Family Hierarchy

Perhaps tired from the day, or perhaps not entirely calm, Karya was quite silent at the dinner banquet.

Since Peter hadn't returned for dinner either, Lux didn't need to put on her ladylike facade, so she didn't pay much attention. Instead, she focused her attention on her brother.

Unlike his energetic demeanor that morning, Garen was quite listless now.

His dark golden short hair was messy, lying flat on his head like weeds. Although he seemed to have bathed, he still gave off a dirty impression.

Now, Garen no longer talked about joining the army. He just wolfed down his food—he was clearly starving!

Under Lux's bewildered gaze, Garen ate a full five ribs before leaning back, completely collapsing onto his seat.

His previously flat stomach was now visibly bulging. Guzzling, Garen burped, looking like he had "finally come back to life." Ogesha, who normally couldn't stand his lack of etiquette, simply smiled at him, occasionally spearing a piece of salad with her fork and eating it.

Clearly, Garen was truly exhausted.

"It seems like Brother's training... went well?" Lux asked with a slightly peculiar expression, "Just a bit too tiring?"

"I feel like I'm going to die." Garen rolled his eyes dramatically. "Lux, my dear sister, you can't possibly imagine what this is like if you haven't experienced it!"

"Alright, you still have the energy to complain, which means today's training wasn't that strenuous," Ogesha interrupted Garen. "Now, you'd best take a walk in the garden, then go take a good bath in your washroom, and get to bed early. To become a qualified soldier, this is just the beginning!"

"Yes, Mother." Garen winked at his sister. "No problem, I'll go for a stroll now, then take a bath and sleep. Don't worry, this level of training is nothing!"

Saying that, he stood up decisively, grabbed his sword from who-knows-where, and raised it high, scabbard and all.

"Charge, for Demacia!"

Seeing this, Lux blinked. If it were before, she might have thought her brother was cool and felt envious.

But at this moment, for some reason, Lux only felt very... well, embarrassed.

Lux didn't realize it herself, but after just two days of interacting with Karya, some of her perceptions had already changed.

Or rather, wasn't this kind of change a part of growing up?

Perhaps because she had witnessed magic today, or perhaps the stories she had heard before were too stimulating, Lux tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.

In the stories she had heard before, princesses were often the ones being rescued. But Setaqa was different from those vase-like female protagonists; she was a truly brave warrior.

The last similar story Lux had heard was the legend of the Winged Sisters—in that story, the Winged Sisters inspired the first settlers of Demacia and established this great nation.

Since then, Lux had longed to become a hero of Demacia like the Winged Sisters.

And today, she heard another story. Setaqa's story seemed to open another door for her. She wasn't like the Winged Sisters soaring through the sky, but a warrior who was poor, suffering, and had nothing. Yet even so, she defeated her enemies with her fists and teeth, with sticks and stones. Thinking of these stories, Lux couldn't help but yearn for them, which only made her more unable to sleep.

Helplessly, she reached her hand out from under the covers and grasped her sword again.

"Karya, tell me another story about Setaqa."

Karya, who was diligently preparing his lesson in low-power mode, never expected Lux to suddenly want to hear a story so late at night.

You're nine years old, not three!

Although he was happy to tell the little girl about his eldest sister's valiant spirit back in the day, considering Lux had class tomorrow and his lesson plan was still a bit short, he still refused Lux's request.

"If you want to hear stories, then listen carefully in class tomorrow. If you pass the test during evening study, I'll tell you stories during review time."

"But I can't sleep." Lux pouted. "This is all your fault—now when I close my eyes, all I see is the yellow sea of desert, the endless Khar'sai..."

"Khar'sai?" Karya hesitated. "I don't think I've told you about that place."

"Maybe I saw the place name in some travelogue," Lux yawned. "Mmm, I really want to go and see the desert for myself—see where Setaqa fought..."

"There will be a chance." Karya paused, then seemed to realize something, his tone gradually softening. "Alright, little girl, no more stories. I'll sing you a song... I'll sing Setaqa's favorite Shuriman folk song."

"Shuriman folk song? I haven't heard it before." Lux lay flat on the bed, burying her head deep in the pillow. "I've only heard Demacian music—hymns, concertos, symphonies, and such. What is a Shuriman folk song?"

"A folk song from the desert."

A folk song from the desert?

The next moment, Lux closed her eyes, and Karya's deep singing voice reached her ears.

♪ The Shurima River flows quietly ♬ flowing towards the oasis ♩

♪ The people of Shurima walk barefoot ♬ walking along the banks under the night sky ♩

♪ Shurima City is not far away ♬ in the distance, the sand sparkles in the vast night ♩

♪ I look up and gaze downstream ♬ gazing at the dreamlike lamplight ♩

♪ I bow down and drink deeply ♬ drinking in the fragrance like mother's milk ♩

♪ The Shurima River flows quietly ♬ flowing in the high Starry Sky ♩

♪ The people of Shurima raise their spears ♬ spears protect the peace of their homes ♩

♪ Shurima City's high walls ♬ walls are Shurima's arms ♩

♪ I fight before her chest ♬ fighting in every line of epic history ♩

♪ I sleep eternally in her embrace ♬ sleeping among the golden waves of the oasis ♩

Lux didn't understand Shuriman, but she could hear an immense, boundless breadth in Karya's chanting.

Closing her eyes, Lux felt as if she were truly in the great desert, beneath the Starry Sky, as if she were truly following the footsteps of the ancient Shurimans, walking along the banks of the Shurima River.

Karya's low singing was like the never-ending river water, carrying Lux's thoughts until she finally drifted into dreamland.

The perfectly smooth flow of Magic Power proved that Lux had finally fallen asleep.

The little girl seemed very insecure, clutching Karya tightly even in her deep sleep.

Karya, who had stopped singing, didn't mind this. Instead, he was more concerned about a small detail from Lux's earlier conversation with him.

He distinctly remembered that Lux had mentioned Khar'sai.

Although Lux said she might have seen the place name in a book, Karya didn't believe any travelogue would record the story of Khar'sai.

Because Khar'sai was a vast desert in southeastern Shurima, a true Forbidden Zone. It bordered Icathia, and a large number of Void creatures were still active there to this day.

Karya didn't know the specifics of Khar'sai, but he dared say that no one—not even an explorer—would choose to go there and return in one piece, let alone leave behind a travelogue.

Therefore, Lux definitely hadn't seen this place name in any travelogue.

As for whether Karya had mentioned Khar'sai when telling stories... that was even more impossible.

Khar'sai was the place where Setaqa fell, and it was also Karya's sorrowful place. Even the strong Karya wouldn't mention his unhealed wound for no reason.

So, he wouldn't tell Lux about that place—let alone the fact that most of Setaqa's story didn't happen in Khar'sai, even if it did, Karya wouldn't mention it.

So, the question arose: why did Lux know and subconsciously mention Khar'sai?

This was a question that sent a shiver down Karya's spine, because in Runeterra, seeing things you haven't seen and hearing things you haven't heard is not a good omen.

In Icathia, there was also a group of people who saw a world they had never seen before, and the name of that world was [Void Land].

In Freljord, someone also heard the voice of a powerful will she had never heard before, and the owner of that will was named [Void Watcher].

Of course, Lux's situation probably wasn't that dire. In Karya's opinion, this situation was most likely due to his own influence—including Lux's mental tension and fatigue today, as well as this memory imprinting-like phenomenon, all stemmed from his demonstration that morning.

Even though he hadn't used Lux's Magic Power, and had only temporarily borrowed her body, his influence had inevitably left a mark on her.

In short, whether it was the Void's gaze falling upon Lux, or his own memories affecting the poor little girl, to avoid such a situation from happening again, he probably couldn't control Lux's body for any spellcasting operations anymore.

And this meant that Karya needed to change part of his teaching plan, making his plan more cautious and careful, so as to prevent Lux from losing control in any way.

Once her magic lost control, Karya would have to take over her body and forcibly terminate the spell, which might cause unnecessary danger.

It might even be more troublesome than the loss of control itself.

Tsk, this is terrible.

Karya clicked his tongue self-deprecatingly—it seemed he had become a "stick-like pollution source." It was fine for Lux to recharge him and share some senses with him, but as soon as he did anything to Lux, she would be unlucky.

This feeling of only being able to unilaterally accept data and energy was truly unpleasant!

The next morning, Lux, who was in excellent spirits, heard two pieces of news.

One was good news and the other was bad news.

The good news was that the intensity of the "cramming education" she was about to receive would be reduced. Karya had refined the teaching plan, intending to arrange six class periods of study per day in a format of three quarters of an hour of study followed by a quarter of an hour of rest.

The bad news was that in addition to the original "cramming education," Karya had moved up her physical training courses to allow Lux to learn more safely.

This meant that in addition to the six class periods of regular study, evening self-study review, and morning error correction, Lux would also have four class periods of physical exercise.

"After all, I am a sword," Karya explained when Lux questioned him. "If you don't know any swordsmanship at all, wouldn't it be a bit strange to be constantly wearing a sword?"

"But... I can learn swordsmanship from my aunt Tiana!" Lux didn't look down on Karya, but in her understanding, her aunt was a better training instructor. "She's the first female commander of the Fearless Vanguard!"

"That might be a remarkable achievement, but believe me, one's own swordsmanship level and the ability to teach swordsmanship are never directly correlated."

"Really?" Lux was still skeptical. "If your swordsmanship isn't good enough, how can you teach others well?"

"That's because people with sufficient swordsmanship levels often view others through the lens of their own talent," Karya sighed. "Such people are fundamentally incapable of being good teachers."

Speaking of which, Karya recalled the days when Aatrox taught at Shurima University.

Aatrox was a sword genius rarely seen in Shurima for a thousand years.

But his teaching method was always "first raise your sword, then shift your center of gravity, move with the sword's momentum, and slash at the enemy's weak point—and that's it."

Then, that sword genius led that cohort of students, and all of them failed their heavy sword courses. They diligently practiced according to Aatrox's methods, but the results were a complete mess.

The thoughts of geniuses were beyond the reach of ordinary people, so letting geniuses teach people with average talent often yielded poor results. Their talent was their method of learning, and that method was often irreproducible.

In Karya's opinion, Lux's swordsmanship talent probably wasn't that extraordinary. Therefore, instead of letting her learn from the more professional Tiana, it was better for him to teach her himself.

After all, when it came to teaching students, he was the professional!

In the end, Karya successfully persuaded Lux—and the method he used was simple: he promised Lux that even though Garen looked as tired as a dog every day, in three years, he definitely wouldn't be her match in swordsmanship!

Hearing that she could surpass her own brother, Lux finally had no more reservations and happily accepted Karya's teaching.

Lux, who had received the promise, was very happy. Even at the breakfast table, when Lux looked at Garen, she always had a smile on her face.

It was a shame that Garen saw this smile as nothing more than his sister's encouragement. After devouring three beef ribs in one go, he once again raised his sword.

"Charge! For Demacia! Don't worry, Lux, I won't lose to the prince. Your brother is the best!"

Tsk, tsk, tsk...

Poor Garen hadn't realized that his "brotherly" status might very well become "little brother" status!

Now this was good. The Crown Guard family... was getting involved!

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