“How come you’re not a muscle idiot now?” Liana looked at the stone sword Oliphia conjured, and felt somewhat depressed.

Oliphia’s smile gradually faded; someone had touched a sore spot.

“Even people who’ve just learned magic can use this most basic spell!”

“So, what are we practicing?” Liana asked.

“Since it’s your first time today, I won’t be too hard on Princess Liana. Just swing the sword one hundred times,” Oliphia said.

“Only one hundred times? Who are you looking down on?” Liana said nonchalantly. At this moment, she hadn’t yet realized what one hundred repetitions meant.

She bent down, gripped the sword hilt with one hand, and then... didn’t move.

Come on, you didn’t tell me this thing was so heavy!

“What’s wrong, Princess Liana?” Oliphia asked.

“Nothing.” Liana tried to exert more strength...

Sorry, can’t do it.

“Is the difficulty too high? Indeed, perhaps Princess Liana should start with a wooden sword. This might be asking too much of Princess Liana,” Oliphia said.

“Wasn’t the training you gave Loraviel also not according to royal mnight standards?” Liana asked at this point. She had seen that the weapon Loraviel used was clearly a wooden sword.

“From the beginning, my training content for Loraviel has been standard royal knight content.”

“Then why does she use a wooden sword?” Liana asked.

“When did she ever use a wooden sword?” Oliphia countered.

“What, do you think I’m blind or stupid? When she trains with you, isn’t she using a wooden sword?” Liana pointed to the wooden sword nearby. Not to mention previous encounters, just moments ago, Loraviel had been using a wooden sword to fight with Oliphia.

“Have you seen Loraviel practicing diligently on her own? At that time, Princess Liana, weren’t you still sleeping in your room?”

Indeed, to maintain her character setting, Liana rarely went out in the mornings, usually staying in her room reading magic books and the like. So she seldom saw Loraviel’s morning training.

Generally, she could only see Loraviel using a wooden sword to spar with Oliphia.

So Liana instinctively thought Oliphia was targeting her. Though, it was indeed personal revenge.

“So, should I lower the difficulty a bit for Princess Liana?” Oliphia asked again. “Don’t force yourself, Princess Liana.”

“Tch, what a mere maid can accomplish, how could I possibly fail?” Liana’s stubborn temperament immediately flared up. “I’ll just get a bit serious.”

Liana raised the stone sword with both hands. It really was heavy...

“Your sword grip is wrong! You’re exerting force from the wrong place! Your stance must be correct! Otherwise, you’ll waste a lot of energy,” Oliphia instructed from the side.

One swing...

Two swings...

Three swings...

“Not that bad.” Though the stone sword in her hands was quite heavy, since they had just started, and Liana wasn’t completely without strength, there wasn’t much of a problem yet.

Oliphia didn’t say anything, just watching. She wanted to see how long Liana could persist.

For the first few swings, though Liana found it somewhat strenuous, she didn’t feel much difficulty. But after exceeding ten repetitions, her entire arm began to ache, and her sword swings started to slow down.

“Need a rest, Princess Liana?” Oliphia suggested.

“Tch, this is absolutely the simplest thing for me. I don’t need your comments,” Liana remained stubborn.

“Fine.” Oliphia wanted to see how much longer Liana could endure.

Thirteen swings...

Fourteen swings...

Liana’s hands had begun to tremble slightly.

She had vastly overestimated her strength.

“Stop!” At the seventeenth swing, Oliphia suddenly shouted.

The unexpected command caused the stone sword in Liana’s hands to drop to the ground. “What’s wrong?”

Liana promised herself not to be stubborn this time. If Oliphia told her to rest, she would definitely nod immediately.

“Ah, I didn’t say the training was over,” Oliphia said.

“Huh? Then why are you shouting?” Liana felt frustrated.

“Liana!” Oliphia suddenly shouted loudly. “During training, you must follow my commands!”

Liana was suddenly startled by Oliphia’s voice. After all, though Oliphia had strong opinions about her before, she had never shouted at her.

“What do you actually mean?” Liana asked.

“When I say stop, I want you to stop the stone sword in mid-air, training your instantaneous explosive power,” Oliphia explained.

No way...

Swinging such a heavy object one hundred times was hard enough. She had already been concentrating all her attention on her arms to swing the sword, and now Oliphia was saying she also had to follow her commands, stopping the stone sword when she shouted “stop.”

“What’s wrong? If you can’t do it, give up now. Don’t say you’ll persevere! You’re insulting the very concept of perseverance!” When training her subordinate soldiers, Oliphia would transform into a different state.

At this moment, she would become extremely strict. Not just Liana—even if Princess Mephilia came by now, it wouldn’t make a difference.

It seemed Liana had pushed things a bit too far...

“Princess Liana, Lady Oliphia? What are you doing?” Loraviel had already brought the tea over.

A savior has arrived! Loraviel! Right now, you are an angel!

“Three more swings. At least complete these twenty swings before resting!” Oliphia commanded.

“Tch!” Liana had no choice but to grit her teeth and persist until completing the twenty swings.

By the final swings, Liana’s hands were shaking uncontrollably like sifting chaff.

“Not bad, Princess Liana.” Oliphia rarely praised Liana. She had thought Liana would give up directly, but Liana had actually persevered.

“Whatever.” Liana quickly released her hands, dropping the stone sword to the ground, then went to the pavilion and picked up a teacup.

However, the hand holding the teacup started to shake incessantly. Liana sensed that something bad was about to happen. The development of this situation seemed somewhat familiar...

“What’s wrong, Princess Liana?” Oliphia had a schadenfreude expression. “Don’t you like this tea?”

“...” Liana reached out and tapped Loraviel’s head. Loraviel’s touch felt better. “Why didn’t you prepare a straw for me? Do I have to tell you to prepare everything?”

“Sorry, Princess Liana.” Loraviel lowered her head in apology.

“...” Oliphia looked at Liana. The momentary praise she had given her earlier was definitely a mistake.

“What is Princess Liana trying to do?” Loraviel asked.

“Liana!” A red figure approached. “What’s suddenly going on?”

It was Countess Rose who, noticing Liana’s unusual behavior, had hurried over. Previously, Liana wouldn’t even consider training; picking up a weapon was an extremely rare occurrence.

“What do you mean ‘what’s going on’?” Liana asked.

“Why are you suddenly training? Aren’t you unable to use magic?” Countess Rose asked.

“What does being unable to use magic have to do with my training?” Liana retorted. “Having lost the blessing of magic, I can only rely on training to strengthen my body. Without a good body, how can I better enjoy life?”

“Mephilia is now the most likely candidate to become the Monarch of Lisat. With our relationship, what can’t I get in the Lisat Kingdom? Even things that you, Countess Rose, have never been able to solve for me—after claiming the throne of Lisat, Mephilia could easily accomplish them, right?” Liana said.

“...” Countess Rose’s expression turned unpleasant. What Liana said was true, and she couldn’t refute it.

This also proved that her position in Liana’s heart had diminished significantly. This wouldn’t do; she couldn’t let Liana escape, couldn’t let her leave her grasp.

This was also the order Oester had given her. She had sufficient reason to administer the antidote to Liana. Once Liana’s issue was resolved, regardless of what happened, she would leave a good impression on Liana.

“Yes, of course that’s fine.” Countess Rose nodded. “But don’t overexert yourself. You haven’t had much exercise before, and if you push yourself too hard all at once, you might not be able to handle it.”

“I understand. I don’t need you to teach me,” Liana said with an impatient face.

There was no longer any need to show a good face to Countess Rose. Rather, this behavior aligned with Liana’s current character setting: from an initially obedient girl who was Countess Rose’s puppet, then after experiencing the enjoyment brought by power, becoming addicted and choosing to indulge.

This was the same principle behind what Countess Rose was doing—becoming immersed in the benefits of power, leading to addiction, then reluctance to let go, and now willingness to do anything to maintain her power.

“Then I won’t disturb you anymore.” Countess Rose’s expression was somewhat grim. It seemed there were too many things that needed acceleration now.

After Countess Rose left, Oliphia looked at Liana with an angry face.

“What’s wrong?” Liana knew that what she had just said was definitely dancing in Oliphia’s danger zone, but there was no choice. Who knew Countess Rose would suddenly appear?

However, it also saved Liana the effort of multiple explanations. Taking advantage of this moment to clarify things once would spare her from explaining again if Countess Rose sought her out later.

Moreover, Countess Rose’s appearance today indicated that she had been closely monitoring Liana’s every move in Venus Manor. Fortunately, everything Liana had done hadn’t revealed any significant flaws.

It was also possible that Liana had been too conspicuous today, swinging a stone sword in the back garden where anyone passing by could see.

“I thought Princess Liana had made up her mind to train for some reason, but it turns out it’s just for such a ridiculous purpose,” Oliphia’s expression was somewhat gloomy.

Liana really hadn’t intentionally wanted to lower Oliphia’s goodwill...

This time, she had truly been forced.

“That’s not entirely true,” Liana decided to try to salvage her image a bit.

“What other reason is there?” Oliphia asked.

“After all, my physical condition is poor, and I’m well aware of it. This makes me prone to illness. If I fall ill, Mephilia will definitely worry about me. With how busy Mephilia is now, I don’t want her wasting time taking care of me when I’m sick.” Besides, Liana herself also hated being sick!

Oliphia thought she had a bit of conscience, but not much.

“Then let’s continue our next training,” Oliphia said.

This person really wasn’t giving Liana any rest time.

However, Liana didn’t say anything more and returned to the training area, picking up the stone sword.

So heavy...

“Lady Oliphia, let me join as well,” Loraviel said. She couldn’t just stand by and watch.

[Stone, Long Sword, Create.]

Loraviel provided for herself, generating a stone sword in her hand.

“Wait!” Liana immediately went to Loraviel’s side and snatched the sword from her hands. “I’ll use this!”

Oliphia must have done something! Otherwise, with her strength, it wouldn’t be so difficult to handle a stone sword!

Besides, Loraviel had just held the stone sword with one hand; there was definitely something wrong!

But when Liana took the stone sword from Loraviel’s hand, she immediately regretted it.

What? What is this weight?

The stone sword in Loraviel’s hand was several times heavier than the one Liana had been holding earlier.

“Are you using magic to assist? That’s unfair!” Liana said indignantly.

How could her strength possibly be so much less than this person’s!

She could accept being a bit weaker, but this! Something she could barely manage with both hands, Loraviel could lift with just one! She must have been cheating with magic!

Liana completely forgot about her previous experience of being pinned down by Loraviel.

“Princess Liana, it’s better to accept this reality,” Oliphia said helplessly.

“One... swing!” Liana used all her strength to lift the stone sword once, then it fell heavily to the ground.

Forget about stopping in mid-air when Oliphia said “stop”; now even swinging the sword was difficult.

Fortunately, Oliphia didn’t intend to continue making things hard for Liana.

“Today, let’s temporarily not use the stone sword,” Oliphia said.

From the beginning, the training program Oliphia had designed for Liana was not about using a stone sword.

The reason for using the stone sword was for initial deterrence and a little bit of revenge.

If Liana couldn’t even persist this much, it would be better to give up early rather than waste everyone’s time.

Liana didn’t dare to be stubborn anymore and obediently complied.

Oliphia tossed a wooden sword to Liana. “Next, continue swinging with # Nоvеlight # the wooden sword. There are still seventy-nine swings to go, Princess Liana. Do your best.”

Compared to the stone sword, the wooden sword was much easier... right?

After continuously swinging twenty times, Oliphia began the “stop” rhythm again. Each powerful swing followed by a halt in mid-air demanded tremendous control and consumption of strength.

“Princess Liana, this is how it should be done.” Loraviel had put down her stone sword at some point and came behind Liana. She placed her hands on Liana’s arms from behind, then slowly slid them down to grasp Liana’s hands that were holding the wooden sword.

“Your stance also has some errors. The balance point is here. Doing it this way will cause unnecessary exhaustion.” Loraviel held Liana’s hands, like two people dancing together.

Of course, Loraviel wasn’t just enjoying Liana’s softness; she was genuinely teaching Liana about some habitual issues.

Since this was Liana’s first training, there were many detailed errors. Although Oliphia could point them out, it was certainly more convenient and efficient for Loraviel to demonstrate hands-on like this.