The Youngest Squad Captain.

I throw myself on the bed as I yawn. I just finished digesting and absorbing the food from our dinner and now I am finally allowed to lie on my bed. This day was so tiring...and acting like I know about chemistry was exhausting as well. There goes my brain juice, going for it's last run and not coming back to me. I don't even know the words that Aelius was spouting earlier--though I do remember his lessons. 

"Good evening ~" I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep when I heard a voice from the door of the balcony. I just said I am exhausted, and I don't want to deal with this magician right now.

"Oh, pretending to sleep, are we?" Tsk. I kept my eyes closed and ignored his words, but I only heard him laughing. I heard his footsteps approaching, but I think he made his way towards the couch. 

"You know, from the previous world I visited, we studied about the stages of sleep," What is he saying now? Why is he suddenly talking about the stages of sleep? Who cares about that? 

"And the last stage of sleep is called R.E.M, thought we just call it REM," Is he lecturing me now? It doesn't really matter to me and I don't care about that, now leave because I am asleep right now!

"It's an abbreviation for the 'Rapid Eye Movement' stage. The eyes are indicator on which stage you are in. The REM is the last stage, which means that if you're really asleep, your eyes should be moving rapidly," I grit my teeth and open my eyes as I roll my eyes and sit on my bed. Did this jerk forgot about the third stage of sleep?

"There's also this stage before the REM stage called N-REM3, Non-Rapid Eye Movement stage three, where you are sleeping deeply but without the eye movements," I click my tongue and cross my arms. This jerk is annoying, he even had to lecture me about Neurological Psychology? 

Oh, I am a business student, but since one of my brothers is a psych student, I sometimes hear him mumbling while trying to review for his quizzes or tests, and whenever I have a free time and everyone's away, I sometimes read his books.

"I know, but who cares about that now? You've already taken the trap anyway," I wanna punch his face for real. I took a deep sigh of disbelief. I don't know how many years I'll have to deal with this person.

"Now, why are you here?" I asked. He cocked a brow and rolled his eyes at me. The heck! Can I gouge out those beautiful eyes?!

"What else? Do you want to me say 'I just wanna see you' or something? It's obviously because of your annoying mana?" I grit my teeth and forced a smile at him. Doing all my best to prevent these small hands from attacking that annoying magician.

"There were times that you didn't have to stay here though? And why do you have to wake me up to do your job, tsk," I asked. He creased his forehead and stared at me.

It's annoying that he usually does that.

"What?" I asked.

"You don't remember anything earlier?" Huh? Earlier? When? I stayed within Aelius' laboratory all day because of his...chemistry lessons.

"How mean, my memory is very excellent. I remember all the things that Aelius taught me," I replied. His face seems to show relieve. Hmm, now that's suspicious.

"Very sussy," I said. And so he furrowed his brows again and glared at me. Does he know the word 'sussy'?

"Shut up, lie down to your bed and close those eyes," Tsk. I already have them closed earlier and you were the one who forced me to stay awake?!

"Tsk. You were the one who woke me up," I mumbled before lying back to the bed and covering myself with this expensive blanket with luxurious scent. What do they use to make it smell like this? It smells really amazing. 

"It's works for me if you don't remember anything," The heck is this jerk saying? If something happened and I don't remember it, it's because you definitely removed it from my memory. You're the only one here who had the ability to alter one's memory after all. 

"Shut up now," I replied, and he really did stayed quiet.

I've been wondering, but I can't even answer it myself. How am I at ease everytime this jerk is around? He's even here in my room and I'm not bothered by it? Strange. Did this guy did something in my brain?

Hmm, nevermind. It's not like he's doing anything inappropriate. 

***

When I woke up, Asher is already gone and there's a glass of---whoa, is this a chocolate drink? It's placed on top of the center table here in my room, and there's even a note under it. 

'I'll be away for the whole day. Drink this to have that troublesome overflowing mana sealed for a day,' Sealed? He can seal it? Then why don't you make it sealed for years, not just a day? Is it beyond his power? But he's powerful, right?

I was about to drink the chocolate, but I heard four knocks on my door. Four knocks means it's Themis!

"Good morning, Princess, Themis is here. Are you awake?" She called. I looked at the drink in front of me and grab it before drinking it right away. Wow, it's actually delicious. It's sweet but there's a bit of bitterness as if he used too much cocoa to make it. Still, the taste of the sweetness is dominant, that's why I was able to chug it whole.

"Princess Alina? Are you awake?" 

I pulled the notes and grabbed the glass. Crumpling the notes and pushing the glass under the couch, so Themis won't see it. I just hope they don't clean the place later. 

"Themis! I'm awake!" I used the crumpled paper to wipe the traces of chocolate drink above my lips before throwing the paper under the couch as well. 

"May I come inside, Your Highness?" I walk towards the bed and crawl on it. Themis might get curious for the reason that I am not on my bed. I don't want to be interviewed. 

"You maaay!" I answered cheerfully. The door opened and Themis peeked at me before she completely enter the room. I smiled at her right after seeing her face which made her chuckle. 

"It seems to me that the Princess had a good night sleep," Themis said.

"Hihi, Themis really know me well! I had a good dream! Did Themis too?" I asked, crawling on the bed and jumping down to the floor. I run towards Themis and throw myself at her. She laughed and placed her hands on my back. 

"Certainly, Your Highness. In my dream, the Princess grew up beautifully and kind," Wow, that kind of dream are the ones that hardly come true. What if I don't grew up at all because I'm going to die? Dang---

Scary...

"Woaaah! How do I look, Themis? Did my hair get really really long? I want to make it long like the Mr. Holiness' hair!" I spoke. Themis placed her hand on top of my head and smiled at me really really gently. Hmm? Why is she looking at me like that all of the sudden. 

"Princess, are you happy being with your family?" Themis asked. I stared at her. 

What's with her, suddenly asking me such question? Strange. Did something happened? She didn't even answer my question.

I smiled at her. 

"I am happy. I finally get to be with my family and I even met new friends like Mina and others, there's Ziel and Asher too!" I replied. Her smile didn't fade away, and I can even see her eyes strangely getting redder as if there are tears that wants to escape. 

What is she thinking?

"That's good to hear, Princess. Well, then, shall we bathe you and prepare for breakfast?" She asked. I nod my head repeatedly and pulled away from her. 

Somehow...I get a feeling that Themis know something. 

---

Ah, is that Diellzain at the training grounds? There are other knights there too, and he's the only small one. Wait, it looks like he's going to spar with one of the adult knights! I leaned my hands on the window sill and watch them. 

The adult knight hold his sword with both his hands, while Diellzain is just using one hand to hold it. I think I read in the book that you should hold sword with both hands in order to have a good and strong grip. And that kid is only using his right hand to hold a sword---that doesn't even look like used by people with his height! Good thing it's only a wooden sword. 

The knight did a ready stance while Diellzain's just standing there. Probably waiting for him to attack. 

The adult knight looks terrified but he still moved. He rushed towards Diellzain who's only standing there without doing anything! When the guy got close enough to Zain, he raised his arm and was about to hit Diellzain, but the kid move his right arm, quickly hitting the knight's hand---causing him to let go of the wooden sword, the sword even flew far from them! The knight did not give up and attacked Diellzain unarmed, he was about to punch the kid but Zain swing his sword at him, up to his temple. The guy was able to dodge that by bending his body down, which gives him an opportunity to Diellzain's open stomach, however just when he was about to hit Diellzain, the kid jumped backward, and then he did another jump when he land on the ground, spinning midair and slamming his wooden sword to the guy's shoulder. 

The poor knight fell on the ground as Diellzain landed safely. 

"W-woaaah! Brother Dae, that's so coool!" I yelled from the second floor of the Altair Palace. Diellzain immediately turned his head at me and his face lit up when we had an eye contact.

"Ali! Good afternoon, sweetie!" He throw the sword away and levitated himself towards the window of the second floor. Dang it, I wanna do the same thing!

"Good afternoon, brother! Are you training? Brother looks really cool! But I hope you didn't hurt Mister Knight that much..." I tilt my head to the side and peek at the poor knight who just stood up with the help of his fellow knights. They all turned to us, and they look surprise to see Diellzain...huh? They just looked at him and their eyes became wider as if they're shocked about something.

"It's fine, Ali. They're used to it," Diellzain said. He's even smiling at me?

"Hmm..." I stared at him with a bit of furrowed brows while pouting my lips. Diellzain's smile slowly fades away and his expressions turns to a worried one. He took a deep breath and place his hand on top of my head. 

"Do you want to say something, my baby sister?" He asked, smiling at me again with those gentle eyes. It's really strange whenever they call me baby sister. 

"Hmm, it's just...that...even though they're already used to it, doesn't mean it don't hurt them..." I spoke. I saw the knights exchanging looks with each other. Can they actually hear our conversation? I mean, they're suddenly looking at me as if I am their savior or something...

Can they hear us? For real? Does being a knight also requires a great sense of hearing?

"But, Ali. Pain is part of the training," he answered. 

"B-but...please don't be so harsh while you're at it, brother. I hope Mister Knight's shoulder isn't broken..." I mumbled, looking at the poor guy. They all bowed their heads when I made an eye contact with one of them, so I just gave them a smile.

I heard Diellzain sighs before he spoke. 

"Very well. I shall hear my little princess' words. However..." he turned his head to the knights, and suddenly---they're cowering in fear? The heck? Just what is this guy's status within their squad? No, being a prince alone is enough for them t react like that, I guess?

"If one of those people tries to talk to you, I'll slit their throats," is that any way to talk in front of your so-called baby sister?! That's inappropriate!

"B-brother, I hope you're joking..." I mumbled, forcing a giggle. 

He scoffed. 

"Of course...I am joking ~ " he replied without even looking at me. Judging from the reactions of the knights, he's not joking.

"Do you want to watch us train, Ali? I'll show you what I can do as the youngest captain of the Third Squad,"

Huh?

 I blinked for couple of times before tilting my head out of confusion. 

This kid is already a squad captain? At his age? Well, I admit he's strong, but---really?! That's freaking amazing!

Wait, Why am I even surprised when it was mentioned in the novel that he was one of the people that has the most kills during the war. 

But, dang...I never knew he became a squad captain. 

"Amazing! Brother Dae is already a captain! I'm so so so proud of big brother!" I spoke. He chuckled and spread his arms in front of me. I turned my head behind me to check if there's a person with me, but it looks like Themis is not yet back from getting snack for me. 

I stretched my arms to him, and he carried me as he levitates towards the ground. He put me down and holds my hand, facing his squad members. All of them keep their heads lowered down, they even stayed quiet as well. 

"My little sister is going to watch us all while training, give your best shot and don't disappoint my sister," What is he saying? Why would I get disappointed? I hope he's not the type of a captain who beats up his members for failing to do the things he wants them to do.

"Your answer?"

"We'll do our best, Captain!" Oh, they don't call him 'Your Highness' here?

"Ali, can we start now?" Diellzain turns his head at me to ask that very question. Why does he need to ask for my permission? He's being very considerate. That gladdens me though. 

"Yep! Do your best, brother! And for the big brother knights too!" All of them remained lowering their heads but I noticed their smiles. 

"Big brother...knights, huh?" Hmm? Why does Diellzain's tone of voice suddenly changed? I was about to look at his face, but he already walked away towards the members of his squad. 

"Let's start with the training, then...big brother knights...haha ~"

Ahh...that voice. 

I have a bad feeling about this. 

***