-Jinhae’s POV-

Tao’s sword sliced through the air with a whoosh, echoing through the courtyard as he made it clash with the sword I was holding. He applied force in it. I was sure. I could feel it flowing through the metal like electricity. I smiled to myself. At least he wasn’t afraid if he was going to hurt me anymore. It didn’t matter. I had to learn to fight. If Shinhye can do it then I had no choice but to do it, too. She had edge since she had been skilled in it ever since we were kids. I wasn’t because I opposed violence, but it didn’t matter now. After another attack from the purist the time when we got to the island to get to the Nephylus, I felt inadequate especially after Kris just flew me out of the place. That won’t do the next time. I had to fight, too.

Every single day since we’ve arrived in Orodia, I trained. I’ve talked to all of them, making sure they would do their part in training me. Chen and Xiu Min taught me how to execute close-quarter combat. Kris taught me how to be more agile, glide through treetops and feel the things that surrounded me even in the dark. Tao taught me how to fight with weapons while Lay, who refused to train me with anything, just helped me harness my power’s full potentials and he held my feet steady while I did my morning curl-ups, a hundred more each day. I was having a crash course on combat and at the moment, it was time for my fencing lesson with Tao.

It had been just two weeks. My ‘teachers’ were still a bit reluctant to go all out on me, but I was learning fast. Had I known that it would be this thrilling then I would have joined my twin sister before. I didn’t understand what she found so interesting in wielding her katana before and slicing things up. The whole day every day, I would have sessions with all of them. In the morning, it would be with Lay for my warm up, next comes Kris who would drop me from a certain height above the trees then let me do obstacle courses. He trained me to go through bamboo thickets just that morning then Xiu Min taught me how to throw my opponents from where they stand at the back. He quit after I applied to much force on him then I tackled with Chen. Tao comes last then I would go back to Lay since he insisted that my injuries for the day’s training should be healed so I would be able to perform well the next day.

‘So this is how you spend you days now?’ Shinhye said to me.

I chuckled, adjusting my grip on the hilt of the sword. ‘Yeah. You didn’t tell me how cool this is.’

‘Uh…I did? Countless times – whoa!’

I frowned a bit. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Sparring with Kai.’  She sneered. ‘Missed me, Jong In!’

Gloating again. I shook my head.

“You’re doing well,” Tao complimented.

“Thanks.”

Blades clashed with deafening sounds, bouncing off the walls. I attacked Tao until his sword fell with a clatter on the ground. I stopped and smiled widely at him. I looked to the sidelines where Kris and Lay were watching. “Did you see that?” I asked them.

Kris clapped his hands thrice. “Jjang!”

I grinned at him. “I disarmed you!” I said to Tao.

“You did.” He said, short of breath. “You’re my best student so far.” He glanced mockingly at Xiu Min who refused to fight with swords.

He made a face.

“Oh yeah~!” I cheered, running around the courtyard before doing a double spin on my toes. When I faced them, they were all looking at me with wide eyes. “What?”

Chen frowned. “Can you do that again?”

I arched a brow at him. “Do what?”

“Spin,” Kris said.

I chuckled a bit, confused. I flexed my feet, stood on my toes, lifted my right leg, made it crook then spun around once. “Like that?”

They all nodded slowly.

“Where do you learn to do that?” Xiu Min asked.

Lay smiled at me then eyed them all with a bored expression. “It’s a kind of dance in the human world called ballet. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Impressive,” Kris said speculatively.

I laughed. “What’s so impressive about that?”

He shook his head. “It’s not because it is a dance, but…” He looked at Chen and they nodded. “Can you apply enough power on your leg to take down a tree?” they asked in chorus.

I blinked slowly at them. “M-my leg? Cut a tree?”

Tao shook his head. “I think a tree is too much. Maybe overpower someone with a swift kick since you can actually flex your extremities well.”

I waved him aside. “I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can,” Kris said. “If you lift your leg high enough you can reach my height.”

I pouted. “I know I’m short. Just because you’re tall –”

“No. That’s not what I meant.” He went near me. “Lift your foot and flex it.”

“Okay.”

He touched my foot, applying pressure then smiled at the others. “Firm enough to withstand force.” He looked at me then. “You can use your movements to attack, but you have to learn how to apply more force to your arms and legs.”

I shrugged. The idea seemed good. “Yeah. Let’s try that tomorrow. I’m sore.”

Lay took my hand. “Let’s get you inside.”

I nodded and followed him. It was one busy day, but I had fun.

***

I felt good as new when I went down to the banquet hall for dinner. Tao’s mother, Lady Qian Yi and his grandmother, Lady Zhi Hu, joined us. His mother was a bit stern, but she was very caring towards everyone. I’ve learned how indebted she was to Kris for taking care of her son. Tao had moved to the capital at the tender age of twelve and he had been living there since then, only coming home when he had the chance to take some time off from the conservatory and Kris took care of him. Though Xiu Min and Lu Han were older than him, he made a perfect older brother to everyone. Even to me, he served the purpose well, not that he was supposed to. It was actually how I’ve figured out that he wasn’t one of the options. He’s just really the older brother I never had. Well, everyone was, but of course, two of them were bound to look at me differently. Scratch that. One. Only one.

Lady Qian Yi didn’t look anything like Tao who got all his looks from his father and his grandmother before that. She was very fair and she had a very beautiful smile that showed dimples just like Lady Jiao Liang, Lay’s mother. On the other hand, Tao’s father was the typical tall, dark and handsome type just like he was. Tao wasn’t so fair either, but he sure had very striking looks which brings me to Lady Zhi Hu. Like Tao’s father, she was an uncompromising lady who knew what she wanted and how she wanted things to be, but she loved her grandson more than anything in the world. It shows with how she proudly looked at him.

That evening, I sat beside her while we enjoyed roasted pheasant. It’s so good and it was nice to eat with great people. The atmosphere was very lively with Lady Zhi Hu telling us tales about Orodia and how their power, in the wrong hands, was a violation of the laws. She momentarily expressed sadness about how his younger son, Huang Xiaodan, betrayed their family.

“That lad had always been headstrong and defiant,” she commented.

Tao felt uneasy talking about his uncle who had nearly succeeded in trapping us both in another time in the past. Obviously, the two women knew about it and they’ve apologized profusely for it.

I waved them aside. “It’s okay. I don’t hold any kind of resentment for it,” I said.

Lady Qian Yi suddenly chuckled. “I like the way you speak, young miss, but yes, I’m afraid that we were somehow at fault for allowing chances like it to happen.”

“You should,” the elderly lady said. “Xiaodan is a cold-blooded murderer. It is hard for me to accept that he came from none other than me. He was a different individual from the moment he was in my womb. I couldn’t remember ever having such ghastly cramps when I was bearing Tao’s father.”

I didn’t know if she was just saying that because of resentment. She lost her husband and a son in the process. How can someone kill his father anyway? It was a crazy thought, not to mention utterly evil. I just nodded when she suddenly looked up and scanned the table with her hawk-like eyes. Her eyes then flicked to Tao.

“What is it, Nai-Nai?” he asked.

He narrowed her eyes at him. “Isn’t your other guest going to join us? What was his name again?” She wasn’t so good with remembering names. It took her around a week to memorize my name and she calls the other nobles with different names all the time.

I was wondering what visitor she was talking about, but I didn’t dare question. I just continued eating.

“N-no.” Tao glanced at my direction.

Chen dropped his fork and began coughing, probably choked on his food. I immediately tried to pass some water to him, but Kris beat me to it.

“What is wrong with you, Jong Sik?” she asked Chen.

“Jong Sik?” Tao interrupted. “Nai-Nai, his name is Jongdae. You’re talking about her father.”

Lady Zhi Hu cackled. “I was just pulling his leg, dear. I knew that.” There was that, too. She was a notorious teaser. She knew just when to strike. She cleared . “Well, I was just checking if you were intentionally starving one of your friends.”

I frowned. I didn’t see anyone missing from the table aside from Tao’s father. Oh well. I guess it was one of Tao’s friends from his childhood who came to visit him.

“That isn’t the intention,” Tao said then glanced at me.

“Oh!” his grandmother exclaimed then laughed once more. “I understand. That boy better get his act together or I will give him the beating of his life.”

“I’m sure Lady Xiao Lu already beat you to it, Nai-Nai,” Xiu Min said then laughed. Unlike with Tao’s father, he got along well with Lady Zhi Hu.

Lady Xiao Lu? Who was that? Who were they talking about?

“He most definitely looked like it,” Lady Qian Yi commented with concern.

I frowned. Who was he and what did he look like exactly. I ignored their conversation even as it ensued, just eating to my heart’s content. I’d bet they didn’t even notice that I was eating too much. Lay might have healed my injuries