She summed a few servants and we went to the upper-class shop district that is only 15 minutes away from the mansion. First, we went into a shop that sold noble men's clothing. One of the workers came up and showed her a catalog of all their clothes that were available to buy right now. Then she chose quite a few outfits for him. Some are more extravagant than others.
Cris looked quite out of place when he was forced to try on all the things she chose for him. He was both excited and uncomfortable at the same time. That is what you would expect for a commoner to suddenly become a noble and get to spend a lot of money on clothes. The madam also requested 15 tailored outfits for him and the owner of the shop said that they would be ready in two months.
Next, we walked into a clothing store for low-class noblewomen, and thus the quality was lower. But it was still miles from what a normal person could afford. I knew that now it was my turn to play dress-up doll. For some reason, she seemed more excited to buy me clothes than her newly appointed son. She even requested to bring up foreign and more exotic clothes from other countries. I patiently tried on all the clothes she wanted me to try like an emotionless doll and in the end, she chooses ten outfits for me.
Most of the clothes that she chooses are not my taste and don't seem to be clothes meant for an aide to where. Most of them aren't even my taste but I do like the first and fifth ones but I do not dislike all the other clothes. It is just not something I would wear. This time though she at least did not order tailored outfits.
Right after the two-hour shopping spree, we went back to the mansion and Benjamin was there to get me. Because it was decided that the Evernight's would spend some quality time together. Benjamin decided that we should go to the training ground and spar. He wanted to see just how strong I was. I suspect that he knew that I could fight.
We stand two meters away facing each other and then he tells me to attack first.
I feel the adrenaline pumping as I have not fought with someone stronger than me in a long time. I know that I will lose but I will make the most of it. If I lose too early then I won't have fun. So I wait patiently to find the tiniest bit of opening. One minute, two minutes, three, five, ten minutes have gone by. And by now a few knights who were planning to use the training ground had come by and some of them decided to watch.
Pov: Third person
"Who's that?" One of the knights asks.
"One of the maids told me that our lord has taken in an orphan girl who will be our lady's aide. He has also written her name under Benjamin to be her adoptive father. I guess that's her." Another knight says.
"What, why did he take in a commoner girl as our lady's aide? That could cause trouble for her in high society." The third knight asks.
"Are you questioning our lord's judgment, when has our lord ever been wrong with recruiting people?" The first knight lectures.
"What, no, I was just a little worried about rumors that would occur, that's all."
He says hurriedly. "I heard that it was Benjamin who took an interest in her first when he was looking for a potential successor for our grand duke. So she must have some potential." The fourth night says which makes everyone surprised.
It is a well-known fact that Benjamin the grand duke's aide almost never acknowledges someone before they have made remarkable fets.
So that girl must be something.
Now it has passed 20 minutes and Annette has not moved an inch. Which leads the knights in suspense. Then finally she finds an opening, She rushes over what seems like two seconds and kicks him at the left side of his chest. She was able to hit him which surprised all the knights. Now even the ones who were training now come to watch. There has never been a newbie who was ever able to get near him. Much less was able to land a solid hit. But right then Annette senses danger and quickly jumps two meters away from him. If she did not escape in time he would have grabbed her leg and thrown her to the ground ending this sparring match intently.
She then tries again but this time he tries to punch him at his lower abdomen.
He blocks her with one hand as he has never moved from his spot.
But she expected to be blocked and she uses that to lift up her body so that she stands upside down and only uses his hand as support. She then kicks him in his face and jumps away again. This causes Benjamin to take a step back and uses his hand to fix his jaw a little as it has almost been dislocated. The watching knight sheers at that move as it was executed almost perfectly.
Now Benjamin has a smile on his face as he now decides to attack back. She has gained his approval. He ruches at her and executes many punches which she can only dodge. Now she can only be on the defensive. Unless she finds a way to break the pattern. This goes on in seven minutes until she has what could only be called a reckless move and could be the end of her in a real fight. But this is not a real fight and a conventional way of fighting has never been her style. She likes to fight dirty and take risks. This is one of the things that makes her thrive. She may be a lot weaker now than in her previous life but her way of fighting has never left her. It is embedded to her very core. Besides, her stamina starts to wear down, if she does nothing this spar will end sooner than she would like.
So she waits for the right timing and suddenly she falls down to sit on her knees and uses her fits to hit behind on each kneecap.
This move surprises everyone, even Benjamin did not see this coming so she was able to execute this maneuver perfectly. But Benjamin is of course an experienced fighter. A fighter who is more than ten times stronger than the current Annette.
So he quickly regains his composure and kicks her right in the stomach. The only thing she can do is to use her hands to lessen the impact. She lands four meters away laying down on her stomach. Blood dripped from her mouth.
This scene shocked all the knights, they knew that he was a cruel trainer but they did not think he would be as cruel to a young child. At this sight, Benjamin decides to stand still as he watches her. Waiting for her decision, will she surrender or try to stand up. This moment is the key to evaluating her willpower. He can only hope that he did not make the wrong judgment. He can train her to be strong but he can't train her mentality in a dire situation.
Soon he got his answer, Annette slowly stands on her feet with a savage smile on her face as she spits out blood. The always indifferent and emotionless child is now smiling like a savage beast fighting a worthy foe. Her eyes were determined and burning with passion. Even though she can barely stand. She decides to make one last attack before she loses. It is now or never. She runs at him ignoring her pain and ready for her next attack. Benjamin's eyes glow with joy as he got the answer that he wanted. This child got the heart of a born fighter, she will never give up even though she knows what awaits her is her own demise. And it is only right that he meets her head-on as this is the respect she deserves. So he meets his fist with hers and blocks the kick aiming at his stomach as he grabs her leg. Then after her attack, she faints and he grabs her so that she falls into his embrace. He looks at her with the eyes of a proud father as he carries her to her bedroom. Not forgetting to order one of the knights to tell a servant to bring a healing potion. He would never hurt her so much if he did not have a way to heal her wounds in less than a day.