“Move it, chumps!” That was Richard. The official knight of the Eclair’s family. He is in the middle of training his underlings in the training grounds and they were just outside of the manor this early in the morning. He continues, his voice booming loud enough that it causes to scare away the birds that were sleeping in their nests. “You won’t be able to become full fledged knights at this rate if you can’t keep up with your morning training!” 

“This is hell…I’d… rather… be in the pub.” The squire with the dark green hair pants heavily while doing his sit ups. He was clearly struggling, barely able to keep up, because of his hangover.

“I’d… rather go birdwatching.” Victor also struggles to keep up with his situps and fails to hide the bright redness in his face that starts to resemble a ripe tomato that’s ready to be harvested. 

“I’d rather swim in the ocean along with the dolphins...” Between his pants Kai decides to share his desires along with the rest of his fellow squires thinking it was a good time. 

“Hey! Less talking, more pushing!” The knight cries out and scrunches his nose, “I’ll whip you boys into serious shape!”

“Boys?!” Anthony frowns in confusion being the most offended out of the three squires. “We’re literally grown men!” 

Hearing this made Richard suddenly freeze and instantly scoff, the thought of it almost makes him laugh. “Not with those slender and puny bodies of yours you’re not. What’s the deal with you three anyways huh?!” He points at them as if they’re witches awaiting their trial, he adds, “Every young and promising squire that has undergone my training has gained an important trait to what truly makes them shine as knights! Do you lot even know what it takes to be a true knight? Care to guess what that is?”

Victor immediately raises his hand, answering the knight’s question with enthusiasm. “Oh! Knowing when to hit the vital organs!” 

“Wrong!” Richard welcomes his eagerness, but feels completely uneasy about his violent answer. 

“Knowing when to pick up chicks using your uniform.” Anthony proceeds to confidently point his finger guns at Richard, while clicking his tongue with a sauve wink.

“You’re getting completely off topic here, boy!” Ricard glares at Anthony and finally gazes at Kai with a hopeful look silently begging him to answer his question normally this time compared to the other squires. Kai on the other hand looks completely lost in his own world staring into the clouds. Finally noticing Richard’s gaze he scratches his blue hair and eventually answers.

“Um, I guess it has to be… When knowing that we all are just expendable tools for the rich and powerful.” He begins sharing his thoughts that kept him troubled for a while. “I mean think about it, they can easily toss us into the middle of a war if things quickly turn south. They make us believe that our deaths will inevitably be for the “greater good”, while in reality it’s a convenient excuse for them not wanting to take responsibility if something were to happen to us. So in the end the known phrase “a knight’s oath” is just a glorification made by the higher ups to keep us distracted from the fact that we all willingly signed up for our death warranties.” Kai nods nonchalantly hoping his response would suffice to the knight. His answer however made him receive a few concerned stares followed by a long and awkward silence. The large knight slowly backs away, feeling the regret to ask his squire. He takes the initiative to quickly change the topic that’ll remain to haunt him for the rest of his career.

“W-Well in any case, you’re all wrong!” He pauses dramatically, easily grabbing the attention from the other two squires except for Anthony who clearly looks like he doesn't want to be here. “It’s… The muscles!!!” The knight declares and suddenly feels the need to be shirtless to flex his muscles further, greatly emphasizing his statement. The three squires however stare at their bulky master in disbelief for a second, but immediately jump on board to pretend to be amazed by his muscles, because of the fact that none of them wanted to suffer the punishment to run for more laps.

“Muscles! Wow, that makes so much sense, Sir Richard!” Victor beams and gestures for the other two to speak up, “Right guys!?”

“Yeah,” Kai nods vigorously. “Mussels are the best…” He slightly drools at the thought of his favorite seafood. Easily misunderstanding what they were talking about, but still got the spirit nonetheless.

“Indeed, physical strength is what really matters nowadays.” Anthony adds, shrugging his shoulders and just so happens to leave enough sarcasm for his peers to detect, “I mean screw forming strategies, right? Having huge muscles and not using the brain itself is what got this kingdom so far. So I say we do our best!!” Victor and Kai both smack Anthony from the back of his head. He grunts, slowly rubbing his head almost whimpering. The boys sigh in relief, because by some miracle they silently thank their lucky stars that Richard didn’t hear Anthony’s mockery thanks to him being mostly in the zone to flex.

“That’s it! Now that’s what I like to hear, Boy!” Richard laughs boisterously causing the three to look at him puzzled, because according to him he “sensed” their fiery spirits that are filled with passion and proceeds to excitedly announce that their usual amount of training will be doubled today. Hearing this sudden announcement causes the trio to pale. They all share a look with each other cursing internally to themselves, but mostly at the knight himself.

***

“Great work, today my underlings! Hell, you can take the rest of the day off!” Richard leaves while being in a good mood. Meanwhile the rest of the squires were laying on the grass barely able to move all drenched in their own sweat.

“I’d… rather be a fisherman...” Kai mumbles enough for the other two to hear them.

“I’d rather write my own bird catalog, ahhh…” Victor grabs the collar of his shirt, flagging it in a pathetic attempt to cool himself off under the sun while still panting heavily.

“I’d rather go to the pub and pick up a hot-“

“Shut up, Anthony! This is all your fault.” Both of the squires simultaneously cut him off and even wanted to hit him with everything they’ve got, but to their annoyance they couldn’t because it was impossible for them to move a muscle in their current state after the rigorous training. If it weren’t for his big mouth they each would’ve been doing their own thing. 

“Hopefully I presume it’s a hot cup of mint tea?” A sudden voice was heard above them causing the three squires to immediately startle and shriek, but it was mostly Anthony's scream that was heard the most. The indifferent voice belongs to a girl their age, but she was wearing her maid uniform. Her short blonde hair rustles from the wind and she cautiously fixes her bangs. She continues, “My god, you’re going to cause my ears to become deaf if you keep screaming like a little girl.” 

“You little-!” Anthony gawks, greatly affected by his sister’s remark, but refuses to show that he’s hurt by it. “You seriously ought to quit sneaking behind people like that, Mel! It’s not funny!” He scolds, causing the girl to casually cover her ears and stick her tongue out at him in annoyance.

“Why? I get amazing reactions and yours certainly tops the best right next to the pregnant lady that immediately went into labor, of course.” She shrugs, ignoring the concerned look she receives from her brother.

“Oi, don’t joke about stuff like that.” 

“I was telling the truth though.” Her confession made the three of them look at her with bewilderment expressions. She turns around and finally faces them ominously with a faint smile on her face. “Or am l?”

“That’s awfully ominous.” Kai finally comments feeling the chills. Mel waves over to Kai greeting him casually while the man lazily greets her back.

“Yeah, no kidding.” Anthony adds while sighing. “Why on earth am I related to that hellspawn?” He mutters enough for the three not to hear him. He continues, “So what’re you doing here anyways, other than giving people near heart attacks and labors?” The girl frowns at her brother’s rudeness and is ready to retort until she finally notices Victor and tilts her head. Ignoring Anthony she heads over to the red headed squire that caught her interest.

“So you must be that squire I’ve heard so much about.” She hums, proceeding to scan his appearance to judge for herself regarding the rumors that were surrounding him and decided to see for herself. “I’m Melaine.” She finally introduces, “Honestly, you and Jane are a riot!” She laughs clasping her hands together, “She mentions about you once or twice!” 

“Really?” Victor smiles in amusement, scratching his cheek bashfully. He bites his lip to prevent him from smiling too much. “Hopefully good things I presume?” He inquires.

“Nah, she mostly complains about the amount of money that she owes you.” She chuckles at the sight of Victor’s disappointment, “Anyways, speaking of the crazy girl herself she sent me to give you this.” She hands him a wrapped sandwich from her basket. Victor beams at the sight of his favorite sandwich while averting his amber eyes from Anthony’s envious and intense glare.

“Must be nice.” The green haired squire huffs, crossing his arms in annoyance. “To have a girl make breakfast for you.”

“God, loosen up you big baby! She figured the two of you would miss breakfast as well.” She hands them each their own. “It’s honestly scary how thoughtful she can be let alone predict this outcome.”

“Jane’s the best!” Anthony's bad mood instantly vanishes the second he receives his sandwich and begins to gently hold it as if he won a trophy. 

Kai nods, also mimicking Anthony's movements, “She is.” He turns to Melaine. “Where is Jane anyways?” Kai asks out of concern and begins to munch happily on his tuna sandwich. 

“Serving her time.” She explains, “She “accidentally” broke one of Howard’s prized ashtrays and is now scrubbing the entire floor of the entrance hall as we speak.” Victor frowns, thinking that’s too far of a punishment for one maid alone. He saw how spacious the hall was and calculated that it’ll take at least ten other maids to clean it.

“Isn’t that harsh?” Melaine smirks the second she gets asked that question as if she was expecting it. 

“Don’t worry, as a thanks for feeding all of us, I did her a favor and now she’s having the time of her life.” She giggles holding her chin for dramatic effect much to her brother’s annoyance. 

“What?” All three squires gaze at her with different looks that were of confusion, curiosity and horror.