Back to the second day after the Noctem Dolls invasion.

Francis stood on the practice field, gripping the massive sword that was nearly as tall as he was. He swung it back and forth in strong, fluid motions, his muscles flexing with each swing. He practiced tirelessly, determined to build his strength and master the unwieldy weapon that he adored.

As Francis continued to swing the sword with impressive ease, several soldiers gathered behind him, their voices hushed with awed admiration.

"How long has he been swinging that sword?" one asked, eyeing Francis with astonishment.

The soldiers watched in silent awe as Francis continued his practice; even his movements were untidy.

"He's been doing it since this morning; it's probably been 7 hours."

"The prince hasn't rested either. What's the point of him doing that?"

"Perhaps because of Lord Tobias' condition? I heard that Prince Francis visited him yesterday night."

The soldiers did not know that their voices were loud enough for Francis to hear, but actually Francis could not even hear them. Francis was swinging the great sword for practice, but was just trying to calm down. He was thinking about what had happened to Sabine.

It wasn't about Sabine being stabbed, but because Sabine's room looked clean. After Francis hugged her at that time, Sabine explained to Francis that her tenure was over. She would return to her hometown and become a teacher at the church.

Sabine was a private teacher of the princes' manners who had worked since Harald was born. Francis was the last prince she taught because he was the youngest child. Sabine's contract ended when the prince was 12 years old because the prince was going to be handed over to Oxwade Academy, so the kingdom no longer needed Sabine's existence. Looking at the king's condition, it was unlikely that the king would bear any more children, so the kingdom's contract with Sabine had already ended.

"That old-hag! Why did you go home? I thought you were coming with me to the academy!" thought Francis.

The academy had a dormitory system, but the students were allowed to bring two companions, a personal knight and a personal servant, who they could meet each night after classes ended. Francis had initially contemplated asking Sabine to accompany him as a servant, yet he lacked the courage to do so as she was a commoner and had never done servant work. He feared that Sabine would rebuke him for the audacity of asking her to take on such a role.

The guards began to look at Prince Francis' diligence with admiration when Francis was not focused on his sword swing at all; his mind was far away, thinking about Sabine..

and Felicia.

'Maiden of Eden Garden, not only is she beautiful and kind, but she also possesses great god's blessings. I must thank her for healing Sabine,'

Thoughts of sadness that Sabine was going home, then gratitude and admiration for Felicia, were mixed in his head. He probably didn't realize that his sword swing was slowing down as he started to run out of steam.

"Ooi Francis! Long time no see!"

Hearing the voice, Francis immediately let go of his sword and looked at the source of the voice. The sword Francis held was thrown a few feet forward, and he finally realized his stamina was at its limit.

Even though the maids had repeatedly called Francis to rest, Francis could not listen; he was too focused inside his mind. But when he heard that person's voice, his focus immediately broke and he instantly returned to reality, as the existence of this person was so big that he could not ignore it.

"Brother Leonard!" shouted Francis.

Leonard Eulalia Wildenhall, the fifth prince. Compared to the other princes, he had a muscular and large body. He was almost as big as Ottar, smaller than Odbert of Rounds. His hair was tense, combed back, and then he had a beard that closed around his face, making him look like a lion.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it to your birthday party. There was a bit of trouble in the northern region."

Francis raised one hand with a smile. He was still having trouble breathing; his voice earlier was the last sound he could let out.

"Sigh.. this is the result of reckless training."

Leonard lifted Francis' body with just one hand.

"Whoaaa!"

After that he placed him on a nearby chair, and allowed Francis to rest for a while.

After about 5 minutes of Leonard telling Francis about himself, Francis could finally breathe normally.

"Alright, can you tell me what happened that night?"

Since Leonard was not at the castle, he went to Francis to find out what had happened that night. He had previously tried asking Harald, Alicia and Margareth, but none of them wanted to answer him properly. That was when Leonard knew that something was wrong, so he asked Francis about the whole situation.

"So that's it... when you tried to attack that woman, Alicia knocked you out. Thank goodness she did that."

"It's a little annoying that I couldn't land an attack on her."

Leonard then hit Francis very hard on the back.

-PLACK

"Ouch!" Francis' body was thrown forward.

"Hahaha! Your body being thrown now is proof that you are still weak. Firstly, you could not sense that someone was attacking you, even though I did not try to hide my intentions at all; secondly, the moment you felt the attack on your back, your body should have been able to withstand it; thirdly, you were thrown but stayed still, you should have immediately got up and attacked me!"

'That's because you attacked me when I was tired!' Francis thought.

Leonard stood up and left, sayinghistorical

"Don't train too hard, and take good care of your body!"

'In fact, it's because of you that my body hurts now.'

Once he was away from Francis, the smile on his face disappeared, and then he thought

"Leofric's death was planned; the arrival of the Noctem Dolls must be an insider's plot."

..

Because of the training, plus the blow to his back, Francis tiredly walked with a slight limp back to his room. He held his shoulder, which was still sore.

Halfway to his room, he saw one of his brothers standing by the wall near the flower garden with a serious face.

"Richard, what are you doing?"

Richard Adeline Wildenhall was Francis' older brother who was a mere two years above him, the 13th prince. His hair was styled in a short cut, with a trailing braid of lengthy locks adorning his back. He was one of the princes who did not attend Francis' birthday party.

Francis' call surprised Richard as if he were afraid that someone could find him.

Richard turned his head and saw Francis; he quickly pulled Francis' hand and then closed his mouth forcefully.

"HMMPH!!!"

"Fool! Don't speak out loud! They'll wake up!"

'Who are they?'

Francis forcefully let go of Richard's hand. Then he peeked from behind the pillar. In the garden was Alicia who was talking to Margareth. Being too far away, he could not clearly hear what they were discussing.

"Sister Alicia and sister Margareth... why do you have to hide?"

"Can't you see?! They're arguing!"

Margareth then walked away from the flower garden, and as soon as she reached the corridor, she turned her head to the right, looking sharply at the peeping Richard.

"EEEEK!!!"

"She noticed us!"

Richard quickly ran away from that place, followed by Francis behind.

Once a little further away, Richard turned around and immediately pulled Francis' shirt off.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! YOU'RE INTERFERING!"

"Huh?! You think it's my fault?"

"Of course! If you hadn't come, maybe I could have heard what they were talking about!"

"HAAAH?! I saw Margareth looking at you! She probably knew from the start that you were peeping and letting you because she was sure you couldn't hear them!"

"Don't talk back to me you stupid brother-"

Out of nowhere, a pair of arms wrapped around Francis and Richard, pulling them in for a tight embrace. The two brothers were caught off guard as they were squeezed tighter and tighter into this woman's chest, and struggling for air.

"Alright, that's enough! Don't fight!" came a scolding voice. These two blinked, trying to adjust to the sudden intrusion. As they looked up, they met with the sight of a large woman holding them captive in her embrace.

"Hmpph!"

"MMMHPPPH!!!"

She hugged them with both hands, pressing their bodies against her chest which was significantly bigger than their heads.

"Puah! Sister! Stop it! Your chest will make me faint!" shouted Francis.

"GO AWAY! GORILLA WOMAN! YOUR GIANT CHEST IS DISTRACTING! GET OFF ME! GET OFF ME!!!" shouted Richard.

She was Elizabeth Helena Wildenhall, the 7th prince. A striking figure with ponytailed golden hair that was tied to the right. Despite being female, she was a monk-type fighter, opting to wear a fist-type armacar to showcase her physical powers.

As her younger siblings scolded her, she tightened her grip and said,

"Oooooh noooo! My two little brothers are so cute!" she exclaimed while brushing his cheek against their face.

"HMMPH!!!"

"HOMHMPHMPHMPHMHMPMHH!"

She did so until both of them actually looked close to fainting. After she let go, they both coughed.

"Sister.. please don't do that again."

"You gorilla chick! Gorilla chick! Gorilla chick! I hate you!"

"ahahaha, sorry sorry... the faces you two make when you want to fight look so cute, so I couldn't resist hugging you."

Then she continued,

"By the way Francis, do you still not have a personal knight?"

"Eh? Not yet... They said I should have one to bring to the academy after baptism, but I haven't decided at all."

"You have to decide quickly. At least within this week."

"Why is that?"

Then Richard replied, "You fool! Brother Eldritch's inauguration as the new king will be in a week! We will stand with our knight!"

"Brother Eldritch is the new king?! I didn't hear about that!"

"Aaaah... if I'm not mistaken, you fainted for a day," Elizabeth uttered.

Elizabeth with a smile continued,

"You should be prepared, when Eldritch becomes king, he might pass a new rule that the council cannot oppose. A knight is necessary to protect you."