32- A CONFESSION

LILA

It had been three days since Agatha, and I embarked on the journey of learning how to handle a firearm. Despite my efforts, hitting a target remained an elusive goal, while Agatha's skills improved steadily. The sheer intensity of the gun's thunderous discharge frightened me. Blaise and I hadn't exchanged a single word since that fateful night when he tended to my injuries. Often, he was absent when I awoke, only returning under the cloak of night.

He was conspicuously absent from the dining room as well. My only company for meals was Ace. He even supervised our training sessions and never missed an opportunity to offer light-hearted jibes at my lacklustre marksmanship. Warriors and our bodyguards stood by, observing our attempts to hit the targets.

"You'll only hit your mark when you're at ease with your weapon," Ace said, stepping in front of us and signalling for us to lower our firearms. A mischievous grin played on his lips as he addressed me, "But how can you hit a target