20 Chapter 20 The Dad Talk (2/2)

”Well, I don't even know how to do that, so it's a moot point. I'll keep that in mind if I do get the option. I was also thinking that I need more exercise. Is there any way I could start learning how to sword fight? Or do you have a staff trainer? That seems a bit more mage-like.”

”You want to be a mage king, right? Definitely go for the sword. That's a no brainer.”

(DO YOU WISH TO CHANGE YOUR GOAL TO KING OF MAGES?)

”Eh? No. I'm good.”

That was really weird, the system had never been that proactive before.

”I have several excellent sword instructors,” his dad continued, unaware of the system's interruption. ”You can start tonight.”

”What about Stella?” asked Joseph, thinking about how she sat all day, with him, not doing much more than practice her letters.

”Well, it would be good for her if she learned something as well, however, women wearing swords is extremely odd. We can have her start training with daggers. It's amazing how many daggers some of the women can hide in those ruffled skirts. Too bad she's not wearing those.”

Joseph rolled his eyes. His dad loved those ruffled skirts. Even mom would wear one when she knew he was going to be home. There was a slight pang of pain, as he thought about her. Could that be a sign she still loved dad, even when she was scared and afraid?

”Okay, dad.” Joseph said, turning to leave, then pausing. ”Oh, um, if I did something that may have embarra.s.sed her, what should I do to make up for it?”

”What did you do?” asked his dad, not looking up from the doc.u.ment he had pulled out of the pile in front of him.

”I'd rather not say.” Joseph turned back to face him, turning a little pink.

”Is it serious?” he asked, glancing up from the paper.

”I think so…”

His dad studied his face, noting the pink, and seemed to grin, but hid it with a quick cough.

”Give her a few days to get over being upset. Then talk to her about it. She may get over it or she may not, but normally, trying to talk about it too soon, can be just as upsetting. Trying to talk about it the next day can be the worst thing to do, because it gives her just enough time to get the most upset about it. A couple of days to calm down should help. You should be able to tell when you can talk to her about it.”

As he returned to the doc.u.ment, Joseph nodded his head. He had noticed the grin, but this was serious. He was glad his dad still gave him good advice instead of teasing him.

”I was afraid you'd say something like that,” he said with a sigh. Too bad it wasn't the advice he was wanting. It would have been nice to have a quick fix. Time to be patient.

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