15. Know Thyself

…

As Lee followed Yue inside the mansion, he couldn’t help but think that being her guard wasn’t a bad thing. They were here to attend a birthday party of one Tara, who had turned fifteen today. She was the second child of a very skilled warrior in the northern water tribe, and thus deserved a visit from the princess at her party.

He stayed silent, acting more like a shadow to the girl he was supposed to protect, as the birthday girl, along with her parents, stepped forward to greet Yue with open arms.

She exchanged a few pleasant words with them before both of them were guided to the hall where all the guests were gathered. The birthday girl couldn’t help but grin widely as she stepped into the hall while holding hands with Yue.

It must be noted that in some instances, Yue could be considered more influential than her father. Beautiful. Princess. Blessed by the spirits. These qualities made her quite popular among the youngsters, so it was an honour to have her present at your coming-of-age birthday party.

Lee could already imagine Tara bragging about it in the future.

Anyway, he took his gaze and focus away from her and scanned the hall. Just from a cursory glance, he spotted at least two to three dozen noble heirs already present inside, either standing in small groups of close acquaintances or sitting around tables made by raising the icy ground and enjoying a meal.

As he was thinking earlier, being her guard wasn’t a bad thing. It allowed him to visit places like these alongside her and enjoy everything that such places had to offer. For example, the nice food that only the powerful families could afford to eat in a barren place like the northern pole of the planet.

Not to mention, he was a guard in name only. His job was mostly to accompany her throughout the day, act as her chauffeur when required, and last but not least, act as her manager.

She was like a famous actress or an idol to the people of the northern water tribe. No one was really thinking about hurting her in their close-knit community. Though sometimes people tended to get a little bit too excited to be in her presence. It was in those moments that he needed to step up and make some excuse about her needing to be present in some other place to get her away from the troublesome people.

It only happened a few times since he became her guard, so it was not a regular occurrence.

Lee spared a glance at Yue, who was currently being pulled by Tara toward a group of girls, likely her friends, and decided not to tag along. He didn’t want to upset the girls with his presence. Not that they hated him or anything; it was just that some of them got shy in his presence. That would, in turn, prevent them from talking about girl gossip or other only-girl topics, and the confident ones would then give him a stinking eye.

At times like this, he hated the tribe’s backward traditions and rules. He wanted to hear gossip too! Those were fun, but sadly, there were some strict social norms in the tribe about how a girl or boy should behave.

There were certainly outliers who didn’t want to follow the social norms of the tribe, but their numbers weren’t high to begin with. They also wouldn’t be behaving unnaturally out in the open at an event like this, lest they become the subject of the next gossip.

So, with a regretful heart, he turned his attention to the boys.

Some of them were scattered around the hall, either gorging themselves on the food or busy interacting with some girl they fancied. The rest were gathered in one large, loose circle, their postures stiff with the usual mix of pride and confidence as each of them tried to appear more impressive than the next in their conversation.

Lee wanted nothing more than to join the ones busy with the delicious food, but he still reluctantly made his way toward the loose circle first. As he approached them, he caught fragments of their current conversation.

“… challenged me. He must have expected an easy victory. Sadly, for him, I started to train with a sword at the age of three. In four minutes, I had him on his knees, with my blade at his throat. The look on his—”

As Lee stopped just at the edge, his presence didn’t go unnoticed. Quite a few eyes turned his way, including the boy who had been narrating the tale.

“…Lee,” the boy muttered, giving him a small nod.

Lee returned the gesture with a slight inclination of his head, noticing the begrudging respect in his eyes. He pointedly ignored the unwelcoming glares some of the boys were giving him as he shamelessly joined the circle.

The conversation stalled for a brief moment, with some waiting for him to either leave them alone or tell them why he had approached them in the first place.

He chose to remain silent. There was a reason for their hostility. Young warriors and waterbenders rarely got along, thanks to a mix of arrogance and jealousy.

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Warriors tended to believe waterbenders did not deserve equal standing, since they had not earned their power through hard work, but had only been born with it.

Waterbenders, on the other hand, often saw themselves as superior because they could bend the element.

Despite knowing it all, Lee still chose to approach the group because he remembered Pakku’s words about needing to make allies if he wanted to join the patrol.

He didn’t have to try very hard to make allies among the waterbenders, as most of them had a lot of respect for Pakku, and as his most talented student, they already had a very favourable opinion of him.

And unlike the waterbenders, the warriors didn’t have a lot of options when it came to choosing professions. Besides a few who would end up becoming hunters, the rest would become part of the army.

So, any friends he made among these heirs of warrior families would most likely become potential allies in the army in the future.

The narrator from earlier cleared his throat, likely to reclaim the attention he had momentarily lost. “As I was saying,” he said, his voice a touch louder than before, “he underestimated me. A mistake I made him regret dearly.”

A couple of boys chuckled somewhat awkwardly as they tried to help their friend chase away the uncomfortable atmosphere, but their eyes couldn’t help but flicker toward Lee, gauging his reaction.

“Pretty unwise of him not to face you with complete seriousness during a duel,” he said, shaking his head, his tone tinged with disappointment. “A warrior should never underestimate his opponent.”