A few minutes later, Austin and Mira were in the training room.
Austin slowly rolled his shoulders to loosen them as he walked to the center of the room barefoot.
Mira also walked towards it barefoot, but she was holding a wooden sword in each hand.
"Are you ready?" She asked excitedly.
Austin nodded while saying in response. "Yes."
Seeing this, Mira smiled and tossed a sword toward him.
"Good, just try not to flinch when I strike. I'd hate to ruin that handsome face of yours before our wedding." Mira teased him.
Because they were currently about to do something she liked a lot, she was more relaxed and calm while talking to Austin, so she felt confident enough to tease her husband.
Meanwhile, Austin caught his sword with one hand, then he flashed a crooked grin at her. "Oh, so you think I'm handsome, huh?"
"I-I said nothing of the sort." Mira hastily denied as her cheeks reddened while she shifted her gaze away from him.
"Too late, my lady. I heard you loud and clear, and now it's stored in my memory forever."
Mira rolled her eyes with a smile tugging at her lips as she tightened her grip on her sword and took a fighting stance. "Just try to last longer than a minute."
"Oh, but what if I plan to last the entire session?" Austin asked in reply as he assumed a stance as well.
"Then you'll have to show me what you're capable of," Mira replied, and a brief silence reigned between them until they both moved at the same time.
But Austin was the first to attack.
He lunged forward and aimed for her flank, but Mira quickly sidestepped the attack just enough to evade it before spinning forward and tapping the flat side of her blade gently against his ribs.
"That's one point for me," Mira said as she happily skipped backwards with a smug smile on her lips while her gaze held his.
"You're keeping scores?"
"Yep."
"But I thought this was just training."
"It is, but since you asked me to spar with you, I thought it would be more fun to keep the points of my wins. Or is His Highness afraid of losing to his wife?" Mira tilted her head to the side with a cute, smug look on her face as she teased him.
But Austin could only smile as he decided to play along to make her happy. "Very well, my lady. We'll keep scores, but we'll also have to make things a little more interesting."
"I'm listening."
"The loser will have to give the winner a reward."
"Oh, and what kind of reward would that be?"
"You will have to find out after I win."
Mira giggled softly. "You really think you can win?"
"Yep, and I'm not letting you go, once I do."
"And what makes you think I won't want to let go?"
"Well, judging by how your eyes keep wandering to my chest, I'm sure letting go won't even cross your mind."
Mira's cheeks flushed as she tried not to make eye contact with him. "Y-you're so full of yourself."
"Thank you."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"Nah, I'll take it as one of the cute praises my wife has given me today."
"When did I ever praise you today?"
"Well, you've called me handsome, good-looking, and a great kisser as well."
"Huh? When did I ever–?" Mira tried to protest, but she didn't know that she was just playing right into Austin's trap. He had patiently been waiting for her guard to drop, and this was his chance to act fast.
"The sparring hasn't ended yet, my lady." Austin reminded her as he swiftly closed the distance to launch his attack.
He made a feint to her left, and he saw Mira preparing to evade his attack. Then, he twisted suddenly before dipping low to swing his blade in a wide arc toward her legs.
However, Mira cleanly blocked his attack.
But when she took the chance to recover from how Austin had tried to catch her off guard, he swiftly pivoted and tapped her butt lightly with the side of his blade.
This made Mira yelp cutely as she grabbed her butt before spinning toward Austin who simply winked in return
"That's one point for me as well." He announced with a smug smile on his lips, and Mira couldn't help but smile in return.
"Well played, Your Highness, but your trick won't work on me twice."
"Oh, we'll see about that…"
Mira swiftly launched herself forward, trying to catch him off guard, but Austin was able to react in time to defend and counterattack.
The sparring continued for a while until both of them were completely exhausted.
Now, they were breathing heavily on the lacquered floor as they stared at the ceiling, trying to catch their breath.
"Ugh, I can't feel my arms." Austin groaned because he had been training all morning, and now his arms couldn't keep up with all the swinging they had been doing.
Mira chuckled softly as she slowly rolled towards him. "That makes two of us."
Her arms were hurting all over as well, but as an experienced swordswoman, Mira was used to the feeling already.
"So, it's a tie, huh?" she asked.
"I guess so."
"Aww, and I was really looking forward to my win and reward."
"What kind of reward were you hoping for?" Austin asked, glancing over at her.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but you'll have to find out after I win." Mira poked her tongue out teasingly as payback for when Austin teased her earlier.
But Austin could only smile as he nodded in amusement. "Well played, my lady. Well played."
"You're welcome."
"It wasn't a compliment."
"Nah, I'll take it as my husband's cute little way of praising me."
"Hey! That's my line."
Mira laughed softly as she lowered her head to his shoulder while her hand settled slowly on his chest.