She Belongs To The Devil

Adeline took a deep breath in and breathed out from her mouth. She was clasping her hands so tightly that she was digging her nails on her own hand.

She glanced at the General and iterated the summary of what the General had told her till now, "Never hesitate. Always be cautious. Go defensive. There isn\'t just one right answer. And… nobody has died in the test till now, so I don\'t need to worry about dying. Got it."

General Osmond smiled and patted Adeline on her shoulder. She wasn\'t the one to be this anxious before any tests but she looked unusually restless today. He tried to calm her down by speaking very gently, "Adeline, you are going to do fine. You have already given everything that you could for the preparation of this test. So don\'t drown yourself in some unnecessary pressure when the test is this close."

Adeline inhaled deeply trying to calm down her accelerating heartbeat and asked, "But what if I fail even after all the preparations? What if someone bad becomes the future ruler and ruins the peace of the Kingdom? I can\'t allow that to happen!"

General Osmond gave one last try to calm her down, "Princess, sometimes you should just stop worrying about what is to come and let the future play itself out. You should hope for the best but you should not overthink it to the point where you feel distressed."

He placed his hands on Adeline\'s shoulder and gently shook her as if he wanted to shake that stress out of Adeline. "Overthinking will only put your mind and body at unrest and you might end up attracting the very result that you fear. So I advise you to not think about the test anymore. Try to think about other beautiful things that have happened to you and keep your mind occupied until the test starts."

Adeline finally mustered up a smile and nodded. "I will keep that in mind, teacher. Thank you for guiding me till now. And I hope that you will keep on doing so no matter what happens after today."

"Of course. My loyalty lies with the King and with you. And I will keep on serving you no matter what." General Osmond gave a reassuring smile to the Princess. In fact, she was more than a Princess to him, she was the best student that he had ever taught and she was the one who gave a new purpose to his life after his daughter\'s death.

Adeline suddenly frowned and gave a questioning glance to the General. "General, I am going to ask one last thing about the test, okay?"

General shook his head disapprovingly. It was as though everything that he said to the Princess about not thinking about the test anymore just went above her head. But he gave her the permission anyway, "Sure. Just one more question and then the session for today ends. You need to rest."

"Did you hear the announcement regarding the time and location of the test? Because I haven\'t heard it till now. I was wondering if I missed it." Adeline pressed her lips into a thin line and kept on staring at the General.

She had this unsettling fear that she might be late for the test and might completely miss it. And she also feared that she might keep on waiting in her quarter when everyone else would already reach the test location without her.

General Osmond thought for a while and answered, "No, I don\'t think there has been any announcement regarding that. Maybe the King will announce it by tonight."

"Alright!" Then he got up from his seat and so did the Princess. "This is it for today. I wish you all the best for your test. And do not keep on thinking about the test and stressing out. Don\'t do anything today. Only do the things that will help you relax."

He narrowed his eyes and continued, "And eat a heavy dinner so that you won\'t feel hungry during the test. I am pretty sure that there won\'t be any lunch breaks, in fact, there might not be a single break. The test of worthiness is a war after all, a war that will choose the victor as the future ruler of Wyverndale."

Adeline smiled brightly at the way her teacher was giving instructions to her. "I will, General. And I think you should stop worrying about me so much. You also look really anxious."

The General nervously laughed and said, "I thought I was doing a good job at hiding my anxiety. How can I be relaxed when my student has her biggest test tomorrow? Okay, see you after the test Adeline."

"See you after the test, General," the Princess thanked her teacher again and left for her quarter.

Adeline began to pace back and forth in her room trying to keep her mind busy. She tried her best not to think about the test that was approaching closer and closer with every passing minute. But nothing seemed to work. She just could not help but worry about what would happen tomorrow.

And without even changing out of her training uniform, she ran to the stable to see Rion. She talked with him, fed him, and even took him for an evening ride. Rion helped her ease her nerves to some extent. But she couldn\'t stay with Rion forever. 

Thus, she returned back to her quarter and asked the maids if there was an announcement regarding the time and location of the test tomorrow. There still wasn\'t any news. She thought that they would be informed early in the morning tomorrow and decided not to worry about that. "Father must have made the preparations for the test thoroughly, he will let us know when the time is right."

Adeline had a heavy dinner as General Osmond had suggested.. And when she was sure that she wouldn\'t even be able to swallow a single drop of water, she sent off her maids and decided to rest.