CHAPTER 21 – TRIMESTER BREAK

Claude’s decree allowed me to speed up many of my plans that would have otherwise taken much longer. I was currently twelve turning thirteen, which meant I would have to wait for at least another three years to join any organisation.

Now by the end of this year, I would be able to fast track my career and directly enter the military. The best part was because this was an independent battalion under Ingrid’s control it meant that no general, or anyone higher rank than me, would be able to control this unit. The only people that could give this battalion any orders were Claude who was the head of state, Ingrid who had been given direct control of the battalion and finally, you had me who would become the commander.

The downside to this was that this battalion was completely new. Everything would have to be put together at the time of conception. In addition, I still had not received the rank of Lieutenant colonel yet, so I had no military power or authority. This meant that I could not even prepare for the battalion. Any military unit no matter how big or small, all required supplies and support units.

It was too late to think of these issues now. Claude and Ingrid had long gone back to the palace. I could only wait for another opportunity to get at least Ingrid’s help in obtaining supplies and support units for the battalion.

However, now was not the time for such things as I was sleepy. In addition, I also needed to rest up for tomorrow. Tomorrow would mark the first day I would lead a group of one thousand recruits. It would also be my first step in becoming a military commander.

The next morning, I was standing in front of the one thousand recruits that had been placed under my command. The crowd before me was by no means the largest I had ever seen, nor was it the most intimidating, but strangely enough I was more nervous standing before these sixteen-year-old recruits than when I was standing before thousands of gods. Mentally psyching myself up, I started my speech that I only had one hour to prepare.

“Good morning recruits. I am Princess Ayra Asteri Kar.”

With the mention of my name, the whole crowd was filled with noise. While it was no secret at all that I was attending this academy, it was not like many of the recruits realised that I was a princess. I had not been actively promoting the fact either. So, when I so publicly announced my name, it was not surprising that it caused a reaction from the crowd. Waiting for the recruits to calm down I continued.

“Today, you will be officially placed into a new training routine under my direct supervision and command. It will be dissimilar to the training you had previously received, but, not completely foreign. You will be expected to work hard, and I will push you to work hard.

The previous officers that oversaw your training will also be joining you in many of the training sessions, but there will also be times where you will be training without them.

You will be placed in squads of five members. You will eat, sleep, train, and work with those members until your training is over, so I recommend you be civil with each other. The military is about discipline and mutual respect.

While none of you have officially joined the armies of Kar, you are all still provisional members. Your conduct here will equally affect the appearance and stability of the army.

So, I advise all the recruits here today to respect each other and to work together. An army is an army only because of its numbers.

You are to all report to your training instructors who will organise you all into your respective squads. You are now all dismissed.”

Watching as all these young recruits scattering into a large, disorganised mess I was worried about their prospective futures. Walking off the stage I met with my friends who had volunteered their recruits into the new training routine. Many of my classmates did, but I could only take one thousand recruits altogether. In the end, only the first twenty classmates that had volunteered got the chance to be placed under my supervision.

Even though I had studied here in the academy for more than half a year, and I often talked with my classmates during and after classes, I could not say that I was very close with them. Thus, it had gotten to the point in which they would jump at the opportunity to work or talk with me. This was one of those occasions.

My friends and I would try to be social when we could but, in the end, we were quite sheltered in our upbringing and did not have many common topics to talk about. It often just ended up with either we started the topic and they joined in, or we just stayed in our little friendship group.

One such example would be right now. My friends who had been waiting for me below the stage were joined by a few of our classmate that had also volunteered their recruits. They were talking about how to encourage independent thought and whether it was a good idea, to begin with. All my friends thought it was a good idea and most of my classmates did so as well, but there were a few students that had a strong elitist mentality.

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Unsurprisingly they were all from noble supremacist families that liked to push through with their noble titles that they had inherited. Many of these nobles were on the decline as they were mainly a bunch of useless wastrels that leach off their land and people. However, there were a few that were more hard-working, and I was often wary of these people. Ingrid and Claude had also warned me on many occasions to be most wary of them.

The reason why I had even let these few individuals with such questionable and archaic views was that I wanted to keep an eye on them. If I could make them think that I had let my guard down around them, I could learn more about this group of hedonistic nobles and help rid the kingdom of its leaches.

However, for now, I could only wait and pretend that I was unaware of such things, acting like the sheltered princess that I was.

Days and weeks went by before the second-trimester break arrived. This would be the first long break that the recruits had experienced. The last time we had a break the recruits had not even started their training and now they were all able to protect themselves if anything. They were still just halfway into their training it would take them a while to get up to an acceptable standard so they will continue their training when they enter one of the nine armies.

There at the nine armies of Kar, they will gain something no amount of training can give. Experience was also something that I also lacked. In training without any stakes, I could easily perform well and even have the time to try out new things. This was not the case during wars and battles. Every second and decision matters, when you have countless lives at stake.

Therefore, after thinking it through, when I take control of the independent battalion, I will have to slowly gain experience by leading smaller missions before being fully combat-ready and moving onto larger missions. However, knowing Claude he probably already intended for it to be like this placing the battalion under the one person that would pay attention to every detail.

With the trimester break finally here, I could rest easy now and stop thinking about all these complex things. It is called a break because you break off from whatever you are doing. During this break, I would most likely visit the orphanage that I had visited last time. I should also ask Claude about how general Harlow was doing in Zenith. I did not remember to ask him about it last time here was here at the academy.

Hopping onto our horse Erika and I made our trip back to the palaces, with the afternoon sun shining high above the sky.

I did not immediately head to the main palace to find Claude this time round, but back to my Lily palace to drop off my belongings. The maids around the palace were all happy to see me finally back again and noted that I had grown taller.

Now that they mentioned it, I had grown taller. I used to be only one hundred and fifty centimetres tall, but I was now one hundred and sixty-seven centimetres tall. While I did not notice most of the time because I liked to wear loose clothing, but my breasts were also starting to develop. I do not know whether it was because of my now balanced diet or just plain genetics at work but I was glad that they finally started to develop. In my last life, my breast was not very prominent and if you were to be direct about it you could simply call me flat. It was strange because mum had at least a D cup but mine was like my results in school, which was a solid A. It was the one regret I had in my last life.

Now that they were properly growing, I would probably need to start wearing a bra or something like that, with how active I was I do not want to chafe them. Maybe, I can ask Erika about it, but as I turned towards her and noticed how similar she was to my last life I decided against it. It is probably better to ask Ingrid instead. I am sure she will be happy to help me.

So, not wasting any time I head towards the main palace in search of Ingrid. Like always, I did not find Ingrid in her office or room but in Claude’s office instead. Can these two not be apart for even an hour? What will they do when Ingrid is pregnant and cannot move around as much?

Who knew my prediction would be so spot on and a few days later, we found out that she was pregnant? But enough about that, I needed to get Ingrid alone, so I could ask her about feminine matters that Claude did not need to know about.

Once we were alone, I learnt that there was in fact thing I could wear that could support my growing breasts. The first option she gave me was the corsets that women from noble families liked to wear, to make them seem skinny. They worked and were simple enough to wear, but they are uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. They were also impractical in the sense that they were not made for individuals that had to move around a lot. So, this option was instantly ruled out.

The second option was made like a corset for the top part but did not have a waist binder. Basically, it was a bra of sorts. It could support your breast without making your waist uncomfortable. They could support the chest but focused more on aesthetics and shape. Ingrid told me that it was what she usually used when she was not working out.

Which lead me to the third option which was a sports bra, and exactly what I needed. It was made using an elastic and breathable fleece from a magic beast that I found out was the same as the alpacas from the club for the weary students. Praise the almighty and powerful alpacas. Back to the sports bra, it was able to support and minimise movement, while also being breathable and wick away sweat. Ingrid had used them when she was an active adventurer.

Once I knew what I needed I asked a maid to have a tailor come in tomorrow, to have some custom made for me. As a princess it was practically unthinkable for me to use off the shelf products, that may or may not fit me well. It was better to get a tailor in to get everything perfect on the first try.

Once we returned to Claude’s office, I asked him about how general Harlow was doing. I found that the situation there had become much better after general Harlow’s third army arrived. They were able to drive the monsters away from populated areas and were planning on conducting a final push to eliminate the vampire lords.

Hearing the news that general Harlow was fine, I could not have been happier. I had spent many days thinking about how he was. I was even tempted to prophesise what was to come, but thinking of mum’s warning, I stopped myself. The threat of apocalyptic events can be very convincing.