The Untouchable Prince | A Norenmin FanFiction

五十三

Fifty Three
Updated: December 13, 2021

One foot in front of the other. He told himself. Keep your eyes in front of you. Stay balanced. Don't lose focus.

Step after step, the prince spun twice, getting closer and closer to the woman ahead of him. His sword whistled as it sliced the air, slash after slash. Then, with a leap, he brought his sword above his head.

He kissed my hand.

"Waaah!" He lost his footing when he landed and tripped, rolling his ankle and falling. "Ow," he groaned, dropping his sword to caress his shoulder.

"My son, what happened?" The woman sheathed her sword and went up to him, crouching down to check his condition. "You were doing great a month ago. Why are you suddenly falling so much?"

"Sorry, Mother. I'll do better."

"What do you mean 'do better'?" His mother chuckled, watching her son sit up. "We don't have any more lessons. This isn't a lesson. You told Mother to come to assist you today, so I came." She saw the look on Renjun's face. "Son, come. Let's sit down, and you can tell me about what happened, yeah?"

Renjun sighed. "It's nothing, Mother."

"You sure? I will always listen to you."

He smiled at her shaking his head. "I can continue. I was just unfocused."

She chuckled. "If you say so."

Renjun pushed himself up, getting back onto his feet.

"Renjun, you also have to take care of yourself. If you are hurting, you should rest."

"Mother, I'm fine." He brushed off the dirt on his light hanfu clothing. "We can continue." He then bent down to pick up the sword he dropped.

"The poison isn't affecting you again, is it?"

He looked at her. "It's been almost four days since then. I'm okay."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"If-"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, okay." She smiled. "Let's try again, then. Don't fall this time and stay focused. If you let your mind wander, you will not be able to perfect Frost Blossom. Frost Blossom-"

"-is about being in the right mindset, so clear your thoughts and focus on your surroundings. The only thing that makes Frost Blossom special is the particles around you; the air, the ground, the sky, the plants, everything. Losing focus will break that connection between you and your surroundings," the prince finished, remembering the lecture she gave him hundreds of times.

Shufen smiled. "Good that you memorized it. My-"

"'-father would scold me until I memorized everything he told me.' Mother, I know. You've told me before. Let's just start."

"Alright, alright."

Renjun then backed up a few meters, his mother following suit. When they were both about ten meters away from each other, Shufen unsheathed her sword, waiting for Renjun to come at her again. "Ready?"

He gave her a curt nod.

"Then, come."

Holding the sheath in his non-dominant hand and the sword in his dominant, he dragged his foot back. He held his sword in front, taking a deep breath as he bent his knees. In the blink of an eye, he pushed off the ground and took step after step towards his mother. He repeated similar steps which he did earlier, the placing of each foot just as accurate as before.