Aefia pulled her left arm away as soon as Lewis reached out his fingers to grab it. Then, he tried again, trying to prove to George he is much more powerful than he seems. Just before he could reach his grasp against her left arm, she bit his palm very hard, and instantly, he retracted his hand. "What was that for?!"
"You think you can snitch and then try to act all 'good-brother' with me?" She spoke while pulling out a book from the shelve and holding it above her head as if to smack it down on his head. "Move one step... And I will make sure your tombstone has your last words written on it, with the most hilarious switch." She smirked, while pulling the book down to her side.
"But maybe you can't compete with me... Let's see if you can compete with our eldest brother." He added while pointing behind her with his index finger and a smirk lingered at his face. "He is a well-trained swordsman if you know just yet." He bragged about the information like he was the one who knew the skill.
But instead of any proper reply, she smiled and waited a short while, already conscious that George wasn't at the table anymore. If you are desperate to try and find my true potential... I will show you a small percentage and let you figure the rest out yourselves. The smirk against her face stretched out as her face shadowed and she bent forward before lunging at Lewis, as soon a hand tried to grab onto her left arm.
In a swift movement, she sliced through his hair with a long blade. Both of the brothers stared with shock at her insane speed of doing things. Lewis turned around to process what had just happened. "Holy–!" Being sliced of his words, he immediately dodged a second attack, but he realized she was just flinging the sword in a playful manner. In front of him, George turned speechless that the person, who was their sister, was a sort of a battle maniac.
Aefia turned her face halfway, with the sword at the grasp of her right hand, which held the blade behind her with a few loosely wrapped fingers. "It is surprisingly light-weight." She spoke while turning around entirely and spinning the blade around her fingers. "But what about being a well-trained swordsman if he can't wield a sword properly." She asked while placing a hand under her chin, with the smirk still lingering at her face. "If you wanted, you could have waited for me to show my injuries. It's not like I wasn't willing to come over this matter... And I guess you can say I hate the idea of forcing."
Lewis was simply awk-struck. I have heard about her fighting experience and intelligence in a fight... But I didn't believe them until today. He spoke while staring at the way she was holding the sword by the hilt. She looks self-trained... But it is nothing less then a professional combatant.
"Then are you willing to speak about the school?" George asked after a slight moment of fixing his facial expression from his shocked face to a more stern complexion. "For what? So you can stop me from going just because I didn't use my authority against her?" She replied without dropping her show of power. "If I fought back, the Count would go after me in specific, dropping his priorities of wanting to get this empire to the grounds. And I honestly value my life."
She threw the sword in the air, while catching it with the tip of the blade, then throwing it through the air towards George. Then, they both stared at Lewis with a strange gaze. "Don't you think... You could have dealt this in a different way? It wasn't an absolute nothingness when I said you were a dumb piece of grass." Aefia spoke first, then brushing past him to head towards the door. "Next time... Don't invite someone over if you were going to cause problems. I will return after Merissa leaves."
While heading towards the door, she turned one last time. "Since you were the one to invite her over, I am still wondering why you aren't heading over to greet her yet? If you invite, you are the host... Right?" She smiled a little mocking and annoyed while waiting for him, holding the door open from inside and laying a palm flat to show the opened door. Then, letting a sigh of relief, he went out with a backward glance at George who stared at him with intense suspicion.
"Don't worry... I will make sure he finishes his punishment. And add to it a little bit of embarrassment." She added with a reassuring smile. Before she left, George smiled back.
***
"Uhh... Why is he having to be monitored by a kid?" Merissa asked while pointing at Lewis, and looking sideways and whispering into Aefia's ears to make sure not to catch his attention. "Oh... Well it's part of his punishment." Aefia replied without a hesitation as she spoke loudly, which shot the ghost out of Merissa's body for seconds. "Are you sure mocking him like that would be for the best?" She softly spoke. "What if he is struggling with it?"
Without a hesitation, the dark haired girl turned her head towards her mahogony desk, where the silver haired brother was scribbling through pieces of papers with pure concentration. "Hey Grandpa! You holding up nicely? Unless your wrist has fallen out..." She smiled with a mocking grace.
He immediately diverted his head towards his younger sister who was openly embarrasing him in front of their own classmate. "I am not a grandpa! I am just tired!" He shouted while clenching his pen tightly against his fingertips. "Tomatoes potatoes! That's called arteritis! Do you want me to call a medic?" She shouted back while increasing the volume of her voice.
"Well what was the reason for shouting?!" He asked while slamming his pen down on the table, and causing the excess ink to splatter against the surface. "Just in case you couldn't hear properly, grandpa... I hope that sudden standing up isn't causing your back pain to restimulate?" She held a questioned gaze for a long time, causing frustruation to hit his mind for a moment. Just when he looked to his right, Henry stood with his fingers pulled out in a claw gesture and wiggling them up and down.
"No Henry! I am bigger than you and you should listen to those who are older! Don't even think about it!" He staggered backwards as the kid sent him falling to the ground and tickling his stomach to keep him down. The silence turned into a harbour of chaos in less then five seconds, as Merissa just stared with complete horror at the special edition of Hunger Games: Siblings Catastrophe. "You are not going to stop him? He is rolling in the ground." She asked with a concern.
Diverting her face away, she smiled with a pleasant look. "Lewis! If you don't endure the tickles for five seconds, I will make sure you are wearing girls' clothing's tomorrow!" She shouted while sending her head all the way back at the edge of the sofa and shutting her eyes. Then, she silently started counting, but nothing surpressed two seconds or even milliseconds.
Finally, he accepted defeat and sat up while holding the kid in his tight grasp as Henry banged his fist against his arms a long time. "Fine! You win!" He shouted with a now stern expression at her direction, but within the next second, the kid had used his claw-like fingers against him again.
"That's an entire day of acting like girls." She spoke while poking Merissa, who was laughing at his point.
"Being the younger sister... You have a powerful position." Merissa replied. Then wiping her smile off she turned her entire body half-way towards her and spoke with a caution. "But seriously... Who clads an Imperial prince in girls' clothing? Are you trying to summon execution against yourself?" She asked when nagging the carelessly smiling girl beside her.
"Relax Merissa... I am no one below him. I guess you can say I have the right to do that." Sitting up, she spoke with her eyes still shut. "I am teaching him a simple lesson of not to mess with his younger sister again." Then, Henry stood up and ran while holding his laptop towards his sister. But he seemed to be alert about something else.
Heavy footsteps fell behind her as she jolted her eyelids open, but didn't move from her position. An arm wrapped against her throat as it applied light pressure. "And if you can successfully use your left hand only to free yourself... You won't have to dress like a boy." Lewis spoke with a wicked smile as he pulled on his elbow with his free hand. "Then. That's a deal... If it gives you a sense of equality." She replied without flinching.
"Then that's pathetic and weak." He slowly let go, but before he could move back, Aefia used her left arm to pull his face down on the sofa with a hard thud, almost hiding the wood within the soft fabric. "Then that's the punishment for being strong and fast." Letting go of his wrist, she let him slump down to the ground behind the sofa while holding his nose.
"It's... Like watching the hidden reality behind the strict look of the Imperial family." Merissa spoke while looking forward with complete horror. "Well at least you can say that because I am the most damage to the property." Aefia immediately replied while bending into a shrimp posture to glance at the next math problem. But in reality, her finger reached out to click open the cover of her pocket watch to glance at the time. "It's almost ten... You should think about heading back home if you don't want to deal with your brother." She spoke with calm.
"Well I agree with you in that part." Standing up, the naive girl grabbed her books and stood up while bowing at the two siblings who were already back into their fighting with Lewis starting it off with a simple smack at the back of his sister's head, then continuing with a book throw. "Aefia... I am leaving." Ultimately, she grabbed onto the sister's shoulder as she was already in the front of a flying ball, shielding her head while Lewis held the same book over her head.
"Wait! Are you really thinking about going alone?" She replied while standing up abruptly. "I will follow you." And this words turned the room silent within seconds, but just in time for Lewis to grab her shoulders from across the sofa and slam her back down. "As if you are going anywhere! I am telling George." He shouted while trying to sprint towards the door.
With that short time in hand, she held onto Merissa's wrist and held a finger in front of her mouth to keep her silent. Before the naive girl could reopen her mouth, they appeared in front of her house, the Lieutenant's house. "But that was an easy task from my side." Dusting her hands, she came to stand beside her with a smile on her face as if proud over what she had done. Looking closely towards her, she had a cloak covering until her face, the one with complete black exterior and the inner walls were a bright red.
"It took you two seconds to pull out a cloack and wrap it over your shoulders?" The orange-haired girl asked while awe-struck. "I guess it is all thanks to magic. But thank you for the compliment." Aefia replied while bowing with her right hand in front of her and hiding the left behind her back, as if she were a gentleman. "I think... You might have grown a little too much by your brothers... Now you are a brother too."
"... Darn..." While straightening back, the word left her mouth as she turned towards the door, and then looking back at her friend. "It's summer holiday... Do you want me to come to your house to solve the homeworks the next time?" Shrugging, she asked with a a complete void of expression, a little upset she was having to leave.
"Whatever suits you. But thank you for helping me back home... I was honestly a little afraid of walking back home."
"Yeah I knew."
"Aren't you afraid of returning?"
Aefia held her breathe while looking at the empty alley and then smiled. "I honestly think this is the best time to go for a walk." As she spoke the words, the front door for her house creaked open and Merissa's brother walked over with a stern look at his face. "You are back home at exactly clock strike." He spoke, with the strictness of a Lieutenant. Then, his gaze stuck towards the girl in the cloak beside his sister.
Due to the dark, her dark hair fell completely invisible and her silvering hair was a clear sign as she stepped back. "Hold on... Are you the fourth sibling of the Imperial family? The one Merissa has been speaking about?" He asked while folding his arms. Before she could reply, her friend pulled down her hood and dragged her by the arm towards the light. "She is... And isn't she cute? Not only that... She is smart and absolutely fearless." She squirmed with the pride of being her friend.
"Well if anything... Then I guess I should be thanking her for bringing you back in time. The only concern is how she will return." He bowed his head for a short while, then returning his gaze towards his sister. "I heard she was injured? And that she didn't attend school for a week?"
"Well it's true!" Lifting her front hair from her forehead, she revealed a blood covered bandage. "And the interesting thing is she took a bullet to her lung and still half injured." Her voice turned interested into explaining more about her situation at the palace when a soft click was heard and she hesitantly said she needed to leave. "Sorry... But I need to get going if I don't want to be punished by my brother." She smiled while taking off in a run.
"Well she is a very powerful person for the position she is standing." Merissa spoke while watching her slow down and turn a corner.