Rest before the next trial.

I'm so sorry about that. I also lost my mother at a young age," replied Fei Fei, bringing me back from my thoughts.

"I'm so sorry about yours too," I replied, forcing out a smile.

"I wonder what the second trial is about, but it's not going to be easy," she said, worriedly.

"We overcame the first one, we should be able to overcome the second one too," I said, trying to calm her mind about the trial difficulty.

"You're right, from now on, let us be good friends," she uttered, stretching out both her hands towards me, in which I hugged her.

"Mister! Please serve us some liquor. We drink till we drop," I yelled excitedly.

"Drink till we drop?" she stuttered, confusedly.

"That's my Lady for you. She says some things in which you won't understand," said Luli, trying to clear the confusion.

"Who told you I don't know what I'm saying? I mean, we should drink to stupor to celebrate our victory in the first trial," I explained, as I rolled my eyes away from Luli before switching to Fei Fei.

Four jars of liquor have been served on our table, as I poured some for Fei Fei, Luli, and then myself.

"To the trial victory!" I said excitedly, raising my glass up, with Luli and Fei Fei doing the same as we all drank the liquor at once.

"To our new friendship!" I said, refilling our glasses one after the other as we all drank it all together again at once.

"To the next trial!" shouted Luli, refilling our glasses as we all drank it all together.

We refilled our glasses all night long until we fell asleep.

I woke up the next day only to find myself back in my room with Luli and Fei Fei sleeping on the same bed with me.

"Argh... This is suffocating," I grumbled as I stood up away from them.

"These two have bad sleeping postures for real, like what the heck! That aside, how did we get back to the inn? All I can remember is drinking liquor at the biggest restaurant in the city. Darn it! I got a terrible headache just thinking about it," I thought, now kicking Luli and Fei Fei to wake them up.

"Get up you two, we're being kidnapped," I said, making Fei Fei and Luli get up in a hurry.

"How did we get home last night?" asked Luli, who was still feeling sleepy.

"Father would have been looking for me. I didn't go back home last night," Fei Fei worriedly muttered.

Just in the midst of our conversation, Gang walked in with a smile, carrying three plates of freshly made porridge.

Oh... that settles it, he's the one that brought us home, I thought.

"Good morning, your highness," greeted Gang with a bow.

"Highness?" asked Fei Fei curiously.

"He meant to say my lady. You know these two have been with me since young, they always treat me like a princess," I lied, forcing out a smile, and I'm glad she believed me.

"I brought you hangovers," he said as he handed over the bowls of porridge to us one by one.

"Were you the one that brought the three of us home? How were you able to do that?" asked Luli, as she sipped out of the porridge.

"Actually, I wonder what your duty is. How could you allow her high... my lady to drink to stupor like that? If not for that kind man, I wonder how I will be able to take you three home," Gang scolded with anger in his tone.

"Man? Which man is that?" asked Fei Fei curiously.

"I don't know him either. He didn't tell me his name or the family he came from. He just helped me," replied Gang.

"Woah... That's so kind of him. I hope to come across him next time so as to thank him. Only a few men are kind-hearted like him. Others like Zhang Han are the worst," I said in anger.

"Zhang Han??? Which Zhang Han?" asked Fei Fei, her gaze fixed on me, with Luli and Gang also waiting for my reply.

"Umm... It's a long-time friend. You can't know him," I lied, forcing out a fake smile to cover up.

"Friend?? Which friend is that?" asked Luli and Gang in unison, as they both gazed at me in shock.

"It's nothing, please. Thanks for bringing us back home, Gang," I replied awkwardly, in which they nodded.

Fei Fei spent the entire day with us after sending a letter to the prime minister's manor, in which she told him she's practicing for the next trial, which is happening tomorrow.

She taught me some few moves to fight and defend myself in the trial, which I understood soon.

"You've been practicing the same moves for over an hour now, my lady. When exactly are you going to change it?" asked Luli as she sighed in frustration.

"Will you keep shut? You think it's easy, right?" I said, panting for breath as I kept on wielding my sword against the human statue in front of me.

"You should hold the sword properly, or you might end up injuring yourself rather than your opponent," said Fei Fei, who was sitting beside Luli, as they both stared at me while I practiced.

"You should change your moves now, my lady," said Gang, who has been standing at one corner, watching me closely.

"I'm tired," I complained, as I dropped the sword on the floor, walking up to Luli and Fei Fei to sit beside them.

"You should practice more, Hua. We don't know which opponent we will be facing tomorrow," said Fei Fei with a worried expression.

"Whatever opponent, I don't care," I replied, gulping down a glass of water, as I panted heavily for breath.

"Are you still practicing, my lady?" yelled Gang, waving from a distance at me.

"Get lost, I'm done with practicing. Go and practice yourself if you want," I yelled back.

"We should go to bed soon, so that we can wake up early tomorrow," said Fei Fei with a smile.

"I agree with you. I'm so tired. I need a warm bath to help me sleep better," I said as I leaned on her shoulder tiredly.