🌸|𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘝𝘦𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘳𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘞𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸|🌸

🏮CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 🏮

"Psst! Over here, Lihua!"

"Ah, where are you? All I see are...trees.."

I search frantically for Huiliang, my stomach growling with the anticipation of the snacks he promised to bring me. He had told me to meet him in the middle of the forest at the grand oak tree, but I didn't know which was which! I only just found out my real name, how was I supposed to know which tree was a...

"Huiliang!" I suddenly see the handsome blue eyed boy waving at me from behind a tree and grin excitedly, rushing toward him and throwing my arms around him in an embrace. He holds me back gently as I start to whine about how awful my day was turning out.

"Huiliang, I don't know why I ever agreed to let Master Yi train me, it's horrible! I can't do any of the stuff the other kids can do, and when I mess up, they all laugh at me. I've only been here for a week, and I've already become a laughingstock! At this rate, I'll be an outcast in the village before I can even become a part of it! And all of the kids will hate me and give me awful nicknames that I'll never live down! And poor you, and Longwei, and Jiang! I've only been your little sister for a few days, and I'll already be shaming the family name! I think I —"

"Lihua, please, take a breath!"

My gentle, 3rd eldest brother reaches inside the bag he had left behind the tree and pulls out an adorable treat that was shaped like a rabbit. I take it from him excitedly and dig in.

"Did you make these yourself?"

"Mm hm. Eat as much as you like!"

I sit down and get to work eating.

For 3 days now, I had been training under Master Yi. He insisted that because of a strange mark on my arm, I was the future empress of the fallen Shui kingdom and needed to undergo training just like all of the children in the village. I didn't quite understand any of the information and could hardly believe it was true.

Something horrible had happened to me before I arrived in this village, and yet I'd come to be in just the place I needed to be? Reunited with possibly the only family I had left in the world? How could I be so lucky...? 

I was so tired of spending early mornings and the majority of my evening training. I was totally sore, and after all of that work, I could barely lift a raindrop with my mind! I couldn't focus with all of the laughter of the other students echoing through my ears, either!

I snuck off during break time to see Huiliang and rant, but my mouth was currently too busy eating to talk. Everything tasted so good, I thought I could just die.

"You're such an amazing cook!"

"Thank you! I'm glad someone appreciates it. Who would have thought, I had a little sister this whole time. Finally, I have someone to spoil!"

"Can you talk to Master Yi and convince him to let me go home for the day? I'm sooooo tired! He'll listen to you for sure!"

"Awww, Lihua, I would if I could, but no one defies Master Yi. He's way too smart...I trained for a few years under him when I was your age."

"A few years? Why did you stop?"

"Because of the attack on our village, Master Yi strongly encourages that every child learns how to defend themselves with basic training. We never know when we might be attacked again. Whether or not we want to continue passed basic training is our choice. I wanted to learn medicine, so that's what I pursued."

"Ah! Maybe I'll learn medicine, too!"

"I don't think thats the path you're supposed to go down, little one." Huiliang laughs, reaching over to wipe crumbs from my cheek with his sleeve.

"What do you mean?" I asked as I bit into another snack.

"You were born the heir to the Shui empire. Your mere existence proves we have hope to rebuild what we lost so many years ago. One day when you're older, hopefully, you'll become the general of our army, and —"

"General?! No way! That sounds like way too much training!"

"I think you can do it if you just have faith in yourself. I have faith in you."

"That's really sweet of you, Huiliang, but... I still don't understand any of this...I don't think I'm the only one who could —"

"Lihua. There you are."

I hear the sound of footsteps before I can react and whirl around, my heart jumping out of my chest when I see Master Yi standing amongst the trees with a look of disappointment gracing his features. Huiliang gives a yelp, grabs his bag, and rushes off back toward the village, leaving me exposed and drowning in guilt.

"Ah...Master Yi...I'm glad you found me, I actually just got lost—-"

"Lihua. I expect every last one of my students present at all times during training hours. That includes you."

"I'm hardly doing well at all, you should just give up on me! I can't go back and face any more humiliation — no, I won't go back!"

"Is that so..." Master Yi watched as I folded my arms across my chest in a pout I knew was probably childish, but I didn't care. I didn't have the energy or willpower for any of this and I didn't want it. I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to do, now did I?

However, I'm shocked by the solid expression on Master Yi's face. He doesn't seem surprised at all by my actions— in fact, he doesn't even flinch. He merely blinks and clears his throat.

"It seems you were very spoiled where you were from, Lihua. I have a lot to teach you about the way that things work around here."