Chapter 41

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"What is it, Hero?" I asked, knowing full well that it was about training.

"It's about... Why do you keep sending me home early?" He asked impatiently.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked curiously.

"I'm the one with the best base to work with, and yet I'm the one you won't train!" He complained.

"Because you don't want to push yourself like Mary does. Like Vincent does. Didn't you say you were happy with being average? I thought you'd be happy to skip out on the hard work," I said harshly.

Hero went silent for a while. Then he sat on the grass as I stared at him shocked.

"I didn't want to be a knight..." He said distantly.

"It was my parents' dream. To have a Hero for a son," he sighed.

"But when I joined the knights, I was good at it. But that thought came up in my head. 'I thought you hated the thought of being a knight?' because that's all my parents' could ever talk about. Be a hero. Be a knight. Raise your rank..." He ranted.

I was slightly confused how he could open up so easily to a 12 year old but I sat down and listened anyway.

"I didn't want to be a knight. But I also wanted to be a knight. So I did something in between. I became an average knight," he chuckled.

"I've heard of that problem many times before. You don't want to enjoy something forced onto you. Even if you enjoy it, it'll feel wrong. Like you've betrayed yourself," I said sadly.

He looked at me shocked, "How could you... That's... Exactly how it feels..."

"But there is a solution to it you know, you don't have to always be stuck in that feeling. It just stops you from reaching your full potential," I smiled.

He looked intrested, "Will you tell me? How to get rid of it?"

I looked into his eyes seriously, "There's a difference between 'wanting' to be a hero and 'willing' to be a hero. To 'want' the work needed or 'willing' to do the work needed. So which is it, Hero?" I asked.

He didn't answer me for a long time. As I was about to get up he replied.

"I want it. I want to be a hero," he answered.

I smiled, "Then do it. Not for your parents, not for your people, not for the kingdom, do it because this is the honor you 'want' to earn for you,"

He looked at me with starry eyes and a genuine smile that could outshine the sun.

"Your training starts at 4 am tomorrow," I said, ruffling his hair before leaving.

"Thank you, Princess. The kingdom is in good hands," he said with a serious salute.

I knew he meant me. "Get some rest. Hero," I smiled.

-------------------

I woke up extremely groggy because now I had to get up earlier than before so that I could make up the time lost with Hero.

"Princess, it's only been 4 days and you look like you've been pushing yourself too much already," Sierra said worriedly.

"Well, that's what happens when you choose the hard way out, Sierra. But I think I'll be fine," I smiled, dragging myself to the bathroom for a bath.

"Aren't you going to ask me how your father's been doing? I don't mind keeping a secret," she suggested.

"No, no, Sierra, that's cheating. I told father that you wouldn't help. And besides it's the knights that are doing the training, I'm just supervising," I laughed.

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