As Jacob and Joseph continued their clash, Jacob was able to hold his own extremely well. It got to the point where the only reason rounds ended were because Joseph ran of energy trying to knock the prince down. Through haggard breathes, Joseph spoke to the prince.
"Your improvement is astounding my lord. I haven't even been able to knock you down once today. May I suggest a new idea?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you're too much for me now, but I know someone who would love to take a few jabs at you."
Jacob wandered through his brain trying to think of who it could be. Then, he remembered someone he treated just as terribly the same day as Joseph. A servant woman who he had tripped as she was trying to aid him.
"Oh. I believe I know who you mean. Find her and bring her here please."
After a short while, Joseph return with the servant woman. She was already holding a stick, immediately taking a fighting stance while looking at the prince with burning passion in her eyes.
Jacob walked up to her with a smile.
"Nice to see you again. I'm... really embarrassed about how I treated you before, so I do hope you can somehow find it in your heart to forgive me."
The woman stared at him for a few moments before responding.
"Joseph told me about you, how you changed. Well, maybe not changed yet but you are trying to change. I at least respect that."
"You're too kind ma'am. What is your name? I would prefer to not call you a servant if I can help it."
"My name is Eden."
"Nice to meet you. I'm sure Joseph already explained to you that you don't have to worry about me fighting back, so feel free to go all out!"
Eden smiled creepily.
"Oh ho ho... I can't wait."
Suddenly, Joseph picked up his wooden stick as well and started walking towards the prince.
"Uh, Joseph? What are you doing?"
"Oh, that's right. I forgot to tell you, my lord. We are both going to attack you at the same time! Good luck!"
Jacob's face paled a bit.
'Oh shit...'
Joseph and Eden's attacks both rained on him relentlessly. Oddly, their attacks seemed too coordinated to be attacking together for the first time. It felt like he was fighting two opponents who always had each other's backs through countless battles. Every time he defended Joseph's heavy attack, Eden was there to perfectly follow it up.
It took less than three moments for Jacob to be overwhelmed and collapse to the floor with a hit to the head from the woman.
"You weren't kidding Joe. I feel... AMAZING! This is the best day of my life!"
Eden stood tall with a smile painted on her face. Meanwhile, Jacob was trying to stand up using his own stick.
"I'm glad I could help."
After taking a few deep breaths, Jacob looked at the two of them.
"Are you ready for round two?"
The three of them went at it for hours with Jacob hardly lasting a few moments each time. But the longer the day went on, the longer Jacob held his ground against the two. Eventually, everyone was utterly exhausted and needed to call it a day.
Eden's face was full of sweat, her hands had blisters from swinging the wooden stick and she was panting heavily.
"Wow. I never knew I needed this until now. My prince, please allow me to continue fighting you for a while!"
'Great. Now I have two people who want to fight me every day. I guess I kind of deserve it though...'
"I'll consider it. Shall we go back to Sarah's place for dinner?"
Joseph patted Jacob on his back.
"That's okay my lord. Take the night off and get yourself something from the palace. I'll go treat Eden to that place."
"Are you sure? I don't mind the walk."
"I'm sure. Thank you again for everything today my lord. Same time tomorrow?"
Jacob smiled.
"Same time. Tell Sarah I said hello when you get there."
"Will do, have a good night!"
Eden walked up to the prince and held his hand.
"Thank you."
With that, the prince sent them off towards the town and walked his way towards the dining hall to get himself some food.
Upon entering, the table was once again completely empty.
'Why do we even have a table this big if no one shows up?'
Jacob decided to sit in one of the twelve empty seats on the side of the table and rang a bell for a server to bring him food. Not long after the bell rang, a woman came limping out of the kitchen door. Dry dirt covered her face and she looked thoroughly exhausted.
"Hey Jacob, it feels like it has been a while. How's your training going?"
Maria stood confidently in front of Jacob; her hands were severely calloused, and her outfit looked like she was thrown in a mud pit.
"Maria... what happened to you? Are you okay?"
Maria smiled.
"It was from a little bit of training, no big deal."
Jacob could tell something was wrong with her smile, like she was hiding something she didn't want him to know. However, he didn't want to spend this short time interrogating her, so he decided to keep talking.
"I see. I hope your training is paying off as well. I can tell you are working hard. Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Maria's jade eyes looked at Jacob, then around the room before she spoke.
"I would love to Jacob, I really would, but I must finish a few more things before the days over. I promise we can eat something when I finally catch up."
Again, Jacob felt like she wasn't completely telling the truth.
"Are you hiding something?"
Maria looked a little startled by the question.
"No. I'm just a bit exhausted form today's work is all."
"I see. Then please don't worry about bringing the food out to me. Just come and tell me when it's done and I can bring it back myself."
"Understood. I'll tell the staff you want an assortment of things, is that alright?"
Jacob realized he was so focused on talking to her that he forgot to order his food.
"Oh, yes! Thank you."
After a short while, Maria came back out and announced the food was ready. While Jacob grabbed the food, he looked at her one last time.
"If you don't want to eat with me, will you at least keep me company?"
Maria had a desperate look in her eyes but still put on a smile.
"That sounds lovely, but I really do need to get back to work. I'm really sorry Jacob. We can talk more by the end of the week! There's only a few more days left!"
Jacob was a bit disheartened at his failed attempts to get Maria to hang out with him, but he understood she was busy with work as well as her own training. As Jacob slowly ate his plate of food, he found himself lost in thought.
'I wonder how strong she will be by the end of the week. I hope I live up to her expectations.'
The thought of them laying together flashed through his mind once more.
'Ugh. Why do I keep thinking of that?! And wait, since when did I start to care about Maria's expectations of me? I should just be proud of the work I can accomplish!'
After finishing his plate, Jacob walked to the back, placed it in a large sink of water and washed it himself before deciding to leave.