One day before the royal wedding ceremony, Xenia and Jayra traveled early in the morning along with Bartos in his wolf form to occupy one of the more spacious parapet roofs of a ruined castle near the borders of the Cordonian Capital and the Moonlight Pack territory to practice her magic.
As much as she didn’t really care, Darius didn’t want her to practice in an area where anyone could freely watch her. And with the ruined castle being well guarded, even the entrance to that particular parapet where Xenia and Jayra were was surely going to be secure. No one was allowed to enter, all except for a few to whom the King had given authorization.
“I really feel bad for having you do this for me instead of letting you go into your honeymoon, Jayra,” Xenia murmured as she kept the barrier up to protect herself from any danger. “And it’s just a day after your wedding too.”
Casually, Xenia waved her hands as she kept the shield up. She already knew how to do such a spell, and she even used it previously to protect her and Darius inside the cave way back then. However, it took such a toll on her mana back then that she lost consciousness after performing the spell only once.
As of now, Jayra was currently helping her how to keep the barrier strong, effective, and longer-lasting without consuming too much of her energy.
“That’s alright. It’s not like we’ve been thirsting for each other’s company even before that,” Jayra chuckled. “We have a lot of free time later as soon as your trials are finished anyway. For now, just focus on the barrier while I cast an attack whenever I feel like it. Don’t let your guard down, Princess.”
Xenia did what she was asked, and without so much as a warning, Jayra proceeded to send her various attacks to test herself. Without the warning, however, the princess managed to keep herself protected, following and keeping in mind what Jayra had just taught her about being efficient with the spell.
Even as she was profusely sweating, she effectively managed to maintain the barrier, protecting herself from the various attacks Jayra was launching at her without so much as getting a scratch.
By the end of it, Jayra stopped as Xenia’s knees wobbled, causing her to her kneel on the ground as she kept her barrier intact. The princess was panting hard, releasing the barrier to catch her breath only to suddenly put it back up when Jayra launched an unexpected attack.
“Hmm, you’re learning well,” Jayra praised as she continued to use her magic to attack using the four elements. With every spell, the mage could feel the energy in her body draining. She knew that if she continued, she would soon pass out without managing to break through her friend’s guard.
Knowing her time limit, Jayra quickly moved for an offense. Meanwhile, Xenia knew that there was no way that she would survive if Jayra continued with her unending attacks like this. She had to oppress the attacker if she wanted to win.
Waiting, Xenia hoped that she’d get the chance she needed to win this. Seeing an opening, she quickly released the barrier, destroying one of the walls of the castle as Jayra’s magic hit the old structure.
Xenia moved with quick precision as she attacked her friend, the latter being caught off guard as the princess then promptly pinned the mage down on the ground.
“Stop it!” Xenia complained. “You’re draining my energy!”
“That’s quite the nice move there, Princess,” Jayra chuckled and praised. “Good work. Let’s go take a break now. For real this time.”
“You better…” Xenia huffed as she let Jayra go. “Tomorrow’s my wedding, so don’t make me look like a haggard Princess on my way down the altar.”
“Hahaha! Don’t worry, we’ll be wrapping up soon,” Jayra teased, following with a curt bow as she added. “Just a few more final touches on some of the major spells and magic that you need and we’ll be returning you back to the castle. I’m sure that at that point, you’ve earned your beauty rest, my Queen~”
“Stop that…” Xenia scolded.
“You do know that you should start getting used to being addressed properly, Your Majesty…” Jayra teased more.
“Hmm… I’ll only let you address me like that once I’m already wearing the crown on my head,” Xenia simpered before letting out a scoff. “Hah! I can’t believe how overconfident we’re being not to include Darius in all this. It’s as if he’s already sure that I’ll succeed.”
“He’s the king, so he’ll probably do everything in his power to make you his Queen by any means,” Jayra pointed out. “Even without the trial, he’ll probably just make it so that you still get to be queen anyway.”
“I suppose so, but I won’t let him bend the rules and exercise his power as king just for me,” Xenia firmly stated. “I want to show everyone that I’m worthy of being their Queen on my own terms.”
“See? That’s the spirit,” Jayra cheered. “How can you question us being this overconfident in your capabilities if you’re already thinking like that?”
The two shared a chuckle before resting for a good while. Then, they continued on with their training.
Meanwhile, Bartos watched from a distance. He was with Leon, who couldn’t help but say, “Do you think that’ll be enough for Princess Xenia to survive?”
The hesitation was very audible in Leon’s voice as he spoke.
“The King won’t like it if he hears you speak like that about the Princess’s capabilities,” Bartos reminded.
Leon scratched his head as he replied, “Hmm… Have you heard the talk in every corner of the kingdom? Almost everyone believes that the Princess won’t be able to come back alive from the Element Forest like every human who has tried in history. Also, they’re starting to make bets between Clara and Pinra on who’s going to be the future Queen between the two of them.”
Bartos turned at Leon with a frown and hissed, “Did you join the bets?”
“I did,” Leon chuckled. “I bet for your sister, Lady Bella.”
“You’ll be penniless,” Bartos nonchalantly commented.
“Huh? Why?” Leon curiously asked, to which Bartos no longer commented. The anxiety in the young man’s voice was evident as he murmured, “I’ve witnessed how Lady Bella fights… and… wait? Will she yield?”
Bartos blankly stared at Leon and said, “Set a good example in supporting your king, will you? Bet all of your money on the Princess, dumbass…” He then sighed as he added, “Go and get the food. Get the men to set the table while you’re at it as well…”
Not sparing any more words, Bartos walked away from Leon to approach the two busy women in training.
It was already time for them to eat lunch, and they might just go overboard if he didn’t stop them. Still, he hadn’t witnessed how Princess Xenia fought until now. The Princess had earned a lot of praise from Gideon before, and he was honestly curious about how things would unfold during the trials depending on what happened.
All the Cordonians would be able to watch how things would unfold inside the forest, and it was honestly highly anticipated by everyone that cared about the kingdom’s future.
“I should put a bet on the Princess,” Bartos murmured, his eyes darting towards his beloved mate and wife. Jayra was very supportive and confident of the Princess’s abilities, and it was hard not to when he saw what the woman was capable of. “I’m sure my wife will be super delighted once I tell her about all this.”
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