Edward laughed joyfully as a beautiful woman sat on his lap whilst another provided him with a back massage.
Since the humiliation he received from Sir Gregory in front of the Princess, he found himself extremely frustrated and angered without any outlet to let out his feelings on.
Which in the end led him to spend his time within the brothel for a few days, taking out his ‘rage’ on the girls here, whether it was a coincidence or not, all of the girls he spent time with all similarly shared a common resemblance to Kaelyn.
However, he only felt fully recovered with the promise from his Father that he will receive revenge soon, yet in the end, they were only made a fool of by the Princess with him appearing an idiot for the second time.
It made him angered even more remembering Kaelyn’s eyes which stared at him with disdain as he and his father were forced to reduce the taxes in favour of the commoners.
He wanted nothing more than to watch her squeal as he pressed her down under him, Edward had been waiting to take her for so long that he began to grow impatient to the point that his Father promises that he would receive her soon no longer appeased him.
Edward couldn’t hold himself back any more as he kept seeing the dull-witted Princess still not showing any signs of improvement daily, so he thought he could take advantage of the situation.
Though in the end he was only made to look like a clown and recalling Kaelyn’s snickering face as she tried to hold back her laughter angered him even more.
“Ow!” The girl sat on his lap screeched in pain as he gripped her too forcefully.
Realising that the beautiful girl on his lap thighs was beginning to redden from the strong grip he was about to let go when her he looked into her face which bore a resemblance to Kaelyn and couldn’t help but increase the pressure from his palms.
The beautiful girl face scrunched up in pain as her eyes began to water, but Edward didn’t let up at all as a sadistic expression appeared on his face as his treatment became only rougher.
Another beautiful girl in the room was about to intervene to remind Edward in their ‘no harm’ policy within the brothel but was interrupted by the entrance of two young men who interrupted Edward’s actions.
Letting go of the women who let out a sigh in relief, displeasure appeared on Edwards's face as he said, “What do you want?”
“Boss, we’ve been hearing that the Princess has been heading to a training ground and we think it’s a great opportunity for you.” One of the young men hinted.
“Do you fools realise I can’t touch the Princess now? My Father ordered me I can’t afford to disrupt the plan any further as he does not have the assurances put in place to deal with the crippled knight yet.” Edward said irritably.
“We know boss! But who says about targeting the Princess? We heard that she has been getting along well with those common kids, your Father said not to mess with her, but who said about the people she is getting all buddy, buddy with?” Replied the young man.
“Exactly! I’m sure the Princess would only be able to stare at you in anger without doing a thing, that old knight won’t interfere for a bunch of common kids exchanging ‘pointers’ from us Nobles!” Said the other young man.
The fats on Edwards's chin wobbled in thought as he pondered on the situation before a grin emerged on his chubby face, “Keeping the two of you around, in the end, seems to be good idea after all, we will set out right now, gather the other guys you know that are good swordsman, let us show those common filth their place. I can’t wait to see the expression of that bitch as we pummel those punks!”
The other two nodded fawningly as they bootlicked Edward a few times more before leaving to gather the men requested by Edward.
Talia meanwhile who was planning ahead for heading to the game world later in meeting with the Priest and handling the deal with the Bluewood Merchant group had no idea about Edward who was currently plotting against her.
She was busy sparring with the trainees and in comparison to before her swordsmanship had noticeably improved with the advancement of her swordsmanship, although she still did not match the skill of these trainees who have had years training under their belt, her progress was still amazing considering she had only picked up the sword a week ago.
Though she knew that the mechanics of the system was partly to do with her swift progress, she still felt a sense of achievement.
Parrying a trainees strike, she successfully disarmed the trainee whilst ducking out of the way as the swinging weapon of another trainee who narrowly missed.
Smiling at the speedy manoeuvre she firstly ‘removed’ the now weaponless trainee out of the arena whilst staring down the last remaining trainee who directly faced her.
Ritson unconsciously let out a gulp as he was stared down by the predator-like gaze of Talia.
Although he knew it was irrational, he couldn’t help but feel that Talia sometimes reminded him more of a ferocious beast than human.
The way she circled them like a beast would its prey and she pounced at the trainees in an almost animalistic like-style as she hounded them down reminded him of how a beast would hunt down its victims.
However, he knew that this was a mere figment of his imagination, as to how could the Princess resemble a beast in any way?
He braced himself for the impact as Talia swung her weapon at him, still not quite use to the shudder his body feels at the great force Talia exerts with each attack.
He did not know if he was correct, but he felt that the Princess grew more and more monstrous each day he sparred with her.
Each time he felt that he was finally going to land an attack on her, Talia’s body would escape in an almost-impossible angle, sometimes he felt that she moved like a blur as she executed her strikes.
But this did not deter the competitive spirit of Ritson at all, and only made him more eager to spar with such a formidable foe.
After all, it was an incredibly valuable experience to spar with someone so strong as it forced him to bring out the most potential of himself each day in order to even keep up with her.
Barely defending himself from the attacks from Talia he found himself being pushed back repeatedly as Talia erratic style gave no room for having any errors.
If it was someone else he could afford to make one or two mistakes, however, with Talia, he knew this was far too costly, as one solid hit could send him flat on his back.
Therefore, he pushed himself to limit in defending himself from her attacks, unfortunately, it was not enough as he was eventually defeated despite his best efforts.
Gasping for air as he laid down on the floor, a smooth, petite hand suddenly came to view as Talia stood above him smiling down as she offered her a hand, grasping her palm he found himself being hoisted up to his feet swiftly.
This was something he had long gotten used since mainly every spar involved himself getting flattened, now the sight of a young, petite girl lifting him up like he was nothing is no longer an unusual sight for him.
He had long cast aside his pride with him removing the thought of stubbornly refusing Talia’s help just because his ego found it hard to accept the feeling of losing.
“Thanks,” He said.
“No problem” Talia replied with a smile, but just as they were going to continue their conversation the sound of the door slamming open echoed throughout the room.
With Edward at the lead, a dozen young nobles dressed in luxurious clothing entered the room arrogantly.
The drill sergeant seeing them enter so rudely said, “We are running a training exercise with recruits, you can’t barge in as you please!”
Edward didn’t seem bothered at all by the drill sergeant as he replied, “The purpose of us coming here is to do with these so-called recruits, as the Governor's son it is my obligation and duty to ensure the standard of the young men which are going to serve the Kingdom one day.”
With an air of righteousness, he continued, “So I have decided with the Kingdoms best interest, we could hold a training exercise!”
“What do you mean by that? Does a young master like you, who had never seen the battlefield in his life have the right to lecture me on how I train my soldiers?” Roared the drill sergeant thunderously.
A brief flash of fear-filled Edwards features as he was questioned by the drill sergeant, but upon recalling his backing he regained a look of confidence.
“So what? Would you dare to accept the challenge? If you win doesn’t it prove you right, so why are you so fearful? I guess the standard that you are training these plebeians is questionable.” Edward taunted.
The drill sergeant laughed in response and said, “Says the person who wants a bunch of major nobles who have been trained with the best resources and teachers at a young age to fight a bunch of kids who have only received a few years of training!”
A look of annoyance flashed in Edwards's eyes at the drill sergeants refutal but he simply responded, “So what? Isn’t our military suppose to be brave and abled to march at enemies without fear? Well, what guts do these men have! Just a bunch of snivelling cowards afraid of a simple training exercise, what a bunch of spineless common filth.”
Edward taunted without limit at the trainees who stared at him with great anger, the nobles behind him only made it worse by spewing numerous insults and looking at the trainees disdainfully.
Finally, one of the trainees couldn’t take it and said, “We’ll take them on, we are not scared of them!”
A trainee backed him up, “Yes, Sir we are ready! Let us fight them!”
The drill sergeant signed in annoyance as he knew that if he forbade them from fighting they would surely only go out to fight them afterwards even though he didn’t want to permit the ‘friendly spar’, he clearly didn’t have a choice as it was better doing it here than wherever else.
Staring at Edward alongside the nobles he inwardly thought, ‘What a good plot! If only you were not that guy's son!’
“We accept, but it will be here in a few days. Does that meet your requirements, young master?” The drill sergeant said, the end of his statement filled with sarcasm.
“Great! We will surely be here, and I’m glad that your military dogs truly know your place in this Kingdom as our lessers.” Edward said, clearly too full of himself now that the drill sergeant met his demands.
Yet, right then he was going to leave in triumph a familiar voice sounded loudly behind him, “Says the one who I recall wet himself a few days ago, your confidence truly astounds me.”
The trainees couldn’t help but snicker at Talia’s comment whilst the nobles beside him could only cough in embarrassment, knowing he couldn’t touch Talia for the moment, Edward could only pretend he had not heard her as he could only leave shamefully without daring to refute back.
‘Just you wait, I would like to see you laugh in a few days.’ Edward thought inwardly, a sneer filling his face.
Now without Edward present, the drill sergeant finally stood towards the trainees and said, “Do you know what you got yourself into? They may seem to be incompetent fools but they are trained by genuine Tier 1 Warriors, with some being even stronger, they also receive the best resources and have trained since they were five! This is not a fight you can get yourself involved in!”
The trainees though instead of cowering from the instructor like they usually did stood firm without an ounce of regret in their youthful features.
A trainee said, “So what? If I don’t have the nerve to meet them, then what right do I have to go to a battlefield? I can’t run from this just because I outmatched, as what good soldier does that!”
Each trainee nodded in agreement as to have the will in becoming a soldier to risk their lives on the battlefield they each need to be fearless of death! If they were afraid of a challenge from a bunch of nobles, then how can they be dauntless in front of their enemies!
Running away from such a thing was not something each of these men could accept.
Talia just stared in amazement at seeing the determined expressions on each of the trainee's faces, as she was shocked at how every one of the trainees was fearless despite knowing they were completely outmatched!
Ritson, Oscar and Ben were among them, who even though where the nobles themselves, only belong to the bottom tier. Perhaps to Edward and the rest, they were not much different from the commoners they detested and looked down upon.
Edward might not have known that his actions would actually unify the trainees even more as if the actions of Talia could be said to have already made them closer, then Edward was the final straw in finally making the trainees completely unified!
They each shared the same foe, yet this cooperativeness would do little to help them, as, in the end, it could not increase their strength for individual battles.
The drill sergeant just sighed in defeat at their determination and said, “Alright, I won’t forbid you brats from fighting them, but don’t blame me if the outcome is not favourable to you.”
After the session drawn to a close, Talia could sense it was far more tense than usual, with the previous carefreeness of the trainees completely replaced with an air of seriousness.
Even Ben and Oscar who usually were chatting jokingly to each other throughout the entire session were unusually quiet.
Talia was thinking of ways to help them win this challenge, but she could do little to make an impact as the challenge was clearly directed at them and not her, she could not involve herself even if she wanted to.
That just left the one solution which may work, which was to find a way to aid them through the use of the ‘game world.’
She had a feeling this had something to do her and was her fault that Edward was messing with the trainees, so she felt responsible to help them. Maybe it was also because she was their Princess, but she did not want to see her subjects be bullied in such away.
Leaving with Sir Gregory, she sparred with him once again but was less focused as usual and was distracted which immediately came to Sir Gregory’s attention.
“Are you alright, your highness? I want you to know it is not your fault, to be honest, they would have been targeted without your intervention anyway, you only sped it up, any possible loyalists will be a target. They are trained by myself and a man who was very loyal to your parents, it was predestined for them to face difficulties in the future.” Said Sir Gregory.
Talia nodded in understanding, she knew he was right, but it didn’t stop her from thinking of ways she could help them.
Finishing the one on one with Sir Gregory, she went back to her room, hurriedly eating her dinner before impatiently waiting for the time to go by to when she can finally re-enter the ‘game world’.
Finally, she was able to, and after her room was empty, she once again re-entered the other world.
