Cecil felt a pair of strong arms wrapping around her svelte body, catching her. Her hands landing automatically around their shoulder, and the arms were coiled her waist and her back, her chest pressed against theirs.

The person stumbled back, supporting both of their weights, but nevertheless, they were both safe.

Cecil exhaled sharply, her eyes wide as she blinked rapidly, her blindfold still on.

She was sure that she was going to land on the ground, and it would have probably left a big, fat bruise on her.

The...the lord protagonist caught me...?

Cecil gasped in realisation, recovering from her shock as she lifted up her blindfold hastily.

"Xue, I'm so--" Cecil said, lifting her head and the words were stuck in her throat.

Their faces were so close.

So close that their noses were almost touching.

His grey eyes gazed into her onyx ones, and the concern for her was apparent in his grey irises.

"Are you alright?" Xue asked softly, his breath blowing onto her face.

Once again, Cecil found her heart skipping a beat.

"...ye-yes, since you..." she struggled out, blinking rapidly. "...caught me..."

She pressed her lips together, growing flustered. Somehow, she found it hard to look away and neither did she want to make any sudden movements.

"Oh," he muttered out, his eyes drifted over to her lips unconsciously. "...good to know."

His breath caressed her face again, and Cecil squeezed her eyes close.

She couldn't bear it any longer, feeling as if her heart would burst out from her chest at any moment.

"Xu-Xue." Cecil opened her eyes, stuttering out.

Xue looked back up to her eyes.

"You are...too close...!"

"Ah."

Xue withdrew, placing Cecil gently down on the ground. Cecil wanted to create more distance, only to realise Xue's arms were still wrapped around her waist and back.

Cecil could feel her face starting to burn.

"Xu-Xue."

Xue looked at her again.

"Yo-your arms...!"

"Ah."

Xue awkwardly brought his arms back to his side, not noticing he was still clinging onto her.

Cecil hastily retreated, creating more distance between them. Her hand flew to her chest, she was still trying to recover from the experience.

Unbeknownst to the couple, their teachers had long left the courtyard. After spitting their tea out in shock, Eri hurriedly left to give the couple their privacy, pushing Gom out of the courtyard as well.

Meanwhile, Gom felt aggrieved.

His disciple was always harsh when training, and was never once kind to him as a disciple. However, when it came to Cecil, he willingly lost the sparring match to prevent her from falling onto the ground.

When the teachers left the courtyard through another exit, Hana walked in at the same, witnessing the intimate moment between the two of them.

She widened her eyes, squealing softly as she turned around. She would have covered her eyes if it weren't for the plate of food in her hands.

"Uhmm...can I look now?" Hana raised her voice, turning back around.

Cecil gasped, startled.

Xue looked at Hana standing at the entrance, her eyes were squeezed close.

"Hana! Wh-what are you doing here?" Cecil questioned.

Hana opened an eye, peeking and once she noticed it was safe, she opened her eyes completely.

"I wanted to let you guys try my cooking! Ah, and ask questions about the sword mound expedition!" She chirped.

"Of course, Hana, come in!" Cecil beckoned.

Hana hurried into the courtyard, placing the porcelain plate on the table.

Cecil glanced at Xue, and their eyes met instantly. Cecil glanced away quickly, jogging to Hana's side.

Xue gazed at Cecil before looking down at his hands, rubbing his fingers together. There was a gentle look in his eyes, and an indiscernible smile tugged at his lips.

"Xue, come on over!" Hana called out excitedly.

Xue snapped his head up, joining Cecil and Hana at the table.

***

"If we run away, who is going to oversee the sparring session?!"

"Shush! They can handle it themselves!"

The teachers left the courtyard, not knowing that Hana was already in there, interrupting the sparring session.

"Why do we need to run away anyway?"

"Haven't you heard the rumours in the academy?" Eri hissed, smacking Gom on the back. "Xue and Cecil isn't aren't just friends anymore, they are lovers now. Lovers!"

"..."

"You should let them experience young love, we oldies shouldn't interrupt!"

"..."

"Oh nevermind, you never dated, what do you know?" Eri waved him off, walking away. "You always scare all the ladies off with your personality anyway."

Gom was speechless.

He may be a big burly man, but he has a romantic heart!

He never dated, but he has liked someone before!

"Eri, you...come back here! Take back your words!"

Eri winced, she forgot that this has always been a sore point for Gom.

***

The plate of food that Hana offered them were two small pastries. Since Hana enjoyed sweet things, the first thing she wanted to make was something sweet.

The pastry seemed to resemble fruit tarts, and the fruit tart was glazed in apricot preserves.

"It looks nice." Cecil compliemented and Xue nodded in agreement.

"Then you can try it! I just made it!"

They both looked up at Hana, and they could see a smudge of flour still on her uniform. Since she didn't want to dirty her own dresses, she wore the kimono-like uniform again. Nevertheless, Hana was beaming from ear to ear, and Cecil was glad to know the heroine enjoyed her time baking the pastry.

They took one tart from the plate, bringing it close to their faces. There was a faint fruity scent coming from the tarts, and Cecil was the first to open her mouth to try it.

Xue was the next to try it.

The moment they bit down on the tart, their faces changed instantly.

Hana glanced back and forth, a nervous look on her face. "Ho-how is it?"

"The custard filling and the fruits taste wonderful," Cecil commented with a forced smile. "But the tart crust is..."

"It's too hard." Xue finished Cecil's words.

Cecil chewed on the tart in her mouth, pouring herself a cup of tea as she swallowed it down.

To say it was hard...it is an understatement.

Instead of feeling sad, Hana tried out the tart herself by taking it from Cecil's hand.

She bit down onto the tart, and she recoiled back, horrified.

"It's...it's hard like a rock!"

Xue nodded, eating the tart completely and Cecil watched him in admiration.

Though, there was a grimace on his face, he still finished the tart without any complaints.

Truly, the lord protagonist treats Hana completely different from the others!

Hana took the plate back into her arms, her expression excited. "I will come back with another set of pastries!"

"Another set?" Cecil furrowed her eyebrows.

"Mhmm!"

"What about the questions for your sword mound expedition?"

"I want to make the pastry perfect first!"

"Hana, wait--ah, there she goes..." Cecil sighed out.

Hana was already scuttling out of the courtyard.

Cecil drank down another cup of tea, looking at the direction Hana disappeared too, sighing again.

"Do you want to continue sparring?" Xue questioned suddenly.

"Ag-again?" Cecil blinked at Xue, surprised. "So soon?"

"Hana will probably come back with her own cooking again, and we can take a break when that happens."

"That..." Cecil trailed off, contemplating.

Cecil wasn't ready to spar with Xue again.

Moreover, since she has finished her sparring session with Xue, she had been waiting for the system to notify her of her mission.

The mission should already be completed! Then, I just have to find an excuse, and I won't need to spar with the lord protagonist anymore.

Cecil wasn't sure if she would ever spar with Xue again.

[ Just a reminder, Cecil Lan~ ]

[ Mission #8 : Get Stronger!
Objective : Spar with protagonist "Xue" and improve your fighting skills.
Time limit : 12 days ]

"...there wasn't a time limit before."

[ It was a bug from our system.
The time limit did not appear in the previous mission statement, we are sorry for any inconvenienced caused. ]

"Are you sure you aren't doing this on purpose?!"

[ I am not allowed to change or remove any mission details~
Good luck with the mission, Cecil Lan~ ]

"..."

Cecil wanted to cry without tears.

"...let's spar again." Cecil reluctantly stated.

Xue stood up, summoning out his spear and glanced back at Cecil.

"If you fall again, I won't catch you this time."

Cecil shot her head up.

"If I caught you everytime you fall, you will never grow stronger."

She never expected Xue to admit such words to her.

Just by those words, Cecil knew her image in his mind was completely different from when they first met.

He certainly didn't detest her now, seeing that he admitted to catching her. He even wanted her to grow stronger.

She was beyond touched.

All of a sudden, she didn't feel so pressured to spar with Xue anymore.

"You...you don't need to," Cecil muttered out, flabbergasted. "And thank you for catching me before."

Xue cracked a smile.

Cecil stood up and drew out her daggers. She dashed towards the pillars, leaping into their air and landing on one of them.

Xue followed behind her, leaping onto the pillar at the far end.

The two of them took the cloth from their hands, tying it around their eyes.

"Begin anytime you want." Xue raised his voice, allowing Cecil to hear him.

Cecil nodded, going in for the first attack

***

Meanwhile, Hana in the kitchen had scalded her fingers as she touched the baking tray by accident. She winced, blowing on her fingers as she ran to the sink, placing it under running water.

Although she has burned herself, Hana was glowing in gratification.

Cooking is fun!

I never wanted to do something so much in my life!

After cooling her hands down, Hana busied herself with her next dish. Other than learning the joys of fighting, she had found another thing in life that she enjoyed.

She hummed a melody, referring to the cooking book that she bought recently, while she was with Xue and Cecil. Her eagerness to make her own delicious food to eat it herself served as another inspiration for her to get better at cooking.

***

"Ugh!"

Cecil landed ungracefully on the ground, wincing.

She had lost the sparring match, but that was expected. Xue was on a completely different level from her.

The blindfold had slid off slightly, and she peeked at Xue. He untied his blindfold and looked at her, raising his eyebrows,

It was as if he was asking her to continue.

Cecil sighed, getting up as she patted her clothes, leaping back up onto the pillar.

***

Cecil was swept off her feet by an attack, and she landed on the ground once again.

"Ah!"

She lifted up her blindfold, standing up slowly as she winced. Once again, Xue undid his blindfold and raised his eyebrows at her, but his expression appeared more playful compared to before.

Cecil huffed, jumping back up onto the pillar.

Xue was completely serious when he said he wouldn't catch her again.

***

After fighting Xue for a while, she realised the first time they sparred was the only match she landed a hit on him.

...and she understood why.

At that time, Xue was going completely easy on her!

Now, she could only get close to him but she was never able to land a hit.

Not even a touch.

Moreover, with such a weird air battle on the pillars, the only weapons she could use were her daggers and her handy stone. Conjuring her own stone pillars was of no use since it took too long, compared to summoning out her vine.

In addition to that, the first match, making use of the stone platform was due to pure luck! Now, she couldn't even afford to, always instantly finding herself on the ground.

Thus, she had to rely on the second form of her element powers, her vines, which she rarely uses, as well as her stone to fight.

Alas, using her stone as misdirection was of no use, since they weren't fighting with eyesight. Misdirection was only useful if the person had eyes to look, whereas this match, they were focusing solely on their senses.

This time, Cecil fell to the ground without making a noise, only grimacing in pain. She was sure that she was going to get some bruises.

The blindfold slipped down yet again, and she adjusted it, catching Xue's expression.

Yet again, without the blindfold on, he raised his eyebrows. This time, he even had a tiny, playful smirk on his sensual lips.

It felt as if Xue was provoking her now.

Feeling rather irritated, she stood up and hopping back onto the pillar almost immediately.

"Need a break?" Xue questioned lightly.

"No need!" Cecil retorted.

***

It was late in the afternoon, and Hana rushed into the courtyard, carrying another plate of food.

This time, along with the new fruit tarts she baked, she tried out a new cooking method.

It was stir-fried chicken with chopped vegetables.

"Xue, Cecil, help me try out these dishes!"

Xue and Cecil paused, lifting their blindfold and they noticed two dishes on the table. Cecil was about to reject, when the fragrance of the food drifted over and her stomach growled in protest.

Xue glanced at Cecil, signalling to Cecil to "go eat" with his eyes.

Cecil jumped off the pillar, followed by Xue and they became the food testers for Hana.

"How is it?"

"The chicken...is too tough."

"The seasoning is perfect."

"Some of the vegetables feels undercooked."

Hana nodded, a rare serious look on her face and she floated away again after the food was finished. Her mind fixated on improving her cooking for now.

Xue and Cecil went back to sparring once again. Cecil was determined to land at least a hit on Xue, knowing that with her current strength, there was no possible way to push him off the platform.

***

《 start 》

It feels nice.

It feels nice to have you in my arms.

I wish I held you just once more.

But...if I keep catching you whenever you fall, you will never grow stronger.

And you will surely push yourself to train harder...and you might even hurt yourself more in the process.

I...I just have to resist catching you.

Other than some bruises from falling, nothing serious will happen to you.

I will ensure that.

...I should probably get some ointment from the healer.

《 stop 》