Sharon Ashblade's Point of View

  While having a breakfast of oatmeal early in the morning, the Maid, Valerie, who was assigned to me after I arrived at the Royal Palace, informed me that Sarah would like to have lunch with me today. I was more than happy to accept the invitation. I finished my meal and proceeded to begin to do some light training to wake my body. I saw Sarah's fiancé, John, walking to the inner fields with his Maid, Ms. Anna, he must have decided to Meditate today. I find myself thinking of that man these past few days. I shake my head to rid the thoughts out of my mind. How the Legendary Senior Anna from the Royal Academy had become a Maid, is a story I still would like to hear though.

  Regardless, I continue to swing my sword. Lost in questions about why I continue to think about that man. It all started when I arrived here! He tried to keep us from helping Sarah! At first, I thought it was because he thought of us as weak. But after the first training session Asha and I had with him. After we had dismissed him as the reason we couldn't land a strike on Uncle Warrick, Asha and I, who thought John was the weakest link, fought against Uncle Warrick as a trio with Sarah. Sarah, Asha and I were soundly defeated in 5 minutes. After which, Sarah, still raring to go, made a duo with John. And it took King Warrick 10 minutes to defeat them. The teamwork they had, while a little stiff, showed absolute trust in each other. When one would attack, the other would interrupt the King's counter, The trust they shared was amazing. Sarah looked at us with a knowing smile. Apparently, her goal the entire time was to show us this difference they had.

  After King Warrick had defeated them, Asha and I were simply shocked at how differently John had fought with Sarah. The difference was night and day in comparison when he fought with us. Asha and I simply walked to John as he was resting and asked why that was the case. To our surprise, he began to accurately point out every error of the training session we had. I was embarrassed, not only because of his pointing out of every action I had made, but also because of how close an eye he had kept on me. For as long as I can remember, I was never criticized by anyone besides my Father when we trained. Not even my Teachers had criticized me, but this man... He had not only criticized me, someone who could defeat him in a one-on-one fight, but he accurately broke down everything I was objectively doing wrong. I was angry and in a moment of childishness, I muttered.

  " Nobody asked you to help."

  To this, he continued to surprise me. He explained in an irritated tone how he felt responsibility. Not only to protect Sarah, but Asha and I as well. The way he looked at me was stuck in my head since. After thinking for a moment, it was Asha's turn for a thrashing. So far to my recollection, Asha has never shown glimpses of her true self to anyone outside her Family, besides Sarah and I of course. But it seems John, for some reason, he is able to coax that out of her. After he had finished telling Asha her faults in battle, we both heard an interesting insight to John's days here in the Royal Palace. To confirm it, we both asked him to walk us through his day. We were both shocked at what we heard. We both looked at King Warrick to confirm what John was saying, Sarah simply sat there, staring at our reactions. From hours of Magic lessons with Aunt Aqua, to hours of training with General Crest, after only a small break, he begins full contact sparring switching between one-on-one sparring to working as a team with Sarah against Uncle Warrick. Every fight ending the same, with him being defeated by Warrick, day in, day out and he's only begun to train in Martial Arts and Magic for 1 month. How he survived is amazing. Even Asha and I wouldn't last. Asha and I were surprised to say the least.

  As Asha and I were reeling from finding out all of these. The next day came and John and Sarah took their first rest day from their training. My rest day consisted of simply spending the day with My Family. My Mother, who is not quite used to being a Noble even though the Family has been one for quite a while, was quite nervous while interacting with anyone outside of the Family or the King and Queen ironically. Around the late afternoon of the same day, Asha and I were informed that Sarah had been kidnapped! Without thinking, Asha and I ran to the Throne Room, only to find Cynthia and Sarah standing in front of Uncle Warrick and Aunt Aqua. Aunt Aqua began to speak to us as we approached Sarah.

  " Ah! We were just getting ready to call for you both! We're abou.."

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  Without caring for what Aunt Aqua had said, we simply ran while crying and hugged Sarah. She patted our backs while soothing us to calm us down. After we calmed down, Cynthia began to explain what had happened. We were horrified to hear of a person who could defeat Sarah in one blow and terrified that John's first idea wasn't to look for help, but to rush towards the people who had defeated him. not only that, but he wanted to turn away Cynthia for fear she would get hurt. After that, it was more and more audacious actions. The biggest of which was blocking Cynthia away from a strong opponent, only to bet his life that his Barrier Spell would not be broken by the man's sword swing. Asha was furious! My heart leaped at the Courage Of A Warrior he had shown. But for some reason... I was also furious. After all, all of his words about taking reasonability of our lives, he barely thought of his own! Cynthia and her Parents were of a similar thought process to us. Only Sarah showed a smile for some reason? Cynthia went off first, most likely to check on John. Asha, Sarah and I stayed behind to listen to the Uncle Warrick and Aunt Aqua.

  We were told that Sarah was to fetch John for dinner and that our Parents would be joining us. Sarah looked at us and began to speak while having a grin on her face.

  "Would you care to join me, Asha? Sharon?"

  Asha and I, wanting to give John a piece of our minds, agreed without hesitation. As we walked, Sarah again began to speak.

  "Asha, I'm surprised. You usually never show this kind of reaction to people outside of our Friend Group or your Family."

  Asha, hiding behind her noble smile, began to speak.

  "Perhaps so. However, I view this and that as separate matters. The reason I am so displeased is because of all that talk yesterday of taking responsibility and protecting us from danger. I have quite a few words for him if his actions today show how he plans on protecting us!"

  "My Fiancé is a sinful man in many ways, Asha, but he is not a liar. If he says he will do something, by the Gods, he will see it through."

  " You're far too lenient on him in this case, Sarah."

  " Perhaps, but you see, my Fiancé has struggled for some time with doing as he sees fit. So, forgive me if I'm a little glad he is finally starting to assert himself. If anything, it means the world to me that he showed such impatience in trying to reunite with me."

  Asha and Sarah may have been speaking with their mouths, but their eyes told a different story. It was like they were feeling out a stranger they were meeting for the first time. I decided to step in to remind them we were Friends.

  "Asha, Sarah, remember please, we're all Friends here! If anyone feels the other is hiding something, wouldn't it be better to just say it?"

  They both looked at each other, smiled at each other and then at me. It seems the awkward mood from before began to dissipate. Until Sarah spoke again.

  " His room is on the next door on the left."

  Asha and I both stared sharply at the door. Now that we listened, we could hear Cynthia's voice. We waited for her voice to fade before entering. Without thinking, we both mouthed our honest thoughts together after spotting John sitting on a bed.

  " You reckless fool!"

  He asked how we knew, to which we explained how we were there when Cynthia spoke. To my surprise, as we scolded him for his recklessness, Asha even went so far as to pinch his cheeks. I felt the desire to do the same. However, I decided not to and continued the lecture. By the end of it, he apologized to us. The face he made... A face, like a child who was caught red-handed, may have moved my heart, but it was more important to hammer home the point that day.

  We proceeded to exit the room and head towards the dining hall to meet our Parents. While walking, I had noticed Asha staring a hole through John's back as he walked with Sarah. The conversation between Asha and Sarah was something to behold. As Sarah spoke, Asha began to get redder and redder. But her voice remained ever so calm. We eventually reached the dining hall.

  We then had dinner. For some reason, I couldn't get John's face from yesterday and today out of my head. I felt a sense of envy as Asha got to chat with him right beside her, while I had hoped to have a conversation with Cynthia. She was too busy staring at John with reddened cheeks, perhaps she was still angry? Regardless, during the introduction of my Parents, John tried to make my Mother feel more comfortable for the meal. After everything that had happened today, he still found it in him to observe others and help them. I guess that Paladin Job isn't just for show. I'm starting to understand what Sarah sees in him.

  Once dinner had ended, Uncle Warrick asked John for his side of the story. Everyone listened to his story. Even more so when he listed his possible reasons for the kidnapping. I was surprised when he questioned my Father, but, it seems my Father has taken a real liking to John. Perhaps it's because of how intelligent he is or his honesty? Either way, as an apology, John swore to protect us, his party, even more than before.

  My heart ached for some reason? All these thoughts in my head continue to plague me even during the day after. As the swings continued, I couldn't help but try to focus on the lunch date with Sarah. That is where I put my focus for the rest of my time training. Trying my best to ignore these difficult thoughts and feelings.