Mars stared at Emmelyn, who pretended to look calm in front of Gewen. The crown prince's feelings were mixed. He felt sad thinking about what the girl must be feeling at that moment. However, there was nothing he could do but watch.
If he was in Emmelyn's position, would he still be able to put on such a calm expression and not go berserk? He could feel Emmelyn's hatred for Gewen and his soldiers.
He knew that, at first, Emmelyn hated him too. But now, after they interacted intensively for more than a week, slowly, Emmelyn's attitude toward him had changed a little. Perhaps Emmelyn had accepted the fact that 'all is fair in love and war'.
What Mars did to the Rosehill family and the Wintermere kingdom was nothing personal. His father had the vision to rule the Terra continent. To achieve that goal, they had to subdue other kingdoms around them. And so, wars happened.
"All right, raise your bow like this," said Gewen firmly. He raised his bow and turned to face Emmelyn, who was copying his movements.
The girl steeled her heart and threw away her personal feelings. This was an excellent opportunity for her to learn archery from one of the archery masters in the entire continent of Terra.
Such an opportunity would not come twice.
Wouldn't it be better if she took full advantage of the enemy's resources while she could? What she was getting now was nothing compared to what they took from her.
Let's just say she was collecting their debt little by little.
"Like this?" asked Emmelyn, raising her bow, trying to follow Gewen's hand movements. When the young general saw the girl's posture, he shook his head.
"Hmm .. stand straighter and puff out your chest. Your arms should be in a straight line with your shoulders. Then, take a deep breath ..." said Gewen after observing Emmelyn's position. "Hmm .. your body is like a girl's. Maybe you need a lighter bow, fit for a girl."
He was about to take the bow from Emmelyn's hand, but the girl quickly dodged him. "No need. I can use this. The bow is light enough for me."
"Are you sure?" asked Gewen. "All right. Then you try to practice pulling the bowstring. Like this .."
Gewen took the bow he had put down earlier and made a movement to draw the bowstring.
"No arrows?" asked Emmelyn in surprise.
"No arrows. Before you shoot an arrow, you must first know how to draw the bowstring properly, how to stand properly, and how you can see the target properly."
Gewen continued giving instructions to Emmelyn while demonstrating with his own bow.
"Well, try to practice pulling the bowstring a hundred times. When you have done so, tell me."
He then left Emmelyn practicing alone and walked over to Mars.
"The kid is quite talented. He is too thin for sword-fighting though. I think being an archer will be better for him," Gewen commented to Mars. The crown prince nodded absentmindedly.
The two men stood still watching Emmelyn adjust her stance and draw the bowstring repeatedly, up to 100 times, as ordered by Gewen.
"When will Lord Aldrich return to Glendale?" asked Gewen suddenly. "We're leaving for Southberry in four days. Is he coming with us?"
Mars, of course, hoped that Emmelyn would come with him to Southberry. He wanted to show her the beautiful vineyards there. Unfortunately, Emmelyn always flatly refused his invitation.
"I don't think so," said Mars.
"Why not? Aren't we going to pass Glendale on our way to Southberry? He could join our party and headed home. I think it's more practical than going home alone with his servants," said Gewen again. He observed Emmelyn for a while and then raised his hand. "Hey, your movement is wrong!"
He then hurried to leave Mars and approached Emmelyn. Gewen stood behind the girl and held her right hand, which was pulling the bowstring.
Emmelyn's body stiffened when she felt Gewen's body was behind her. Their bodies touched, and she could faintly smell his manly scent around her.
The man's left hand held her left hand, holding the bow, while his right hand held her right hand that was pulling the bowstring.
[Bastard! What the hell?]
"You should raise your hand higher, shoulder level, like this," said Gewen impatiently. He then pressed Emmelyn's right hand. "Now pull hard. And... let go!"
WOOT!
"Good!" Gewen patted Emmelyn on the shoulder and walked to her side. "I noticed that the first dozen attempts you made were good. But it's getting weaker and less focused."
Emmelyn didn't respond. She really had to hold back as hard as she could so as not to slap Gewen with all her might.
Ahh .. she couldn't blame the man though. He did not know that he startled Emmelyn and made her feel uncomfortable with his touching her all of a sudden.
"If you can repeat that movement 20 times, I'll let you use the arrows," said Gewen, pointing to the target board at the end of the field. "We'll start with a distance of 10 meters, then 20 meters, and later to 100 meters."
Emmelyn bit her lip and nodded. She managed to harden her heart and ignore her uncomfortable feelings and went back to practicing drawing the bowstring.
Meanwhile, Mars clenched his fists, looking at Emmelyn like that.
For some reason, after listening to her drunk confession and finding out what was in her heart, Mars began to see Emmelyn from a different perspective.
Every expression that she put on, be it happy or looking annoyed, all her masks, the frowns on her forehead when she disagreed with something, the grunts that she made when she was not happy, and whenever she rolled her eyes in annoyance, was clearly visible in Mars's eyes.
From Emmelyn's posture and annoyed expression earlier, he could guess that Emmelyn felt uncomfortable when Gewen touched her body and held her hands while directing her to pull the bowstring.
Ah, Gewen didn't know that Emmelyn was a girl, so he couldn't be blamed. However, Mars' heart ached when he saw the girl looking very uncomfortable.
"Hmm .. It's wrong, Lord Aldrich," said Gewen, shaking his head. "Your hands should be raised higher, like this."
The man walked toward Emmelyn and was about to hold her hand from behind like before. Emmelyn's body suddenly stiffened as she felt Gewen's body almost touch her back.
"Gewen! Let me train Lord Aldrich."
Suddenly Mars' voice rang out from the side, and Emmelyn no longer felt Gewen's body behind her.
"You just take care of your men, so they will be ready for Southberry!" Mars quickly added.
Spontaneously Emmelyn turned to the right and saw Mars pat Gewen on the back and pointed at his 200 soldiers who were practicing archery. Apparently, the crown prince had grabbed Gewen and dragged him to the right field.
"Eh ...? What is he doing?" muttered Emmelyn in surprise.
She stood dazedly, with a bow in hand. Gewen glanced at her and seemed to say something to Mars, but the prince waved his hand and shook his head. His expression looked firm.
It looked like he didn't allow Gewen to train Emmelyn anymore.
Finally, Gewen shrugged and waved at Emmelyn.
"Very well, Lord Aldrich! We will continue tomorrow, shall we!" After saying that, he turned around and shouted orders to his soldiers.
Meanwhile, Mars walked over to Emmelyn and asked her nonchalantly. "Are you okay?"
Emmelyn pursed her lips. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"
Mars didn't reply. He looked at the girl and studied her face carefully. After confirming that Emmelyn no longer looked tense, the man nodded in satisfaction.
"Let's try to repeat what you did earlier. I want to see ..." he said, crossing his arms on his chest.
"Okay." Emmelyn knew it was useless to backtalk Mars in public like this. If they were alone, she could be herself and said whatever she wanted, but in front of many people, she should treat the crown prince with respect and obey his words.
Emmelyn raised her bow and drew the bowstring as Gewen had taught her.
Mars gave her feedback and more instructions every time she did it. After Emmelyn drew her bowstring two dozens of times, the man finally nodded in satisfaction.
"You did well," said the man.
Emmelyn just nodded.
***
"Ahhh .. I'm so tired!" exclaimed Emmelyn when she arrived in her chamber. She threw herself on the bed and closed her eyes.
She was tired but happy because today she could train again. After practicing her sword skills, she even learned to shoot arrows. Apart from the little incident with Gewen earlier, things were going very well.
"Do you want to have dinner... or take a bath first?"
The question uttered by the owner of the distinctive baritone voice made Emmelyn hiccup. She opened one eye and furrowed her brows. She found the man stood by the bed, looking at her with a grin.
"Can't you let me rest first?" She rolled her eyes at that question.