Episode-791
Chapter : 1581
"No, it's not that," she said, fiddling with the hem of her apron, which she had put back on over her training gear. "I was just thinking... about why you do this. Why you spend so much time training me. You have Ken. You have the House Guard. You have... powerful friends. Why spend hours every day trying to turn a maid into a warrior?"
Lloyd sat up straight and looked at her. It was a fair question. From a strictly utilitarian perspective, his time was the most valuable resource in the kingdom. Spending it on one-on-one training with a servant was inefficient.
"Do you want the strategic answer or the real answer?" Lloyd asked.
"The real one, please."
Lloyd sighed and looked out at the water. "The strategic answer is that having a bodyguard who can turn into an indestructible diamond wall is a massive tactical asset. You are a surprise card. No one expects the maid to be a tank. It gives me an edge."
He picked up a small stone and tossed it into the pond. The koi scattered.
"But the real answer... is that I need you."
Jasmin blinked, surprised. "Need me?"
"My life is... loud," Lloyd said, struggling to find the right words. "It's chaotic. I'm constantly playing a game of chess against five different opponents who are all cheating. I have to wear masks. I have to be the Doctor, the General, the Professor, the Husband, the Fiancé. It's exhausting. I feel like I'm constantly spinning plates, and if I stop for one second, everything crashes down."
He turned to look at her. "But you... you're constant. You were there when I was a 'failure.' You were there when I started the soap business in a shed. You were there in the jungle with the Sabercat. You don't care about the politics or the power. You just care about me. You keep me grounded, Jasmin. When I start thinking too much like a machine, you remind me that I'm a human being."
Jasmin blushed, looking down at her hands. "I just... I just want to help."
"And that's why you're important," Lloyd said firmly. "Loyalty is rare. Competence is rare. But someone who is loyal, competent, and actually good? That's a unicorn. You are the steady heartbeat of this chaotic life I've built, Jasmin. If I didn't have you watching my back, reminding me to eat, reminding me to be kind... I think I would have turned into a monster a long time ago. Or I would have just gone crazy."
He gestured to her diamond hand, which she had unconsciously partially transformed.
"I train you because the world is getting louder," Lloyd admitted, looking at the ripples in the water. "The North is unstable. The capital is a snake pit. I have powerful allies, yes. But allies have agendas. You? You just have me."
He turned the pebble over in his hand. "When the time comes—and it will come—I need to know that the person standing behind me isn't just loyal, but capable. I have plenty of soldiers, Jasmin, but I have very few people I actually trust. I’m not training you just to keep you busy. I’m training you because when the sky falls, I need you standing next to me, not hiding behind me.”
Jasmin stared at him, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She had spent her life serving others, being invisible, being the background noise of a great house. To hear that she was essential, that she was a "heartbeat," was overwhelming.
"I promise," she said, her voice fierce and steady. "I won't let you lose me. And I won't let you lose yourself. I'll be right there, just like I always have been."
Lloyd smiled, a genuine, warm smile that reached his eyes. "Good. Because I have a feeling things are going to get a lot harder before they get easier. And I'm going to need my Diamond Queen ready."
He stood up and stretched, his back popping. "Now, come on. If we don't get back to the main house soon, Ken is going to eat all the dinner. And I am not fighting a King-Level spirit for the last chicken leg."
Jasmin laughed, the tension breaking. She stood up and walked beside him, her step lighter than it had been in weeks. She wasn't just a maid anymore. She was a partner. She was a warrior. And she had a purpose.
Chapter : 1582
As they walked back towards the lights of the estate, the shadows stretched long across the garden. But for the first time, the shadows didn't feel threatening to Jasmin. They just felt like places where she could shine the brightest.
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"Too slow!" Lloyd shouted.
He didn't wait for Jasmin to recover. He swept his leg low, aiming to knock her off balance.
Jasmin didn't dodge. She didn't turn into a block of stone like she had yesterday. Instead, her diamond skin flashed. She stomped her foot into the ground, anchoring herself with the weight of a statue. Lloyd’s kick connected with her ankle, but it felt like kicking a steel beam.
"Good stability," Lloyd noted, spinning away before she could grab him. "But you're still just standing there. A fortress doesn't win a war, Jasmin. It just sits there until it starves."
"I am not starving," Jasmin’s voice resonated from her crystal throat.
She lunged. It wasn't a tentative reach; it was a strike. She thrust her open palm toward his chest.
Lloyd prepared to deflect it. He raised his arm, his skin hardening with his own Steel Blood technique. He expected a heavy impact.
But she didn't hit him.
At the last second, Jasmin twisted her wrist. She aligned the flat, faceted planes of her diamond palm perfectly with the midday sun above them.
The light hit her hand, refracted through the crystal structure, and shot out in a concentrated, blinding beam directly into Lloyd's face.
"Gah!" Lloyd yelled, squeezing his eyes shut.
It was like a camera flash going off two inches from his nose. His vision washed out in a haze of purple and white spots. He stumbled back, his defense broken by the sudden sensory overload.
He heard a whoosh of air.
He tried to react, but he was blind. He felt a cold, hard edge press gently against his throat.
Lloyd froze. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the tears from his eyes. As his vision returned, he saw Jasmin standing right in front of him. Her arm was extended. Her hand wasn't a fist. She had morphed her fingers together and thinned the diamond until her hand was a long, serrated blade.
The edge was resting on his jugular.
"Got you," Jasmin said.
Lloyd slowly pushed the diamond blade away with one finger. He rubbed his watering eyes.
"Solar flare," Lloyd said, sounding impressed. "I didn't teach you that."
Jasmin let the transformation fade. Her skin returned to soft flesh, and the terrifying blade turned back into a normal hand. She was breathing hard, but she was smiling.
"You said I shouldn't be a victim of physics," Jasmin said. "You said I should use it. So I thought... I'm a prism. Why not aim the light?"
"And the hand?" Lloyd asked, looking at her fingers. "That wasn't a blunt impact weapon."
"I imagined a knife," she explained. "I focused on making the edge as thin as possible. If diamond is the hardest material, a diamond knife should cut through anything, right?"
Lloyd nodded slowly. "Weaponized refraction and shapeshifting. You aren't just tanking hits anymore. That blade could have cut through my armor if you wanted it to."
He walked over to the bench and grabbed a towel, tossing it to her.
"You're done with basic training," Lloyd stated. "Yesterday, you were a shield. Today, you became a sword. That’s what I was waiting for."
He gestured toward the house. "Go wash up. Meet me in the main reception room in twenty minutes. I have something for you."
Jasmin stood in the center of the large reception room. She had changed back into her maid uniform, but she stood differently now. Her posture was straighter. She didn't shrink into the background anymore.
Lloyd walked in carrying a small, black velvet box. He didn't waste time with small talk. He walked right up to her and held it out.
"Open it," he said.
Jasmin took the box. Inside, resting on the silk lining, was a silver hairpin. It was shaped like a white rose, with petals made of clear crystal.
"It’s pretty," Jasmin said, looking up at him.
"It’s a weapon," Lloyd corrected. "Take a closer look."