Chapter 5 No.5

"Wait, how?." Leona is confused.

"You knocked him out before you lost consciousness. The Grandmaster himself announced you!."

Leona can't believe her ears. 'I made it?.'

"Wow... And where am I now?."

"This is the palace." Leona goes pale hearing this. She realises she is naked in front of the maid, thinking how many people know and what will happen to her.

"Wait, I-- I'm a g--" she can't bring the words to form.

Xialing hushes her. "I know. But no one else does. Even your old Master tried to get it while you were naked, but I made sure he didn't see anything."

Leona feels relief as her secret is safe, or not?

"But why? Why you kept it secret?" she isn't sure why she would do that.

"I'm not sure. I guess, I never seen a woman having these powers and making it till here. You are one of us and.. I don't want to see you being killed off. I'm also sure this would hurt the Kingdom. But this, this is dangerous."

Leona knows that too well.

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you kept my secret. But I know how dangerous this is and I'm willing to take the risk. This is my dream. For some reason I was given these powers and so, I will use them. You can have an out if you want."

Xialing blushes at that response. Having helped her, even for that little, she feels she has an obligation to stay by her side.

"Alright, let's do this. I'll help you out."

Leona gives her a big smile, cause finally, she has an extra ally.

She is done with her bath and Xialing wraps her around a cozy robe. She moves back to her room only to find her old Master waiting there.

"How did you get in here?!" Xialing is furious.

"Not that hard really. You should get better on that" he says full of irony.

Leona's body wasn't fully covered, so the fact that she is a girl could be understood.

"Get out now!" Xialing is screaming at him while trying to cover Leona.

Leona taps her on the arm. "It's alright. He knows."

Xialing backs off and looks at his resting face. "Wow, cool" she says feeling a bit awkward.

"Should I get rid of her?" Yien is joking making Xialing furious.

"Calm down now, both of you. She isn't gonna say anything. In fact, she has been really helpful."

Leona know that even though Yien acts all cool, he was really worried to go to the extremes and break in.

"You should know, you made us proud. You are the only one that made it from our Academy. Now everyone is rushing to get taught by me.. Thank you."

Leona is about to cry. Her Master's words were genuine and came from his heart. She promptly runs and hugs him tight.

"Thank you" it was all she was saying making him blush.

"Uh, alright.. I guess it's time for me to go. Be a good boy, alright?."

"I will" it's her answer with tears roll down her cheeks.

'I made it.'

The hours pass and Xialing is preparing Leona.

"Look what I found" she says while showing a long cloth.

"What is that?."

"This is for your chest. It will be comfortable, and you won't suffocate in this. Not like the ones you wore. I wonder how you did anything with them." Xialing started putting them on her, and what she said was true; they were truly comfortable.

"Wow, where did you get these?" she asks as she was amazed.

"I have my ways. Now, I have to make you look like a man!" and they both laugh at this comment.

She puts on a white silk clothes. The fabric was soothing against her skin. Xialing grabs her hair, trying to settle them on a bun.

"Why don't we cut them?" she asks her.

"I can't. A dragon warrior should have long hair. Believe me, I've been cutting them, but I know I have to keep them long. I can keep them at shoulder length, I guess."

Leona was always worried that her feminine looks would show.

"It's fine. There are actually a lot of handsome men, some of them prettier than women so don't worry. I'll make sure that they won't know," saying that Xialing grabs a brush.

She starts coloring her eyebrows to make them fuller and adding shadows on her face to make it look more as a male's.

'She is really good at this. I look like a handsome lad!.'

Xialing grabs the last piece of the uniform: the boots. They are long and gold, making her look like she is taller.

"WOW! Thank you Xialing!" Leona admires herself.

"Now, you need to go out and meet the other warriors. The Grandmaster will greet you on the throne room along with the Emperor and his son."

"It's time, huh?" she feels a little bit anxious.

"You'll do great! Good luck, Leon."