Chapter 145: Sparring Partner

Chapter 145: Sparring Partner

Airael lay in bed, feeling utterly chaotic, letting time fly by without a care.

She felt like everything was just terrible.

It was one thing she didn’t want to admit, but the slaps to her face from reality were relentless.

Knock knock knock! …

How long had it been? Suddenly, she became aware of someone knocking on the door.

After several rounds of knocking, Airael finally turned her gaze towards the door.

She furrowed her brow and thought for a moment before getting up to open it.

Opening the door, as expected, stood Arthur outside.

“Have you finished lunch?” Airael asked as she looked at him.

“Yes, I have,” Arthur replied.

With that, he confidently stepped into the room.

Airael didn’t stop him; in fact, she stepped aside to let him in and then closed the door.

Walking into the room, Arthur noticed the cloak that Airael had tossed casually onto the sofa. He walked over, neatly organized the cloak, and then sat down on the sofa.

“Thanks! Did you come back to see me for something?” Airael asked after expressing her gratitude.

If there was nothing wrong, Arthur should only return in the evening.

So, Airael figured he must have something to say.

Perhaps he needed her help with something.

“Well, it’s not anything important. I just wanted to check on you,” Arthur said.

Airael was momentarily stunned by such a response.

But she had to admit, her heart was warmed in that instant.

This guy, despite being as dense as a rock when it came to feelings, really knew how to care for others.

“Check on me? What’s so interesting about me? Besides, don’t you see me all the time? I feel like you’ve seen every inch of me!”

Airael couldn’t help but throw some sass.

The first part of her quip was harmless, but the latter part left Arthur blushing bright red.

Naturally, Airael herself realized she was blushing too.

Darn it! How could she let such words slip out!

An awkward silence fell for a moment, and Arthur, looking at the still-headed Airael, explained, “Ailia, that’s not what I meant! I just worried about you because you seemed really tired last night.”

“I know that, but as you can see, I’m perfectly fine now,” Airael replied softly, completely losing her earlier momentum.

“Well, in that case, I can relax,” Arthur said, smiling gently at Airael.

That smile was so charming and enticing that Airael couldn’t help but mutter to herself.

“Don’t look! Don’t look!…”

She kept reminding herself not to get bewitched by Arthur.

It was impossible between them.

The most they could have would be a child.

“Ailia, what are you saying?”

“Nothing, don’t take it too seriously. By the way, are you visiting those nobles this afternoon?”

Arthur’s question snapped Airael back to reality, and she replied with a smile.

“I don’t have those plans for this afternoon,” he answered.

The influential nobles in Lanahl City weren’t few, but Arthur didn’t have many he wanted to mingle with.

He had already visited some recently, and the rest were not urgent.

Speaking of which, the nobles he intended to meet all shared deep connections with each other.

As they say, “Birds of a feather flock together.”

Like attracts like, and it was only natural for people he valued to mix in the same circle.

“Then what are you planning to do this afternoon? You can’t just sit around doing nothing, right?”

Airael continued to ask.

“Of course not! Ailia, do you think I forgot about my duel with Cain?” Arthur shook his head with a smile.

Airael lowered her head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

“I forgot.”

With that, she stuck out her little tongue, trying to ease the awkwardness with a cute gesture.

Arthur was momentarily charmed.

Though he hadn’t intended to blame Airael, her words made it even harder for him to speak up.

He sighed with a bitter smile and said, “Although I’m confident in my own strength, Cain is a strong opponent, so I can’t afford to slack off in our battle; otherwise, I could lose.”

Airael nodded in agreement and then asked, “So will you be practicing in front of the stand this afternoon?”

“Exactly!” Arthur confirmed.

“Can I help with anything?”

“Ailia, if you want to help, you can be my practice opponent,” Arthur said without refusing her offer.

He had his own plans—one was that Airael indeed had enough strength to train with him, and the second was that during their practice, he could help boost her strength while improving his own.

Thirdly, there was a little bit of selfishness at play; he simply wanted to be around Airael.

Their lunch plan this afternoon had fallen through, so being able to practice together was a nice way to make up for it.

“Great! I won’t let you down! You’ll see my true strength next!” Airael beamed.

Although yesterday’s events were behind her, she still kept them in mind, plotting to turn the tables somehow.

She was determined to be more careful next time.

Little did she know, that opportunity would come up so quickly that she wouldn’t even have time to prepare.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Arthur replied, his smile widening as he looked at the enthusiastically happy Airael.

“When are we going to practice?” Airael asked, bursting with excitement.

“No rush. We just had lunch. We can practice after our nap,” Arthur said.

“Okay!”

Upon hearing that it was after the nap, Airael wasn’t in a hurry and nodded in agreement.

Since they agreed to practice after their nap, they wasted no time and headed to bed to rest.

In bed, both of them were quite proper.

They didn’t think about anything else, much less act on it.

Right now, all they had to do was one thing.

That was to take their nap.

After resting, they would regain their energy and head out to practice for the upcoming competition.

Before long, both of them closed their eyes.

When they opened them again, over an hour had passed.

With more than an hour of rest, along with the fact they had eaten well, they were now bursting with energy.

They got out of bed quickly, washed up, and headed outside.