Inside the private courtyard behind the Manor, two figures could be seen engaged in combat. And they had some audience too.
Rebecca, Marianne, and Amelia curiously watched Keith and Yingying fighting against each other. They were just passing by when the fray caught their attention, and by the looks of it, it seemed like Keith was testing Yingying out.
Rebecca had never before watched him fighting, so she was quite excited. She had pestered him a lot to observe his lessons with Sibyl, but Keith never allowed anyone to be present inside the training room.
Yingying was graceful as ever and deadly quick, which excited Marianne a lot as she looked up to the ever-so-obedient Shadow of Keith. She had sparred a lot with her, and Marianne did not mind admitting that she was not as skilled as Yingying when it came to hand-to-hand combat.
However, to her surprise and excitement, despite the Chinese girl giving her best, she failed to even land a hit on Keith, who was simply too fast for her.
No one was expecting Yingying to win in a duel with Keith, because they knew that he was not just an Auror, but an Inheritor of God as well as a genius Doctor. His talented Shadow stood no chance against him, but to not even be able to land a hit on him when he was not suppressing her with his Godly Powers was a pleasant surprise to them.
Keith seemed to be playing around with her as he expertly deflected, dodged, and blocked her attacks. He did not go on offence even once, but it was not because he was being pressed hard by Yingying.
"That's all you have got?" He smirked at her, rousing her to come harder at him, but Yingying was honestly giving her best.
The agile girl showed her skills in disguising her attacks, but Keith seemed to see through all of them.
Fear whispered in her heart as Yingying knew what was at stake here. And her eyes which stayed firm were getting a little misty now.
Keith sighed when he found her losing hope, but it was what he wanted. He needed to put his reigns on her stubbornness.
"You lose." He declared right before he started somersaulting away from her and come to stand tall, dropping his fighting stance.
Yingying was frozen in her spot, not able to move even an inch, and right where she stood were shackles made of a black flame that sprouted from the ground and bound her feet. She felt like the ground wanted to suck her inside of it, and despite struggling a lot, she could not break free from the shackles.
Rebecca frowned when she looked at Keith's hands and did not find his God Ring summoned on them. It was strange since the Inheritors needed their God Rings to use the Elemental Powers unless the person had an inborn affinity to some Elements.
Not bothering with Rebecca's curiosity, Keith steadily walked up to Yingying, who was shedding tears now.
"Master..."
"You lost." Keith firmly said, giving her no room to make any excuse.
Hearing the firmness in his voice, she lowered her head dejectedly.
Keith waited for her to calm down, and only after she nodded in understanding did he draw his hands forward to cup her cheeks and wipe her tears.
"You are my Shadow, and you will remain my Shadow as long as I live." He smiled at her. "But Amelia is my wife, Yingying. And in my absence, I need you to be by her side and protect her. You will return to my side the day I come back home. Okay?"
"Yes." She nodded obediently, despite her heart still aching to let him go by himself.
As a Shadow, her duty was to protect her Master everywhere he went, and she was clutching onto the straws of hope that he would take her with him to the Military Assessments and Service, but what she had been fearing came true.
He asked her to stay back and protect Amelia when he was gone, and she had shown her stubborn stance that she was his Shadow and she would come with him. But this time, he was not going to give in.
Keith proposed a bet that she could come with him if she manages to land even a single hit on him, and she had miserably failed in accomplishing the task. However, she felt a lot less worried about his safety after witnessing his combat strength, which was what he was truly trying to make her understand.
"Good girl." He leaned in and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Also, when I return, you better be stronger than you are right now."
His words made her heart thump in fear, but her eyes grew fierce and she confidently nodded her head, vowing to get stronger so that she would never become a burden on him and stay by his side all her life.
Seeing the resolve burning in her eyes, he smiled inwardly and patted her head before walking inside the Manor.
She was a simple-minded girl.
Keith gently ruffled Rebecca's hair, who was sitting on the stairs and curiously looked at him, and then walked towards the left section of the Manor, where Qingyue and Celine lived.
He did not bother knocking on the door and quietly entered the room.
Qingyue was sitting at the study table, exquisitely moving the brush in her hand, leaving beautiful characters on the scroll.
She did not sense him approaching her, and even when he came to stand behind her, she just continued working on her Calligraphy.
Keith silently watched her write Chinese poems on the scroll. He knew that she was writing it for her late grandfather, who had taught her how to write and read in Chinese, and who was also her Calligraphy teacher.
Time passed, an hour went by, and when she finally put the brush down, he called out to her.
"It's beautiful." He softly said, but she was alarmed by the sudden voice and immediately turned to look at him.
"When did you come?" She smiled and asked.
"It's been a while." He smiled back at her and then leaned in to plant a kiss on her head. "You are exceptionally talented in Calligraphy, my dear Qingyue. But you never told me that you have an interest in poetry."
"I don't." She shook her head. "Grandfather taught me all these poems to help me learn Chinese. I am just fond of these."
"I see." He nodded and curiously looked at the last poem she had penned down.
[When I was a child,
Nostalgia seemed a small stamp:
"Here am I
and there my mother."
Then I was a grown-up,
Nostalgia became a travelling ticket:
"Here am I
And there my bride."
During the later years
Nostalgia turned to be a graveyard:
"Here am I
And yonder my mother."
And now at present
Nostalgia looms large to be a channel:
"Here am I
and yonder my Continent!"]
"It was my least favourite poem when I was younger..." She lightly whispered, and he did not have to ask why to understand her reasons. "Do you have an interest in poetry?"
"Not really. But I can appreciate the classics and any good work." He smiled at her.
"Tell me..."
The two of the happily chatted with each other for the next hour, and Keith informed her about all the poems he had learned.
Qingyue was impressed by how he knew some French, Italian, and Persian Classics as well as the Netherian and English poems.
"I want to learn Persian." She informed him when they got up to leave for lunch.
"You can ask Viola to teach you. Lots of other maids know it too. Oh, and Rebecca knows Persian as well."
"No thanks!" She shook her head. "I will ask Viola to teach me."
"I see." He shrugged and did not tease her about her competitive relationship with his blonde Fiancee.
He was just glad that Rebecca was not telling her about her true strength, otherwise, Qingyue would have been disheartened to learn that the blonde was progressing faster than her. But things would be different in the next two years, and he knew that Qingyue's Cultivation speed would take her ahead of Rebecca all thanks to possessing a Special Physique.
When they reached the dining room, both of them frowned as they only found the maids there.
"Where's everyone?" Keith asked one of the maids who bowed to him.
"We don't know, Young Master. Lady Rebecca and Lady Kiara came here a few minutes ago, but after Lady Rebecca received a call, she hurriedly went outside and Lady Kiara followed her."
"I see." He nodded and took his seat, asking Qingyue to take her seat as well.
Keith picked out his phone from his pocket and called Rebecca.
"I received a call from Mother, Keith. She was crying and asked me to come home to meet her," Rebecca informed him, and he could sense that she was quite worried as well.
"I see. Do call me after you reach home."
"I will." She promised and ended the call.
Celine, Amelia, Yingying, and Minami arrived in the dining room as soon as the call ended.
"Julian is missing," Amelia told him after she took her seat.
And her words caught everyone off-guard.
"I see." Keith frowned as he checked the message Caesar had sent him a few minutes ago, but then put his phone aside and calmly started eating.
"You are not worried?" Qingyue confusedly looked at him.
"Julian is fine. I know where he is and he is not in danger." He informed everyone and Amelia nodded her head to him.
Celine sighed in relief and Qingyue too stopped worrying after hearing his words.
Though she did not talk much with Rebecca, it did not mean that she did not care about her or her family.
After finishing lunch, Keith excused himself together with Qingyue as he took her out for a walk through the forest.
It had snowed last night. The first snow of this winter, and the weather was quite beautiful today.
Their walk was unusually silent as Qingyue was restraining herself from asking him to not go. Though she did not want him to go, she knew his mind was set on it. And she did not want to make things difficult for him.
However, her mood brightened as soon as they came across a herd of Sika Deers. And for the rest of the afternoon, they enjoyed each other's company as even the silence was too comforting for her.
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