NOVEL NEXT My Own Story
The next day at school during class sessions, the school bell rang, and Miss Seo-Yeon Park began to pack her things into her handbag, as all her students bid her farewell with big smiles on their faces.
"I wonder what Joshua is doing right now", Miss Seo-Yeon pondered to herself.
"He probably is in the training ground, soundly sleeping", she added giggling.
Miss Seo-Yeon immediately left the classroom with a big smile on her face, as she mischievously plotted plans to annoy Instructor Joshua. Walking through the hallway, Miss Seo-Yeon was warmly greeted by other students and teachers. One of the teachers asked her jokingly, "Are you by any chance going to go provoke Joshua?".
With a big grin on her face, Miss Seo-Yeon replied, "Of course I am!".
"There will never be a day where I won't be tormenting Oppa!", she continued.
"That's a terrifying way to put it", the fellow teacher replied.
Miss Seo-Yeon laughed and added, "I'm sure he loves my torments". As she began to slowly walk to the training grounds.
Bidding her fellow teacher goodbye, Miss Seo-Yeon finally reached the immense training grounds and immediately reached for Instructor Joshua, but unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen.
"That's odd, Oppa's not here", Miss Seo-Yeon thought to herself.
Scratching her head on where Instructor Joshua could have gone, Miss Seo-Yeon murmured to herself in dismay, "That selfish man. This isn't normal for him not to be at the training grounds at this hour".
Sighing, she continued, "Why has he been acting like this? For over several months now, Oppa's been very distant and more cold than ever".
"Maybe I should buy his favorite drink to cheer him up!", Miss Seo-Yeon pondered, thinking of ideas to brighten up Instructor Joshua.
Miss Seo-Yeon suddenly caught the faint, unmistakable sound of a blade slicing through the air, coming from a distance. Curiosity piqued, she cautiously made her way toward the source. As she drew closer, she was taken aback to find Princess Misaki, katana in hand, sparring with a training dummy, her movements swift and precise.
Standing a bit further, Miss Seo-Yeon watched Princess Misaki sparring, analyzing all of her footwork and sword movements. Which seemed flawless to the normal human eyes, but not to her.
Covering her katana with a cloak of lightning, Princess Misaki unleashed a powerful and devastating attack that precisely only targeted the dummy, and utterly annihilated it.
As Princess Misaki finished her training, she wiped the sweat from her face, and thought to herself, "It's still not good enough".
But then, Miss Seo-Yeon clapped her hands, slowly walking towards Princess Misaki, who was spooked by the sounds of her hands clapping as she had made sure that no one was present in the training ground.
"That was incredible", Miss Seo-Yeon complimented, applauding her.
"Professor Seo-Yeon?", Princess Misaki pondered to herself in surprise. "When did she get here? I didn't even sense her presence nearby".
Seeing how nervous Princess Misaki looked, Miss Seo-Yeon apologized to her for spooking her, clarifying that she didn't know she was in the training ground, and only stumbled across her by accident.
With a deep breath of relief, Princess Misaki reassured Miss Seo-Yeon that she didn't need to apologize and that everything was fine.
Taking this opportunity, Miss Seo-Yeon pointed out to Princess Misaki about the way she fought, saying, "I saw how swift and well-trained your form and footwork were".
"But one thing that I first noticed, was how your movements were a direct replica of that of the Grand Monarch of the Heavens, Lady Yamato Mei, your Grandmother".
"Which made your movements look very sloppy and uncoordinated, even though one would assume that you were a genius swordmaster".
Surprised at how Miss Seo-Yeon was able to notice that, Princess Misaki lowered her head in embarrassment and disappointment. Miss Seo-Yeon noticed and immediately apologized, stating that she didn't mean to offend or discourage her.
She then proposed that they should take a seat. As they did, Princess Misaki immediately questioned Miss Seo-Yeon about how she knew her movements resembled those of her grandmother.
Miss Seo-Yeon replied with a smile, "Well to answer that question, I had actually worked with Lady Yamato in the past".
"Wait really?", Misaki said utterly surprised.
"Yeah!", Miss Seo-Yeon replied excitedly. "To simplify it, before I became a teacher for the Pennsylvania Royal Academy, I used to be in the Grand Army of the Kingdom of Korea. And was later sent over to the military army of the Japanese for a few years".
"So that's how I met your Grandmother".
"That's amazing, teacher!", Princess Misaki exclaimed. "I never knew you were in the army, Miss Seo-Yeon".
Miss Seo-Yeon smirked proudly and responded, "I know I know, I'm cool. But that's now in the past, and I'm a professor of the Pennsylvania Royal Academy".
"Anyways, about your movements, why do you mimic how Lady Yamato fights?", Miss Seo-Yeon asked curiously.
Princess Misaki sighed, and answered, "Well... I copied my Grandmother's way of fighting because I wanted to impress her".
"You wanted to impress her?", Miss Seo-Yeon questioned.
"Yes," Princess Misaki replied, her voice tinged with a hint of sadness. "It’s because I’m not as skilled or talented as my other siblings. So she’s never spared me a second glance my entire life."
With a deep breath, she continued, "I thought that if I could perfectly replicate her moves, maybe she’d finally notice me—finally give me the attention and validation I've always craved. I look up to her so much; she’s been my hero since childhood, the person I’ve always aspired to become."
Listening to how much Princess Misaki deeply idolized her Grandmother, Miss Seo-Yeon sighed, and stated, "You royals sure love being coldhearted and harsh to your own flesh and blood".
Placing her hand on Princess Misaki's shoulder, she then said looking Princess Misaki in the eyes, "I understand why you would Idolize the Head of your Imperial family, Lady Yamato, everyone does".
"She's strong, courageous, isn't led or blinded by her emotions, and could have been the strongest member in the entire history of the Yamato clan, but isn't only because of how the founder, Lord Yamato, was the vessel of the Sky Dragon, Lord Osiris".
"So it's very normal about how you feel and view her as your idol".
"But the one thing about life is that we are all born differently with our own traits and desires".
"You weren't born just to imprison yourself in the ideologist of how others treat or think about you, but to live your own life how you want it to be".
As Princess Misaki's eyes brightened by the words of encouragement by Miss Seo-Yeon, Miss Seo-Yeon continued, saying one last thing, "And don't forget Misaki, live the life you want and don't copy or try to live it how others want it to be or to impress anyone".
"Forge your own path, write your own story, make your own decisions, and don't worry about what others think of you."
"That includes what your family thinks...".
Taking in the words of her teacher, Misaki took a deep sigh, and said, "I will try, teacher...".
"That's the spirit!", Miss Seo-Yeon replied with utter joy and excitement. "Now, let's continue your training. And I will show you some footwork and treats, to help you form your own fighting steal".
"So you don't need to push yourself to match that of your Grandmother", Miss Seo-Yeon continued with a smirk.
"Alright!", Misaki exclaimed a bit nervous.
Misaki picked up her blade, her smile tinged with nervous anticipation. It was her first time training under Miss Seo-Yeon, her history teacher. Misaki knew this session wouldn’t be easy; it promised to be a brutal experience, much like the hellish drills she endured under Instructor Joshua.
Just a few hours later, Misaki got out of the women's changing room with her towel on her head, physically and mentally fatigued from the excruciating training Miss Seo-Yeon gave her.
Walking through the hallway like a walking zombie, Misaki noticed Jason, Elowen, Jupiter, Sophie, and everyone else all oddly gather around Xavier.
Curious about the commotion, Misaki peeked around the corner. She quickly realized that everyone was gathered around Xavier because they were all fawning over a cat perched on his shoulder.
"What's going on here?", Misaki asked a bit confused about the situation.
Emily excitedly exclaimed, "Big sis, Come check Xavier's new pet! He's so adorable!".
As she took a look at Xavier's Alcmena in his cat form, Alcmena suddenly jumped onto her arms, which greatly surprised everyone else.
"It seems he's fond of you", Aria commented.
"I don't think he is", Jack replied a bit jealous.
Jupiter scoffed, saying to Jack, "You're just salty bro".
"No I'm not!", Jack replied bluntly lying.
With a smirk on his face, Jason sarcastically said, "It's okay bro, you don't have to get angry".
"I mean, I understand how you feel. Being unable to touch such a cute cat because you're allergic to cats".
"I'm not allergic to cats", Jack embarrassingly replied.
Petting Jack at the back, Elowen comforted Jack, saying with a bright smile, "It's okay Jack. We'll get you a different animal to pet next time". Which made Jack feel a bit more reassured by the words.
With Alcmena comfortable in her arms, Misaki turned to look at Xavier, and asked, "What's his name, Xavier?".
"His name is Ark", Xavier hesitantly answered, as Alcmena gave him a death stare.
"Ark, huh? I like that name", Misaki replied with a smile on her face.
Gently rubbing Alcmena's fur, a spark of electricity appeared, which caught everyone off guard as they didn't know what just happened.
"That's odd", Xavier commented a bit taken aback. "That's never happened before".
"Maybe it's a sign of their bond", Sophie excitedly guessed.
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions", Misaki jokingly responded.
Gazing into Alcmena's beautiful golden eyes, Misaki recalled Miss Seo-Yeon's words about following her own path and living the life she truly wanted.
"My own story, huh?", Misaki thought. "I wonder what that would be".