"Then prove them wrong," her father said, ready to drag her out, but she ran away again, holding onto the pillar for her dear life.
"She's your fiance," the Duke said and turned to Lucian, "Make sure she is present downstairs."
And he left Lucian there, to deal with his unruly child herself. Great. Just great.
"Do you really not want to go that much?" Lucian asked her. It couldn't be that bad for her to dread it this much, could it? "What is so bad about going there? Are the soldiers mean to you? Are you being bullied by them?"
"Pfft," she snorted, "As if I'd let them."
"Then what is it?"
"It's boring having to hold back all the time," she whined, "I hate losing on purpose, and then having them act all smug. They are a bunch of losers."
"..." Lucian stared at her. She was a real piece of work, this one. "Why are you holding back then? Can't you just do your best?"
"You will never understand," she sighed dramatically, "The pain of a superior specimen trapped in the body of a lesser being."
He flicked her forehead with his fingers, her head jerking back.
"You don't have to hold back with me," he said, and she looked up at him. Deep in those blue eyes, he saw the same thing he had seen in himself so many times. The desire to win, to be the best, and to have fun while doing it.
"..." she squinted her eyes at him.
"..." He returned the look.
"Still no."
A vein popped on his forehead, and he grabbed her hand, throwing her over his shoulder. He dragged her down the stairs, while the knights watched the scene unfold. Without the skirt in her way, she was much more nimble and agile. She managed to slip away from his grip, and ran in the opposite direction.
"Whoever catches her gets 10 gold coins!" The Duke announced to the soldiers and the knights, and soon Celine had a horde of men chasing after her.
"..." Lucian watched as the soldiers ran past him, "..." He turned to look at the Duke, "Is this a common occurrence?"
"It's an anti-assassination training exercise," the Duke said, "They have to capture her before she reaches me. The reward for her capture increases every hour, until they bring her back. If they don't manage to capture her within 6 hours, she will be rewarded with 10 gold coins per soldier and knight she immobilizes."
"Does she win often?" Lucian asked, and the commander by the side laughed.
"Never," the Duke said, "But something is telling me that today might be different. She has been in an exceptionally good mood lately, and I wonder why is that..."
Lucian coughed into his hand, trying to hide his embarrassment, "You are saying that she is going to win today, Your Grace?"
"Shall we make a bet on it, Lord Arclight?"
"You said she never won against them, Your Grace. Those are not fair odds," Lucian said, not yet refusing, "Did the Crown Prince participate in these games too?"
"He did, and guess what happened?" the Duke said, and Lucian didn't want to guess, "He managed to capture her within the first 10 minutes. She is not very good at hiding from people she likes. It's easy for her to get distracted, but she doesn't like you, does she?"
"What if I make her win?" Lucian asked instead, "Will I get your blessing for the marriage?"
The Duke was taken aback by his proposal, and he was left without words. At that moment, he was just a father who didn't know what to do with his daughter, "I will consider it."
Lucian nodded and went to search for Celine, grabbed a paper and a pen from the table in the hallway, and wrote a message on it, "A Lady doesn't break noses, she breaks hearts."
He pinned the message to the first knight's back, he ran past, and continued to leave similar messages on every soldier he encountered.
"A Lady is not a damsel in distress, she is a damsel causing distress."
"A Lady doesn't walk into a battlefield, she dances in it."
"A Lady doesn't follow orders, she follows her dreams," he slapped a piece of paper onto the back of another soldier's back. She was stone cold serious about being a Lady, so he wasn't going to take it away from her. He was just going to add Killer to her title. Nothing wrong with that.
Thud. Lucian paused in the middle of his tracks, turning around to look at the fallen man on the ground, "..." He approached and poked him with the end of the pen, nudging his shoulder to make him turn around. He stared at the sleeping dart that was sticking out of his neck.
'...!' His gaze sharpened, and he spun around, scanning the area. Everyone wanted a prize for themselves, so their formations were loose and scattered. Looks like his job was done, and he walked outside to join the Duke and the Commander. They gave him a questioning look as if asking him why he was back so soon.
Lucian simply smiled and waited for her to show up. If they thought he would fight thirty men with his bare hands, they were dead wrong. There was a reason why they had more men in the army than strategists. They weren't as useful in war as the men on the field, but they were essential in winning it. And Lucian preferred being essential over being useful any day.
'I really should start sparring more often...' he thought to himself. There were too many men that were giving him looks as if they wanted to challenge him to a duel.
'Do I look like a pushover? Is my posture too relaxed? Or do I look weak to them?' Maybe he should grow out his beard and appear more menacing. He no longer had to look pleasing to the eyes to sell his inventions, so he could afford to be less mindful of his appearance.