Chapter 89 - Side story: Children Grow Up (4)
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At dawn, just before the sun rose, the echoing clash of swords pierced the stillness of the training grounds.
It was the unmistakable sound of Joshua Winston striking down a training dummy.
For Joshua, a proper night's sleep had become a rarity.
Sleep did not come to him easily, and when it did, he often awoke before the break of day. Even the fragrant candle Felix had stolen from his own mansion failed to alleviate his insomnia.
With relentless determination, Joshua continued his assault on the dummy with his eyes shut.
Maybe his insomnia was a manifestation of the anxiety that had been building up within him - the burden of maintaining his top rank in his class, the lingering frustration of knowing that he could never best Cedric Royston, no matter how hard he tried...
