Frederick (Part 1)

“Dang! The baby I trained became a ferocious bear!”

This opponent of mine gave a triumphant smile as I wiped the blood on my right cheek, so I immediately chanted a spell because it might leave an ugly scar on my fair, blemish-free, seductive face. We should take care of our best assets.

“Thanks to you, I got better every day however, this new skill of mine would be only helpful in dire situations.”

Every day is a dire situation, my dear cousin! The adrenaline ran through my system now I found a decent sparring candidate.

I stood up and thrust the pointed tip of my sword was in his stomach. One wrong move to kiss him goodbye forever.

“Wouldn’t you think it is already time for us to head inside the manor unless you thought that the actual battle is just getting started?”

In a confident tone, I said, “I’m happy that someone knew myself better than me,”

I pulled back my sword, and he just shook his head.

“I can’t believe you, and if you’re aiming for suicide, then go ahead.”

“You’re the killer who murdered my excitement! Scared because of the cold? Unbelievable!”

“No, I just want to save that Lady.”

He pointed at the woman who was adoring the dim, greyish sky.

“Why would you waste your time talking to an idiot?”

Reyner’s making a lame excuse to end this duel, but I won’t let that happen now that I’m in the mood for a revengeful attack.

“No, she had a reason and, I want to know it.”

He inserted his sword in its scabbard and walked its way to Miss Idiot. I don’t have a choice. Damn it!

“Hey! Bro, maybe she’s already frozen?”

He stopped, turned around, and with those glistening eyes, he put his hands on my shoulder.

“Then, I have more reasons to help her. Let’s be altruistic today, Frederick.”

My prophecy is Reyner would die because of helping someone! If it won’t happen now, then it would take place in the future! I wrapped my left arm on his shoulder. Maybe I also have a reason to meet this idiotic lady who ruined our swordsmanship practice.

“What was in the sky and you look focused?” Reyner asked.

It turned out that she’s not yet frozen because she trembled and stepped backward. Do we look like ghosts? Ladies in the capital would risk their lives only to touch the tip of our fingers, yet this woman treated us like a contagious disease.

I told ya, Reyner, people are not worth saving for. After six steps, she stopped and gave us a curtsy.

“Greetings to the Crown Prince of Daria and Duke Frederick.”

You did the right thing, Miss! I’ll teach you how to address me correctly next time! Reyner repeated his question, which I don’t understand because if I were him, I’ll demand an answer right away. Anyway, the lady in question gave a bland answer, so this is the time to shake things up a little.

“Your answer lacked details,” I said.

Reyner looked like a mad bison when he glanced at me. I shrugged my shoulders as a response. Why so agitated ma’ dude? All I did was to state a fact!

“Your Grace, I apologize if you thought that I gave an unsatisfactory answer. Please, enlighten me.”

This lady was interesting. She appeared calm, but when you look at how she formed words, her teeth had some grinding action which she tried to mask with a smile. I don’t know if she was just terrible in hiding her feelings or wanted to express herself elusively.

“The question stated a specific thing in heaven to admire it. Your answer was vague.”

“Hey! Frederick, that was alright! Do not bother Lady Bethany anymore. Look! I did not know if she shivered because of the cold or if it was just you. Let us go inside.”

Reyner, stop it being a firefighter. You always extinguish my zealousness in everything.

“Your Highness, please allow me to hear Lady Bethany’s complete answer.”

Sorry, not sorry. I wanted to see more of Lady Bethany’s amazing expression.

“Thank you very much, Your Highness. I am sorry if my plain and boring answer confused the both of you.”

Yes, please! Be sarcastic, the more you do, the more I become entertained and, for that, I’ll give you a thumbs up!

“I know that beauty is a subjective matter for everyone. What is beautiful to me can be ugly in your eyes,”

We nodded at her statement. This lady knew how to make rational statements. Even though she’s rational, how could women change their moods at the speed of light?

“I can clearly see the mixture of two colors that formed a new hue. Of course, it is not a bright color. It was still helpful for us because it warned us to prepare for the terrible weather. Another example is you, Duke Frederick,”

I knew it. She belonged to our fan club! Honestly, I like her approach — a very creative one.

“They said the face behind that mask was hideous. I think they were wrong.”

Oh, my cute little fan, I wanted to show this to you but, other fans would get jealous.

Fortunately, Reyner couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Good job, Lady Bethany! I think the Duke had the same opinion,” Reyner said.

“Your Highness, I agree with your statement.”

What could I say? This new fan who’ll top my list of interesting toys blew me away. 

All right, time to go inside before Reyner gets grumpy.

“Hey, where was Lady Bethany?” Reyner asked.

“She’s walking behind me.”

We had eye contact after comparing her distance between us.

“If she was, then explain what I saw.”

“Don’t worry, I’ will go. If it’s me, then I could break it.”

I volunteered, knowing that Reyner has strong inner morals. He wouldn’t bend rules unless it is beneficial. Besides, gossips wouldn’t be complete without mentioning my name, and she would turn into a frozen statue for real if I didn’t hurry.