Chapter 100 - What's Your Secret?

Adeline was back in her own quarter before her maids would come knocking on her door. She was in a good mood today. She had made new friends, she had found some potential allies, and she had a nice time with Theodore the last night.

After the maids prepared a bath for her, she enjoyed freshening up. And instead of going to the practice on her own, she decided to have some chat with her maids. After all, she had promised Osanna to share everything that she saw outside in detail.

The maids sat comfortably on her bed, alongside the Princess. Even though Hawisa was acting all tough and stern yesterday, even she wanted to hear how the world outside had become.

So, the three of them sat down together and Adeline began telling the story of her little adventure. Of course, she excluded the parts like Theodore barging in the fortune-teller's place, and the fortune-teller being a spy and a witch.

After having a nice chat with her maids, she had her breakfast and eagerly went to attend the training session. She was eager to meet her brothers and sisters.

"Adeline!" Nefriti came running towards Adeline and hugged her as soon as she appeared at the gate of the training ground.

Adeline happily hugged her back. The hug didn't feel as awkward as yesterday. "Hi, Nefriti. Everyone is already here?" Adeline darted her eyes around the ground.

"Yes, all of them are already here. We were just talking about you. Come!" And then Nefriti held Adeline's hand and pulled her inside the ground.

All of the Princes and Princesses had already gathered for their hand-to-hand combat session. They were all dressed in their uniform and were warming themselves up. When they saw Adeline, they all gave a warm greeting to her.

"Adeline, did you sleep well?" Kaela waved at her while bending her waist to the side.

Adeline smiled and nodded her head, "Yes I did."

Raphael came sprinting towards her and threw some air punches at her. "Hey, little sister. I hope you are ready for the combat session."

"I sure am," Adeline responded by throwing her own air-punches at him.

Adeline's eyes fell on Gustin who was also doing some stretches. Gustin inclined his head slightly upwards and acknowledged her presence. Adeline responded by giving a smile to him.

Claudia came to Adeline and then pulled her to where she and Kaela were doing their stretches, "Come and join us."

Adeline happily followed her and stood by their side.

And Nefriti shouted from behind, "Hey, are you two ignoring me, now that you got Adeline?" She was puckering her lips and glaring at Claudia and Kaela.

Claudia ran towards Nefriti and cupped her face. "Aww… are you sad that we find Adeline to be cuter than you? Are you afraid that she is going to be our favorite?"

Nefriti pouted even more and gritted from between her teeth, "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"What a baby! Can't even take a joke." Claudia gave a disapproving look to Nefriti.

Adeline was seeing and hearing her brothers and sisters joking around and teasing each other. And she felt really happy that she was not treated as an outsider anymore, or rather, she was happy that she decided to be accepted as a part of their group.

Nefriti also joined the others and began to do some warm-up exercises. And while they were at it, Nefriti asked a question to Adeline that she had wanted to ask for the longest time, "Hey Adeline, if you don't mind me asking, may I know how you have such a great strength?"

"I have great strength?" Adeline asked as though she was oblivious to that fact. Yes, she had grown a little close to them, but that didn't mean that she would spill her secrets to everyone in the Palace. Words spread like wildfire inside the Palace and she did not want her secrets to reach certain someone's ears.

Nefriti raised her brows and exclaimed, "Good heavens! Are you really unaware about your almost-super-human level of strength or are you just being humble in front of us poor?" 

Adeline scratched her head and chuckled, "I don't know. I have always been like this ever since I remember."

"So there's no other secrets? Like you found some magic potion or you were struck by lightning or something like that?" Nefriti's questions were stupid so everyone began to chuckle. But Nefriti didn't realize that they sounded stupid and she was genuinely waiting for some answer from Adeline.

Adeline was just pressing her lips together, trying not to laugh out loud. So, Raphael came to her rescue and said, "Nefriti, just leave her alone. She inherited our father's good genes, that's all. You know how strong our father is."

Nefriti thought for a while and nodded her head, "Hmm… that sounds believable."

Their teacher, General Herwin, walked inside the training ground when his students were making some noise instead of warming up. So he shouted in a loud voice, "Hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Everyone immediately stood in an attentive position.

General Herwin was a very strict-looking person. He had large mustaches and thick eyebrows. He was a little short compared to other Generals but he was very swift with his movements, making him one of the best in hand-to-hand combat.

He clapped his hands and ordered in a loud voice, "Everyone, start with the 50 laps around the ground. Go, go, go!"

All of them immediately began to jog around the training ground. Though the ground was large, all of them were already habituated to running around the ground and 50 laps was the piece of cake for them. So, they completed the laps in no time and gathered in the middle of the ground for the actual session.

"Alright! Who wants to go first?" General Herwin asked to the group.

Raphael, Nefriti, Claudia, and Kaela shot their hands in the air instantly. The only ones who didn't care if they went inside the ring at first or later were Adeline and Gustin.

And as any sane teacher would do, General Herwin called the ones who had not raised their hands. "Okay, Adeline and Gustin, climb inside the ring. Let's see what you've got."

Nefriti whined and complained to the General, "Why them? They didn't even raise their hands."

Herwin twirled his mustache while giving a smirk, "That's why I am sending them first. There is no room for reluctance in my class."

Adeline and Gustin were okay with whenever their turn for combat practice would come. So they went inside the raised platform without showing any 'reluctance' as the General had said.. They faced each other and took their fighting stance.