Bella ran her fingers along the cold, smooth hilt of her sword, ensuring it was secured to her side. The sound of clinking metal filled the air as she moved, a reassuring symphony to her ears. The scent of salt and sweat lingered on her skin, a reminder of the hard work and preparation that had led to this moment. Excitement and anticipation coursed through her veins, a tingling sensation that promised the thrill of adventure on the open sea. If all went according to plan, by noon, she would set sail, the salty breeze carrying her and her crew towards their next chapter.

  Heading to her father's study, she knocked firmly and waited till the count of five before entering, "Father." Said Bella in a cool tone of greeting as he nodded at her as his own way of greeting. It pained her for a moment despite everything she had detected a minor change in his attitude towards her since taking on this task of creating a sailing school. She had poured heart and soul into selling the illusion of creating it that the school really would exist if they continued from this point forward and, in doing so had shown him she was far more capable of many things than he had given her credit for. She had no doubts, though, that the change in attitude would only last so long. That was the problem with her father. He saw her as useful one day and a wasted resource the next.

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  "How does the saber suit you, Bella? I am sorry to say that I missed an excellent opportunity for gold by not agreeing to let you taking up fencing lessons sooner.", Bella had to fight back a rather unladylike snort of disgust she blamed spending far too much time with Reza for the bad habit, as her father's words broke her free from her inner thoughts even when admitting he made a mistake it was more about the gold than his treatment of her.