A Glimpse

Musrott was blabbering about the war and its wisdom to the young ones in front of them until he took a glance at an approaching young man. His face was stunned after he abruptly cut his speech. He knelt on one knee with his hand on his chest saying, "Long live, Prince Neto!"

The others immediately follow suit, except for one teenage boy. The aura of royalty the prince exuded didn't leave an impression at all. It was as if he was nothing but a commoner whom he met any other day.

The prince looked at Lyounus with a tinge of a smile as the latter only crossed his arm and closed his eyes. Just this action alone, garnished him with the attention from his peers, whether they were noble or commoner.

Musrott who noticed the situation immediately stood up and pointed at Lyounus as he bellowed, "You peasant! Kneel in front of the prince or face the punishment!"

The bald man smiled inwardly, this was the perfect chance, the perfect moment that God had given him. A favor, though small, it was still from a royalty. (I'm expecting some reward here! Don't let me down kid, defy the royalties more!)

"Why should I?"

Lyounus's answer immediately froze their heart. The kneeling young ones were palpitating as if they were the ones who said it. However, they couldn't be blamed for worrying. The royalties, no, a man with power tends to abuse it to the very extent so the chances of they were implicated were not zero.

(HAHAHAHA! THIS IS IT! THIS IS MY DAY!) thought Musrott as he laughed inwardly.

He immediately pulled out his sword as he pointed it toward Lyounus, "Impudent, you are really impudent! You actually dare to talk back against the royalty? Let's see if you can speak properly after I cut your tongue."

Prince Neto was smiling as the events unfolded in front of his eyes. To him, Lyounus was one of a kind. Not every commoner would dare to talk back against him, even more so in public.

"Pull back your punches, Musrott, after all, it's you against someone more than half your age."

Musrott was surprised by his response. He would have thought that the prince would want nothing but Lyounus's death after offending his authorities.

"Yes Prince Neto, you are as benevolent as ever!"

Lyounus smirked toward the headmaster's servile acts. (Neto, c'mon, I know you like the back of my hand, give the twist, you lunatic prince!).

Prince Neto smiled as he said, "Since I'm benevolent, please, someone, prepare two wooden swords for this fight! I want it to be fair."

Musrott raised his eyebrows in confusion as the other teachers immediately set up the two wooden swords the prince requested.

Unlike his opponent, Lyounus held the wooden sword and lightly swing it to get a feel of its weight.

The onlookers of his peers were shaking his head. There was no chance at all, a newbie versus a veteran. The other one still smelled of their mother's milk while the other one was close to being an old monk.

"You think he is going to win?"

"No chance, no chance at all."

Though they shared the same view, some of the young nobles held their opinions in their mind. All of them had a distinctive feature that proved their noble blood. Unlike the young commoners, the class that they exuded was more prominent.

The seniors were present on the opposite end of the pillar which Lyounus was once was. One of them had a tall figure and her short hair was flaming red that left a bang on her forehead. She wore a sleeveless garment and her ripped arm had a tattoo 'II' written in black on her porcelain complexion. Her cute little nose was the perfect match for her jaded pupils. Her ears were something that someone couldn't help but whisper praising words. However, her eyes were mellowed as she watched them.

"Oooh? Does the fairy of the empire not impressed by the development of the situation?"

A woman whose height was one head below walked to her side. She had a golden twin-tailed hairstyle with a set of daggers on her waist. Her brown apricot eyes were sharp but the bearing she had when she walked was a kind to a monarch. Unlike the other one, she wore a long-sleeve garment and her arching eyebrows made her look as if she was happy all the time.

"The sightseeing is over, let's go back to the empire," said the tall beauty.

She turned around and walked away from the scene with her friend, disappearing from the tip of the corridor.

Lyounus who was finishing his warm-up saw a glimpse of the flaming red hair before he felt a grip in his chest. His pupils shrunken as his soul froze. Disregarding everything else he ran toward where the flaming red hair had gone. Thousands of questions were in his mind and he needed an answer for every single one.

"Peasant! You're not thinking of running away now, aren't you?" bellowed Musrott as he stood in front of him.

His armor has been stripped clean to make the fight as fair as possible. However, his entire muscle turned rigid as he saw the gaze of the teenager in front of him. It was colder than cold, even when he was on the battlefield, he never experienced the dread and the fear that encapsulated him at this moment. (Wh-what?! What is this?! WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME!).

Lyounus faintly hear the sound of a crying horse before he immediately ran toward the exit even when Musrott was still standing.

"Rrraaah!" shouted Musrott as he plunged forward with a desperate cry. He had the pride of the captain still in his heart.

Lyounus didn't shout as he face him head-on before spinning toward the straight vertical slash Musrott was swinging. Lyounus naturally avoided the assault while his wooden sword smashed onto the back of his head in the blink of an eye.

Prince Neto's eyes opened wide just like the rest of the onlookers however, Lyounus didn't stop his steps as he ran toward the corridor.

"Who are you?"

"What is your name?"

"Tell me, are you the one?!"

Shouted Lyounus in hope that the carriage she rode would stop. As the light shone upon his gaze, he finally exited out where the two oak trees were. The serene place didn't calm his cold heart of regret. The gentle wind did nothing to appease his soul. His head hung down as he realized there was no one there.