"Up."
CLANG!
"Good, now left."
CLANG!
"Now center."
CLANG!
"Good, now--"
Vahriz trailed off when Arslan suddenly lunged at him, and without hesitation swung his sword forward. Vahiz blocked his attack, "Hm!" grunting, and swinging his own sword. Arslan jumped back and came at him again, attacking simultaneously.
As skilled as a grand general he was, Vahriz managed to parry each of Arslan's strike. "Well done, Arslan-denka," he praised as Arslan jumped back, lowering his sword, "You seem to have mastered the basics."
"Thanks, Vahriz," though sweating and panting, Arslan replied with a wide smile, "But without your guidance, I won't be able to do such a feat!"
Vahriz nodded slowly, murmuring to himself, "Mastering it within half a day... such remarkable talent..."
"Hm? You say something, Vahriz?"
"No, I didn't," Vahriz brandished his sword again, "Let's continue, Denka!"
Meanwhile, inside the library, as usual Asa was studying intently under Bahar's tutelage. Bahar watched as Asa busied herself with books. She smiled softly at her, but then secretly narrowed her eyes, as if thinking something.
On the afternoon, at the castle hallway Arslan and Asa came across each other. As they passed by each other, without exchanging words the two smiled behind each other's back.
○○○
The next two days, Arslan again was practising swordsmanship with Vahriz.
As Arslan paused to catch a breath, Vahriz sheathed his sword and walked up to him. "Denka, how about we take a rest?" He offered.
"Huh? But we just..." Arslan paused for a moment, before nodding in agreement, "Sure, Vahriz! Finally!"
"Denka, I have said this before, but you certainly have improved," Vahriz began after he and Arslan had seated below a shady tree, "I can say I'm proud to be your instructor."
"Oh, you don't have to!" Arslan grinned sheepishly, "I mean... I'm also proud to be your disciple!"
Vahriz didn't answer as he was looking away.
As Arslan picked a bottle of water, Vahriz opened his mouth to speak, "Denka, do you hate Heika?"
"Chichi-ue? No, of course no," Arslan replied nonchalantly before downing the water, "What makes you ask that?"
"What about Queen Tahamenay?" Vahriz took a glimpse at Arslan, "Do you hate Her?"
Arslan's eyes met with Vahriz, and he didn't know why but he felt those eyes were staring through his soul. He found himself looking away from them, and a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek, "No... how could I possibly?" he murmured.
Vahriz nodded to himself, seeming satisfied. Arslan peeked at him and as Vahriz stayed silent he let out a thin sigh in relief.
"What about Bahar?"
Arslan blinked his eyes. "Eh?"
Vahriz slowly stood up and folded his arms behind his back, staring at the clear sky. "As senior maid, she's well respected by her fellow colleagues and in return respects them. She is very dedicated to her job and never once had she complained. But above all, she's a very loyal attendant of Pars, and especially to both Denka and Hime-sama."
Vahriz then turned to Arslan again, and asked plainly, "Do you hate her? Or perhaps is she helping you?"
Arslan froze at his question. "...what do you mean, Vahriz?"
"It's been three days. Haven't you two had enough?" Vahriz replied calmly.
Arslan's eyes promptly widened. "...y-you know, Vahriz?" he stuttered.
The Eran stared at him for a while and eventually chuckled. "Even if you two managed to trick the entire castle, I will not be fooled."
Arslan dropped his gaze, gulping.
He could feel Vahriz's hand on his shoulder. He looked back to Vahriz's calm expression. "It's okay. I won't tell anyone about this. Heika doesn't seem to notice it yet, but if he finds out you two will be in big trouble."
"...Otou-sama and Okaa-sama haven't noticed yet?" Arslan slowly echoed, a confused frown adorning his face, "But of all people, shouldn't they be the first to notice?"
Vahriz just stared at him, not answering.
Arslan silently stood up and walked away from Vahriz. He stopped and without turning back, said, "Bahar doesn't help us, and we love her."
Vahriz sighed to himself as Arslan finally left.
○○○
Arslan kept walking and eventually he came across Asa on the hallway, who was also displaying a dispirited face while walking. The two stopped and looked at each other, smiled thinly, and sighed altogether.
"So... did Vahriz?" Asa started. Now the two were sitting on the grassy land of the garden, leaning against each other's back.
"You guess it," Arslan sighed, pulling down his ponytail into loose. Glancing over his shoulder, he asked, "What about Bahar?"
"She praised me for my dedication, but then..." Asa sighed heavily, "You know what happened next."
Arslan, who in truth was really Asa, nodded slowly. "Here, your hair band, Nii-sama."
"Oh, thanks," the real Arslan took it and tied his loose hair into a ponytail, "Bahar told me she had noticed us swapping role since the first day, but she just let us be."
Asa hummed in response. "Vahriz, too. He said he wouldn't tell anyone, though." she said while staring at the sky.
"Vahriz and Bahar... they're really kind," Arslan chuckled slowly, closing his eyes to enjoy the gentle breeze. "...but three days had passed and only them who noticed. Aren't we something, Asa?"
Asa laughed at his comment. "Yep! I wonder how did they find out..." she stopped for a moment then continued with lower voice, "I thought our plan was perfect... we successfully tricked both Otou-sama and Okaa-sama, too..."
"No, Asa," Arslan said, catching her attention, "They must have noticed, but they remained silent about it. Just like Vahriz and Bahar!"
Asa stared at his certain face for a moment and cracked into another laugh. "You're right! There's no way they didn't notice," she grinned, looking at the slowly changing sky, "After all, they are our parents!"
"Yeah!" Arslan nodded, smiling at the sky as well. "But as expected... studying in the library is much more fun than swordsmanship."
"No, swordsmanship is!" Asa protested, turning at Arslan. Arslan had also turned at her, staring back into her eyes until they realized something.
"...Nii-sama, does that mean...?"
"Yeah... we're back to our daily activities, again."
After Arslan said that, the two fell into silence for a while. Eventually, they laughed together and laid on the grass.
"So I'm back with swordsmanship, eh? But I'm so glad I don't have to wear gowns again!" Arslan laughed freely.
"I know, right? Gowns are ridiculous! I envy you but I'm glad I will study with Bahar again!" Asa replied, grinning widely.
The two laughed contentedly, not noticing Bahar was staring at them from afar. The maid's lips curled into a smile as she prepared to leave.
"Why do you let them, Bahar?"
Bahar stopped and turned to her left, finding Vahriz approaching her.
"My apologies... but I believe experience is the best teacher," she replied politely as she looked at the twins again, "They should understand their own role by themselves."
"If we have the same thinking, you needn't to apologize, Bahar," Vahriz stood beside Bahar, watching the twins laughed together. "So what do you think about Denka?"
"He's very dedicated and smart, just like Hime-sama," Bahar answered with a nod, "...what about Hime-sama, Lord Vahriz?"
"She's... very talented. Unlike Denka." Vahriz's remark surprised Bahar a bit. "Eh? Unlike Denka..."
"Yeah," Vahriz nodded his head and glanced at Bahar. "Bahar... although they are twins, they are different individuals. Treat them equally, but differently."
"Equally but differently..." Bahar echoed.
Vahriz then turned and started to walk away. "Clearly, those two show different potential. Let's see how they'll become in the future..."
"Let's do it again sometime later, Nii-sama!" Asa's sudden exclaim stopped Vahriz and lured both his and Bahar's attention.
"Why not? I have a feeling Vahriz and Bahar would let us do it again!" was Arslan's answer, making the two adults' mouth agape.
"....looks like we're too soft, eh?"
~Chapter 3 : End~
(A/N: So today I received some notifications, and discovered... someone amazing made a cover for this book!
That amazing someone is larrythelobster321! I will say this again and again, thank you for the cover!
I will put the cover in the first chapter, so you guys can see it~ I really like it, but I'm not going to say why because it contains spoiler... lol)
Anyway, thanks for reading!