Well, the feeling of content was nice while it lasted. It had been quickly replaced with disbelief and maybe a hint of worry underneath it all. 

“Why do you two look like this?” I questioned, trying my best to keep calm. I was sure they had returned yesterday with no injuries whatsoever. So, why? Why am I looking at two Werewolves covered in cuts and bruises? Not, receiving an answer quick enough, I looked toward the older. “Yongguk.”

“Training…,” Yongguk replies curtly, but not forgetting to add, “Princess.”

“Training?” At the realization, I closed my eyes and sighed. “For the tournament.” This conversation was only touched upon a few days ago. I didn’t want to think about it then but here I am, now forced to as I looked at Daehyun and Yongguk.

“It’s already almost gone, Princess.” Yongguk attempts to save the situation.

I looked up once more. My eyes more drawn to Daehyun, who looked greatly worse in comparison to Yongguk. “Daehyun, have you gotten your injuries treated?”

“They don’t even hurt,” he replied.

Sensing a bit of bitterness, I observed the Knights in front of me. Daehyun looks away while Yongguk drops his eyes to the floor.

What kind of situation was this?

I pointed between the two of them. “You two were pitted against one another,” I guessed, still not sure if that was the case but it wasn’t a wild guess.

My mouth dropped open due to their silence and that was enough confirmation.

Not knowing what to say, I huffed loudly and marched away from them. I can’t believe this. How could they think of the tournament at a time like this? We have a large problem on our hands already, the last thing they needed to do was worry about the ridiculous tournament and hurt themselves preparing for it.

This walk would normally be long but with my thoughts constantly swarming endlessly, I appeared before the door quite fast.

I pounded against the thick barrier with my fist. Not waiting for someone to open the door, I did it myself. Pushing it open, the strategic room was revealed. Excluding Hero, Steel, Stealth, Yongguk, and Daehyun, the two remaining Knights standing around the table looked up at me and proceeded to bow.

“Princess, is there something wrong?” Chief was the first to speak.

“We have a big problem,” I said in response. “Why is the training not being postponed?”

Bronze and Chief shared looks before Bronze was the one that answered – reason being he was normally the one that looked after it. “It needs to be done, Princess.”

“It couldn’t wait?” I know I couldn’t keep Yongguk and Daehyun from participating but I at least wanted them to take things one at a time.

“Princess, the tournament isn’t going to wait for us so we can’t do that,” Bronze answered back whilst making sure his tone remained polite as he spoke.

Not being able to provide a response to that, I closed my eyes and a sigh left my lips. “How can they handle all of this at once?”

“They are Knights,” Bronze simply replies.

“Does that reason suddenly exclude the fact that they can still get hurt and overwhelmed?” I questioned back.

“Princess, you are underestimating them.”

“So, what should I do then?”

“Support them, Princess. You have always been exemplary at that,” Bronze answers with a kind smile upon his lips.

I didn’t have a reply and stood there silently.

“And since you are here, Princess.” Bronze’s voice caused me to look up and meet his eyes. “The Werewolves that were arrested from the forest have made a miraculous recovery.”

***

No matter how hard he tried, his attacks continued to be render useless and it has caused the frustration to grow and at any second now, Daehyun was going to explode. Out of hundreds of hits he tried to land on Yongguk, if he was keeping count, only one tenth of those hits managed to touch the other Knight. Either it be a skim or an actual blow that pretty much did no damage to him.

Standing before him was a Knight still in his human form while Daehyun had long transformed. His large body crouched over and snarls left through his sharp teeth as natural as breathing.

His body was tired.

His body hurt.

Yet, he couldn’t find it within himself to stop. What exactly was the reason why he was still going? Was it because he still physically can? Or was it his pride pressuring him to continue by pure will?

It was most likely the latter but Daehyun didn’t have time to think about that. He only wanted to beat down that stoic Knight standing before him. Unlike how hard he was breathing, Yongguk still looked fresh as if he hadn’t even shown his true power yet. The younger Knight tries his best to keep his eyes focused on the other but it's challenging and that proves to be his mistake as the next second, Yongguk’s form vanishes and Daehyun feels a heavy blow from his side and he goes down, hitting the hard floor. 

With his energy completely drained, Daehyun is forced to transform back. From low grunting, it turns back to heavy human panting. Daehyun flips over and lies on his back to recover from the smash.

Again.

For a second time, Yongguk had beaten him into a pulp without any trouble.

A shadow befalls over him and he looks up to see Yongguk watching h