After Philip left, Cui Ciyou and Ghislaine headed to the training grounds side by side.
As they reached the edge of the grounds, the clash of wooden swords reached their ears, far fiercer and more frenzied than usual, like a raging storm.
Accompanying it were... Alice's cries, filled with stubborn defiance.
Cui Ciyou's gaze was drawn to the small red figure on the training grounds, brimming with astonishing explosive power.
He saw Alice training furiously against an incredibly hard ironwood post, with focus and ferocity unlike anything she had ever shown before!
It was a basic exercise similar to repeatedly thrusting and slashing at a stationary target in modern fencing.
Alice's petite body was drenched in sweat.
Her fiery red hair clung messily to her flushed cheeks and forehead.
Alice's chest heaved like a worn-out bellows.
Yet her ruby eyes were frighteningly bright, like two fiercely burning flames.
They remained fixed on the thick wooden post before her, already covered in countless cuts!
Every swing of her sword was harder and faster than before.
It was as though a volcano on the verge of erupting lay within that tiny body.
"Haaah!!"
Alice let out another raw, wrenching roar, gathered every ounce of strength into the wooden sword in her hands, and unleashed a ferocious thrust with all her might!
"Bam-!!"
The hard wooden sword struck the ironwood post with a loud, heavy crash.
"Lady Alice's spirit today... is completely different."
Beside him, Ghislaine voiced her admiration as she watched the frenzied figure on the grounds.
A flicker of genuine appreciation passed through her amber beast eyes.
She really is different, Cui Ciyou silently agreed.
*Before, watching Alice learn swordsmanship felt more like watching her attend a hobby class. She worked hard, but there was still something of a child's playfulness