Eli swirled the stew with the wooden spoon, his eyes contemplating whether to scoop the potatoes or the beef next.
The corner of his mouth couldn't help but twitch upward.
But there was still barbs coiled tight under his ribs, and he knew himself well enough to know that words weren't going to loosen them.
After all, Eli wasn't Elise. He was merely a puppet of himself, and he didn't own her past emotions.
What he needed was adrenaline to sweat the fear out.
"Juli."
"Mm?"
"Are you still up for that spar?"
Juli's eyes lit up with an inextinguishable fire, just like a sleeper agent activated by a codeword.
"Now you're speaking my language! Truly, truly beautiful. You haven't forgotten my lessons. Sweat everything out with our swords! Worries — no matter! Sorrow — pfft! Nothing survives between clashes of swords!"
"I'll take that as a yes—"
"Yes? Yes! Of course it's a yes! Elise, I thought you actually forgot your promise. I was waiting all day for you to ask me that! Wolves? I want more. Spar with Juli? Oh, I'm too tired, Juli. Maybe later, Juli."
Eli's hand clenched, trembling as he fought the urge to flick Juli in the head for that mocking, whiny imitation.
Meanwhile, Juli crossed the bed, looped the sword belt into place, and yanked the buckle tight.
"Well, guess what! Later is NOW!"
"I mean… I'm the one purposing—"
"Yeah, yeah."
Eli huffed a laugh, put the bowl on the nightstand, and slid down off the bed.
Juli was already at the door with hand on the latch. She was practically vibrating.
"Did you know the innkeeper have a whole rack of wooden swords in the storeroom by the backdoor? It's so convenient! Every inn should do that. It should be mandated across the kingdom."
She yanked the door open and was halfway into the hall before Eli could even sit down to lace his boots.
"Five minutes! Out back! If you're not down there in five, you lose!"
Eli shook his head, smiling, and reached for his boots.
'How could someone be that excited over a spar!?'
In case anyone forgot, Juli was a Two-Song Knight, studied under Sienne Knight Academy, graduated the First Sword, and trained under one of the finest knights of the south, Julius Holtze, the Commander of House Lagranche's army.
It wasn't wrong to say Juli was his pupil.
'And especially with someone with two measly years of swordsmanship under her belt! Elise didn't even train properly!'
Elise could never make time for training like the soldiers of the House.
Busy with her maid duties and also being the second-in-command of House Lagranche's de facto Lord, Elise never followed a consistent schedule. In fact, the longest streak of attending Juli's classes was only twenty days.
Not even a month.
And most of the sessions lasted at most an hour.
That explained why she had a 0–166 record against Juli.
While Elise was praised for her talent and quick grasp of the basics, raw aptitude alone could not bridge the gap without consistency. And Elise was not the only one gifted; Julianna was, too.
The 0–166 record was, in some ways, generous. Most of those losses were Juli playfully toying with Elise instead of putting her down in three seconds flat.
Eli sighed as he pulled the laces tight on his second boot. He stood, rolled his shoulders, and stretched his arms overhead until his spine cracked.
'Alright! Let's get this!'
He grabbed his coat off the hook by the door, sluing it loose around his shoulders, and stepped out into the hall.
Eli followed the corridor down the narrow stairs, his footsteps muffled. From the common room below came a sound of a warm conversation between the innkeeper's wife and Juli.
"—oh, she'll be down in a minute, don't you worry! She's just slow like a snail. Anyway, I'll have these back to you, all in one piece, knight's honor!"
"I'm a what now?"
"Eek!"
Eli rounded the bottom of the stairs and stepped into the common room.
"T-There she is!"
Juli whipped her head toward him and laughed awkwardly.
"But am I wrong, though?"
"Aren't you the one who's always late? I just know I'm always on time."
She loudly huffed.
"Hmph. Boring."
The innkeeper's wife, a stout woman with flour clinging to her sleeves, gave Eli a tired wave from behind the counter. The couple must have switched shifts, seeing that the husband wasn't here.
Eli dipped his chin in apology for the late hour, and she waved that off too with a just-do-whatever-you-want gesture.
Then, Eli followed Juli out the backyard.
The yard was a small square of coarse dirt, fenced on three sides, with a chopping block in one corner and a lantern hanging beside the door.
Juli walked to the middle of the yard and tossed a sword toward him.
"Catch."
Eli caught it, its hilt smacking into his palm. The wood was worn, but smooth enough not to splinter his hand.
He turned it over once, letting his hands settle into the grip Elise's muscles already remembered, and rolled his shoulders to warm up.
Juli twirled her sword in the air with fluid grace before planting it in the dirt.
"Okay. Standard rules. First clean hit ends the round. Pure swordsmanship only! That means no grappling, no kicks, no punches, got it? I'll go easy."
"Don't."
Eli wanted to gauge Juli's level before making any adjustments to this sparring session. He had witnessed it on multiple occasions already, namely the alpha frostfang fight and the Black Rose fiasco, not to mention Elise's memories compiling in his mind. Still, Eli wanted to experience the sensation of facing a powerful opponent himself.
Juli's grin widened. She lifted her sword off the dirt with a flick of the wrist.
"…oh? Big words from oh-and-one-sixty-six."
"One-six-seven in a minute. Just shut your mouth and come at me."
Juli guffawed once, and then she moved.
In a blink of an eye, she appeared two paces away from him, her sword already coming at his ribs.
'OH SHIT—'