The two of them left the training camp through the main-level passage, coming out from the opposite side.
Walking along the street now, Luke took off his mask. He glanced at Yurna Doer silently following behind him, then turned his gaze forward again.
"Will you be coming again tomorrow, Miss Fiora?"
"I will tomorrow, but after that… probably not."
Fiora didn't try to hide it. She answered plainly.
Luke paused, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"I'll come tomorrow to cash out my points. After that, I shouldn't be setting foot in the training camp anymore."
"Why?"
Luke asked, curious.
"There's nothing here that can make me stronger anymore. If I stay, what's the point? Other than wasting time, what does it offer me?"
She sounded as if she had zero attachment to the place—there wasn't even the slightest emotion in her voice.
She wanted to become stronger.
So she wouldn't spend time on anything meaningless.
Even so, she had run into a bottleneck lately.
Her growth had slowed to a crawl.
"So that's how it is."
Luke looked at the woman beside him—strong, sharp, and unyielding—and he could vaguely guess why she was so desperate to improve.
House Laurent was a famous Demacian family of swordmasters. Across the generations, it had produced no shortage of powerful duelists. But the family also had an old tradition: their swordsmanship was passed only to men, never to women.
And this duelist in front of him had been born into House Laurent.
They walked shoulder to shoulder as pedestrians streamed past around them.
Along the way, Fiora seemed like she wanted to say something—hesitating, holding it back—but in the end she dismissed the thought.
At a fork in the road, she stopped and looked at Luke.
"I still have some things to do. Let's part ways here."
There was a clear note of farewell in her words. Luke nodded.
"Alright. Goodbye."
"Goodbye. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day."
With that, Fiora turned and left.
Luke watched her go, then chose a different direction.
He still didn't feel like going home. He planned to wander around the capital a bit more.
Only then did Yurna Doer step closer. Luke thought for a moment and said, "Go back and cash out the points. I'll wait for you at the intersection ahead."
He was referring, naturally, to the training camp's point system.
If Fiora wasn't planning to return…
Then he probably didn't need to go back there either.
Counting the three hundred points Miss Fiora had given him, cashing them out would net him a nice little profit.
"Yes."
Yurna Doer nodded and turned back.
Luke strolled along at an easy pace, looking left and right, trying to find something interesting.
He wandered around for most of the afternoon. He didn't find much worth seeing—if anything, the sun baked the strength right out of him.
In the end, he gave up on sightseeing.
He decided to go home and relax properly.
But right as he arrived, something mildly interesting happened.
He stood at his front door, staring straight at Miss Fiora across from him.
"Miss Fiora—didn't expect to run into you again."
Luke lifted a hand and greeted her.
Fiora frowned slightly. Her clear blue eyes pinned Luke in place, looking at him like he was some kind of creep.
"Your Highness… do you really have a hobby of following people around?"
This time, Luke was genuinely wronged. He looked completely innocent.
"I didn't follow you. This is my house. If anything, I should be asking why you're here."
How could he be accused of stalking while standing at his own front door?
Fiora hesitated, then said, "This is the road I take home. If you keep going ten more minutes, you'll reach House Laurent."
Luke froze for a second. He hadn't expected House Laurent and House Crownguard to be neighbors.
And now that this mansion was his…
Did that mean he was literally wedged between the two houses?
Just then, Yurna Doer opened the front gate. Luke took the chance to ask, "In that case, would you like to come in for a bit?"
With the door already open, Fiora didn't press the suspicion further.
It seemed the prince really had moved out of the palace.
She was curious—but she didn't ask.
Faced with Luke's invitation, Fiora considered it for a heartbeat, then shook her head.
"No need."
"Alright then. Safe travels, Miss Fiora."
Luke didn't insist. After a brief farewell, he walked inside.
If they lived this close, they could meet whenever they wanted.
Fiora watched his back disappear past the doorway. The thought she'd suppressed earlier surfaced again.
Maybe… she should wait a few more days and see.
With that in mind, Fiora stepped away and slowly left.
As evening drew near, the doorbell rang.
Yurna Doer went to open it. A moment later, Luke—reading on the sofa—saw Miss Crownguard stumble in, shoulders slumped, completely drained. The bright, lively look she usually had was gone, her face pale.
The moment she entered the living room, Lux didn't say a word—she flopped onto the sofa like she'd been thrown there, motionless.
"Where'd you run off to this afternoon? What did you get up to?"
Luke lowered his book, baffled.
She'd been bouncing around at noon—how did one afternoon leave her looking like her soul had vanished?
"Get up to what…?"
Lux wriggled a little and turned her head, revealing her delicate face. She spoke with barely any strength.
"I just took a trip to hell."
It sounded dramatic, but after Luke asked a bit more…
He learned that Miss Crownguard had simply gone to a tutoring class.
Tutoring class. Yeah… that used to be Luke's nightmare too. But now, he didn't have to deal with it at all.
"A tutoring class did this to you?"
Seeing Lux looking like she might fall asleep standing up, Luke immediately started laughing at her.
Lux's misery was his source of joy.
Now that he'd escaped school—and all that extra tutoring—this was exactly the kind of thing he loved seeing.
Lux glared at Luke's smug, delighted expression and felt even more annoyed. She protested, indignant.
"Why? Why am I the only one who has to suffer like this?!"
Luke was the same age as her—so why did he get to stay home every day, doing whatever he wanted?
Seeing the envy in Lux's eyes only made Luke even more pleased with himself. He sighed dramatically.
"That's life."
Lux turned her face away, not wanting to look at him anymore. But the more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She turned back, full of resentment.
"I curse you!"
"You're not a kid anymore, and you're still this childish. Heh."
Luke sipped his hot water, completely unconcerned, feeling unbelievably refreshed.
A curse—just because you say it out loud—who would that actually work on?
Lux buried her face in the throw pillow, not wanting to talk at all.
Just thinking about going home—about her mother quizzing her on this and that—made her feel like she didn't have a shred of energy left.
She almost thought, maybe I should just stay at the prince's place tonight.
The moment the bold idea appeared, Lux immediately crushed it.
If she really did that, her mother might actually skin her alive.
And right then, that irritating "heh heh heh" laughter kept drifting into her ears.
So annoying.
In that moment, Lux prayed with absolute sincerity, hoping to receive the Goddess of Light's blessing.
Let the guy next to her suffer the exact same torment she was suffering right now!
Luke, at that moment, was laughing happily.
But he had no idea… he wouldn't be able to laugh for much longer.
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