The Invitation

Daemon took a long shower, relaxing himself and washing away the exhaustion from his journey. After that he draped himself in night dress and went downstairs for the dinner. His family was all set for the dinner. Just like last time he was the last to arrive.

"Here brother!" Daerys called out to Daemon patting an empty seat near her.

He sat on the chair with a smile tugged on his face. He enjoyed this kind of interactions with his family. Though he wasn't able to do something like this in the past six years, before that he used to dine with the family regularly.

"Your university invitation has arrived." The duke said.

"This fast? Don't they have to test me or something to determine whether I'm eligible to join the advanced classes?" He was amused.

"Well, nothing can be done when the headmaster himself write you a letter of invitation." Duchess Elisa chimed in. She was quite content with Daemon getting a hand written letter from the headmaster himself.

"Oh. Handwritten letter." He was getting confused like why that old man accepted him to the academy without any test. It was definitely a suspicious move.

"They do things very fast and not to mention both Aurelia and Aegor are also joining the advanced classes."

"Advanced classes? Did their primary education have completed?" he asked amusingly.

"What, you think you're the only one who can join the academy underage?" Aegor spoke for the first time. This was the first time in almost six years he was hearing his younger brother directly speaking towards him.

"No, I didn't mean that way. Well, good for you."

"You'll be joining their class too." said the duke.

"I don't know why you decided to join the academy right now but don't drag us down with you and don't except any type of help from us." Aurelia was annoyed that her useless brother was also in her class. She was sure her name will be dragged down with him.

"That's true, she wouldn't have any time left after trying to flirt with Draciyan." Amon said loudly causing the others to laugh.

"What did you just say!" Aurelia's face visibly red, she was angry and embarrassed at the same time.

"What, you want me to repeat it." Amon rebuked it.

She went silent. She knew she couldn't win against the barbarian. She was embarrassed to say they were her siblings. Amon, Daemon and Daerys, in her mind these three were not eligible to call a Reinheart. They were not noble like her or her twin brother, Aegor. She wasn't happy to see any of them in the academy let alone in her class where Draciyan also studies.

"I'll protect you. If something happens just call me. I'll get to your class instantly from my block. After all, the primary class and advanced classes are in the same compound." Daerys energetically said looking at Daemon.

"Ok." He gently stroked her hair.

"It's not only Draciyan, his sister and the youngest princess will also be there. Also, other members of the great families would also be there" Reiner spoke for the first time.

"Oh." Many complicated memories resurfaced on Daemon's mind. But he was adamant that he would get through it.

"Please don't flirt with Marielle." Aurelia said quite annoyingly.

"He is not like you." Amon remarked.

The conversation ended after that. the silence was definitely awkward but nobody tried to break it.

After the dinner Amon took Daemon to the balcony for a detailed interview about the high council… or the beauties of course. Daemon diligently explained all of the intricate details even going as far to recall them from his eidetic memory. After all, one should always confide this kind of information especially the party is your brother.

They spent the night talking about the ladies. Not to mention Amon gave him classes on how to flirt with them without being creepy. They were his brotherly advice before entering the academy. Amon himself was attending the third year of advanced classes. So, he was sure he could look after his siblings.

*****

In the morning Daemon heard a knock on his door. He looked at the time, it was only six in the morning. He never really woke up during this hour of the day. He reluctantly woke up and opened the door to see Reiner wearing armour.

"Where are you going in the morning wearing that armour, brother?" he asked rubbing his still sleepy eyes.

"We are going for training." Reiner replied with a smile.

"Training? Now?" He was bewildered.

"Yes, now. Remember you told me you want to train for the next one month before entering the academy. I'm here for that." He swung back a long sword on his shoulder.

"Why you?. I could do it with the knights."

"No. We can manage that."

"We? Who else?" He was getting bad vibes from the conversation.

"Me, Amon and ser Arminel." Reiner casually said.

"What! ser Arminel! Why is that old man on the training schedule?" He was expressionless. Ser Arminel is the supreme commander of the Reinheart knighthood. He is the strongest in the Duchy right now. For someone like him to train him. It was a disaster camouflaged as a blessing. He has seen his training method it was very… very deadly.

"Does the old man have time for that?" He asked again.

"Of course, he has promised to take the last session of your training sessions. I'll be the first to train you, then Amon and finally the supreme commander himself."

"I see." He was too stunned to speak anything else.

"Come on, lets start our warm up." Reiner said enthusiastically.

"Right. Let me wear my armour too." with that he went inside his room to change to his armour. Even though the training would be deadly he was ready to endure it. after all this was all for him, the least he could do was to endure it. this was also good. He could train and rank up pretty quickly too. with his talent he was confident in taking on anything thrown at him.

Thus marked the starting of Daemon's painful and hellish training for the next one month.