Chapter 28 – Apprentice Assassin?

【Valerius PoV】

One day of training felt like a lifetime in hell.

Clara had a special talent for making me suffer. She did it with a smile. She did it with grace. She did it while maintaining perfect ladylike composure the entire time.

The woman was a demon in a maid uniform.

The courtyard stretched before me. Smooth stone paths wound between carefully manicured gardens. The afternoon sun beat down on my back. Sweat soaked through my shirt and dripped into my eyes.

I carried a boulder the size of a wine barrel across the training grounds. My arms screamed. My legs shook. Every muscle in my body begged me to drop the cursed thing and collapse.

Clara sat on top of the boulder.

Her posture was perfect. Her hands folded neatly in her lap. She looked like she was taking tea with nobility instead of riding a rock being carried by her dying employer.

“Your form is atrocious, Master Valerius.”

Her voice was calm. Measured. The kind of tone you’d use to comment on the weather.

I stumbled. My foot caught on an uneven stone. I barely kept my balance.

“I’m carrying a giant rock with you on it.”

“That is no excuse for poor posture.”

She adjusted her position slightly. The boulder shifted. I nearly dropped it.

“You’re enjoying this.”

“I take no pleasure in my duties, Master Valerius. I am simply ensuring you receive proper training.”

The lie was so smooth it could have slid off ice. I could hear the satisfaction in her voice. She was absolutely loving every second of my misery.

I took another shaking step forward. My knees buckled. I caught myself at the last second.

“Clara, please. I’m dying here.”

“Dramatic exaggeration does not suit a nobleman.”

She reached into her apron. She pulled out a small mirror. She checked her reflection. Not a hair out of place. Meanwhile, I looked like a drowned rat having a heart attack.

“Just five more laps around the courtyard.”

“Five more? I’ve already done ten!”

“Then fifteen total should provide adequate foundational training.”

My vision blurred. I was going to die. This was it. Death by boulder and sadistic maid.

“I hate you so much right now.”

“Noted, Master Valerius. Please maintain your breathing rhythm.”

I made it three more laps before my body gave out. The boulder hit the ground with a thunderous crash. I collapsed beside it. Face down. Arms spread. Completely done.

Clara stepped off the rock. She smoothed her skirt. Not a wrinkle in sight.

“Adequate effort for day one.”

“Adequate? I almost died.”

“Almost is not the same as actual death. I have kept you well within survivable parameters.”

She offered me a hand. I took it. She pulled me to my feet with surprising strength.

“Tomorrow we will increase the boulder size.”

“You’re joking.”

Her expression didn’t change. She wasn’t joking.

I limped toward the manor. Every step was agony. My muscles felt like they’d been replaced with broken glass. Clara followed three steps behind. Perfectly composed. Perfectly terrifying.

The main hall was cool and quiet. Servants moved through the corridors like ghosts. They took one look at me and quickly found other places to be.

I dragged myself up the grand staircase. My room was on the third floor. It might as well have been on the moon.

“Will you require assistance reaching your chambers, Master Valerius?”

“I’ll manage.”

“Very well. I shall prepare a medicinal bath.”

She gave a small curtsy. She turned and walked away. Her footsteps were silent on the marble floor.

I watched her go. Part of me wondered if hiring her was the worst decision I’d ever made. The other part knew she was probably the only reason I had a chance at surviving what was coming.

I finally reached my room. The door was heavy oak. Carved with the family crest. I pushed it open and stumbled inside.

The room was dark. Heavy curtains blocked out the afternoon sun. The air felt wrong. Too still. Too quiet.

I closed the door behind me. I took two steps toward my bed.

A floorboard creaked to my left.

My body reacted on instinct. I threw myself to the side. Something whistled past my ear. A blade. It embedded itself in the wall with a solid thunk.

I hit the ground hard. My exhausted muscles screamed in protest.

A figure stepped out from behind the curtains. Lean. Dressed in black. Face covered by a cloth mask. The classic assassin look. Very cliché. Very deadly.

They pulled another blade from their belt. The steel caught the thin strip of light coming through the curtains.

“Seriously? Today? After the day I’ve had?”

The assassin didn’t respond. They moved forward. Fast. Professional. This wasn’t some amateur sent to scare me.

I scrambled backward. My hand found a chair. I grabbed it and threw it. The assassin dodged easily. The chair exploded against the wall.

They closed the distance. The blade came down in a sharp arc. I rolled. The knife buried itself in the floor where my head had been a second before.

I kicked out. My foot connected with their knee. They grunted but didn’t fall. They grabbed my shirt. They pulled me up. They raised the knife for a killing blow.

The window exploded inward.

Glass rained down like crystal snow. A figure crashed through. They moved like liquid shadow. Like death given form.

Jin.

He landed between me and the assassin. He didn’t draw a weapon. He didn’t take a stance. He just stood there. Hands at his sides. Expression bored.

The assassin hesitated. Just for a second. That was their mistake.

They lunged at Jin. The blade aimed straight for his throat. Jin reached up. He caught the knife with his bare hand. The blade stopped dead. It didn’t cut his palm. It didn’t even leave a mark.

“What the hell?”

The words escaped before I could stop them.

Jin looked at the assassin. His eyes were cold. Empty. The eyes of someone who had killed so many people he’d stopped counting.

“Poor form.”

His voice was quiet. Almost conversational. He twisted his wrist. The blade shattered. Pieces of steel scattered across the floor like metal confetti.

The assassin stumbled back. Their shoulders hit the wall. They were trapped between Jin and the stone. No escape route. No backup plan.

Jin took a single step forward.

The assassin’s hands flew to their mask. They ripped it off in a panic. Like revealing their face would somehow save them.

A girl.

She couldn’t have been older than sixteen. Maybe seventeen. Her face was round with youth. Her eyes were wide with pure terror. Dark hair fell in messy waves around her shoulders.

This was the deadly assassin sent to kill me.

A kid.

Jin stopped. He tilted his head. He studied her like she was an interesting insect pinned to a board.

“Huh.”

That was it. One syllable. No emotion. No surprise. Just a flat acknowledgment of reality.

The girl pressed herself against the wall. Her whole body shook. Her hands trembled so badly she couldn’t keep them still. Her breathing came in short, sharp gasps.

She looked at Jin like he was death incarnate.

“Please.”

Her voice cracked. Barely a whisper. The kind of plea that came from someone who knew they were about to die.

Jin didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He just stood there. Watching her. Waiting for something. Maybe waiting to see if she’d try to run. Maybe waiting to see if she’d try to fight.

The girl’s legs gave out. She slid down the wall. She ended up sitting on the floor. Surrounded by broken glass. Still trembling. Still staring at Jin with eyes that had seen their own death.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway. Clara appeared in the doorway. She took in the scene with one sweeping glance. The broken furniture. The shattered blades. The terrified girl on the floor. Jin standing over her like a sentinel.

Clara’s expression didn’t change. She stepped into the room. She moved around the debris with practiced grace.

“Master Valerius. Are you injured?”

“No. I’m fine. Jin stopped her.”

“I see.”

Clara pulled a length of thin rope from her apron. Because of course she just happened to have rope on her. She moved toward the girl.

The girl flinched. She tried to scramble away. Her back was already against the wall. There was nowhere to go.

Clara knelt down. She grabbed the girl’s wrists. She bound them with quick, efficient movements. The girl didn’t resist. She couldn’t. Fear had frozen her completely.

“Shall I summon the guards, Master Valerius?”

I looked at the girl. Really looked at her. She was still trembling. Her eyes were still locked on Jin. She looked like she was about to pass out from sheer terror.

Something about this whole situation felt wrong.

Professional assassins didn’t panic like this. They didn’t rip off their masks and beg for mercy. They didn’t collapse in fear when their attack failed.

“Wait. Just wait a second.”

Clara paused. She looked at me with that perfectly neutral expression.

“What kind of assassin are you?”

My question hung in the air. The girl finally tore her gaze away from Jin. She looked at me. Her eyes were wet. On the verge of tears.

She opened her mouth. Nothing came out. She tried again.

“I’m sorry.”

That was not the answer I expected.

Jin shifted his weight. The girl’s attention snapped back to him instantly. Her whole body went rigid. Fresh waves of trembling ran through her.

The girl was terrified of Jin in a way that went beyond rational fear. This wasn’t the reaction of someone who’d just been beaten in combat. This was something deeper. Something primal.

She knew what he was.

Or at least, she knew what he represented.

The silence in the room stretched. Thick and heavy. Broken only by the girl’s shallow, panicked breathing.

Whatever was going on here, it was way more complicated than a simple assassination attempt.

The girl was still trembling while looking at Jin.