“Project Schwarzwald: Cadet’s Curse”

Chapter 1

Rain fell in relentless sheets over the training ground camp, turning the fertile black soil into a slippery canvas of mud and forgotten footprints.

Lea stood beneath the partial shelter of a sagging canvas tent, her sandy brown, layered hair darkened by the damp, her gray-blue eyes fixed on Jakob's face as he spoke. The words he offered—apologies, explanations, pleas—seemed to hang between them, weighted by the history they shared and the betrayal that had torn them apart. And watching from the shadow of the equipment shed, his dark eyes unblinking despite the rain that streamed down his face, Finn felt something twist painfully in his chest.

“I fucked up, Lea. I know that,” Jakob said, his voice low and earnest as he stepped closer to her. His brown hair was plastered to his forehead, raindrops clinging to his lashes. “What happened with Elsa—it was a mistake. The biggest mistake of my life.”

Lea wrapped her arms around herself, the familiar military-issue jacket suddenly insufficient against the chill that had nothing to do with the weather. Six months had passed since she'd discovered Jakob and her best friend together—six months of avoiding his calls, of ducking into empty classrooms when she saw him approaching, of crying herself to sleep in her narrow dormitory bed, and hiding it from her supervisors. In the military school, there was no place for heartbreak; or so she believed.

“You hurt me, Jakob,” she said simply, the words barely audible above the drumming of rain on canvas. “You hurt me in a way I never thought possible...”

Her ex-boyfriend nodded, his expression somber. “I know. And I've spent every day since then hating myself for it.” He reached out, hesitating before letting his fingers brush against her sleeve. “That time with her really wasn’t worth our breakup... I miss you, Lea. I miss us.”

The touch, even through layers of fabric, sent a shiver through her. There had been a time when Jakob's presence had been her rock in the strict, regimented world of the military college—when his smile had been the brightest part of her day. She had loved him, and he had betrayed that love with careless ease.

Lutz would have hated Jakob for what he’d done. Her older brother had been fiercely protective, with a clear, uncompromising sense of loyalty that stood in stark contrast to Jakob’s fleeting charms. Sometimes, in her loneliest moments at the academy, she’d catch a glimpse of a tall, broad-shouldered cadet from behind and her heart would lurch with impossible hope before reality settled back in, colder and heavier each time...

Unfortunately, the reality was that Lutz was gone and Jakob had betrayed her. Yet the more she dwelled on it, the more determined she became not to resemble her female peers—those who hardened their hearts and clung to grudges. Forgiveness mattered to her. She believed that if he showed genuine remorse and offered a heartfelt apology, she should grant him another chance. Yet, rebuilding trust wasn’t so simple; it had once been deeply fractured.

“How do I know it won’t happen again?” she asked, her voice gaining strength and steadiness as she worked the past with him.

“Well... I know what it's like to hurt and lose you now,” Jakob replied, stepping closer still, close enough that she could smell the rain on his skin, the faint trace of crisp soap and rugged aftershave that was achingly familiar. “And I never want to do that again. It was just as awful for me as it was for you. Trust me.”

As they spoke, from his vantage point, partially concealed by the equipment shed, Finn watched the scene unfold with a growing sense of despair. The rain had soaked through his uniform, too, but he barely noticed the discomfort. All he could see was Lea—the way the damp had turned her sandy brown hair to a darker shade, the graceful line of her neck peeked out from above the uniform’s collar as she tilted her head up to look at Jakob, the vulnerability in her posture that made him want to cross the distance between them and pull her away from her ex-boyfriend's reach.

He shouldn't be watching this. It was private, intimate—a reconciliation that had nothing to do with him. And yet, he couldn't tear his eyes away, couldn't stop the jealousy that clawed at his insides like a living thing. His eyes lingered a moment too long on Lea's rain-soaked hair, on the way her fingers nervously twisted the hem of her uniform jacket, on the softness of her expression as she listened to Jakob's words...

“I want another chance,” Jakob was saying, his hands now framing Lea's face, thumbs gently brushing raindrops from her cheeks. “I want to prove to you that I can be the man you deserve.”

Lea's full, soft, rosy lips parted, igniting Finn’s fantasies of capturing that mouth in a wild kiss. Yet, as he watched her, he noticed the hesitation in her expression—the flicker of doubt. Then, with a small, almost imperceptible nod, she responded, and Jakob's face lit up with relief and joy. He pulled her into his arms, holding her against his chest as if she might disappear at any moment.

“I won't let you down this time,” he promised, his words muffled against her hair. “Never, ever again.”

And then he was kissing her, his lips finding hers with familiar ease, and Finn felt as if someone had punched him in the stomach as he watched them. The pain was sudden, visceral—a physical ache that spread through his chest and into his limbs. He turned away, unable to bear the sight any longer, and walked blindly toward the Black Forest’s  edge, his steps unsteady on the slick ground as his heavy military boots scuffed against the wet earth, their weight a steady reminder of the discipline he no longer felt.

As he walked, the rain fell harder as he entered the shelter of the trees, droplets filtering through the canopy to strike his face and shoulders. The forest welcomed him with its dewy, earthy scent—pine needles and wet bark, decaying leaves and hidden life. Here, at least, he could breathe without feeling as if his lungs were being crushed by the heartbreak...