“Do you even hear yourself?” She sighed, massaging her head from the headache his talk was giving her.
“So enemies don’t warn you before trying to kill you, but they’re cute enough to leave you alive if you become unconscious?
No killing, no torturing?”
“The moment you become unconscious in a fight is the moment you lose your life.”
Eryndor’s jaw clenched as her words hung in the air between them.
‘She speaks of war.
Real war.
Not training.’
‘But if she is from a military force of another kingdom and infiltrated my palace, that changes the way she will be treated entirely.’
‘A spy and a normal citizen are not equal, after all.’
“You’re right.” His voice dropped to something colder.
“In battle, unconscious means dead.
But this—” He gestured around the training room.
“This wasn’t a battle.”
His other hand moved to grip her other shoulder, holding her in place.
“If every sparring match ended in death, I’d have no soldiers left.”
‘But she doesn’t know the difference.
Or doesn’t care.’
“Where you come from, do you kill everyone who challenges you?”
His green eyes searched her face.
“Or just the ones who don’t warn you first?”
The morning light shifted through the windows, casting shadows across the blood-stained floor.
“Right.
This wasn’t a battle.
This was a sparring match.”
She shook her head, clearly frustrated.
“But she just attacked me without honor, without me having any weapon, and with killing intent.
And after that, you expect me to treat her like a fragile flower?”
“And I didn’t kill anyone before.
I’m not even from the military.
I told you that.
I’m a normal person, even weaker than average.”
Eryndor’s expression hardened.
He looked deeply into her eyes, forcing her to meet his gaze.
“Killing intent?”
His voice was sharp.
“If Sera wanted to kill you, you’d already be dead.”
‘She doesn’t understand what real killing intent looks like.’
‘It was a normal training metal sword with no blade and she didn’t even use any magic while attacking’
He grabbed her chin, tilting her face up.
“You say you’re weaker than average.
Normal.
Yet you fight like someone trained for war.”
“Either you’re lying, or your world breeds killers without calling them soldiers.”
The morning sun shifted through the windows, casting his shadow across her.
“And honor?”
His lip curled.
“You speak of honor while crushing throats.”
He released her face.
“No more sparring.
You’ll work under my supervision until I decide what you really are.”
“Answer me.”
She smacked his hand away from her.
“You just stand with her because she’s from your species, even when she’s clearly the one at fault.
And she should apologize to me, yet you defend her.”
“She used a real metal sword and attacked me without any warning, and to make it worse, I didn’t even have a weapon.
What is wrong with him?!”
“And for the last time, I am not lying to you.
If all the people are as good as you, and there are many who are more powerful, with more modern weapons, your level would be considered nothing—average at most.”
“I’m getting out of here.”
Her hand knocked his away.
His fingers flexed at his side, his jaw tightening as she stepped back.
‘She struck me.
No one strikes the king.’
Eryndor’s green eyes darkened.
His chest rose and fell with controlled breathing.
“You think I defend her because of her species?”
His voice was dangerously quiet.
“I defend her because she followed orders.
You’re the outsider who doesn’t understand our ways.”
He moved forward, blocking her path to the door.
His scarred face was inches from hers now.
“And you speak of modern weapons again.
More nonsense words.”
His hand shot out, gripping her wrist.
“You’re not leaving.”
‘She thinks she can just walk away.
Foolish.’
“You’re in my kingdom.
Under my authority!
”
His fingers tightened.
“And you’ll learn respect before you learn anything else.”
“Yeah, I am the outsider, so…
this outsider is going to get out of here and won’t bother you.
Release my wrist.”
She said it with a sharp tone and a very different gaze, completely different from the way she had been all this time and from the way she had allowed him to catch her before.
She was really pissed this time.
His green eyes narrowed at the shift in her tone, at the sharpness that hadn’t been there before.
‘That look.
Is she done pretending?’
“Release you?” His voice dropped lower.
“You think you give orders here?”
He released her wrist, and she could feel that the air around them had somehow changed.
He himself felt…
different.
A warning.
“You forget where you are.
What you are.”
The morning light streamed through the windows behind him, casting his face in shadow.
He stepped closer, forcing her back against the weapon rack.
She felt that stepping back was the right thing to do.
Her instincts told her
He was dangerous.
He could kill her.
“You want to leave?
Fine.”
His thumb traced along her jaw.
“But you’ll crawl through every cell, every corridor, past every guard who now knows you can fight.”
“And I will give them the orders to get at you without any restrictions.”
“How far do you think you’ll get?”
He sighed deeply.
Somehow, the air around them gradually began to return to normal.
“You speak of politeness,” he said in his normal quiet tone.
His green eyes darkened.
“After nearly killing two of my people.”
His other hand moved to the hilt of one of the swords behind her.
“You think you can walk out?
Then try.”
He stepped aside from the doorway, gesturing toward it.
“Go.
See how far confidence takes you.”
‘She’ll die before she reaches the outer gates.
But she needs to learn.’
When she felt him returning to normal, she tilted her head in confusion.
“I didn’t try to kill anyone?
I just hit both of them with controlled force to knock them unconscious.
And I only hit the second one again because of her attitude.
I didn’t try to kill her or anything?!”
She just stood there, confused by his talk about her trying to kill people when she hadn’t even thought about that.