I was reading the newspaper as I saw the headline. It wrote "Time to replace horse carriages with car". "What is this thing called 'car'?" I muttered, continuing to read about it. But then I saw Winter coming with two cups. He placed them on the table near me and sipped his own.
"What's the news today?" he asked. I also sipped the tea. "Tea is very refreshing after training," I replied, letting out a small sigh.
I looked at Winter, noticing his expression. "What happened? Why that face?"
Winter sipped his tea again, almost as if he was trying to calm himself. "What training? Running in fog and playing hide-and-seek kill edition—you call that training? I died more times than I could count! Just how powerful are you? I'd say you're stronger than all 13 generals combined. Just how did you get this strong while being so young?"
After I told him I would train him from today onwards for the mission, the first day turned out to be harder for me than for him, showing just how much he lacked experience.
"The academy you studied in is nice; it's one of the best in the whole state. But that academy focuses on both aspects. For commoners, it sounds perfect, but only the strong know how hard it is to grow in both. You have to get stronger in both aspects; otherwise, your mana won't respond properly," I started to explain, but Winter interrupted me.
"What's this?" he said, grabbing the newspaper from the table. "'Car — a machine that will change the transport industry and replace the carriages,'" he read aloud. Then he looked at me.
"Science is evolving. With the help of healing spells, they made healing beans that could be used by anyone who can't heal themselves. For hospitals, they refine spells with technology, and now this 'car' thing that replaces carriages... Science is getting interesting."
"You're right. Science is interesting. It's the only thing that brought some of the races together to grow ," I agreed. "But I don't know why, every time new invention comes up, I get a feeling that I already know about it all... and even more," Winter said, looking puzzled.
I felt no sign of lying from him, just pure confusion. "Could you explain even more?" I asked curiously.
"I mean... machines that help us fly. Like a big object where people sit, and it flies... or objects like—wait! These could be possible. I know how to make it!" he said, suddenly smiling.
I looked at him in confusion. "What happened? What did you realize?" But he ran off without saying anything else.
*
We clashed again in the training hall, our weapons ringing loudly. The princess spun her scythe, sweeping low to trip me. I jumped, flipped, and swung down, forcing her to retreat. She grinned, eyes shining with excitement.
"You're faster than I thought," she said, catching her breath. "And you're stronger than I expected," I replied, panting slightly. We both stepped back, then charged again.
This time, I infused my sword with a weak wind spell to push her scythe away. She noticed instantly, twisting her weapon and forcing me off balance. Before I could recover, she closed in, her scythe blade stopping just inches from my throat.
I froze. Then, slowly, she lowered the weapon and burst into laughter. "You almost had me," she said. "But you hesitated."
I smiled weakly. "Guess I underestimated how serious you were." Athena, who had stayed to watch, clapped excitedly from the sidelines . "Silver! You looked so cool just now!" she cheered. The princess turned toward her and winked.
"but still fight with winter was more fun "the princess said which eating a healing bean
I sheathed my sword and dropped to the ground, exhausted. The princess walked over and offered her hand. I took it, and she helped me stand. "You know," she said softly, "I've never had this much fun fighting someone equal . Thank you."
Before I could reply, we heard footsteps. Kite entered the hall, stretching lazily. prince behind him , his face as blank as always.
"Looks like I missed something interesting," Kite said with a smirk, looking at my bruises. "You missed a lot," Athena replied, still excited.
Then the general came above him were the twins flying. "You all having fun? But we have to return to the kingdom," prince said.
As we all groaned at the sudden call, we saw Winter running toward us with a paper in his hand. He stopped as soon as he reached us, panting, and showed us the paper.
"This paper has nothing but drawings. What about it?" we asked, tilting our heads.
"It's a machine I created just now it will help us capture a moment like painting . This thing can record also like a moving painting . Winter explained enthusiastically. "
We took a moment to process his idea.
"How will this machine work? " I asked.
"It will use light, focused through special glass … and a mechanism inside will preserve the moment," Winter explained enthusiastically. His excitement made the explanation feel endless, and by the time he finished, we were all dizzy.
I finally asked, "What would you name it?"
Winter looked unsure and suggested we give him ideas instead. We offered names: Capture, Archive ,Memory, Essence, Reflect, Action
"All of these are good, and I can't choose. So how about 'CAMERA'? It combines the first letters of all your ideas," Winter said with a bright smile. "Besides, it fits what the machine does—capturing moments."
We all nodded, liking both the name and the meaning behind it.
***
The next day, the prince, Winter, and the general went to the kingdom while the rest of us stayed at the prince's mansion.
"Where are the twins, by the way?" Athena asked while sipping tea.
"I think they went with the princess," I answered, sipping my tea too.
By then, Silver stretched out on the sofa, yawning. Athena put a biscuit in his mouth as a joke, and then silver almost choked as athena has shove it deep inside, making us laugh.
"By the way… we still don't know the prince and princess' ,twins names," Athena suddenly remembered. We all went silent. Staying three days in someone's mansion and not knowing their names… it was so rude that even the air felt awkward.
"Who's going to ask?" Athena asked again. Me and Silver both stayed silent, avoiding eye contact.
"It's simple. We just ask her the name!" Athena said confidently.
As we were talking, we heard footsteps behind us. We turned around and saw the princess standing there with her arms folded, raising an eyebrow. We froze, then all burst into awkward laughter.
"Luka Royce. That's my name. And my brother's name is Lucas Royce," she finally said, sighing. "And the twins' names are Lapis Royce and Emerald Royce. They are my brother's adopted children," .as princess finally stopped and drink directly from the pot .
Athena, Silver, and I all nodded rapidly, trying to hold in our laughter while also feeling relieved. After that, we all shared another round of tea and snacks, joking and chatting about everything from magic to the upcoming festival. It felt warm, like a small family moment.