The castle was quiet as the evening deepened, the soft glow of lanterns casting long shadows on the stone walls. Anya sat in the parlor, her gaze fixed on the clock as its hands ticked closer to midnight. Her heart sank with each passing moment. Dinner had long been over, and yet Axel was nowhere to be found. She knew where he was, where he was always these days.
With a sigh, she stood and asked a nearby maid to prepare a tray with a light snack. The maid moved quickly, and soon Anya was making her way to the library, balancing the tray in her hands. She had hoped Axel’s dedication to his training and studies would ease with time, but it had been over two weeks of this unrelenting intensity.
The grand doors of the library creaked slightly as she pushed them open. The sight before her was
