Her Graceful War Song by Summer's Blaze

Chapter 1482 As the newly appointed Deputy Royal Tutor, Rafael spent the days leading up to the Verdant Hunt instructing the three princes in archery.

Connor should have started learning long ago, but under Kylie's care, he had been coddled like a precious jewel. She couldn't bear to let him do anything too strenuous.

Even after moving to Serenity Palace, where his education was properly arranged, he remained sluggish and unmotivated. Keeping up with his academic studies was already a struggle-catching up in both areas was out of the question. He lacked talent, and worse, he had no desire to work hard.

More often than not, he found creative ways to slack off.

His biggest improvement so far was that he no longer threw tantrums when sent to the study. At the very least, he now had a passable attitude toward learning.

With Connor's laziness, it was Ryan who benefited most from the martial arts lessons. He picked up some basic skills but never pushed himself too hard— Sebastian had warned him to pace himself. A rushed recovery could lead to another leg injury, which would do more harm than good.

So when Rafael began teaching them archery, Ryan already had some foundation. Within a few days, he was making solid progress.

On the other hand, Connor struggled just to pull the bowstring. After a short while, he was complaining of pain in every joint and muscle, wanting to give up. The only reason he didn't run off was Rafael's stern presence, though his practice was half- hearted at best.

Caden spent two days working on his draw before moving on to actual shooting. Though his arrows didn't hit the target, he had the strength and took the training seriously-never once did he complain.

Rafael observed him for a few days before offering praise. However, a seasoned warrior could never be fooled-Caden had clearly trained before. His strength had been developed long ago, and a simple squeeze of his arm confirmed it.

Then there was little Cecil, barely three years old, who was only there for fun. He couldn't even draw a bow, so he simply took arrows and tossed them one by one. They didn't go far, but he found it amusing each time he threw one, he giggled happily.

Cecil play for a while, Rafael switched him to simple strength exercises. At this age,

would do it a little longer. If not, he would

said they would be training for days, in truth, the sessions

turn them into skilled hunters-only to ensure they could at

observing their progress. As expected, Connor never

the children

over first. Then, she would

long that by the time he actually got back to practice, nearly 15 to 30 minutes had gone by. Even during the session, she would

actual training time barely amounted to an

Caden and Cecil. But every time, Caden would take only a sip of water before returning

whatever treats were in front of him, stuffing

he tossed arrows. Sometimes, when

afar. Once training

However, Kylie remained.

still lived in Serenity Palace, and she had few chances to see him. Naturally, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible to strengthen

Connor would forget her—or

was her

couldn't afford to let anyone drive a wedge between