Ephraim stopped bowing and glared at Nate, “It’s rude for those of lesser status to speak informally with a member of the imperial family, Sir Nate.”

“Don’t get your bunches in a twist, Sir Ephraim. It’s obvious that her highness is not a fan of formalities.” Nate had both hands behind his head.

“Even so, you need to follow etiquette. Anyone can hear you and put the princess in a difficult position,” Ephraim sighed.

It’s like they’re in their own little world, bicking away… Veronica was sweating a little.

She suddenly remembered the quest that she was given. She was in the presence of knights so it would only make sense to start now. They could lead her to the training grounds.

“If the two of you are done, I’d like to get a move on,” Veronica spoke up. “My legs are growing restless by the minute.”

They both stopped their little squabble and put a hand to their chest, “Your wish is our command, your highness!”

—

As Veronica shifted through Genevieve’s memories, she realized that the poor girl had only seen limited parts of the palace. Her room, the empress’ room, and the garden. She barely saw Emperor Isaac’s office, let alone the emperor. She was incredibly sheltered against her will. 

Veronica felt like a prisoner that finally escaped her cell.

The woman tried her best not to look like a tourist. She was in awe of all the shiny and expensive things decorating the palace. She may have accidentally let her emotions show because Nate caught a glance at her moving her head in multiple directions.

He gave her a genuine smile, “You haven’t seen much of the palace, have you, your highness?”

“Sir Nate…” Ephraim was glaring at him.

Nate realized what he said and started sweating. He totally forgot the warning from just a few moments ago. When he looked towards Veronica, she was very much indifferent. She knew of the warning already but she didn’t really care for it.

“I’m not offended,” Veronica shook her head. “It’s true that I haven’t seen much of the palace due to my bedridden state. I’ve spent most of my life frequenting a few places after all.”

“That being said,” she continued. “I hope I can trouble you both to give me a tour in the future. I’ll be sure to ask my father for permission before stealing you away, of course.”

“Yes please!” Nate’s excitement was beaming from his face. “I’d be honored to give you a tour, your highness!”

“As long as the emperor is okay with it, I’d be honored to tag along, your highness.” Ephraim lightly smiled. “Sir Nate, you still have a pile of paperwork on your desk. You’ll have to work twice as hard if you want to be pulled away.”

“Ugh! Don’t remind me!” Nate huffed.

The trio walked through the corridors of the palace until they reached an open area above the training grounds. Looking down, you could see a wide open space and an array of equipment scooched to the side. This was the perfect place to clear her objectives.

A glint appeared in Nate’s eyes, “Over here are the training grounds, your highness! This is where the imperial knights do their basic training and sparring.”

She looked around a bit, “I don’t see any knights down there.”

“It would be around this time that they take an hour break. They must be in the mess hall,” Ephraim explained. “That’s good. No one would be around to bother you, your highness.”

I guess the perfect time to train would be around this time then.

It was a little disappointing. She was sort of hoping to see some sword fighting in action. Back in her previous life, carrying around a brandished sword was illegal and no one wanted to take a sword to a gunfight anyway.

Shrugging, she went down the steps. Ephraim and Nate followed right after her.

“Please don’t leave our side for even a second, your highness.” Ephraim stated. “Even if the palace is the safest place, you don’t know what will happen.”

“Ah… I guess I have no choice then.” Veronica started walking. “You two are going to have to train along with me.”

“T-train?” Nate flinched. “I thought you wanted to take a stroll in the garden, your highness.”

She turned around, hand at her hip, “Does it look like I’m dressed for a stroll in the garden, Sir Nate?”

“I-I guess not…” A bead of sweat went down his cheek.

“How will you train when you’ve never wielded a sword, princess?” Ephraim asked. “I fear we don’t have wooden ones at the moment.”

“Who said I was wielding a sword? I just want to increase my stamina.” She turned back around, walking to one end of the grounds. “One lap around the grounds should be alright, no?”

“Well, it’s been a while since I went for a run,” Nate grinned, both hands behind his head..

“No wonder you were a bit slow last time,” Ephraim joked. “I think a good lap around the grounds would do you some good.”

“Are you making fun of me, Sir Ephraim? Shall we race like old times?”

“I wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of her highness.” He gave him a sly smile.

Nate smirked, “You sure it’s not you who won’t be embarrassed?”

Ephraim scoffed, “I don’t let minor things get to me so easily like you, Sir Nate."

“You have a comeback for everything, don’t you?”

“It’s why I’m his majesty’s left and you’re his right. I think while you talk with your fists.”

“You wanna go? It sounds like you wanna go.”

It was clear that they do this regularly and maybe the emperor allows them to have their bickering every now and then. Veronica couldn’t help but reminisce when Ephraim and Nate would go at it.

They act just like… She decided not to finish that thought. It was a memory she didn’t want to remember. Nevermind…

“Boys,” Veronica called to them. “I love the energy. Now waste it with me since I can’t leave your sides.”

They both flinched and started paying attention, “Yes, your highness!”

Technically, they didn’t have a lot of time to waste. The knights will come back from the mess hall in forty minutes. However, she can technically do the rest of her exercises in her lavish bedroom. She just can’t run laps in it.

Since they were taking too long, Veronica started sprinting. The act startled both of them but they easily caught up to her in no time.

What felt like a sprint to Veronica was a light jog to Nate and Ephraim. She almost wanted to curse out the system for giving her such a weak body to begin with but what’s done is done.

“Princess!” Nate called out to her. “Maybe you should slow down some!”

“Sir Nate is right!” Ephraim confirmed. “I don’t want to assume but are you even breathing correctly?”

She definitely wasn’t. Not even a quarter of the way around the grounds and she’s huffing and puffing, “I'm…probably not!”

“In through your nose and out your mouth, princess!” Nate instructed. “Slow down if you have to! You’re just doing one lap, right?”

Veronica was feeling a bit more tired than usual. It’s not her fault though. Princess Genevieve’s body was weak from the beginning from a combination of being stagnant for years and getting poisoned over time by the empress. To be out of breath for something as simple as a sprint, her ego was bruised for sure.

She heeded their suggestion to slow down. She did not feel like collapsing and giving the empress a reason to keep her in her room. Who knows what scheme she’ll come up with?

When Veronica reached the end of the lap, she had her hands on her knees, panting for breath. Sweat was dripping continuously from her pores. “Ugh…”

“You’ve got to breathe while running, princess,” Nate scolded her firmly. “If you don’t, you’ll choke and fall. We won’t hear the end of it from his majesty if you collapse on us.”

“Sir Nate, you can’t just instruct her highness like that,” Ephraim scolded him. “You’re not her trainer.”

“If she’s going to train, she needs to train safely,” Nate scolded him back. “I’m not going to just watch her do something wrong and potentially hurt herself.”

Wow, he’s a good one. Veronica coughed..

“Are you okay, princess? Would you like to stop here?” Ephraim asked her, a little worried.

“Just…” She coughed again. ”Just let me catch my breath.”

It took a few minutes but Veronica was able to finally catch her breath. She used the long sleeve of her arm to wipe the sweat from her face.

While she was doing so, the system popped up with progress notes from her lap.

Objectives:

Run 1 lap around the training grounds for 7 days

1/7

Do 5 push ups for 7 days

0/7

Do 5 sit ups for 7 days

0/7

Do deep breathing exercises for 5 minutes for 7 days

0/7

Eat a hearty meal for 7 days

0/7

Nice… She sighed. Just gotta keep this up.

“Sir Nate,” Veronica addressed him. “Thank you. I’m pretty sure I would’ve overdone it if it weren’t for you.”

The blonde man was slightly embarrassed, scratching his cheek, “It’s no problem at all, your highness! I used to be an instructor for knights so I can tell when they’re doing something wrong.”