Alea POV
Opening my eyes I saw a blurry figure of Arthur sleeping beside me. After taking a moment to re-focus my eyes, I got to see his contours much more clearly than I did before.
A strong jawline that would make any man look like some kind of unreal hero was being softened by his gentle eyelashes. Each one of the hairs in them looked like it was drawn carefully by the experienced hand of the well-acknowledged artist
Due to Arthur sleeping without his shirt, I could see his well-formed and firm muscles. Looking at them made me remember the last night, which in return caused a huge blush to appear on my cheeks in the face of the resurfacing embarrassing memory
I looked at his well-formed abs for a while, and even gave myself enough freedom to touch them. I remember Art saying that some scientist from his old world said that every action has its counter-reaction, which was proven to me only now when an even stronger blush spread around my face as I touched his hard, well-formed abdominal muscles
Despite him reassuring me numerous times, I still had worries that some other, prettier girl, might snatch him away from me. It's not that I doubted his loyalty or his love for me, no, it's because I lost most of my confidence in my fight with that terrifying retainer, Uto
When I got back to the past, my confidence was at an all-time low, but now as time passed by, and I got to spend so much of it with Arthur, I was able to get some of it back
Pushing myself out of these depressing thoughts, I kissed sleeping Arthur once and left the bed
As I slept only in my underwear, I didn't have to undress, but just put on an athletic shirt that left my shoulders, belly, and a good part of chest visible and some tight sports leggings along with comfortable shoes and I left the room
Passing through the manor I ran into miss Alice, whom I greeted with a respectful nod
" Good morning Miss Alice" I said with a smile
" Good morning Alea" she answered back, a warm motherly smile spreading across her face " Did you sleep well? "
Remembering the last night, I immediately thought about the "fun time" I had with Arthur, but I was also more than sure that I shouldn't mention it to his mom, for multiple reasons, so I answered her back with a smile
" Yeah, the bed was very comfortable, I really felt at home"
She looked at me confused for a moment before answering " I am glad to hear that. It's not every day that people feel comfortable in the bed they sleep in for the first time"
I gulped a bit and felt the cold sweat go down my face, but I gritted my teeth and answered
" Yeah, I guess I felt very comfortable in Arthur's embrace" I lied
It wasn't my first time sleeping here. Matter of fact, I slept here a couple of times, it's just that I snuck in with Arthur's help so no one would notice me. It's not that we wanted to do dirty things, it's just that we wanted to cuddle, but were too nervous to introduce me to his parents
" I am glad to hear that" Alice said with relief, making me feel bad for lying to her "Then sweetie, I am going to help prepare breakfast, you can do whatever you want just don't destroy the house" she added with a wink and walked toward the kitchen
Going back to what I was up to before, I kept on walking toward the backyard of the mansion to do some morning workout
After leaving the mansion I was met with the strong morning sun that for a moment blocked my vision. It took me a moment to adjust, but in the meantime, I could feel multiple signatures there, presumably training
Among them, I felt two familiar ones, Lilia and Eleanor. Opening my eyes I saw them standing there, surrounded by the group of instructors that were telling them what to do and fixing mistakes they made during the exercises
I also took note that even though Lilia had more instructors than Ellie did, Ellie was still by far more talented than her a couple of years older friend
Numerous earth targets erupted from the ground and started floating in the air, signaling that the training had begun
" Oh, ruler of the water, the one who governs all the seas of the world, give me your power and blessing, and let this humble one fight the vile. Water needle! " Lilia chanted the spell and four highly compressed water missiles came to life and launched at the targets that flew around with no set direction
At the same time, Eleanor fired an arrow made out of pure mana at the targets. As the arrow flew, it split into five more, and every single one of them approached the goal with deadly accuracy
Three out of four needles hit the target, destroying it into pieces with some effort and later getting undone by impact, while four out of five arrows that made it to their targets destroyed them effortlessly and just kept flying as if they didn't just clash with very hard stone tablets
Still, only seven out of twenty targets were destroyed, so I decided to help the girls out a bit by creating thirteen vines that penetrated the remaining thirteen targets in an instant
Confused instructors looked back at me, only for their faces to pale in shock when they realized who I am. Without any hesitation and with a speed so great that even some of the Sapins' royal knights would be put to shame they went down on their knees
" I-its nice to meet you, Lance Alea" they said in unison with respect and fear in their voices
With a nod of my head, I acknowledged the instructors and then told them to rise
"Miss Alea, good morning! " Lilia said with admiration, her eyes gleaming with excitement
" Alea! " Ellie shouted as she ran to me and gave me a big hug
" Good morning Lilia, Ellie" I said with a smile as I hugged my future sister-in-law
After separating from Ellie, I agreed to help the two with their training
Creating some distance between us, I looked at Ellie and Lilia who faced me. Even with all the excitement, I could still see traces of fear in their stances, with Lilia in particular shaking
" You don't have to be so tense" I said to two girls " This is just training so you two can improve. You should stay calm because I promise I won't hurt you"
Sensing sincerity in my voice, Lilia and Ellie relaxed, letting out a breath of relief. Seeing this, I smiled and conjured a sword of wines
" Then, let's begin" I said and sent a gust of wind at two girls
The wind was nothing to write a story about, but it still made them cover their eyes
Realizing that the battle had begun, Eleanor was the first one to make a move. Pulling the string on her bow, she conjured five arrows made out of pure mana and fired them at me
Even though for all the kids around her and Arthur's age it would be impossible to avoid, to me it was as easy as if it was thrown by a baby. By stepping aside slightly and using minimal movements, I was able to avoid the barrage of Eleanors attacks, which was when Lilia stopped chanting, firing her water ball spell at me
Seeing it approach me, I made a highly condescend water ball myself and fired it at hers, destroying it before it also clashed with Eleanor's other arrow that was right behind it, two spells destroying each other
" Dammit! Lil, support me! " Ellie shouted and pulled out a dagger from her dimensional ring
With the dagger shrouded in wind, she dashed at me. At first, I was taken aback by Ellie coating her dagger in the wind, but then I realized that the dagger is also an artifact with a " wind coating" effect
Clashing my sword with her dagger, I was able to push her back, but she didn't give up. She started attacking me with deadly precision, showing that she is truly Arthur's disciple
Even with all her precision, she was still no match for me and after a couple of exchanges I pushed her back, which is when a water cannon conjured by Lilia came flying at me
Dodging it I was about to attack Lilia when I felt strong killing intent aimed at me. Turning around I boosted my mana output which was previously at one percent to its maximum
Two swords clashed, creating a powerful shockwave that sent both girls as well as their instructors flying
Looking at two golden eyes that attacked me just now, I smirked and conjured hundreds of wines below him, trying to grab him and get an advantage in this confrontation
I thought that I was able to catch him by surprise, but the moment my wines approached him blue fire burst out of him, burning my spell down to the ashes
" Good morning, darling" I said with a cocky smile, purposely calling Arthur darling in public knowing fully well that he hates it
" Good morning to you as well, my love" he said back, annoyance evident in his voice
After separating and sheathing our swords, we looked around, only to realize that we made a complete mess out of the backyard
" We went a bit overboard, haven't we? " I asked, getting dizzy just from the thought of how much repairing all of this would cost
" Maybe we did" Arthur said and held out his hand, revealing a golden rune on it
" I should probably fix it" he added and closed his eyes, concentrating " Aroa Requiem"
After muttering this, golden light filled the entire backyard and the time itself started reversing, fixing all the damage we made with our previous clash
Everyone looked at Arthur doing the impossible in ave, unable to believe what they just witnessed. Professors tried to understand, but the only thing they could come up with was that Arthur used some combination of earth and wind magic, unable to even think of the idea that he just manipulated the time itself
" Umm... " he said stretching before turning to me
" Shall we have a breakfast now? "
"... "
"... "
"... "
Everyone looked at him, trying to comprehend how could he be so casual about achieving something this ridiculous and then just wanting to eat something. I was one of them as well, but then I remembered, he is Arthur Leywin, doing abnormal and impossible things is just a hobby for him
" Yeah, let's go"
-----------
After taking a quick bath we went down to the dining room, where everyone waited for us to start eating
Arthur and I were dressed in our Lance uniforms, ready to leave for the castle the moment we were done eating and attend a very important meeting with the council regarding the newly discovered continent, aka Alacrya
Even though to the public they are acting as if everything is okay, the council is currently in an uproar due to the potential threat the Alacrya is presenting. Every day there are arguments and discussions about the actions we should take, and once again, the only conclusion they came to is that the Dicatheus should be sent to greet them
The ones who insisted on that are the greedy couple of Dwarven royals, who are as I found out the ones that betrayed us in the end and let the enemy on our continent
The one who is also supporting them is Blaine, who is much like them greedy for all the technology and riches the Alacrya is promising him. I was surprised when Arthur told me that it wasn't his greed that killed him, as I strongly believed it would be the case
During the entire meal, Ellie and Lilia looked at us in ave, still under a strong impression from my and Arthur's previous clash. To be honest, we probably went a bit overboard on that one
" Ellie, don't stare at your brother and Miss Alea, it's rude" Alice scolded her daughter, who in return pouted
" Same goes for you Lilia" Tabitha added " Good god, where are your manners "
" Sorry Mom," they both said in unison and went back to their meal
Seeing the girls getting into trouble I felt that it was partly my fault, so after giving another look to them, I faced two beasts so fierce that even Arthur would surrender under the gaze of only one of them
" Miss Alice, Miss Tabitha, please don't be so hard on them. During the training earlier Arthur and I went a bit overboard so they must still be in ave after seeing two with cores clashing with their full power" I pleaded, hoping that it would be enough to help the girls
" I see, then I guess I could forgive this stupid daughter of mine for now" Alice said with a chuckle
" Hey! I am not stupid!" Eleanor protested, dropping the meat on the floor in the process
" You seem pretty stupid to me" Arthur added, giving his little sister a cocky grin
" Hey! "
* Chuckle*
" Then it appears I will have to forgive Lilia as well"
***
After breakfast, Arthur and I flew out of the mansion and made our way toward the castle. During the flight, we chatted and bittered, occasionally even stopping to kiss in the skies
It didn't take us a while to reach the castle. Once we approached it, its magical and fairytale-like appearance once again took my breath away
When we landed at the entrance, all of the present soldiers and attendants greeted us with a salute
Approaching us was a tall man with tanned skin, wearing a black military uniform. Once he stood before us, he saluted again and then started to talk
" General Alea, General Arthur"
" Lieutenant Westone" Arthur returned his greeting with a casual nod
" Please follow me, the council is waiting for you"