***
The training grounds were deserted, save for two figures. The air was cool, the sounds of the day fading into the distant hum of nocturnal life. Hugo leaned against a wooden post, his shirt damp with sweat as he watched Anneliese meticulously sharpen her blade.
“You’ve been at that for twenty minutes,” Hugo said, a faint smirk playing on his lips.
Anneliese glanced up, her expression calm but her eyes betraying a flicker of amusement. “It’s therapeutic,” she replied, her voice soft but steady.
Hugo chuckled, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. “Therapeutic? Most people just take a walk or read a book.”
“Most people haven’t been raised by someone like Gertrude,” she said simply, her tone devoid of bitterness but heavy with truth.
He hesitated, his smirk fading. “You never t
