Rays of early morning sunlight streamed through the curtains of Elianna's window, basking her bed with light. Lying on her side comfortably, Elianna was cuddling with her teddy bear and enjoying the sensation of sleeping in. Since she had successfully completed her schooling yesterday, she decided to take the morning to sleep in. She thought that skipping one session of her usual morning physical training wouldn't hurt her.

  With a content smile on her face, Elianna nuzzled her head against her pillow and took a deep, relaxing breath. However, a moment later, her smile faded, and her eyes flicked to the door when she heard someone knocking. Her brows furrowed, wondering why someone would be disturbing her right now. She had half a mind to ignore whoever was knocking and go back to sleep. Hearing them knock again, Elianna grumbled and covered her head with her pillow while closing her eyes.

  "Lady Elianna?"

  Elianna sighed when she heard the maid's voice. Seeing how they weren't going to leave, Elianna removed the pillow and sat up. Looking at the door with an irritated expression, Elianna tried to speak as nicely as she could, not wanting to come off as rude. "Yes?"

  "Good morning, My Lady!" The maid said, sounding chipper. The maid opened the door and peeked her head in, looking toward the bed.

  Elianna quickly wiped away her irritated scowl and smiled at the maid, "Good morning. What is it?"

  The maid smiled brightly, "The Lord and Lady wished me to come see if you were awake and invite you to breakfast."

  Elianna's brows rose with surprise. She vividly remembered telling her parents that she was thinking of sleeping in today, so she was a little confused about why they would wake her up. In the end, she thought it might be important, so she nodded and said, "Okay." She pushed the bed sheets off her, showing her sleepwear, which consisted of a t-shirt and shorts. "I'll be down in a second."

  The maid nodded but froze when she noticed Elianna begin to make her bed. "No, wait!"

  Elianna started with surprise and looked at the maid wide-eyed as the maid quickly moved into the room and approached Elianna. "W-What?"

  The maid smiled warmly, and she took the bedsheets out of Elianna's hands, "I can make your bed, My Lady."

  Elianna raised a brow. "No, it's okay. I usually make my own bed anyway."

  "That's because you usually wake up much earlier and do it yourself." The maid smiled, "This is one of the rare times when one of us can make it. So please, go enjoy your breakfast. I can do this."

  Elianna stared at the maid for a moment. "You sure?"

  The maid chuckled and nodded, "I'm sure, My Lady. Go ahead."

  Elianna smiled and nodded. "Okay, thanks."

  The maid gave Elianna one last nod before Elianna left the room. She pushed her hair back with her hands as she made her way down the hallway, then down the stairs to the first floor. When she entered the dining room, she smiled warmly as her gaze fell on her parents, who were sitting at the table enjoying breakfast.

  Katarina looked up and smiled at her daughter, "Good morning, Sweetie. Sleep well?"

  "I slept okay," Elianna shrugged as she walked around the table and took her seat beside her mother.

  "Hungry?" Lucian asked.

  "Yeah, a little."

  "I'll get you a plate," Lucian said as he stood up. He shot Elianna a warm smile. "I'll be right back."

  Elianna returned her father's smile and nodded, watching him walk into the kitchen. Leaning back into her chair, Elianna let out a yawn, still feeling a little sleepy.

  Katarina chuckled as she looked at her daughter. "Tired?"

  Elianna closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the chair. She shrugged, "A little."

  Katarina smiled and took a sip of her coffee. "What time did you go to sleep last night?"

  Elianna hummed, "I don't remember. It was past midnight, I know that."

  Katarina raised her brows. "Why so late?" A moment later, she eyed her daughter with a grin, "Let me guess. You were up talking to Nick again."

  Elianna's cheeks turned a little pink, and she shrugged, "Maybe."

  Katarina laughed slightly and whispered, "Why am I not surprised."

  A moment later, Elianna and Katarina looked toward the kitchen doors as they opened. Their eyes fell on Lucian as he walked out, holding a plate of food in one hand and a glass of orange juice in the other.

  "Here we go," Lucian said as he walked around the table and placed the plate and glass in front of Elianna. Lucian warmly kissed the top of Elianna's head. "Enjoy."

  Elianna smiled and sat up. "Thanks, Dad."

  Looking at the plate before her, Elianna's mouth watered, seeing the scrambled eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and pancakes neatly placed on the plate. Picking up her fork, she greedily ate a large portion of scrambled eggs and hummed happily at their deliciousness.

  Lucian chuckled as he took his seat. He sipped on his coffee and looked at his daughter. "So, Munchkin."

  Taking a bite of her hashbrowns next, Elianna curiously looked at her father. "Yeah?"

  "What are your plans for today?"

  Elianna raised a brow. "My plans?" She shrugged and slightly tilted her head to the right. "I don't really have any plans. I was just going to relax today, I guess. Why?"

  Lucian nodded. "I see." He looked at Katarina, who was subtly grinning. Looking back at Elianna, he smiled and said, "Well, how would you feel about going to the garrison today?"

  Elianna dropped her fork, and her eyes widened to the size of moons. The tiredness Elianna had felt a moment ago quickly burned away, replaced by electrifying excitement. She smiled brightly. "R-really?!"

  Lucian smiled and nodded. "Yes, really."

  Elianna's heart was beating rapidly with exhilaration. "But I thought you were busy, which is why I couldn't go."

  Lucian shrugged. "Things have calmed down a little. I think it'll be okay to bring you along today." He grinned as he took a sip of his coffee. "Plus, I believe Freya was planning to bring Nicholas to the garrison today as well."

  Elianna looked surprised. "Really? Nick didn't tell me that."

  Katarina chuckled, "That's because it's supposed to be a surprise for both of you." She gave her daughter a knowing grin. "So I take it you want to go?"

  Elianna nodded elatedly. "Heck yeah!"

  Lucian chuckled, "Good. Go ahead and finish your breakfast, then we can go."

  Elianna nodded and greedily began to devour her breakfast. Katarina and Lucian shared a humorous glance, seeing how happy and excited Elianna was. Not even five minutes later, Elianna finished her breakfast and excitedly stood up.

  "I'm going to go get ready!" Elianna chirped as she quickly made her way to the door.

  "Meet me outside by the carriage!" Lucian yelled as Elianna ran out of the room.

  "Okay!" Elianna called out.

  Sitting in his seat, Lucian chuckled as he stared at the doorway, where Elianna ran out. "She's definitely excited."

  Katarina smiled and nodded. "I told you she would be." She took a sip of her coffee before glancing at Lucian curiously. "But are you sure it's not too early to bring her back? You were just telling me the other day how stressful things have been."

  Lucian sighed, and his gaze fell, "I don't think there may ever be a right time. Plus, having Elianna around could be good." He smiled a little. "The soldiers always loved having Elianna around. Hopefully, with her and Nick being there, it can lighten the mood and morale." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "And with how the investigation has grown stagnant, a morale boost is what the soldiers desperately need."

  Katarina smiled softly at Lucian as she gingerly grasped his arm. "Don't push yourself too hard."

  Lucian looked at Katarina and smiled, "I won't. Don't worry."

  Glancing at the clock, Katarina stood up, "I best be going." She leaned forward and gave Lucian a loving kiss. "Try to relax today."

  Lucian nodded. "I will." He watched Katarina walk to the door, but his expression turned curious when he observed her stop.

  Katarina turned and faced Lucian, her expression a little more serious. "You're giving that to Elianna today, right?"

  Lucian looked down and nodded. "I am."

  Katarina eyed Lucian inquisitively. "Will you talk to her today, as well?"

  Lucian sighed, looked at Katarina, and shook his head. "Not yet. But soon."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Katarina nodded and smiled, "Okay. I'll see you later. Love you."

  Lucian smiled, "Love you too."

  He watched as Katarina left before his gaze fell to the table. His thoughts drifted, thinking about the figure he spoke to yesterday and what it meant. He still remembered the surprised look on his wife's face when he told her about it last night. With a sigh, he pushed these thoughts away and stood up from the table.

  Lucian left the dining room and made his way outside the mansion, where he noticed a single carriage waiting in the driveway, indicating Katarina had already left. As Lucian descended the steps and approached the carriage, the carriage driver opened the door and respectfully bowed.

  "Thank you," Lucian said as he entered the carriage and took his seat. Looking out the door, he said to the driver, "Don't take off yet. We're waiting for my daughter."

  The driver nodded, "Yes, My Lord."

  Lucian leaned back in his seat, took some documents out of his spatial ring, and began to shuffle through them. As he read over the documents, his expression turned bleaker by the second as he read how the investigation into the Infernal Cult continued to reach dead ends. Lucian sighed, as every time he thought they were getting close to an answer about what the Cult was up to, the answer would slip through their fingers. It was both irritating and maddening.

  "Hey, Dad!"

  Lucian started and nearly jumped out of his seat, hearing his daughter's voice. Looking up, he observed as Elianna excitedly climbed into the carriage and took her seat across from him. He noticed how she was now dressed in her usual combat training apparel, and her hair was tied back into a ponytail.

  The carriage door closed once Elianna was seated, and Lucian and Elianna felt the carriage rock back and forth as the driver took his seat.

  Elianna smiled brightly as the carriage began to ride off, but her expression turned curious as she noticed the documents in her father's hands. "What's that?"

  Lucian raised a brow and followed his daughter's gaze. "Ah." He stored the documents back into his spatial ring and smiled at Elianna. "Just work stuff."

  Elianna nodded and looked out the window. Lucian smiled, seeing how happy and excited his daughter looked.

  The carriage fell silent as Lucian and Elianna looked out the window, enjoying their carriage ride. While Elianna looked patient on the outside, internally, she was practically jumping out of her skin, excited to get to the garrison and train with her father again. It had been a long time since she got to train with her father, and she was profoundly looking forward to it.

  Elianna continued to look out the window with a bright smile, which only widened when she noticed they were getting close to the gate. As they neared the gate, Elianna looked around, and her brows rose with surprise. She was used to there being approximately twenty or so knights and one or two mages at the gate. However, now, there were double that.

  The carriage came to a stop, and an older dwarven male in Tri-Union knight apparel with a singular golden triangle on their collar approached the carriage.

  Lucian rolled down the window and nodded to the dwarf. "Good morning, Lieutenant."

  The dwarven lieutenant saluted, "Good morning, Commander."

  Lucian returned the salute, and they dropped it simultaneously.

  The dwarf's eyes flicked to Elianna, and his brows raised with pleasant surprise, "Ah, Lady Elianna! Good morning!"

  Elianna smiled kindly. "Good morning."

  The dwarf stepped back and motioned for the guards to let the carriage through. "Please, have a good day."

  Lucian nodded. "You as well."

  The carriage jolted as it took off, and Lucian rolled the window back up. Once past the gate, Elianna looked at her father curiously. "Why are there more soldiers guarding the gate?"

  Lucian looked at his daughter and sighed, "It's precautionary. We've increased all security." Lucian looked out the opposite window. "Especially at the palace."

  Elianna's brows furrowed, and she followed his gaze. She observed the palace in the distance and could see figures of people atop the palace, walking around. Elianna's eyes fell, contemplating, and she looked at her father with a curious gaze. "I- Is this because of the attack?"

  Lucian sighed and nodded. "It is." Lucian was silent for a moment before he looked at his daughter and smiled, "But don't worry about that. Okay?"

  Elianna eyed her father for a moment before she returned his smile and nodded. The carriage fell silent, and they both went back to looking out their window. After some time, Elianna smiled with excitement as she recognized the garrison headquarters building come into view. She was practically jumping out of her seat when the carriage finally came to a stop, and when the driver opened the door, Elianna excitedly hopped out of the carriage.

  Elianna smiled blissfully as she looked at the headquarters building, but her smile slowly faded as she noticed that the atmosphere felt different. The usual sound of knights training and mages casting spells was quieter than usual. In fact, it was incredibly quiet. Looking around, Elianna noticed that there weren't many individuals out and about, and far fewer people than she was used to seeing were out training.

  Looking back to the carriage, Elianna watched as her father climbed out of the carriage, and she asked, "Where is everyone?"

  Lucian looked around and sighed. "Either on guard duty or resting for their next shift." He looked at his daughter. "We've increased patrols and security around the walls of Tri-Union City. So, you may not see as many people hanging around as you're used to."

  Elianna nodded, not knowing how to feel about that. She was excited to come to the garrison and practice with her father but also to see the knights out and about, training with each other. But it seemed she wouldn't be able to see the knight's train after all.

  Seeing his daughter's dejected expression, Lucian smiled and said, "Here, follow me."

  Elianna looked at her father and followed him as he made his way over to the training dummies. Once they reached the dummies, Lucian stopped, turned to face his daughter, and smiled.

  "Before we start practicing, I have something for you."

  Elianna looked at her father inquisitively. "What?"

  Lucian knelt down and pulled a large rectangular leather box out of his spatial ring. Elianna looked at the box curiously, watching as her father placed it on the ground.

  Lucian smiled as he unlatched the box. "This is a present for you, Munchkin, for completing your schooling."

  Elianna's eyes widened in awe as her father opened the box, and her heart raced with glee and excitement. Her gaze traced over the contents of the box, seeing it contained a gorgeously crafted sword. The sword seemed to be made out of a white metal and had a golden trim to it. Lines of golden trim ran along the center of the blade. At the base of the blade were two golden wings, while the crossguard seemed to look like two white wings with a golden trim. In the center of the crossguard was a large mana gem.

  "I-It's beautiful," Elianna stuttered.

  Lucian smiled, glad to see his daughter liked it. "Go ahead and pick it up."

  Elianna slowly nodded, reached down, and grabbed the handle. She noticed the handle was big enough to be grasped with two hands but could be comfortably wielded with only one. Picking up the blade, Elianna's eyes widened with pleasant surprise, feeling how light the sword was. Elianna gingerly touched the blade of the sword, running her fingertips along the center of it, feeling how smooth it was.

  Lucian chuckled, seeing his daughter look at the sword with gleaming eyes. "Like it?"

  Elianna nodded and looked at her father with a warm smile. "I love it." She looked at him curiously. "Did Eridas make it?"

  Lucian's smile faded slightly, and he shook his head. "Uh, no."

  Elianna looked at the sword again. "Then, who made it?"

  Lucian's brows furrowed, thinking of how to answer. "Ah, well, I'm not sure." Elianna looked at her father, confused. Before she could ask anything, Lucian quickly said, "It's, uh, a family heirloom."

  Elianna's brows rose. "Really?"

  Lucian smiled. "Yep." He stored the leather box in his spatial ring and stood up. "So, do you want to practice with it?" Elianna nodded excitedly. Lucian chuckled, "Good. Th-"

  "Commander."

  Lucian sighed, his shoulders dropping, and he and Elianna looked toward the voice, seeing Maurus approaching them.

  Maurus smiled at Elianna, "Good morning, Lady Elianna." Before Elianna could respond, Maurus looked at Lucian and said, "Sorry, Sir. But, there has been a development. There is something you need to see."

  Lucian's brows furrowed, and he looked at Elianna. "Sorry, Munchkin. Practice will have to wait."

  A wave of disappointment washed over Elianna, but she maintained her smile and nodded, "Okay. I'll see you later."

  Lucian smiled and nodded. "I'll be back."

  Elianna watched as her father walked off with Maurus, and when they walked into the headquarters building, her smile faded, and she sighed. Looking down, her eyes shifted to her new sword. While she felt dejected that her father had left, she still admired the sword in her hands and felt eager to practice with it.

  Grasping the sword tightly, Elianna swung it around a few times and was pleasantly surprised by how quickly she could swing it due to how light it was. Curiously, she coated her sword in water magic, and her eyes widened as she nearly jumped when water magic burst from the sword and swirled around it rapidly. Elianna quickly retracted some of the water magic she was pushing into the sword, watching as the swirling water subsided and calmly coated the blade.

  Elianna curiously looked at the sword, seeing how the mana gem was shimmering and how her water magic coated the blade flawlessly. She smiled jovially, seeing how the sword seemed to amplify her magical power more than her previous one. She didn't know if it was because of the mana gem or some enchantment, but she wanted to explore the sword more.

  "New sword?"

  Elianna's lips curled blissfully, and she dispersed the water magic. Turning toward the voice, her eyes fell on Nicholas, who was standing there with a curious gaze as he looked at her sword.

  Elianna nodded happily. "Yeah, my dad gave it to me. He said it's a family heirloom."

  Nicholas met her gaze, and he returned her smile, "It's beautiful."

  "Thanks," Elianna said. She sighed a little as she looked at the sword. "I wanted to practice with it. But my dad got called away." She sighed again and whispered under her breath, "Not surprising."

  Nicholas eyed Elianna sympathetically before he smiled and said, "How about you and I train together?"

  Elianna looked at Nicholas, surprised, before she smiled, "Aren't you training with your aunt?"

  Nicholas shook his head. "She's busy at the moment." He grinned. "So? What do you say?"

  Elianna chuckled, "While I would love that, you and I don't exactly train the same way."

  Nicholas nodded, "True." He grinned excitedly, "But, there is this new spell I've been practicing that I think could fix that. Wanna see?"

  Elianna's cheeks turned a little pink, seeing how excited Nicholas was. She laughed a little and nodded, "Sure."

  "Cool!" Nicholas chirped and pulled his staff out. He smirked. "Now, watch this."

  Nicholas grasped his staff with both hands and narrowed his eyes as he focused. The mana gem at the top of the staff glowed brightly, and nature and fire mana burst apart in front of him before swirling together.

  Elianna's eyes widened in awe as she watched the spell intently, eager to see what Nicholas was doing. She watched as the fire and nature magic swirled together, forming a large sphere. She watched as the sphere of nature and fire magic began to grow smaller and smaller before nature magic seemed to form around the fire magic. The sphere continued to shrink, slowly taking shape.

  Finally, Elianna's eyes widened in surprise, and Nicholas smirked with accomplishment as the sphere transformed, taking the shape of a wolf. The wolf seemed to be made of fire, with translucent emerald skin around it, showing off the fire beneath, and glowing emerald eyes.

  "Woah," Elianna said, completely in awe. "What is that spell?"

  Nicholas smirked, looking at the wolf with pride. "That is a construct." The wolf snorted and shook himself before taking a seat.

  "A construct?" Elianna said and looked at Nicholas curiously. "What is that?"

  Nicholas looked at Elianna and smiled. "It's basically a magically made artificial creature that takes the form of whatever we imagine." He looked back to the wolf, "They're not sentient. All they can do is follow our orders." He smirked. "And the best part is that it's a finite spell. So I can cast other spells while the construct is active." He shrugged. "However, I can only maintain one construct at a time."

  Elianna looked at Nicholas curiously. "Why only one?"

  Nicholas shrugged. "Because the construct is bound to my mana core, and it can only handle one construct."

  Elianna nodded, eyeing the wolf. "It's really cool."

  Nicholas smiled. "Yeah." He looked at Elianna with a competitive grin. "So, think you can handle my construct?"

  Elianna looked at Nicholas before she returned his grin. "You mean, how long can your construct last before I beat it?"

  Nicholas chuckled, "I guess we'll find out. Don't worry about holding back either."

  Elianna grinned and took a fighting stance. "Oh, don't worry. I won't."

  Nicholas smirked and looked at his wolf, commanding it to attack Elianna but not to hurt her. The wolf stood up and growled at Elianna.

  Elianna narrowed her eyes, coating her sword in water magic while wrapping herself in wind magic and her mana guard. The next moment, she and the construct dashed toward each other.

  ***

  Standing in his office, Lucian held the document in his hands tightly. "Any casualties?"

  Maurus shook his head, "No, Sir. The attack was brief and small."

  Lucian sighed and placed the document on his desk. He took his seat and looked up, eyeing the ceiling of his office. "First, the Infernal Cult attacks several cities. Now, after years of keeping quiet, the orcs attack the wall."

  "It was only a small group," Maurus said, taking a seat. "Gavaria is already sending rangers into Calignar to investigate. It could just be an act from a small band of orcs. Nothing more. It's possibly just a coincidence."

  "Perhaps," Lucian said. His eyes narrowed, contemplating, "Or, perhaps not." He looked at Maurus. "Either way. We must stay vigilant."