Florence furrowed her brows, "It's noisy."
She had just gotten that good sleep after so long and yet it has been interrupted by so much noise in her door.
She woke up because the door was opened.
But what she can hear the most was that pleasant calm beating of a heart.
It was close to her and amidst the noise, this sound gave her peace. The irritation slowly disappeared as she too, slowly opened her eyes.
"I am sorry, lady. But the duke has come to invite you to have dinner with him."
"Dinner," she was disoriented.
Sitting up and looking around.
It was before lunch when she woke up, what did they mean by dinner? She never slept for that long. She would have had that nightmare.
"You have already skipped your breakfast and lunch. He called out to ask of you to at the very least eat dinner before returning to your sleep," Richard patiently spoke.
He usually doesn't speak but when needed he would.
That is the type of silent person he is.
He did not like spending his energy on nonsensical things, that's just it. If needed then he would speak his mind.
Florence finally snapped out of her sleepiness and looked around.
By the door, stood her father, Reuben. He was looking at her in worry.
"Have I really slept for such a long time, father?" she asked when he finally stepped in.
He did not dare step in despite the door being opened only because when disoriented she would throw things that she could hold on.
He is stunned that she did not react that way at this moment.
"You have and that worried me I have no other choice but to actually come here to check on you. And, your mother is very much worried that you have not eaten anything for the whole day. So, why not eat first then you could go back to sleep," Reuben looked at his daughter.
She looked much better when it comes to her mood. It seems that she had slept quiet well.
Florence, on the other hand, blinked at her father in response to his words.
Did she really just sleep for more than six hours? Is that even possible?
How can that be when for all those years that passed, she had been suffering?
She turned to Richard and blurted out.
"Where have you been all this time?"
Richard was stunned and furrowed his brows. Does he need to answer that? It doesn't seem like it was something of importance. It's like she just blurted it out after experiencing a good night, for this case, morning's sleep.
"Anyway, you should eat first. Come now, your mother is waiting for you in the dining table," Reuben was the one who spoke seeing the confusion in Richard's face.
Such a peculiar person.
After saying that and while the servants were tasked to dress her up. He signaled for Richard to step out of the room. Not like he had any desire to stay when the lady is changing.
"I guess, prince Julian was right. You can help my daughter in this problem of hers."
"…"
What will he say in response? Yes, sir?
"Can you still keep this up at the very least until tomorrow morning?"
"I can, sir."
It was a skill that does not really cause him to use too much mana. He can use it for three days straight in his current state.
"Then I will have you do that. You can sleep in the morning and before sunset I will need you to go to the training ground tomorrow."
Richard nodded in response. He is here for punishment not to be treated as a guest, being spoken in this way by the duke, it was already too much of a privilege for him.
But the next day, he had no other choice but to enter the training ground without any sleep.
Florence actually woke up close to sunset the next day.
Once again, she was woken by the servants in order to eat.
"Can you keep up?" Reuben asked.
He is here to personally oversee his strength.
He did not tell him the night before that it will be his trial. He just did not expect that his daughter would sleep longer then yesterday.
"I am fine, sir," Richard replied.
He was used in watching over the team while they go out for a mission as adventurers. And they are used to not sleeping for longer periods of time in the past that this much is nothing to him.
But Reuben was actually thinking about the fact that he caused him some injuries when he applied pressure yesterday in anger to his knights who he did not expect would actually dare look down in him.
He had clearly said when they are to pick him up that they are to bring him back unscathed as his position is quite important at the moment.
He trusts the eyes of Julian when it comes to people.
Whether their personality or their strength.
Maybe that is the reason why he had accepted him so easily.
It was because Julian had already given his word.
And he became even more certain about Richard's personality when initiated that promise the day before.
The thing that happened yesterday and the fact that he was already injured in the first place. Reuben felt like he was enslaving this person as well. Especially when Julian told him that it was because of him that the group ended up having a punishment.
That they shouldn't be treated in such a horrible way when they are there to support the kingdom in regards to the matters in Dark Forest and the fact that they truly saved Julian in different ways.
Reuben wanted to say that maybe he can just take the trial tomorrow but the knights have arrived. Changing it now is something he cannot do.
With a sigh, he will just have to stop things once he sees that Richard could no longer keep up.
"I will have you spar with my knights. As my daughter's guard, I suppose you understand why this is happening," he started once everyone gathered.
"I understand, sir."
"Then battle with sir Ezekiel first," Reuben said.
Ezekiel was still the strongest among the knights.
Fighting him will let them see just how capable Richard is.
Whether he loses or not, there is no need for him to battle others.
How can Ezekiel not see that?
It was agreed that he will slowly take on the knights but suddenly he was made to face him in the first bout. It means that Reuben has changed his mind towards this person.
And he couldn't understand why is that.
This person has just arrived yesterday. He was supposed to be being punished but why does it seem like he was being favored instead?
Or that he was the one giving the dukedom a favor by being here and serving them.
Reuben did not say anything about Julian's words to his knights.
So, it was only natural that Ezekiel was feeling indignant at the moment with the treatment that Richard was receiving.
He even spent the whole night with the princess. How can they easily let that go?
"I will lose here," Richard honestly said after seeing Ezekiel.
This gained some laughter from the rest of the knights.
"Don't worry kid, no one expects you to win. He is our captain after all," one commented.
"That's right, just give it all your all. You don't have to win," another added.
But Reuben heard it differently.
Richard will lose because he is currently unable to exert most of his strength at the moment. But he can fight longer than most of the people who will be up against this person.
Ezekiel scoffed. He has the same thinking as the rest of the knights.
As the captain of the renowned wolf knights, how can this child win against him?
Richard is eighteen while he is already twenty-five years old. He has more experience than Richard will ever have.
And he is just an adventurer, he only has experience with beasts, barely having experiences with wars.
That is what was going on in Ezekiel's mind.
He was planning on simply testing Richard until the moment their swords clashed with one another.
And the more it clashed the more he saw that he was wrong all along.
This person did not only have experiences with beasts, and barely have any experiences with fighting with people or in wars.
Ezekiel could see, just like how Owen could tell that Luna has a lot of experience in fighting, Richard is not just your average eighteen-year-old adventurer.
He is not just a commoner trying to make a living through missions and beast remains.
He has a thought, 'This person might have grown up in the battlefield instead.'
Not just Ezekiel but even Reuben could see it.
The pressure and aura Richard emits while sparring, it far exceeds most of his knights who are of the same age as Richard.