The next day, Irene found herself waking up to the morning light pouring into her room, as well as Joanne, who was gently shaking her awake. "Rise and shine, Milady! Your mother has called you for breakfast this morning!"

Irene's heavy lids forced themselves to open, but it was still difficult to wake up. Groggily, the girl yawned and rubbed her eyes, before opening them again.

It was then, that she realised Joanne wasn't the only one who she was waking up to. Perched on her headboard, was the large white bird she had befriended the previous night. As Irene realised Snow was still in the room, she got up with a start, afraid that Joanne had discovered the bird.

"H-Hold on! I can explain!" Irene frantically blabbered, clutching onto her nanny in a frenzy, while glancing at the bird. "He's not a harmful animal!"

Joanne blinked, completely baffled. "Hm? My lady, what are you talking about?" She asked, tilting her head.

Her confusion left Irene even more bemused. The little girl turned from her maid, to the bird, to the maid. She then pointed at Snow and gulped. "You mean, you can't see him? The bird."

Joanne stared at the bed frame in confusion. In her eyes, there was no such thing. "Whatever do you mean, Miss? There's nothing there," she chuckled, before coming to a realisation. "Ah, did you perhaps dream of a bird? I'm afraid this is reality."

Irene blinked, her eyes widening in confusion. It was then she came to the realisation that Joanne was unable to see the majestic white phoenix, who tried to contain his laughter. "I-I see. I must have been dreaming."

Irene blinked again, as she turned her head to look at the door. As Snow perched onto her shoulder, he peered into her face. "Did you forget? I'm a spirit," he told her. "I'm invisible to others, but I can show myself if I want."

Irene nodded at what the bird was telling her, before she looked back at Joanne, who was preparing the girl's clothes for the day, while humming to herself. While the woman was distracted, Irene decided to go into the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.

"Is there a way for me to communicate with you in front of others?" Irene quietly asked Snow, who was still on her shoulder. It was then that she noticed the phoenix's body was smaller than before.

"Just talk to me in your head, I'll be able to hear you talking to me even if you think the words." He told her, as Irene proceeded to do her morning routine.

The girl tried to focus her thoughts on Snow, who was gazing around the bathroom in wonderment. "Can you hear me now?" She asked him in her mind, to which he nodded his little head.

"Yeah, see? It's easy."

After Irene had gotten herself ready for the day, Joanne took her down to the dining room for her breakfast. As they strolled through the hallway, decorated with endless portraits and paintings, Snow marvelled at the luxuries around her house.

This was a good opportunity to show him around, since he would be here often. But at the same time, Irene had a more important task for him.

"Snow," she called out to him, in her mind. "You're going to be meeting a few important people in my family today. They are people I'll probably ask you to watch over from time to time, so make sure you remember their faces."

"Alright." The phoenix nodded, as they finally entered the dining room. There, waiting at the table was Irene's mother, Sarah.

"Ah, good morning, darling!" She greeted her daughter, who went running toward her with a giant smile, into her arms. Irene greeted her mother back, as Snow watched them converse and soon eat together from a distance.

So that's her mother, it seems... He thought, folding his feathers. They do look rather alike.

"Papa and Brother Ray aren't coming?" Irene asked, taking a bite out of a fresh, warm loaf of bread.

"They've been training since very early this morning. Do you want to go and visit them with some snacks?" Sarah suggested, her blue eyes shining like a clear summer sky. "I'm sure they'd be happy if you went and greeted them! And the knights would also be happy."

Truthfully, Irene had never visited her father and brother while they were training before, because the knights of the original novel very much disliked her. But if Mother is suggesting it, it may be nice to go see them... She thought. I am a bit curious about my father's training, since he'll be going off for war soon...

After eating breakfast, Irene and Sarah, alongside Snow and a few servants, had gone to visit the training grounds where the knights were busy training. The Cherliann duchy trained an army of over ten thousand men, distributed into several divisions. Under the Duke's command, were the first and second division soldiers, while a few other veteran knights he was familiar with, trained the rest of the soldiers in accordance to Rudien's teaching style.

Although it was quite a long walk, Irene and Sarah decided to stroll through the gardens and forestry on their way over to the training grounds. Once they had arrived, the sounds of men shouting and weapons clinging could be heard echoing from the distance.

Irene clutched onto her mother's hand, as her eyes identified a tall, lean figure with his back to them, watching the knights train together vigorously. Beside him, was a young boy who was using a wooden sword to attack a dummy. Both silver-haired males soon turned around to see Irene and Sarah calling out to them, with bright smiles.

Meanwhile, Snow was glancing around at the knights in total confusion. "Gosh, humans. Always so barbaric." He commented, but Irene decided to ignore his remark.

"Papa! Rayvis! How's your training going?" She asked them cherubically, and Snow watched her in even more bewilderment. In front of other humans, she seemed to act her age. They don't know what she's really like, and I've known her less than a day!

"Rene! Did you come to watch us?" Rayvis chuckled, breathing heavily as he ran over to his sister. It seemed he was trying hard to measure up to Rudien's expectations.

"Yes!" She giggled. "You've been working hard, make sure you take breaks, okay?"

Rudien smiled, turning to his wife. "You brought her with you today?"

Sarah nodded, her silky white hair falling over her shoulders. "I thought it would be nice for Rene to see you at work for once. Should I not have brought her?"

Rudien shook his head, gently brushing aside his wife's hair. "No, it's fine," he smiled, planting a kiss on her forehead. "I'm happy that you're both here."

Somewhere along the way, those two really hit it off... Irene thought, smiling to herself. Five years ago, the pair seemed to share few feelings and more conflicts. But now, Rudien and Sarah both loved each other as husband and wife.

It was a nice thing, to see them getting on so well. Although, their shows of affection did feel a little weird for Rayvis and Irene both.

Just as their parents were done flirting again, Irene glanced over to the other tall figures on the field. She noticed there were a mix of both male and female soldiers, all adept in their training and working hard. Wow, they have a lot of female soldiers too! I'm glad that this place looks really gender balanced... Irene smiled.

Many knights soon realised that Sarah had come to visit again, and decided to go and show their respect to the lady of the duchy, as usual. Little did they know, the cute daughter of the duke, who many of them had only ever heard rumours about, came to visit too.

"What's going on, Captain?" One of the approaching knights asked, smiling. "Oh! No way! Could that be?!"

"Princess Irene?" A female soldier gasped. "She's as adorable as you described!"

"GUYS!! GET OVER HERE THE PRINCESS CAME!!"

It didn't take long for all of the tall, imposing giants of men and women, to flock around Irene with great interest. Irene herself became rather surprised about how they were all fawning over her — a reaction she didn't expect.

"H-Hello there," she greeted them, blushing brightly under all the attention. "My name is Irene Cherliann, i-it's nice to meet you..."

For a brief moment, all of the knights stared at her in total silence. Irene swallowed, her golden eyes wide with confusion as her soft, plump cheeks flushed with red.

And then all at once — the knights erupted into a screaming frenzy.

"SHE'S SO CUTE!!"

"MILADY- I WILL PROTECT YOU WITH MY LIFE!"

"P-PLEASE MAY I SHAKE YOUR HAND?!"

"All of you, shut up!" Rudien shouted in a booming voice, and every single one of them screwed their lips shut when they noticed the crease between his brows.

That's the first time I've ever heard him raise his voice like that... He's normally so calm... Irene thought, rather surprised to see a new side of him. From the way all the knights lined up in front of him as he derided them, Rudien really did look like the leader of an army. "How dare you abandon your training. You can show your respect for my daughter by admiring her from afar, you got that?! Any of you imbeciles touch her, and I'll cut you up myself!"

He threatened them, and Irene gulped. "Yes Sir! We apologise, Sir!" The soldiers exclaimed in unity. But this wasn't enough to satisfy the jealous duke, who felt mad that Irene showed such a cute side to those mongrels and not him.

"All of you... One-hundred laps around the field. Now." He glared at them menacingly and spoke through gritted teeth, causing even the biggest and most intimidating men to quiver in fear.

Irene frowned, tugging her fathers sleeve. "Papa, that really isn't necessary... They didn't mean any harm."

But before he could respond, a tall knight approached and smiled at Irene. "It's okay, Miss Irene. The duke has given us much harder punishments than that — this is nothing we can't handle." He said.

Still... She thought, watching the kind knight head back into line as they all proceeded to run. A hundred laps around this great big place... I'm sure it would take me two days straight...

"So these are your father and brother, and the knights of your duchy?" Snow asked, perched on the branch of a nearby tree. "They sure are a rowdy bunch."

Irene glanced up at him. "They are, but I treasure all of these people." She told him, a small frown upon her face. "That's why, Snow... I want you to protect them when they go to war against Izadel."