Chapter 153 - Blooming Love

Prince Nigel and Crown Prince Wulfric were in the middle of their fight in the training ground. They were being overseen by their teacher Rhea and other few spectators like Prince Fenris and Wulfric's guards.

Later during the day, the two of them would be fighting again in front of the King and the elders of the Siccaldi clan. And right now, they were doing their final practice before the big show.

Nigel was going to return back to Wyverndale tomorrow and the members of the clan wanted to see how much Prince Nigel had progressed since the day he arrived at Aberdeen. And also, they had a few things to say to Nigel before he would leave for his Palace.

Wulfric dashed forward at a great speed, a speed that the normal people's eyes could quite catch, and threw a fist aiming for Nigel's face. But Nigel caught Wulfric's fist as though it was no big deal and smirked at the Crown Prince, "Come on Wulfric, who was claiming to be the big bad wolf just a few weeks earlier? What happened to him? Is this all you've got?"

Nigel threw away Wulfric's fist and threw a deadliest fist right at Wulfric's jaw. Wulfric's head was thrown to the side and when he turned to look at Nigel again, his eyes were glowing and he began to growl as though he was about to change to his wolf form.

But he heard Rhea's voice from behind, "This is not the final fight Crown Prince, no turning in this one.." So he controlled his anger and readied himself to grab Nigel from behind and throw him down on the ground. That was his way of finishing off the opponents in the duel.

However, by now Nigel already knew when he would try to knock him out. He didn't give Wulfric a chance to get behind him. Before he could do that, Nigel hit Wulfric on his stomach with a barrage of punches. And when Wulfric was distracted enough, Nigel took the opportunity to grab Wulfric's leg and flipped him on the ground. Then Nigel sat on top of Wulfric, his claws ready to dig on Wulfric's heart.

Rhea clapped two times and declared the winner, "Prince Nigel is the winner of this round."

Nigel gave a smile to his cousin and got off of Wulfric. Then he offered his hand to Wulfric who had a playful frown on his face. Wulfric stood up and then whispered to Nigel, "Oh, brother! Why do you always have to show off in front of my guards? You are making their Crown Prince look weak. Couldn't you have at least let me win this one?"

Nigel chuckled and whispered back, "I am also a Prince, brother. I also have my own reputation to protect."

Prince Fenris came running to their side and said sarcastically, "Hey love birds, are you two going to keep on whispering love songs to each other, or are we going back to the Palace? You two have to get ready."

Rhea also stood in front of the boys and cleared her throat to get the attention of the Princes. The Princes stood with their arms behind their back like obedient students, even Prince Fenris.

And when Rhea had their attention, she began to speak in a rather softer voice, "As you all know, Prince Nigel will be returning back to Wyverndale to attend his test. And before he returns back, the elders of the clan had asked to see a match between the Crown Prince and Prince Nigel."

Rhea glanced at Wulfric and Nigel and gently bowed her head. "I wish good luck to both of you. I will also be watching. And put on a good show for my sake, don't embarrass me in front of the elders."

"Yes, teacher," even though they were Princes, Nigel and Wulfric gave a slight bow to show respect to their teacher. She had taught both of them most of the things they knew.

She gently smiled at her students and said, "The class is dismissed." 

The Princes started to walk away towards the Palace. But before Nigel could also walk away, Rhea called him, "Nigel, can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Sure," Nigel stayed behind with a huge grin on his face. During this short period, he had fallen deeper and deeper for Rhea. Her harsh yet caring voice, her gentle touch when she would teach him something, her laughter when he would do something stupid, everything would make him go crazy for her.

He would do anything for her if she asked. He didn't know that he could feel this way for a woman, but he liked this feeling, even though it was just one-sided.

Rhea had a somewhat serious look on her face, not that she didn't always have it, but this time she also looked as though she was sad because of something. "So, are you confident about the duel?" this was not the question that she really wanted to ask him, but somehow it came out.

Nigel nodded his head and spoke with a captivating smile on his lips, "Yes, I am. I am going to let the elders know that I can handle myself even after I return back to Wyverndale." His smile turned mirthless all of a sudden.

He was going back to his home after such a long time. He thought he would be more excited about this but he felt a little sad. He was going to miss his cousins and… Rhea.

He had not confessed his feeling to Rhea yet but he knew that Rhea was well aware of that. And the way how Rhea was indifferent to him made him scared, scared to confess thinking he would get rejected by the very first woman whom he had fallen for.

Rhea wanted to say something but she couldn't quite bring herself to. She didn't have the heart to tell him what the elders had planned for him. She wanted to warn him so that he could be prepared but she just could not. She had no idea why she cared about him and why she didn't want to hurt his feelings.

So she just said, "I hope that they will see how good you are. I never thought I would say this to anyone but you are a special one. Nobody had ever been able to progress at the rate which you did. There are only a handful of people who can win against Crown Prince Wulfric and even fewer who can win against me... Good luck!"

Nigel's heart skipped a beat when she called him a 'special one'. But he calmed himself down by saying to himself that she said that because he was her student, not because she liked him. But then again, he couldn't help but smile at her. "Thank you, Rhea. I hope you don't mind me calling you by your name now that you won't be teaching me anymore?"

The way he smiled at her, the way he called her name, something bloomed inside of Rhea. She didn't know why she was feeling this way lately. He did something to her which no other men were able to do.

"Of course. You can call me by my name." Rhea's gorgeous lips curved upwards, making her look even more beautiful.

Nigel was hypnotized by her beauty. He returned her smile and said, "And so can you. You don't have to refer to me as 'Your Highness' or as 'Prince'." And he didn't know what came over him and how he got the courage to do so, but he gently took her palm in his hand and kissed her on the knuckles.

He wanted to do much more than that but he dared not. His eyes trailed towards her gorgeous face. And he didn't know whether it was his imagination or not, he saw a glimmer of love for him in her beautiful eyes.