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Exhaustion crept in. My breathing quickened and my muscles ached, yet I couldn't stop. I had her on the run. 

My eyes darted around, trying to find my opponent amidst the dark forest. 

Hearing the shuffle of footsteps, I spun around quickly, spotting a flash darting toward my neck. I instinctively raised my sword, parrying the attack. Dropping my shoulder, I crashed into my opponent, making her stumbling backwards. Before she could regain her footing, I followed up with a quick slash, grazing her side.

Desperate for a quick win, I swung again aiming for her neck.

My opponent expected that. She bent her knees, ducking right below the blade.

Panic surged through every part of my body as I staggered back, desperate to create some sort of space. It was too late.

Seeing that my chest was unguarded, my opponent sprang up, thrusting her sword deep into my stomach.

a deep and unpleasant grunt escaped me as the sword pierced my body. My stomach felt like it was on fire. I felt the blood pouring out of me, staining the grass below.

"What a shame. You were so close this time." a female voice giggles as my body crumpled to the floor.

In my last moments, the starless night began to to fade, the grass began to sink, and the sword still stuck stuck in my chest began to flicker out of existence, pixel by pixel.

"You need to stop overcommitting!" the female voice berated. "you threw an extra attack, and with my speed, I was able to easily duck and counter before you could even react!"

As the pain began to fade, I looked up. Standing above me was a blonde girl, her expression a mixture of amusement and concern. 

"There was no point in throwing that last slash, I had already recovered from your previous attacks. what were you thinking?" she asked, offering me her hand. My lips curled into a sly smile as a quick thought crossed my mind. 

Taking her hand, I pulled her down into my arms, giving her a warm smile. "I was distracted by your beautiful face." I said shamelessly before kissing her neck as my legs and arms wrapped around her small body.

"Ewww! You're all sweaty!" She giggled, trying to wriggle out of my arms. I couldn't help but chuckle. She was so beautiful, so sweet, so dangerous! How could I not love her? 

"Ahem…" 

I turn my head toward the irritated voice only to find an old man standing before me. He looked to be in his mid-to-late 40s. His perfectly tanned and smooth skin made him seem like a model. His physique was much like one of those ancient sculptures from the planet Earth. Five small, black tattoo-like dashes ran down his right arm, each seeming very important. His piercing brown eyes locked onto mine, narrowing with great intensity. He clearly was not enjoying my antics.

"Sorry sir. I got distracted." I said, a small chuckle releasing from my lips.

He continued to stare at me for a little while, his fearsome gaze sending a small shiver down my spine. "You can go Aurelia, Achilles seems to need some disciplinary action." he said, clearly annoyed with my behavior.

Aurelia giggled as I released her from my embrace. While leaving the illusion room, she playfully stuck her tongue out at me, making fun of me for getting in trouble. I could only sigh as I watched her leave.

As the door shut behind her, my blade instructor began to berate me once again. "Your blade work is good, your footwork is decent and you've learned to use a plethora of weapons, yet your stamina and decision making can use some work." he said calmly.

"Aurelia is a great opponent for you, if you want to beat her, you need to stop tiring out and acting on instinct." He says, pressing various buttons on his tablet.

I nod in agreement. I get tired too fast.

"So, what is my punishment?" I asked, knowing exactly what the man has in mind.

"Just some stamina training" he said, his lips curling into a cruel smile. 

For some reason, I just knew it would be a long day…

…

Maids stood at attention as I walked by. Most averted their gazes, showing their respect while some blatantly stared. Each maid wore a normal main uniform that contained a cut out slit on a part of the uniform's sleeve, showing the square marks they bore on their arms. The square was used to represent the peasants of our society. At this point, I no longer care about their filthy eyes which dared to lay on me. It was normal for my brother Ares's maids to disrespect me, they served and were protected by the heir to the house. For some reason, they saw me, the second son, as some sort of competitor.

Nevertheless, they were still merely peasants, one of the lowest groups of society. They only bear one square mark, and that's all they deserve. Their kind lack loyalty and ambition. They leach off the Aeperium, which brings them jobs, order, and security. For most peasants, their mark serves as a reminder to them that they are not special, and that most of them will never amount to anything more than being a white or blue colored worker, born to serve the Aeperium. The square is their mark of shame, a brand of their worthlessness.

I can't help but feel disgust as their eyes dare to lay upon me. 

As I enter our room, I am met with the sound of running water and the faint smell of lavender. Seeing that Aurelia was already bathing, I decided to sit on the large couch in the center of the bedroom and scroll on my communicator.

The bedroom itself was quite large. In fact it was more of an apartment than a bedroom. It had a kitchen with a dining table, a bathroom with a shower, a bed, along with closets and even a small living room with a couch and high tech television.

I took the communicator out of my pocket, its screen lighting up as soon as it recognized my face. I scrolled on social media for a while. Meme videos have recently taken over my social media feed along with an extraterrestrial feline creature known as a "cat."

It was a furry type creature that seemed to come from earth like planets. Looking at the videos, I couldn't help but desire one of these cute little creatures.

I was so infused with the furry feline creature that I didn't even notice Aurelia who now stood behind the couch, stalking me as I scroll on my communicator. 

Stopping on a particular video, I watched as the lady used a laser pointer, moving it around while a cat chased the beam of light. It was quite entertaining watching it jump and run around

"We should get one." someone whispered into my ear.

"Agh!" I screamed, throwing the communicator into the air as I jumped off the couch onto my feet.

Aurelia who acted quickly managed to easily catch my communicator before it could shatter on the wooden floor. 

"You should really be more aware of your surroundings" she said, handing me my communicator back. "If I was an enemy, you'd be dead." she continued, a sly smile curled on her lips. "Luckily, I'm just your beautiful wife." she said looking down at her body which was currently covered by only a towel.

I don't know how I managed to pull such a beautiful wife, but oh my god… 

I couldn't stop looking at her. She was so pretty…

"Hey, eyes up here" she said, waving her hand in front of my face, getting my attention. "Did you hear a single thing I said to you?" she asked, furrowing her brows. 

"No… I was too busy admiring how beautiful you were." I responded, a sly smile once again forming on my face as I reached out in an attempt to grab her waist. 

"No!" Aurelia laughed, running away from me. "You need to go shower. We have a guest coming over and your mother wanted us to have dinner with them!" she screamed.

"But I want to hang out with my beautiful wife…" I pouted. I knew it was a futile attempt but could you really blame me?

"You can hang out with me tonight." She said, giving me a playful wink before entering her nearly endless walk in closet. 

Excited, I decided to just get this night over with to spend more…. quality time with my amazing wife.

As I entered, I could still feel the warmth and smell the lavender from Aurelia's Bath. It smelt just like her…

I ran the bath, undressing in front of the mirror, revealing my physique. I was quite lean, my muscles defined through years of weight lifting and training. Being 17, I was quite large for my age, probably due to my genes.

Twisting my body slightly, I revealed my right arm where 4 black dashes were marked up my skin. Dashes were the marks of warriors and soldiers. It was one of the 2 pathways that allowed for someone to become a crowned, a leader of society. The other being a scholar's mark, a circle. All children of the crowned were given these marks, dividing them into 2 systems that led to the same output. A person needed 5 of either of these marks before earning their first crown.

They are rewarded by vicars, the powerful ruling class made up of only the elite crowned who owned territory and led massive armies on behalf of the Aeperium. I believe that I will easily become a crowned. My goal however has always been to become a vicar, something nearly impossible due to my position of a second son. I will not be inheriting my family's fortunes, territories, and armies. Ive long since accepted that I would need to make my own fortune, build up my own armies and conquer my own territory.

When i was born, I was given 2 warrior marks solely based on the family I was born in to. In my 17 years of life, I've only ever earned 2 marks. I received one by winning a grappling tournament when I was 12 years old. I received the other by playing a certain board game called chess. I was 15 at the time and I heard of this new game originating from the homeworld of all of humanity, Earth. 

Though made thousands of years ago, Chess was never really popular outside of the Milky Way galaxy which was under the firm control of the democratic republic of Terra. Only a few years ago had it grown in popularity here in the Aeperium. 

Although I was a warrior and not a scholar, my mother encouraged me to play the board game as it involved mind games, tactics and predicting your opponents moves. These were all skills that great crowned individuals would need. She'd buy me the best of scholars and sign me up for different tournaments. One being at the Imperion's palace.

It was there where I earned 3rd place among many of the universe's greatest prodigies. Due to me being a warrior and not a scholar, it wasn't expected for me to do so well against such great minds. According to my mother, my placement and my abilities in chess showed that I would be a great Crowned. This caused the Imperion himself to order me a new mark.

In comparison, my wife also had 4 marks, yet Aurelia wasn't born to a noble family like I was. Instead, she was one of the many individuals who were born from a peasant family and given a single warrior mark in order to join the Aerperium's ranks. Afterall, the Aeperium needed loyal soldiers, not just a small group of spoiled brats from powerful houses. She earned her 3 marks through various tournaments, and duels. She was currently one of the best duelers in all of house Valleris's territories. Similar to me, the only reason she wasn't a crown yet was due to her lack of experience, and the fact that she has yet to see actual battle.

I submerged deep into the tub. The hot water seemed to melt away the stress and built up tension I felt in my muscles. The steam rose around me, and I closed my eyes, letting the warmth seep into every part of my body as my mind drifted back to Aurelia.

I remembered the first time I ever saw her. I remember her walking hand in hand with my mother who led through the front. She looked much different at the time, she was smaller, skinnier, and very shy. At the time, all I knew about her was that she was orphaned due to a small conflict between 2 minor houses. At first, I had seen her as just another person in my life, but over time, she became much more than that. 

I admired everything about her, her fierceness, her dedication, and how she carried herself with such a strong will. I loved her little attitude, how she saw me as an equal and not her master. She was my first true friend, and over time, she became so much more.

I respected how she rose above her humble beginnings, competing with and defeating even the most prestigious of men and women. My mother recognized her strength, too, and trained her with the same rigor she used to train me. Eventually, she surpassed me

We had grown close through shared interests, through hours spent practicing swordsmanship and discussing our ambitions. It was inevitable, really. As my mother encouraged us to spend more time with one another, we eventually grew feelings for eachother. The day my mother found out about our relationship, she had us wed. It wasn't the grand ceremony normal for noble houses, yet it made Aurelia happy and that was all that I cared about.

Sometimes, I couldn't help but wonder whether I deserved her. She was so much more than what many thought her to be. She was a strong warrior, a leader, yet also my partner who has been with me ever since my adolescents.

Aurelia never seemed to care about noble heritage, nor what the others saw her as. She instead continued to not only grow but thrive, bringing everyone around her up. She was special. She was different. She wasn't fake like most noble ladies. Instead she was genuine towards me and I loved that. 

She knew everything about me and I knew everything about her. That's what made me hers and what made her mine.