Ellyn knew a lot about shame, being seen as a late bloomer day after day for 8 long years. It did not mean that she could or would just shrug off her dad telling their future king to "take responsibility", while she`s never even seen the man.


    At 30 past 16, hours after their moms left, she not only saw Marys as a part of Lunor`s female entourage, already acting as a friend to a few other girls her age, but more importantly, Prince Ulweld walking hand in hand with Princess Lunor and their group being around 3 times the usual size and men now being a part of it.


    Can she run away? Hide? No. There is no running from the royalty.


    This will be the single most embarrassing moment of her entire life. Ellyn`s best friend would have argued that her past singing moments might top it, but shame is a very subjective thing. Just because someone feels like one should be ashamed of something to a greater extent, it does not mean that one will be.


    "Your Royal Highnesses," Selea and Ellyn curtsied together with Cathe and her ladies-in-waiting.


    "Cathe, the leadership has approved your idea. The royal exception has been granted. Keep up the good work and make our future brighter," Prince Ulweld said.


    "It is my honour to serve the royal family. I will proceed with the preparations."


    Prince Ulweld, nicknamed "cold", looked Ellyn`s way, no emotion to be seen.


    Miss Arte, Miss Frowe, Salona Kingdom can always use more of powerful soldiers. Train hard, so that one day, our enemies tremble at the mention of your names.


    "We will do our best, Your Royal Highness," Selea replied for the both of them.


    Something unexpected happened shortly after- Prince Ulweld, the cold prince himself, kissed the divine princess, right after nodding and turning to face his divinely beautiful wife. The first kiss was what one would expect of a public kiss- decent and without too much passion, as if to say "I need to go now". When Lunor kissed him back, though, Ellyn wanted nothing more than to switch places with the man. Even those in their shared entourage seemed tempted by the passionate kiss.


    The cold prince was looking into his wife`s eyes for seconds after and... smiled shortly. That was more shocking than the kiss itself, since he got nicknamed "cold" for a reason. A man of logic, one who wouldn`t get swayed by emotions. Someone who doesn`t typically smile even in situations when making a polite smile would be expected of him, smiled after a kiss. No wonder. Ellyn would have smiled too, had she been kissed by Lunor. She`d be smiling stupidly like a fool and wouldn`t care one bit about what others might think.


    The women around seemed pleased by what they saw, judging by the looks on their faces. Their princess had the power. He can be cold most of the times with anyone else, but not when with the divine princess. It made them proud to be a part of her group. His men seemed to think "only makes sense with a wife like that".


    "Lunor, love, visit me after 17," he said as he still held her hand, then kissed it shortly.


    "Girls, I wish for you to have the most pleasant time," the prince told them before his part of the group separated and left, following his lead.


    It might have been her imagination, but it seemed like the last person he looked at before leaving, was Ellyn. Not by accident either. The look was emotionless and impossible to read.


    This was the afternoon of March 19th 1218.


    [Ellyn Arte casts Mana Pulse, level 1]


    Wha...? No... There is no way she`s progressing that fast. Also, she only has a rough estimate of yesterday`s attempts. Ellyn probably remembers it wrong.


    Yes... Clap for her... it feels so good... mmm she loves the way Lunor smiles.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Selea was scratching behind her ear for a while after.


    [Selea Frowe casts Target, level 1]


    [Selea Frowe casts Haste, level 2]


    It did not take long. Her best friend had many times more mana than Ellyn and much higher spellcasting proficiency, but casting support spells on multiple targets at once a few times takes a lot out of an almost 18-year-old girl like her, no matter that she`s been channelling mana and casting spells daily for about 8 years.


    "You are making a nice progress, Ellyn, Selea. A nice, fast progress, which will stay our secret. It is very important for both me and you. Remember my dear toy soldiers... as long as you stay toys, mere easily replaceable girls of a bored princess, you will be safer. It is what you want."


    "Lunor, I need to thank you..." Ellyn started, wishing to thank for the royal favour first and to apologise next.


    "Please, don`t think too hard about us taking in Marys, our investments, or Giliam becoming a royal inspector. There is nothing like a free toy and my toys must be expensive in the eyes of the people or they`d stop daydreaming about becoming ones."


    "A royal inspector?" Ellyn repeated, surprised.


    That was an important, well-paid position and the inspectors and their families were guarded by soldiers day and night.


    "An honest and loyal man that is courageous enough to tell a crown prince to "take responsibility" is a fitting candidate, wouldn`t you say?" Lunor asked and started laughing light-heartedly.


    Ellyn would have felt so very ashamed... had it not been for the princess` response. She`d be covering her face, but now she couldn`t, because then it would have been impossible to see the beautiful smile of Lunor`s.


    The divine princess got serious once again.


    "Come here and hold my hand, Ellyn."


    "You need to stay safe and take no risks. The same goes for your families. This is only the beginning. You`ll never be as weak as you are right now, so do your best," she said, holding her hand and looking into her eyes. Then she caressed the hand lovingly a few times, breaking the eye contact to look at it, as if thinking about something while doing so.


    Ellyn`s mana sensations have never been more powerful. She wanted to kiss her so much...


    "We will meet again tomorrow. Have a nice rest of the day, girls."


    Lunor and Master Niriel left, heading towards the entourage that needed instructions for the next part of the day and then most likely to meet Prince Ulweld right after. It was quite obvious what the married couple was about to do, if the kiss was any clue. They were married for days, but both seemed to be very... dutiful.


    She wondered, whether Marys would visit her once the group calls it a day and disperses or she`ll only stop by tomorrow. Ellyn wouldn`t risk walking into the guest room next-door and it must have been a tiring day for her sister. In any case, it felt good having her here.


    Lying on a huge bed, thinking back, this day wasn`t really as embarrassing as she`d thought it would be. Mostly thanks to Lunor. Anything is better with the woman she loves. It must have been close to 21 by now, 22 being the last hour of the day that gets announced by ringing the bells. That was her usual time to set the slow hourglass.


    A fast progress that should remain a secret...


    The average speed of progress is 0,3 metres a month for the level 1 of this spell, while the first few metres take shorter time to reach. When Ellyn got frustrated days ago, thinking that she`d only get to level 2 as 31-year-old, that was because some people do. If they continue channelling mana even with a progress speed that slow, it is mostly done to be healthier and live longer, not to become powerful mages.


    She did not measure her progress, but... it was a single day. There should barely be any at all, and yet it was enough to be noticed without any effort.


    "Ellyn, can we talk?" Selea came in.


    ...


    "This whole thing is getting more and more serious," her best friend started, not daring to talk aloud, but half-whispering near her.


    "Do you think they`ll just let you take tests with our classmates and show them... that what usually takes 3 years and more, you somehow managed to do in 2,5 months?"


    "I`m glad that you are progressing fast, don`t get me wrong, but we might be stuck here for much longer than we`d like to."


    ...


    "The problem is only with those that know about me," Ellyn replied silently after thinking.


    "Do you think that we`ll get assigned to where we won`t meet our former classmates?" Selea asked.


    She could get assigned to 1 of the current 13 Aspion battalions. That was where Ellyn wanted to be, though there were also palace, city, town, village, border and fortification guards, soldiers who inspect crimes or watch over "legal slaves". Legal slaves were people who committed serious crimes punishable by getting an arm tattoo detailing the sentence and who were forced to spend years working in mines, dockyards and such. Not for Ellyn.


    It made little sense to push a soldier where she or he didn`t want to serve.


    Either 1 of those 13 battalions, or... no, they wouldn`t do that. She wouldn`t be married off elsewhere in the kingdom. No way. It will be an Aspion battalion without any of her classmates. Surely.


    "Yes. That is my guess."