"This is pretty nice. I like it."
Ryouma found himself dizzy and his breaths came out in loud huffs, but he continued to strike at the training dummy without relenting. Eun had been hurt, after all. He needed to get stronger, and he needed to get stronger fast.
And yet, no matter how much he seemed to train, it felt like he made no progress, and he wasn't sure why. He couldn't be at his limit, he simply couldn't, after all he had so much growing left to do!
But when his father spoke to him that night, he was informed that he had reached his limit.
"You're young… and so your strength, your speed… it's limited. Until you grow older, there is only so much progress you can make. There's nothing shameful about that, Ryouma… I understand how you feel, but driving yourself to exhaustion isn't the answer."
The young prince wasn't sure how he felt about it, to be honest. Part of him agreed that his father had a point, but the other part of him kept insisting he needed more strength now.
"… I just… I don't want her to get hurt… but I'm not strong enough to protect her…"
His father sighed, a deep and heavy sigh, before ruffling Ryouma's hair.
"We'll all ensure this won't happen again, so don't worry so much."
His father's words didn't ease his heart, but he did appreciate it nonetheless.