The sun is rising, and Amelia is clutching her pink buttocks.

Throughout the night, she devises several schemes to mold young Julius into a proper knight. These include but are not limited to throwing him into the Amber Dungeons and having him fight his way out, having him kidnapped by slavers and making him work in the mines for several years before orchestrating a revolt, stranding him on a deserted island and where he must fight for his survival, and one she’s particularly proud of is turning Julius into the prophesied hero of the ages who must take up arms against Adrian Acker, the Devil. Undoubtedly, she’ll revisit this idea later on.

Her plans all involve putting Julius through mortal danger of some kind to toughen him up. And Donna will have none of it.

“No, no, no! I’ll have none of it!”

“C’mon! It’s a surefire plan!”

“I wouldn’t say throwing the baby out with the bathwater is a surefire plan, you crazy bitch!”

“Language. I promise not to swear if you won’t.”

Donna snorts.

“Look, if you’re so clever, then tell me your brilliant idea,” Amelia says. “Go on! Don’t just be a backseat driver and contribute something to the conversation other than criticizing me for every little thing. Go on! It’s not so easy now, is it, you sanctimonious … silly goose?”

“Oh, I do have an idea, Ms. Amelia. And that idea is to let the boy live his life, and give some guidance and training when necessary! You can’t control people like they’re your chess piece or plaything. Not even if he’s your son! You may give him schooling and set him up for success, but the boy must be allowed to make his own choices and make his own mistakes. That’s the only way he can become his own person.”

“Bah humbug! That line of thinking is what led to blue-haired college kids burning their knickers on campus. Free will was a mistake. You must treat children with a firm hand or you’ll end up spoiling them!”

“Indeed.” Donna raises her palm. “A firm hand may only be the only way to get through your thick skull.”

“Try me, bitch!”

The sun is high in the sky, and Amelia is clutching her red buttocks.

“No more! I yield! I yield!”

“So what did we learn today, Ms. Amelia?”

“Hic! That I should eat my veggies?”

Donna raises her hand again.

“Wait, wait, wait! Kidding! I’m kidding! Geez. We learn that we mustn’t treat people like toys.”

“And?”

“And we should assist the younger generation. Not have them go through the same hardship we did just for the lols of it.”

“Very good, Ms. Amelia. I give you three gold stars for effort.”

“Three out of three?”

“Three out of ten. You still have a long way to go before you can become a decent human being, Ms. Amelia.”

“Tch! You’re becoming more annoying by the day.”

“And whose fault is that?”

“For fuck’s sake, let me have the last word just this once! Christ on a bike, you’re annoying!”

“Now now, what did we say about language? Hmm?”

“... I hate you.”

When Eleanor leaves her room, she is immediately swarmed by her newly acquired fan clubs, composed of the castle staff.

She heads down to the courtyard, where Page Julius is once again peeping at the squires’ training.

“Why hello there, little boy. Fancy seeing you again,” Eleanor says.

“Huh? What are you doing here, um, miss?” Julius’s eyes shift to the older servants in Eleanor’s entourage, who are giving him disapproving looks.

“Oh, I’m just stretching my legs. It is a beautiful day, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s going to rain.” He gestures to the black clouds above.

An icy chill blows past them.

“Oh … Let me do something about that.” Eleanor waves her hand, and the sky suddenly clears up.

A golden ray of light shines down on the Merino Stronghold for the first time in months. Julius drops his chin, and everybody can only look at her in awe.

“Whoa! How did you do that, miss?”

“Oh, it’s no big deal. Just a simple wind spell to blow the clouds away.”

“No, seriously, how did you do that? Aren’t you wearing a mana-sealing bracelet?”

Eleanor looks down at the silver bracelet around her wrist. “Well, would you look at that … I kinda forgot about this little thing.”

Eleanor removes the bracelet, shakes it, and puts it on again. She then creates a green fire on her palm, no problem.

“I think mine’s broken. What do you think?”

“Don’t look at me, lady. I just work here.”

The two laugh, and then Eleanor hooks her arm around Julius.

“Come, walk with me. Give me a tour of this place.”

“Why? So you can look for an escape route?”

“Please, I can leave this place whenever I want.” She shows off her silver wings and flaps them playfully.

“Whoa! Are those real?”

“You can touch them if you want.”

“Eww. Gross. I bet you got cooties.”

“Why, you little rascal.” Eleanor pinches Julius’s cheeks, and together, they walk away laughing.

On the training ground, a certain squire narrows her eyes at them. She clicks her tongue and starts slashing away at a dummy with a speed and ferocity that makes the other squires step back in fright.

Julius leads Eleanor on a tour of the castle grounds, but Eleanor is more interested in knowing more about Julius himself. She asks the boy about his hopes and dreams, and his progress in becoming a knight.

“A knight? Well, I gotta become a squire before I can aim for something like that, miss.”

“Okay. How can you become a squire around here?”

“Well … I gotta impress a knight enough so they would take me under their wings.”

“That’s it?”

“I mean, a squire is basically a knight’s personal helper. So, yup, that’s about it.”

“And not a single knight has taken an interest in you yet.”

“Hey, is that something that needs to be said? I’m trying my best, okay? I gotta do my chores, transcribe texts, study holy scriptures, etcetera, etcetera. If I prove my diligence for another year or two, I’m sure a knight will give me a chance. There are so many pages who can afford new equipment to choose from.”

“Boo. Boing! C’mon, isn’t there some kind of exam or competition to speed up the process maybe? Or maybe you can defeat someone in a duel and prove your worth that way. Maybe you can knock down that Raelyn girl you told me so much about. Take down two birds with one stone.”

“No way! Have you seen the size of that ape? She’ll fold me in half!”

“She’s a girl. Her place is in the kitchen. A big, strong man like you can take her. You just need to give her a good one-two to tame that shrew.”

“Lady, that is the most sexist thing I’ve ever heard in my life. Are you for real right now? What century did you come from? Ouch, ouch, ouch! Hey, stop pinching my cheeks!”

“Humph! That kind of talk is why women walk all over you! C’mon, Junior. I’ll make a man out of you yet!”

“Let me go! Where are you taking me?!”

Eleanor drags Julius to an unused hall. She takes two decorative swords from the wall and throws one to Julius.

The boy stumbles to catch it.

“What do you think you’re doing?! You could’ve chipped it! Do you know how hard it is to clean fingerprints from a sword?”

“Enough talk! En garde!”

Eleanor raises her sword and attacks Julius with an elegant strike. He intercepts the attack in a panic, and the swords make a resounding clank in the stone hall. Julius feels pain in his palm.

“Are you crazy?! You could’ve killed me!”

“Stop whining and start acting like a man. Think fast!”

Eleanor continuously attacks Julius. Her swings have the refinement of a sword master, and her dress flows like the wings of a butterfly as she dances around the boy. Your guess is as good as mine on where she learned to fight like this.

Julius is on the defensive. His face is white as paper, and his arms are shaking from the weight of the sword.

“Wait, I’ve never trained with a real sword before!”

“Not my problem.”

With a heavy swing, Eleanor strikes the sword out of Julius’s hands. The blade falls to the stone floor.

“Pick it up.”

“This is crazy!”

“I won’t ask again.”

She approaches him with the sword, and Julius has no choice but to dive for his weapon.

What follows is a scene left out of the history books, where the saint-to-be beats up her would-be knight to a bloody pulp. Julius lies panting on the ground with red cuts all over his body. But with a wave of Eleanor’s hand, his wounds seal up—good as new.

“Get up. I’m not done with you yet.”

“I take it back … Pant … You’re way worse than Mama or Raelyn. You’re the worst of them all!”

“Aww. You finally noticed. En garde!”

After the sparring session, Eleanor makes Julius run laps around the Merino Stronghold. And when he slows down, she creates a fireball to chase him.

“Mama, help! Mamaaa!”

Listening to his screams, Eleanor hums, “Let’s get down to business to defeat the Huns. Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons? You’re the saddest bunch I ever met, but you can bet before we’re through … Mister, I’ll make a man out of you! Ahahahahaha! So what do you think of my methods now, Freckles?”

Deep within Eleanor, Donna gives a satisfied nod.

“I’m surprised, Ms. Amelia. You can behave like a normal human-being after all.”

“Ha! Told ya.”

At this point, I don’t think either girl understands what it means to be ‘normal’ anymore. May God have mercy upon Julius’s soul. Amen and A-woman too.