"Instead of making stupid assumptions, why don't you focus your energy on teaching Emma how to use her aeromancy?" Therius asked suddenly. He looked at Xion intently.

Xion rolled his eyes. "Why do you want Emma to learn aeromancy from me? You asked me to spar on purpose too. Looks like you want her to learn something from our session."

"You're right," said Therius.

"Why?"

"Because you're the best aeromancer I know. I don't think even the teachers at the academy will be able to teach her better than you," Therius answered.

Xion frowned. "Hmm ... you're very strange. Aren't you worried that someday she will become stronger than you and defeat you? Or ... do you intend to not keep your promise to her and still force her to marry you even though she could defeat you?"

Lately, Therius did seem acting strangely, and Xion felt he didn't really know his best friend anymore. Everything had changed since Therius met Emma.

"I understand you don't want to teach her because you feel bad for me," said Therius. "But, I am asking you as your best friend ... please help her. I will owe you one if you are willing to teach her and give her some guidance while she is in this ship."

Xion was stunned by Therius' words. He then took a deep breath.

"Hmm ... actually, that's not the reason why I don't want to teach her." He finished his drink and put his cup on the table. "I don't want to be involved in your business. I want to live in peace and not interfere in political matters."

"I know, Xion. I know you. But please do this for my sake," said Therius. "I actually wanted to teach her myself, but I think she is too angry with me to accept my help."

Xion shook his head when he heard Therius' words. "You are very weird. Really weird."

"You may call me weird however you like. But promise me, you will help her, at least while we are in this ship."

Xion was deep in thought. Therius had never asked him for a favor to help other people before. Hmm ... this will be the first.

And, come to think of it, Emma wasn't bad at all. Xion had nothing against her and actually didn't mind helping her a little bit. He only had to sacrifice his relaxing time a little. And, as Therius said, if Xion didn't do anything active for the next six months, he would turn into a sloth.

"All right, I can do it. I will teach her some stuff, so I won't feel bored," Xion commented finally.

"Thank you, Xion," said Therius. "Since you already agreed to this, you can see her in the training room and start. I still have a lot of work to do here."

"Okay."

Xion got up from his seat and walked out with both hands in his pockets, leaving Therius in the library. The prince smiled a little before he focused his attention on some documents on his tablet.

***

Emma decided to rest for a while in her room and calm down. Her first day studying was actually quite fun. In addition to learning many things from her three teachers, the sessions also helped distract her mind from the various problems she was facing.

Inwardly, she felt grateful that Therius had arranged all these activities to keep her busy. Whether Therius did it on purpose to comfort Emma or not, Emma didn't know. She didn't care either.

What was clear, she still did not like Therius because the man had 'kidnapped' her and forced her to do things his way.

Emma secretly compared Therius to Haoran and recalled her first meeting with Haoran in school. It was a nice memory. From the very beginning, Haoran had never forced his way in to approach Emma. And he always helped Emma unconditionally.

Although Haoran had loved Emma from the first time he saw her, he refrained from approaching Emma openly. He created moments so that they could be friends and do many things together. He also improved himself and changed his image as the dumbest troublemaker from Class F into a top student so he could be worthy of Emma.

While Therius... Sigh. He only wanted Emma to become a political pawn in order to secure his position as the future king. He did not even want to admit that he actually liked Emma, ??even though his actions showed quite the opposite.

Such an overbearing and annoying man, Emma grumbled.

She couldn't wait to get to Akkadia soon so she could meet her father and mother and learn from other teachers. She did not want to see Therius every day in class.

She also couldn't wait to see Haoran moved to a more private long-term care facility, so he could be far from Therius's reach.

An hour later, Emma went to the training room. She wanted to see how Xion and Therius trained. She hoped to learn something from them.

When she arrived there, Emma was surprised because she only found Xion. Therius was nowhere to be seen.

"Don't you have a training session with Therius? Where is he?" Emma asked him. She turned her head to the left and right to look for Therius but she could not find him.

"Therius got diarrhea and had to rest," Xion said casually with a grin. He laughed hysterically inwardly when he imagined what would Therius do if he knew Xion smeared his reputation like this.

"Is that true?" Emma squinted, looking at Xion suspiciously. "Hm ... in that case, there's no point in me being here."

When he saw Emma about to turn away, Xion hurriedly stopped her. "Eh ... wait a minute. Did you come here just to see Therius? Don't tell me you like him..."

"What? Watch your mouth ..." Emma snapped. "I'm just here to learn something from your training. If you are not training, I don't want to be here."

"Hey .. wait a minute. Didn't you ask me to be your teacher?" asked Xion, smiling mischievously.

"Yes, I did, and you rejected me."

"I wasn't rejecting you. I was just ..."

"You clearly rejected me by saying you want me to pay you with sex," Emma glared at the handsome man. Xion now was standing at the doorway, blocking her steps to get out of the training room. "Get out of the way."

"I was just joking. You don't seem to have a sense of humor," Xion said. "Now that I think about it, I don't think it's bad if I teach you one or two things. I need to keep myself busy while in the ship anyway, so I don't get bored."

"Is it true?" Emma looked at Xion with a thoughtful look. She could see that the man in front of her looked earnest.

"I'm telling the truth."

"Then ... I won't let my pride get in the way. I will accept your help ..." Emma finally said.

"Good," Xion commented with a smile. He then waved and told Emma to get ready. "Then, we can start now."

"Thank you." Emma nodded. Her face began to show an expression of gratitude.

"All right. First of all, I want to know how good is your ability to control air. You can try to attack me with your aeromancy. Just muster all your power... Don't hesitate."

Xion walked to the center of the training room and stood there. His body stood tall and elegant, ready to accept Emma's attack.

Emma nodded. She closed her eyes and focused on the target in front of her. With all her might, she raised her hands and made a circular motion, then pushed forward.

A powerful blast of wind immediately struck Xion at a very fierce speed. Emma felt her hair and clothes fluttering violently as she sent powerful waves towards Xion.

Gosh...

Instead of toppling Xion or sweeping his body from the floor...Emma could not even sway his clothes or hair.

Xion didn't seem to feel even a breeze coming at him...

This made Emma shocked and felt disappointed with herself. She felt how her power meant nothing to Xion. This made her feel weak and helpless.

Her face immediately turned red as she dropped her hands to the sides dejectedly.

"Why am I so weak?" she asked in a desperate voice.

Xion folded his arms on his chest and raised an eyebrow. "You are not weak. I am just too strong for you."

He walked over to Emma and patted her shoulder. "Don't be sad. For someone who has never received any training from anyone, your abilities are actually quite good. In a way, I can see that you have extraordinary talent."

"If we have to compare our levels ... Which level do you think I am at? And which level are you at?" Emma asked curiously.

She felt devastated because her attack on Xion just now felt like she was an ant, trying to bite an elephant. It was meaningless.

Xion shrugged. "Hmm ... you could say, if I'm an elephant, then you are an ant."

Emma pursed her lips. Her guess was right. She was just an ant in Xion's eyes.

Then, how could she hope to defeat Therius one day? She could guess that Therius was also an elephant compared to Emma.

"I have trained for more than 20 years, to be who I am now. You could say I am now the highest level aeromancer. If you are currently at level 2, then I am at level ten. I have twenty years of training under my belt, and you have basically none." Xion said cheerfully. "But late is better than never. You can start training now and work on your abilities."

Emma sighed. She agreed with Xion.