When good things happen, bad things followed.

"Rinnie!" 

I jumped out from the stool in front of the vanity mirror when Sally suddenly barged inside the seventh prince's chambers. I turned around ever so slowly, seeing the little Sally huffed with her hands on her hips. 

"I challenge you!" she pointed at me. "Let's have a duel!" 

"..." 

I had already lost count of how many invitations I received the past two weeks after my spar with my father-in-law. After that day, Hugo challenged me the same night, which I accepted. So we sparred the next day. But unlike the deadly spar with the emperor, Hugo and I held back. He simply studied how I fight.

But because of that, his siblings had also invited me. First Cora, who was the first one to drop her gloves for a duel. We did spar, and I obviously won because she would hate me if I held back. When I won against Cora, that was when things escalated.