Mountain Rose

23. [BONUS CHAPTER]

"Your ordinary became my special. Your special became my ordinary."

August D, People

"Run it again!" Viscount Kim commanded, "On three."

"Can we take a break?" I asked, panting, holding my knees as I bent over breathlessly, "We didn't even stop for a sip of water."

He clucked his tongue. "You've gone soft, is what it was. Don't feed me excuses, you used to go for hours."

"Well, what do you expect, I was indoors most of the time!" I protested.

He waved me away. "Jungkook!" he called, "Get over here!"

My brother jogged past me. "Weak," he jeered, holding up his staff, "I'm ready!"

A second later, he was on the ground, the wind knocked out of him as he looked up in surprise.

"Being arrogant and ignorant is a combination that sets you up for disaster!" Viscount Kim chided, "You, young man, are practically begging to be defeated. It's adorable, if it wasn't so predictable."

My brother looked at me like he was about to cry.

I smirked. "Weak," I said to him, gulping down water, before going to the viscount, "I'm ready."

He scoffed. "I'm always ready," he said, swinging his staff at me.

The sound of our staffs created an upbeat melody around the Courtyard, and I ducked in time for a blow to my shoulder, before flipping backwards, using my feet to kick his staff out of his hands, catching it with my other hand.

"Always showing off," the viscount mocked me as I grinned, "Fancy footwork doesn't save you in battle, princess."

"Oh, please. I'm not even trying. And stop calling me that!"

"Why, my darling princess?" he asked, voice saccharine sweet, "Isn't that what your husband calls you?"

"It should only be the husband calling her that!" Yoongi's voice called from behind, and I made the mistake of getting distracted, "Last I checked, hyung, you're not her husband."

That mistake caused me to fall on my back beside Jungkook, who was watching us with admiration.

Viscount Kim's staff hovered over my face. "You need to focus."

I slapped it away. "And you need to be less condescending," I told him.

He smiled wryly, throwing his staff aside as he offered his hands to me and my brother, pulling us both to our feet. "Good job nonetheless. Tomorrow morning. Same time, same place."

"But I don't want to meditate!" Jungkook whined.

"You don't have a choice. Your sister did exactly that every morning for a month before I allowed her the liberty of a duel. Even then, it wasn't my call," he replied, "Go and wash up. Yoongi, get over here, you're late."

"I lost track of time," he said, bowing, "I was painting."

"And now you'll pay dearly for it," Viscount Kim said, lifting his staff to throw it at him, "You'll practice with Eunji, since she's clearly still full of energy."

"I never said that!"

"Unfortunately, I am depleted of energy, so I'm going to take a good soak to keep out of this summer heat," he said, marching away from us, "Enjoy your training."