Knightly (A Reverse Harem)

Chapter 20: Training Adventure

I felt my cheeks start to burn when Blaise pulled away. He looked down at the ground in embarrassment. My heart was pounding inside my chest. I've never been kissed like that before. It was out of the blue too. I didn't realize that Blaise could be spontaneous when he wants to be.

"Blaise?" I called out, wanting to ask him about what just happened. He turned his back towards me instead.

"S-Sorry. I just. . ." He trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I-I'll talk to the princes about staying "

"Blaise." I reached for his arm before he could leave. "You wanna tell me what that just was in English this time?"

He sighed before turning around. His face was red and he looked scared. "I didn't exactly plan on doing this. When I saw you with General Mun-Wah my brain just went into, I don't know. Overdrive? I didn't like what I saw. I was really going to talk about the route we were going to take home and the best coarse of action but my heart took control instead of my brain. It was like it was suddenly telling me that I should tell you that. . ."

I raised my eyebrows as he froze for a second. "Tell me. . . what?"

Blaise clenched his fists. "That I fell in love with you?"

I couldn't help but giggle a little. "Why does your answer sound like a question?"

"I didn't mean it to sound that way! I'm just nervous, alright?" he defended. "I fell in love with you."

I breathed out calmly. "I understand and appreciate your feelings for me, but both of us aren't in a position to date at the moment. Princess Ava may choose you to be her husband."

"I have about a sixteen percent chance that she'll choose me. If she doesn't then all I have left is to go back to my kingdom. I want to go back to my kingdom with you, Rion."

"There's a chance that you are chosen. I'm sorry but I would suggest that you try to let go of your feelings for me. At least until this is all over. No one can predict the future so it's best to go with the flow most of the time. If you try to plan something and it doesn't work out then you'll only be disappointed in the end."

He didn't argue against me. His hands shook while he began to mess with his ponytail again. I took one of his hands in mine. "I never been in love before. I don't know what it means. I don't want to give you false hopes. Give it time. We'll see what happens later on. Okay?"

Blaise let out the air he was holding in. "Alright." He brought my hand to his lips. "You should get some rest. Goodnight, Orion."

He left the bamboo grove and I stayed to practice a bit more and to think. 

The next morning, I exited my tent to see all the men making their way to get some breakfast. Some of the soldiers greeted me on the way. When I entered the dining tent everyone was chatting and goofing off. I saw the princes talk among themselves and Aries waved me over.

"How's it going? Did you all sleep well?" I approached the table and took a seat. Cinder passed me a bowl of rice. 

"We're fine. Today is going to be a busy day for all of us. Snowen is going to treat any wounds during the fight, Blaise is going to talk about battle strategies with the general. Aries is going to help take inventory and distribute supplies while Jasem, Tianos, and me will be training with the soldiers. Blaise will also join the fight but he'll stick by the general's side most of the time." Cinder explained to me. 

"Wait, so you guys agree to stay and help? We can leave right now if you guys want."

They shook their heads. "We're needed here and the men need your guidance." Snowen answered.