Elianna knew she needed to be quiet, as any sound or quick motion from her could give away her location. Her movements were slow as she methodically walked through the shallow end of her pool, with her eyes locked on the figure walking around not far from her.

  Nicholas had his eyes closed, with his lips curved in a smile. His soaked hair clung to his face, and beads of water clung to his skin, making him look like he was shimmering in the sunlight. It was a sight that made Elianna's heart skip a beat.

  As Nicholas looked around, he yelled, "Marco!"

  Elianna grinned, knowing she had to respond, but part of her didn't want to since Nicholas was close. She really wanted to win the Marco Polo game they were playing, and she knew Nicholas now only had two more callouts. If he couldn't find her in those two, she would win.

  Elianna sighed, "Polo."

  Elianna nearly yelped as Nicholas' arm lashed out in her direction, and water splayed over her. She quickly backed away, splashing water as she moved.

  Hearing Elianna, Nicholas spun in her direction and began to move toward her.

  Seeing that Nicholas was closing in on her, Elianna quickly stopped and covered her grin with her mouth. She dared not make a sound, as Nicholas was incredibly close to her. Silently and slowly, Elianna began to back away. However, she observed Nicholas continuing to follow her. Her eyes darted around, trying to figure a way out, but she noticed she was, unfortunately, being backed into a corner.

  Nicholas' eyes darted around behind his eyelids, focusing intently on his other senses. He knew he heard Elianna nearby and was sure he was getting close to her. He knew he only had two more chances to call out to her, and he was willing to risk it.

  "Marco."

  Nicholas continued to inch forward, hoping he would hear her voice coming from directly in front of him.

  Elianna begrudgingly lowered her hands, "Polo."

  Nicholas smirked, hearing Elianna in front of him, and quickened his pace.

  Elianna's eyes widened, seeing Nicholas move quickly toward her. She hastily began to back away but let out a small cute yelp as her back hit the wall of the pool behind her. She cursed the sound she made and clapped her hands over her mouth.

  Nicholas froze, hearing Elianna yelp right in front of him. With a smirk, he slowly began to inch forward.

  Elianna's heart beat rapidly in her chest with her eyes locked on Nicholas. She watched as he got closer and closer to her until he was close enough that she could feel his body heat. Having him this close to her, seeing the sparkling droplets of water on his sun-kissed skin and his soft-looking lips curved into a grin, Elianna's stomach was fluttering.

  But her stomach did a cartwheel, and her heart skipped a beat, hearing Nicholas whisper, "Marco."

  Elianna mentally grumbled and removed her hands, showing her lips curved into a nervous smile. She sighed and whispered, "Polo."

  Nicholas grinned, "Found you."

  Elianna nearly yelped as Nicholas reached out and grabbed her by the hips while stepping close to her. Her cheeks reddened instantly, with her face burning intensely, as she felt him press his warm, chiseled body against hers. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest as she looked up, watching as he opened his sea-green gems with a grin.

  Elianna swallowed hard, with her entire body feeling molten at this turn of events. "F-found me," She whispered.

  Nicholas nodded, his eyes flicked to her lips, "So, what's my prize?"

  Electricity shot through Elianna's body, and her chest rose and fell rapidly with her fast breathing. Her hands were shaking at her sides, as she didn't know where to put them.

  "W-what do you want it to be?"

  Nicholas' soft-looking lips curved into a smirk, a motion that made Elianna melt. She desperately began to wonder how they tasted.

  Nicholas began to lean down slowly, and Elianna tensed, "You."

  Elianna could practically hear her heartbeat drumming in her ears. She grew more nervous by the second but also more eager—an eagerness to feel Nicholas' lips against hers. Slowly, she began to close her eyes and raise her hands. With her eyes closed, she placed her hands against his chiseled chest, feeling how muscular he was. She began to lean forward and—

  "Lady Elianna?"

  "Whaaa?!"

  Elianna bolted up into a sitting position, her eyes wide and her ivory skin covered in sweat. Her eyes darted toward her bedroom door, where she observed one of the maid staff peeking her head into her room.

  The maid tilted her head slightly to the right, looking at Elianna curiously. "Are you okay, My Lady?"

  Elianna stared at the maid for a second, looking completely dumbfounded. It took her a few moments to finally process what was happening, and she realized that the moment she and Nicholas were having was a dream. Elianna sighed, feeling a little irritated at the maid for interrupting her dream.

  After another moment of silence, Elianna smiled and nodded at the maid, "Yes, I'm fine."

  The maid nodded, "Alright. Well, Lord and Lady Vail requested I wake you up and tell you that breakfast is served."

  "Thank you, I'll be right down."

  The maid nodded before leaving and closing the door behind her.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Elianna flopped back into bed with a dejected sigh, staring at her ceiling. Her thoughts lingered on her dream, wondering what would have happened between her and Nicholas had she not been interrupted. But the more she thought about it, the more she wondered if it would ever happen between them in real life. Her cheeks burned heavily at the thought.

  As she lay there, Elianna began to breathe heavily, and her body began to feel hotter. Finally, she decided she had had enough and got out of bed.

  After taking a long shower and getting dressed, Elianna made her way downstairs and entered the dining room, where she saw her mother and father sitting.

  Katarina looked up after taking a drink and smiled as her eyes fell on her daughter, "Oh, there she is."

  Lucian followed his wife's gaze. "We were beginning to think you had fallen back asleep."

  Elianna, who was pulling her damp hair back into a ponytail, smiled, "Sorry. I was just having a late start."

  "I'd say," Lucian said, looking at the clock. "This is quite late for you."

  Elianna shrugged as she took her seat, "I was having a good dream."

  Katarina looked at Elianna curiously, noticing that she seemed a lot brighter than she had the night before. "How're you feeling?"

  Elianna smiled brightly, "I feel good."

  "You know what they say," Lucian said, taking a sip of his morning tea. "A good dream washes away a bad day."

  Katarina raised a brow, "I've never heard anyone say that."

  Lucian shrugged, "I'm sure someone has said it before."

  Elianna chuckled as she filled her plate with some of the food spread on the table, "Maybe." As she took her first bite of food, she curiously looked at her father, "So, when are we leaving for the garrison?"

  "As soon as you're done eating."

  Elianna nodded and quickened her pace, devouring her plate and earning a humorous chortle from her parents. Once she was done eating, she followed her father out of the mansion and said goodbye to her mother before getting into the carriage with her father.

  After an agonizing carriage ride that felt longer than usual to Elianna, they finally arrived at the garrison. Elianna wasted no time hopping out of the carriage once it stopped in front of the garrison headquarters.

  "Well, now," Lucian said as he hopped out of the carriage. He smiled at his daughter and said, "You seem very eager to begin combat training." He looked at the headquarters building. "Just let me check in with Maurus first, and then we can begin—after you're done with your physical training, of course."

  "Um, actually," Elianna began and cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to skip training for the day."

  Lucian's head snapped toward his daughter, looking astonished, "W-wait, what?" He stepped forward, looking at her, slightly concerned. "Are you not feeling well?"

  "N-no, that's not it," Elianna stated, waving her hands in front of her. "It's just that I wanted to go hang out with Nicholas."

  Lucian's brows raised before looking down. He remembered how dejected his daughter had looked the day before and knew it was because she and Nicholas had had a disagreement, as she had put it. It was why he believed that the reason she wanted to skip training and talk to Nicholas was to settle this disagreement.

  Lucian nodded and looked at his daughter, "Alright, that's fine." He smiled at her, knowing how heated and stubborn she could get. "Just don't be too hard on him, okay?"

  Elianna looked a little confused, unsure of what he meant, and said, "Uh, okay."

  Lucian gave his daughter a gentle pat on her head before walking toward the headquarters building.

  Once her father left, Elianna eagerly ran off toward the first battalion building. It didn't take her long to spot Nicholas, who was standing close to his aunt and Zera. His aunt and Zera seemed to be giving him a lecture while he listened intently. As Elianna's eyes glazed over Nicholas, her face heated at the memory of her dream with him.

  Shaking her head and composing herself, Elianna smiled as she approached them, "Good morning."

  Freya, Zera, and Nicholas looked in Elianna's direction, seeming surprised to see her so early in the morning.

  "Lia," Nicholas said, sounding genuinely surprised but happy to see her. He smiled, "I didn't think you'd be around until the afternoon."

  Elianna shrugged, "I decided to skip physical and combat training today." She smiled, "I wanted to see you practice channeling with Zera." She looked him over, seeing he wasn't dressed in his physical training gear, "And it seems I'm not the only one who decided to skip physical training this morning."

  "Yeah," Nicholas shrugged. "I wanted to get an early morning start on the channeling training."

  "Yes, he was very excited to begin," Freya stated, narrowing her eyes on Nicholas. "He seemed to have found a morale boost last night." She looked at Elianna and smiled, "So, thank you."

  Elianna flinched and sheepishly looked to the side, "I-I don't know what you mean."

  Nicholas sighed and looked down, "She knows I snuck out last night. She caught me when I returned."

  Elianna looked embarrassed, "Oh..."

  Freya sighed, "You two are like partners in crime." She chuckled and shook her head before looking at Nicholas, "Anyway, are you ready?"

  Nicholas looked at his aunt determinedly and nodded, "I am."

  Freya stepped back and looked at Zera, "All yours."

  Zera nodded and approached Nicholas, "Alright, Nicholas. We will do the same as yesterday. I'll attempt to channel with you."

  Nicholas nodded, "I'm ready."

  Zera stood beside Nicholas, facing the same direction. She placed her hand on his shoulder and said, "Alright, I'll begin."

  Elianna was silent as she moved to stand beside Freya, watching Nicholas with a hopeful expression.

  Nicholas took a deep breath, preparing himself for his second attempt at channeling with Zera. He knew they weren't going to cast any spells right now and were just attempting to establish a connection. He felt a little better knowing that fact, but was still a little nervous.

  Zera closed her eyes and began the channeling process. She pushed mana into Nicholas' shoulder and through his chest. Once she reached his mana core, she half expected him to hiss and pull away like last time. However, to her pleasant surprise, he didn't even flinch.

  Zera smiled and began the process of pulling his mana to her core. Once the tether was completed, she and Nicholas felt the immediate connection, and their cores grew stronger.

  However, Nicholas also noticed the sensation was completely different than when he channeled with Elianna. The strength he received from Zera felt significantly weaker, and there was no physical reaction, unlike the white flame that had surrounded him and Elianna when he channeled her. It made Nicholas feel baffled, since he knew Zera had a stronger core than Elianna, with Zera being a fifth-circle mage and Elianna being a fourth-star augmenter. But right now, he was mainly just happy he was able to channel Zera successfully.

  Freya smiled proudly, feeling a sudden shift in Nicholas' aura. "He did it."

  Elianna looked at Freya, surprised, before she smiled widely, "He did?! That's great!"

  Elianna looked back at Nicholas but frowned slightly, also seeing that there was no physical alteration between Nicholas and Zera, like there had been with her and Nicholas. She had hoped there would be a white flame, but to her disappointment, there was nothing. Her eyes fell, wondering why and what made her so different.

  "This is good," Freya began, and Elianna looked at her. "Now, he can go through field training with Zera."

  Elianna's brows raised, and her smile completely disappeared. Her stomach dropped at the thought of Nicholas leaving for an entire year.

  "Yeah," Elianna said and looked at Nicholas with a saddened gaze. She watched as he and Zera broke the connection, and he stepped back with a wide grin and raised his arms into the air with a cheer. "A good thing..."

  "Very good, Nicholas," Freya commended proudly and approached him and Zera. Elianna followed.

  Nicholas smiled widely at Elianna, "Did you see that?! I did it!"

  Elianna forced a smile, daring not to look sad in front of Nicholas, "I did. I'm proud of you."

  "The connection went smoothly," Zera said, looking at Nicholas with a smile. She looked at Freya, "Now, we will practice more with channeling."

  Freya nodded, "Goo—"

  "Experitor Argyle."

  The four of them looked toward the voice, seeing two knights from the royal guard unit approaching Freya.

  Freya looked surprised, wondering what they were doing here. "Yes? Can I help you?"

  The knights stopped and saluted as one of them said, "Yes, Ma'am. We've been sent to find you."

  Freya raised a brow, "By whom?"

  "The Regent."