By evening, after an entire afternoon of outdoor training, neither Luke nor Lux had been distracted even a little.
For them, it felt like crushing pressure.
But they finally made it through.
That evening, Yurna was already waiting outside the academy with the carriage.
Luke rode back home, bouncing the whole way.
The moment he arrived, he didn't even bother with anything else—he flopped face-first onto the sofa.
It was exactly the same scene as a few days ago, when Lady Crownguard had come over.
"If heaven would give me one more chance… I'd never laugh at her again," Luke muttered to himself. Only now did he truly understand what that kind of exhaustion felt like.
Mentally drained, physically drained.
Yurna stood to the side and calmly reminded him, "Your Highness, the High Marshal said before she left that you mustn't forget today's homework."
Luke immediately lifted his head and stared at her expressionless face, wondering if she was doing this on purpose.
The moment he remembered he still had to copy dozens of assignments today, Luke's mentality, for the first time, teetered on the edge of collapse.
"Yurna," he said, "it's your time to shine."
Looking at the innocent maid, Luke couldn't help the crooked thought that bubbled up in his mind.
What were maids for?
Weren't they supposed to serve him?!
Yurna remained completely blank-faced as she said, "The High Marshal also said she'll be coming as a guest later."
Luke: "…"
That ruthless woman.
How could she be so cruel?
"Forget it. I'll rest for a bit first."
Luke waved a hand, signaling Yurna to leave. Then he buried his face into a pillow and didn't move.
Today might have been the most exhausting day of his life.
And when he thought about how this kind of life would keep going for a long time…
It hurt a little.
Come to think of it, he hadn't checked in today.
He'd run into that mess the moment he woke up and completely forgot.
"Check in," Luke said silently in his mind.
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Standard Realm Upgrade Card*1]
[Congratulations, Host, you have obtained: Standard Skill Upgrade Card*1]
Hearing the system's voice, Luke sat up from the sofa. Today's check-in rewards weren't bad.
That meant his strength could rise again.
Without thinking too much, Luke used both upgrade cards immediately.
[Standard Skill Upgrade Card used successfully. Wind-Command Swordsmanship level increased to LV5 (Mastery)]
[Standard Realm Upgrade Card used successfully. Congratulations, Host, your realm has broken through to mid-stage Valorous]
Two system notifications rang out in succession.
A flood of deeper understanding about Wind-Command Swordsmanship surged into Luke's mind. This level-up felt like a first major transformation.
Luke closed his eyes, and thin threads of wind intent began to coil around him.
LV5 was a threshold.
The next second, Luke opened his eyes. At this point, he was no longer merely able to sense wind intent like he could at LV3.
Now, he could truly command the wind in the literal sense.
At the same time, the realm upgrade card pushed his physical strength even further.
It might have been the only thing worth being happy about today.
Just as Yurna said, Tianna really did come that night.
Luke sat at the desk, misery in his heart, pen in hand, copying one character after another.
Behind him, Tianna wore home clothes, sitting in a chair, quietly reading.
"I think you should be more worried about your precious niece than me," Luke couldn't help muttering as he glanced back.
Tianna smiled. "It's fine. Someone at home is already worrying about her."
In Luke's mind, Lady Augatha's face flashed by.
And instantly, he could imagine that Lady Crownguard's situation right now probably wasn't much better than his.
Then Luke thought about how his home was only a ten-minute trip from the Crownguard estate. He looked at Tianna behind him again, and the more he thought about it, the more it felt like this had been a premeditated conspiracy.
The next day.
Luke didn't get to rest until late at night, yet early in the morning he still had to get up.
He took the carriage to the academy, entered the classroom, sat in the last row like he always did, and slipped into a blank, spaced-out state.
Not long after, Lady Crownguard arrived too.
Luke raised his head and took one look at the dark circles under her eyes. He fell silent for a moment, then turned away.
And continued spacing out.
Lady Crownguard sat down in silence as well, spacing out with him.
As more and more people filled the classroom, the two of them gradually became a bit more awake.
Lux reached into the small pouch she carried and pulled out an exquisitely wrapped box.
Luke glanced at it from the corner of his eye.
As if she'd noticed his gaze, Lux immediately became vigilant and hugged the box closer.
That packaging looked familiar—Luke recognized it as the same cake shop he'd visited last time.
"Can I have a bite?" Luke asked.
"Get lost."
Her reply was a single word.
"Sigh."
Luke sighed and knew there was basically no chance.
When the bell for the first morning class was about to ring, Teacher Mors walked in first.
Just as Luke started to relax his guard, he suddenly felt a chill creep up his back.
With an ominous feeling, he slightly tilted his head—
And there was Tianna, just like a principal coming to sit in on a lesson, dragging in a small chair and planting herself in the back.
"…"
"…"
Lux, having noticed as well, silently slipped the half-eaten cake she'd been holding into her desk drawer.
During this class, every student was unnaturally well-behaved.
It was probably the most comfortable class Mors had ever taught.
After class ended, Tianna temporarily left.
Luke couldn't help asking, "Does your aunt have nothing to do all day?"
Lux shook her head, confused. "I don't know either."
"When does this end?"
"Just endure it. It'll pass."
With the experience of someone who'd suffered before, Lux offered numb Luke a bit of comfort.
That was how the morning classes went.
After lunch, the two of them finally got a brief chance to slip out of Tianna's line of sight.
"I've decided I'm going to the library to take a nap," Luke said.
"Same," Lux replied.
When they reached the library, it was still Fiora's turn to be on duty today.
Just like yesterday, she sat behind the counter, quietly reading.
When she saw the two of them come in, she lifted her eyes for a glance, then kept reading.
"Good afternoon, Lady Laurent," Lux still had the energy to greet her.
Luke didn't even have the energy to greet anyone. He walked straight toward the back rows of the library.
After putting in some effort moving chairs into place, Luke didn't give Lux any chance to steal his work this time—he immediately lay down.
Lux could only pout and prepare to work for herself.
The lunch break passed in a blink.
Soon, it was time for the afternoon outdoor class.
It was the hottest stretch of summer. Under the blazing sun overhead, Luke first ran a few laps around the field, and then officially began the lesson.
//Check out my P@tre0n for 20 extra chapters on all my fanfics //[email protected]/Razeil0810