...Endurance...

Valdimir kept glaring at Anastasia's angry eyes, then he turned around and left:

- Or you will spend another night training.

Anastasia calmed down for a bit.

" I admit that I was wrong, I should have concentrated more, but he was the one who made me like this. I must control myself when I'm around him. "

When the day ended and everyone left, Anastasia didn't turn back to her tent. She continued her training as the commander ordered.

" I will show him tomorrow how good I am. "

Lucia became worried when her lady didn't come:

- Sergio, Where is my lady? Didn't she finish yet?

- She is being punished.

- Punished! Why?

- Well, she made a mistake and the commander punished her by spending the whole night training.

- He did that?

- Yeah...

- How could he give my lady such a harsh punishment? She is too frail to spend the whole night training.

- My commander couldn't turn a blind eye to it. To be honest, he was lenient with her.

- Really?

- Yeah, usually, when a soldier made a big mistake, he either kicks him out of the camp or made him shed blood so he will never do it again.

- This is not good...

Sergio held her hand gently:

- Don't worry, I will make sure that he won't cross the line with her.

- Thank you...

Meanwhile, Anastasia kept training without stopping. She is good at using the bow but not that good.

" I will take this chance to improve myself. "

Lucia brought some food to her:

- My lady, you need to eat something.

- Alright...

She sat and started eating.

- My lady, are you okay?

- Why wouldn't I be?

- I mean, the commander punished you.

- It is nothing. I can handle this much.

- But, what about your plan? The commander seems very rough. Do you think that you have a chance with him?

Anastasia smiled at Lucia:

- Don't worry, I'm still in the beginning. I'm sure that things will slowly change between us.

- Well, with that kind of spirit, I'm sure that you will succeed, just don't lose hope.

- I won't...

After finishing her food, she went back to the training.

After a couple of hours, her arm started hurting and her fingers were full of scratches.

She took a moment to breathe.

" This is so hard "

Valdimir was watching her without showing himself. He wished that will take advantage of the darkness and that she will stop, but she never did.

Anastasia kept training without stopping. Her hand hurt so much to the point that she couldn't shoot the arrow anymore.

" Damn it, why I am this weak? I'm supposed to spend the whole night training, but I'm already tired when I'm still at the beginning. "

She took a deep breath, then she lifted the bow with her trembling hands.

" I can't stop until I succeed. "

When she was pulling the arrow, suddenly, someone held her hand and prevented her from shooting it.

- STOP!

Anastasia became very surprised when she saw Valdimir standing behind her.

- What you did is enough...

- But I have not yet mastered the shoot.

- It's okay, go back to your tent.

When he was about to leave, Anastasia grabbed him by his arm.

- WAIT!

- What do you want?

Anastasia didn't have anything in her mind. Valdimir showed up suddenly in front of her and surprised her.

- I...I'm sorry about earlier... I should have concentrated more, but it...it wasn't only my fault.

- What do you mean?

- You kept ignoring me the whole day and it made me very upset...Did I do something wrong?

- I treated you just like the other soldiers.

- Am I like the other soldiers?

Valdimir was confused, he didn't know what Anastasia was aiming for.

- Of course, you are. If you want to be treated as a noble, then you just have to ask.

- No, that's not what I mean...

- Then what?

Anastasia felt so annoyed, she turned around and lifted her bow to continue her training.

- If I'm just like everyone, then I shouldn't stop.

She aimed at the target, but her arms were too weak to handle the bow.

Without a notice, Valdimir grabbed her hand and the bow from behind, then he whispered in her ear:

- You are very stubborn.

Anastasia's heart skipped a beat. She froze in her place and couldn't even breathe.

After shooting the arrow, Valdimir didn't step back. His big arms kept surrounding her. Anastasia didn't know how she should react in that situation:

- I....I..will make sure to improve.

Valdimir held her hand gently and checked her wound.

- Go back to your tent and treat your hand. Tomorrow morning, you will continue your training...

- But...

- This is an order.

Anastasia couldn't refuse. she stepped back from him while trying to hide her red face.

- Then, I will be going, good night.

she rushed back to her tent:

- Why is he doing this to me? is he doing it on purpose? this is very confusing...

Meanwhile, Valdimir went for a walk to get some fresh air. When he helped Anastasia to shoot the arrow, he wanted so badly to embrace her. Her sweet smell made him lose his mind every time he got closer to her.

" I can't keep going like this. At this rate, I will lose control anytime. What should I do? "

He went to a nearby lake and splashed some cold water on his face then. At that moment, he heard a scream. A woman's scream.

- AAAAA

" Anastasia"

Valdimir ran immediately toward the scream. A bear attacked Anastasia when she was strolling in the forest. Fortunately, Valdimir was close to her. He came at the right moment and killed the bear before it attack her. Anastasia was trembling.

Valdimir checked if she had any injuries.

- Are you okay?

- Y...Yes...I'm fine.

After making sure that she was fine, he became very angry and started yelling at her:

- WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? I THOUGHT THAT I MADE IT CLEAR THAT WALKING AROUND THE CAMP AT NIGHT IS FORBIDDEN. ARE YOU TESTING MY PATIENCE?

Anastasia was very surprised to see Valdimir in such a state. Even when he was angry he has never shown any facial expressions.

- I....I...

- IF YOU KEEP ACTING LIKE THIS YOU WILL BECOME A BURDEN...YOU ARE PUSHING ME TO MY LIMITS.