. It started to fall back.

She left her room and went for the watch tower. Highest venture point in the barracks. At the end of a ten-meter climb, she found a man in a scout uniform staring down at her.

"Hi, Mark."

"Hi, Rachel. Here for meditation again?"

"Yeah... I am still allowed, right? It's been a while."

"As long as you don't distract me and sit down with complete silence it should be fine."

She gave the man a nod and sit down on the platform without making any noise. Eyes closed, Rachel started to listen... everything.

[Detailed Senses]: You can use your sensory organs to their limits and single out different stimuli to analyze at will.

Mark's breathing noise became clear. The slow rhythm of a scout, expert observer. She matched her breathing to his and tried to empty her head for five minutes. After reaching the point that she copied Mark's breathing pattern without effort she directed her attention to the background sound.

Wind, a bird, yelling and talking from the training yard. Yelling should be coming from Captain Lancer.

She focused on his voice and ignored the rest.

"Are you ... me ...dier!"

"Talk louder you moron! This is the army, not a library!"

***

Rachel checked her breathing after a few hours of eavesdropping on her Captain and fellow soldiers.

Still synced with Mark's without focusing on it. Just like the last 5 times.

She frowned,

So why in the hell I can't level the damned skill for months? How much more detail does it need?

Fuck this, I can maybe replace it with an easier-to-level skill and max it before tier 3 class ascension? Ugh, no way! I don't have any choice but to max this one. Taking a new skill would...

"Rachel. It's time."

"Wh... What?" She opened her eyes. "Mark?"

"They are about to ring the noon bell. I didn't want you to startle like the last time."

"Oh thank you." She flashed a slightly embarrassed smile at him.

"You're welcome. Now kindly leave my platform please."

She gave the watcher a nod and climbed down the stairs, starting to walk towards the dining hall with quick steps.

Captain Lancer never ends the training early. I should be able to take my food before the queue forms. I wonder what's on the menu? I swear to gods if it's meat patties and rice again there will be blood. I never thought I would miss the vegetables.

STATUS:

Name: Rachel Goldenhorn

Age: 21

Vitality: 12

Might: 17

Dexterity: 15

Mind: 8

Free Stats:0

Overachiever Militia Lvl 19

Class Skills (4/4):

Detailed Senses (Tier II): Lvl 5

Formation Fighting (Tier II): Lvl 6

Fleet-Footed (Tier II): Lvl 9

Weak Spot (Tier II): Lvl 7

General Skills (4/4):

Flow (Tier II): Lvl 9

Utilized Insomnia (Tier I): Lvl 10

Tenacity (Tier II): Lvl 7

Make-do Swordsmanship (Tier II): Lvl 8