Vera left her bedroom and quietly made her way through the castle. Suddenly, she heard echoing sniffles and turned to her left, toward the echoing. She followed the corridor until she saw the kitchen empty. I could have sworn I heard something... All of a sudden, loud crashes came from the pantry, making Vera jump. She slowly made her way toward it, and peeked inside to see Chrissy, hanging from a rope, kicking her feet violently, knocking things off of the shelf. "NO!" She screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

Suddenly, Vera opened her tired eyes to the sun just now rising to shine into her window. She sat up and glanced at the door. I woke up too early... She threw her feet out of bed and walked to her wardrobe. She opened it, grabbed her only pair of pants she had, and changed into them. She shuffled through her hanging dresses until she found her hidden shirts, and grabbed a solid black one. She pulled it on and pulled her shoes on. She held her palm to her forehead and sighed. Such a weird dream... She opened her bedroom door and rushed down the hall, noticing it oddly quiet. Weird... She rushed down the staircase, and outside. She looked up at the sky with a sigh and turned around to see Chrissy sitting against a pillar. 
"Hey." Vera said, approaching her. 
"Hey, V. You're up really early." 
"Couldn't sleep. Had a weird dream." 
"Tell." Chrissy chuckled, patting the ground beside her. Vera sat down with a sigh and looked into Chrissy's eyes. 
"Well, I was leaving my bedroom, and heading outside, when all of a sudden I heard crying. So I rushed into the kitchen where I heard it, and then I heard crashing coming from the pantry, so I went in to see you...hanging there...by a rope...then I started crying and screaming." She noticed Chrissy's teary eyes and embraced her. "Don't you ever do that, okay? That's an order." 
"O-okay." Chrissy muttered, holding Vera tightly. She pulled away with a smile, and noticed Chrissy pulling closer. She held Chrissy's cheek and sighed. 
"Chrissy..." She whispered. 
"Sorry." Chrissy blushed, pulling away. Vera stood up and offered her hand. 
"We should go inside, okay?" Chrissy nodded, taking her hand. 

Vera sighed deeply as she pulled the dress down. Chrissy wrapped a corset around her waist and, without warning, started tightening it. Vera inhaled sharply and held her stomach. "Easy! I was hurt." 
"Sorry." Chrissy chuckled, tying the corset in place. "Now you're ready to go talk to your father?"
"Is this about leaving the funeral early?" 
"No." 
"So you know what it's about?"
"You should ask your father. It's not my place to bring it up before he even gets to." 
"Fine." Vera stomped out of her room, her heels clicking below her. She reached the banquet hall where her father was, and bowed in his presence. 
"Come, child." She nodded, sitting beside him. 
"What's this about, father?" 
"Meet Maxim." Her father gestured to the other side of the room as a tall man with dark hair approached them.
"Who's Maxim? We don't need more servants." 
"He's your self defense trainer. I decided you need to learn it." 
"R-really? But I thought you wanted me to be proper." 
"Are you arguing?" 
"N-no, sir." 
"Good, you will start today. Go get ready. I had Maxim give Chrissy your training clothes." Vera gritted her teeth and rushed out of the hall. 

She reached her room to see Chrissy holding a pile of clothes. "You knew about that?"
"Sorry..." 
"You know how much I hate this life, and you let me play along, playing dress up?!" Vera snatched the clothes out of Chrissy's hands and stepped back. "Get out, please." 
"V, i'm-"
"You want me playing along that much? Call me Ma'am." 
"Y-yes, Ma'am." Chrissy mumbled, leaving the room. Vera kicked the door shut and dropped the pile of clothes on the bed. She untied her corset, pulled off her clothes, and changed into the plain creme top and dark trousers. She looked down at her dress on the ground and gritted her teeth. She kicked the pile of clothes, pulled her heels off, and left her bedroom. She walked down the hallway, surprisingly empty, and walked back to the banquet hall to see her father leaning on the table, looking through piles of papers. 
"Father?" 
"Maxim is waiting for you out back in the courtyard."
"Yes, father." Vera sighed, left the hall, and rushed downstairs, her feet already cold from walking on the stone flooring. 

Vera stepped outside with a sigh and stepped on the courtyard, seeing Maxim stretching a ways out. She approached him slowly. "Put those on." He pointed to shoes on the pavement as he popped his knuckles. Vera slipped her feet into the shoes and crossed her arms. 
"What're we doing?" 
"Self defense." 
"Duh..." Vera mumbled. Suddenly, Maxim grabbed her shoulders. 
"If you don't take this seriously, you'll just die next time." Vera's heart began to pound as she stared into his eyes. He's scary... She nodded, looking away. 
"Okay." He pulled his hands back and held them up. "Try to hit me." 
"W-what?" 
"I need to see how well you do." Vera sighed deeply, balled her fist up, and tried to hit him, but all he did was push her hand back. "Okay, this will take some time."
"How much time? I can't do this plus my studies." 
"Then we do this on your days off."
"When will I rest?" 
"On the sabbath." 
"One day?!" 
"You need to learn how to take care of yourself, Vera." 
"Fine." She grumbled, crossing her arms. "And, it's Ma'am to you." He let out a chuckle and raised his eyebrows.
"Let's see how hard you can punch." He said, ignoring her, and held his palms out together, one palm against the back of the other. She dropped her arms with a sigh. "And stand correctly. Feet shoulder-width apart." She slid her feet further apart, and prepared to punch his palm. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened her eyes just before she punched his palm. He pulled his hands back and squeezed his palm. "Good, again." 
"Really?" 
"Stop arguing." Vera gritted her teeth, but nodded as he put his hands back up. 

One Week Later

Vera sighed as she woke up. Sabbath, my one day off... She swung her legs out of bed and got dressed. She left her bedroom and gasped as she were grabbed from behind, her mouth covered. She elbowed back, and wriggled free. She spun around to see Maxim grinning. "good." 
"The hell?!" She punched his shoulder and scoffed. "Why would you do that?!" 
"Testing you."
"It's the sabbath!" 
"I said you'd rest, but not that we wouldn't train." 
"You're kidding...Should I just expect a surprise jump attack around every corner." 
"Well, yeah, normally. But no, not right now. I suggest you take a bit of rest today, we're training late tonight." 
"W-what, why?" 
"You need to learn in the dark, too. What if it's too dark to see anything?" 
"Alright, fair enough." 
"Meet me in the courtyard tonight after sundown." Vera nodded, and started back on her way down the hallway. She heard a sudden echoing sniffle and turned to her left. Her heart skipped a beat as it sounded familiar. No... She sprinted into the kitchen and straight into the pantry to see Chrissy kick the stool out from underneath herself. 
"Chrissy, NO!" She grabbed her best friend, trying to lift her up. Suddenly, Maxim pushed her back, and lifted Chrissy to sit on his shoulder, gasping for air. "you idiot." Vera's eyes filled with tears. 
"I just...can't live like this...anymore." 
"We should take her to the medical wing." Vera nodded, grabbing the stool. She stood on it and pulled the rope off of Chrissy's neck. Maxim pulled her off of his shoulder and onto her own feet. "Can you walk?" 
"I'll take myself." 
"I can't trust you'll do that." Vera said, jumping off of the stool. "I'll take you." 
"Your studies-"
"I did them." Vera grabbed Chrissy's hand and pulled her out of the pantry. 

"So she'll be okay?"
"Yes, just a few days resting will fix it. You should go do your studies, ma'am." 
"Thank you." Vera left the medical wing and paced down the hall to catch the light dimming fast outside. Crap... She began running to the staircase, rushing down them to get outside to the courtyard. She saw Maxim standing right in front of her, holding a pack. 
"Ready so soon?" he chuckled. 
"Didn't wanna be late, y'know." Vera grinned, walking closer to him. "So what's that for?" She asked, pointing to the bag on his back. 
"You'll see. Follow me, your father gave me the 'okay' so don't worry about that." He turned around and started walking out toward the forest. 
"Uh...okay for what? Maxim?" She asked, tailing after him. 
"Stop being so impatient, you will see." He chuckled as he led her through the forest.