Andrei knew what kind of soldiers he needed for his platoon, he needed soldiers who had discipline or the potential to be taught with it, he needed them to be able to follow instructions correctly, to be able to work with others properly and for them to be able to think for themselves in case of an emergency.
"But first what they need is discipline" Andrei thought.
When Andrei was still following his family's wishes, he was drilled by his father, and brothers in order to prepare for the military academy, Andrei knows some of the basic training they undergo, while doing that, he was also educated in advanced, his family made sure he would be top of his class when he graduates.
But it didn't go well as his parents thought, Andrei met Ann, received encouragement to follow his wishes and fell in love. It was Ann who opened his eyes to a wider and colorful world, where Andrei didn't have to follow anyone, but his heart.
...
In an almost empty high school classroom, two students, a girl and a boy, can be seen hanging out with each other, both were in their school uniforms, however the girl wrapped the sleeves of a pink jacket on her waist, removed her necktie and opened one of the buttons of her blouse.
She pursed her lips with her hair tie in between as she fixed her long and silky black hair into a ponytail, when she looked into the mirror and saw that it was fixed, she took the tie from her mouth and wrapped her hair with it, when she was finally done she sat beside the boy who was typing something on his laptop.
"It's hoooot" the girl complained, "Air please!"
"What do you mean by 'It's hot', it's raining cats and dogs out there you know, just for your information" The boy retorted as he fixed his eyeglasses and went back typing something in his laptop.
Indeed, it was raining outside that it should have been cold rather than hot.
"I don't mean the weather… "
"Then what?"
"Me?" the girl pointed to herself.
"Stop it, you aren't even sexy. Eat more and grow your boobs, look at your arms it's so bony already" the boy responded while still focusing on the laptop.
"Hey… that's sexual harassment you know"
"I don't care, just don't get in my way for a minute, who's fault do you think it is on why we are stuck here? And look at your outfit, are you from the 90's or something?" his voice was stern but it was calm towards her.
"But I'm bored"
"Want to take over?"
"No?"
"Then shut up"
This was one of Andrei and Ann's old memories before they went to college, it was an odd combination with Ann being eccentric and Andrei being strict, but surprisingly this created a strange balance between them, eventually both were infected of each other's qualities.
With Andrei's retort Ann pouted and started tickling him all over.
"HAHA HAHAHA HAHA STOP IT!" Andrei's focus was suddenly taken from his laptop towards fending off Ann's relentless tickle attacks.
"Now who did you want to shut up?? You…" Ann made a big smile and continued, tickling her man all over until Andrei had no choice but to roll over the floor.
Andrei wasn't that ticklish, but Ann knows where his weak spots were.
After a few minutes the two finally calmed down, Andrei's uniform and hair was all ruined, they both sat at the floor and leaned at each other's backs.
"Now how are we gonna finish your requirement? If we spent that time to finishing it, instead of fooling around we would have finished it already" Andrei said as he wiped his eyeglasses.
"It's fine, it's already too late anyway, see… " Ann pointed out the time, the clock indicated 5:00 PM which was the time limit of the submission..
Ann had to submit a programming assignment but because she didn't have a computer she decided not to submit anything, however Andrei insisted that she should submit something, resulting in him doing it for her instead.
Ann was the top student, while Andrei was only next to her in terms of rankings, they often competed with each other since grade school, for each year one of them would prevail over the other, but in high school, it became different, they strangely found comfort in each other over the years, their fighting resulted into them going out unexpectedly as boyfriend and girlfriend.
One of the 7 mysteries in their school was who was the one who confessed, because when asked, they would point out each other, being at the top no one dared to get into trouble with them, with Andrei's background, no one dared to flirt with Ann and Ann's intelligence made the girls that crushed on Andrei go away the instant she knows about them. Whenever there was a contest, the two would be the first one to be called, the school treats them as elite students, so no teachers also dared to get involved with them personally.
"If you go on like this, I would be at the top this year you know?" Andrei made a sigh, as his attempt for help was completely disregarded.
"Keep dreaming" Ann flatly retorted
"Tch"
Andrei truly cared for her even being at the top, he knew Ann's financial situation and that dropping her grades would mean the termination of her scholarship. But it was also true that she would be fine even without finishing the requirement because her exam scores were monsters.
"Hey Andrei…"
Andrei thought that she was going to talk about another useless topic again so he replied in an irritated tone.
"Yeah yeah, what is it?"
"Are you really gonna go to the academy?"
Contrary to Andrei's expectations, the topic was much more serious, and it was a topic that he wanted to avoid, it was already their final year and it was a crucial decision making year for him.
"Why are you asking Ann? I told you that this is… " Andrei wanted to stop talking about the topic, however Ann interrupted him.
"That isn't… what you really wanted to do right?"
Silence filled the room, and the couple that leaned back to back together could hear the heavy rain pouring from the outside, Andrei stiffened when he heard the words, truly Ann was perceptive with things, but he didn't expect the question.
Just like playing a recorder he was told to repeat again and again, he answered her.
"Being a soldier, gives great honor to me and my family, to serve my cou-"
"Don't lie to me"
" "
Andrei couldn't say a word.
"If you truly love it, I would have supported it, but you don't really like it right?" Ann's voice seemed to quiver as she spoke, even Andrei couldn't see her, he knew she was deeply concerned.
"If you truly love it, you wouldn't be in so much pain like this" Ann hugged her knees.
"If it's for my family that raised me and gave me everything I have right now I will do everything I can to make them happy"
"Family… my ass, does it feel good to sacrifice yourself and your dreams for someone else?! Huh?" This time Ann stood up and faced him, Andrei almost lost his balance due to her sudden action.
Ann's statement was passionate and intense but suddenly she felt laughing about how Andrei desperately held the floor so he wouldn't hit it. "Pft… Sorry"
"Damn it… don't just stand like that" Andrei's voice was stern even though he was made fun of unintentionally.
Andrei fixed himself, stood and faced his beloved, he was only a few centimeters taller than her.
"I wouldn't be stubborn, so let me explain this to you in a logical standpoint"
Ann only nodded and looked at him in the eyes.
"Firstly, if I choose what I want to do, what would happen? A family who spent their time and fortune in educating and building a person like me to just go off and ignore their orders, do you think they won't just let me go like that?
Even if they let me go, do you think they will support me financially? Do you even know how much university is? The dorms, the daily expenses, the overall cost of living? And-"
Before Andrei could continue Ann already hushed him with her lips.
It felt soft and smelled sweet, Andrei didn't have time to react, all he could feel was his heart beating faster and faster and as it echoes, the sound of the heavy rain was gradually being replaced by the sound of his heart.
After a few seconds Ann separated herself from him, smiled deeply from her heart and looked at him in the eyes. As he looked at her, Andrei felt very happy within his heart, for so long he has been seeking for this kind of warmth and love, and what he's been looking for is already in front of his eyes, smiling at him, caring for him, looking out for him.
"Some things… are better... when you... follow your heart… don't worry, everything will work out fine… you have me after all" Ann said to him slowly as she slowly wrapped him with her arms, and placed her head at the level of his heart.
"Now… What does this heart say? Where does he want to go in the future? What kind of goal does he want to achieve? Something… something that… he will be VERY… VERY Happy to achieve in the future?"
Andrei didn't respond to her anymore, "I give up" he thought as he hugged her back warmly.
"My heart says it loves you so much and that I want to go to a future with you, what do I want to achieve? Hmmm… that might be hard to say right now, but I'm sure I don't want to become a soldier"
"Hmmmm… then?"
"I…w-w-wa-" Andrei stuttered.
"If you're gonna say something you should say it already, or were you that kind of beta main character in movies that waits for the girl to make a move on them?" with her joke Andrei made a giggle.
"I'm not, you idiot" he said as he smiled and embraced his loved one and kissed her on the forehead.
"I want to marry you in the future"
"And have kids?"
"Yeah"
"How many?"
"Depending on the salary?"
"Then… I'll also work so we can have many hehe"
As they embraced each other, Andrei forgot that his laptop was still turned on, and didnt notice that a mail popped up.
"Looking for Junior Software Engineers for a Startup with with or w/o Education Background"
…
"Your Highness?" Geraldine asked as he saw Andrei closing his eyes as if remembering something.
"Is everything ready?" Andrei responded as he slowly opened his eyes with droplets of tears in it only Geraldine could see.
"Ummm… " Geraldine chose not to ask. "Yes Your Highness"
"Then…" Andrei stepped forward and put his hands on his back.
When he did this the 100 gun carrier candidates that passed the initial test went silent and focused on him.
He put his right hand forward but to a higher degree, Andrei knew that this weird gesture would at least attract the attention of the mixture of commoners and soldiers for a while until he finished his speech.
"Everyone here passed the initial test, as well as my personal questioning, now that we know a bit about each other it's time to go to the final test!" his words echoed throughout the entire place.
"I thought that the questioning was the final test" murmured one applicant to another.
"Shhh…" another applicant said to him.
Andrei noticed the small disorder so he continued but in a much louder voice that echoed and shushed everyone who dared to speak.
"You passed the final test??? DON'T FUCK WITH ME! Do you think that's all it takes to be capable to fight in the new battlefield? NO!"
Some of the candidates almost stepped back from his voice that sounded angry. "Ahhh this is akward" Andrei thought but he knew he need to keep the act.
"Don't worry… " Andrei calmed his voice, "The final test will be easy you just need to run away from the knights as fast as possible while carrying those mock weapons in front of you"
In front of the applicants were mock flintlocks mass produced by the blacksmiths, but these flintlocks if installed with some parts can be easily turned into operational ones.
"Ahhh… is that all"
"This will be easy, they are just few"
"Whew that almost surprised me"
Hearing this, Andrei lowered his arm, which became the signal. "Start!"
The candidates tried to move forward to get the weapon but before everyone could make a move to get the weapon, smoke covered the area and explosions occurred beneath their feet.