Rohana ran as fast as she could. Heath, who had arrived on the ground earlier, was gazing up at the sky. The song of the Caladrius echoed in her ears.

At that moment, the voice of the messenger reported the imperial army’s invasion.

“The imperial army?”

Isla furrowed her brow. Heath cursed under his breath, and even Rohana stood momentarily dazed.

“Escort the Duchess to a safe place!”

At Heath’s command, Rohana urgently grabbed his arm.

“Heath, wait.”

“My Lady, training and real battle are completely different. Please stay out of harm’s way.”

“The infantry and cavalry are advancing. Reports indicate the western gate has already fallen.”

A unit carrying a white flag shouted out. Isla looked at Heath. Female soldiers hurriedly surrounded her, bringing armor. They skillfully equipped her with a sword and bow.

“You, citizens of the empire, fall back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

Heath retorted sharply. His rough demeanor made Rohana flinch without realizing it.

“You won’t be able to command properly with Serin’s situation on your mind.”

“Are you saying I’m not a proper queen right now?”

“I’m saying you’re human.”

Heath’s words were brief but firm. Isla glared at him resentfully.

“Don’t act like you’re helping now.”

“There was no choice with Rohana. You know that.”

“If anything happens to Serin, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Nothing will happen.”

Heath stepped closer to Isla, and the queen’s breath quickened.

“Kaiden will bring Serin back.”

Heath spoke with a maturity in his voice.

“So at least protect your own life.”

Isla’s expression wavered.

“We’re nothing to each other now.”

Heath lifted one corner of his mouth.

“I waited all this time.”

Isla’s words stopped Heath as he was about to turn away. He frowned.

“It wasn’t me who ended it. It was you.”

Heath’s voice was soft but cold.

“Then why do I always feel like I’m the one waiting for you?”

At that moment, Heath suddenly raised his bow. In an instant, an arrow flew, shining white as it soared through the air.

“Let’s survive first.”

The arrow hit an incoming cannonball, freezing it solid. Though the cannonball crashed to the ground with a loud noise, the palace was safe for now.

Magicians began shooting arrows identical to Heath’s. As Isla met his eyes, a sense of foreboding struck her.

Heath frantically looked around.

She was gone.

Rohana.

“My Lady!”

In the chaos, neither among the fleeing nobles of the palace nor the ranks of soldiers marching up was there any sign of her.

“Rohana!”

He shouted, but there was no answer, no one turning to look.

Out of the corner of his eye, Heath saw Isla walking away quickly.

Damn it.

As Heath cursed, a servant from Nopthal approached. His face had turned pale, likely because of Rohana’s sudden disappearance.

“Find the Duchess. She must be brought to the shelter.”

‘This is driving me crazy.’

Heath ran his hand through his hair.

***

“Rohana!”

From a distance, she heard Heath calling for her. Rohana shut her eyes tightly and checked her armed body. Sword, bow, arrows. She tied her hair high and covered it with a hood.

Blending into the crowd, she once again heard Heath’s voice laced with curses.

‘Sorry, Heath.’

Even if war was inevitable, with Serin involved, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.

‘I’m sure there’s something I can do.’

This time, she was more certain than before. She could hear the song.

A hauntingly beautiful song, always ringing from somewhere high above.

The Caladrius was clearly telling her something.

Rohana started thinking of a way to escape the palace.

‘I can’t do it from here.’

Citizens of the kingdom fleeing the palace were rushing toward what looked like a bunker. As cannonballs flew overhead, her breath caught in her throat, but then an arrow shining with white light froze the cannonball midair before it fell.

Rohana started running again, grabbing onto someone in the street.

“Hey! That’s my horse!”

“Honey! Now’s not the time! They said to evacuate underground!”

“Sorry!”

Amidst the chaos, Rohana apologized as she mounted the horse.

The song of the Caladrius was coming from the south.

When she looked up at the sky, she saw a distant white figure with opal-colored eyes sparkling like stars.

Then, suddenly, a gust of wind blew. The Caladrius, lowering its altitude, appeared in the sky.

It was flawless, pure white, and breathtakingly beautiful.

Screams echoed around her.

The stone-paved road was slippery, but Rohana skillfully guided the horse to increase its speed.

The song was telling her.

To the south!

Rohana picked up the pace. Her hands gripped the reins tightly, without a tremble.

***

As Heath ran, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist, as if it were about to break.

“Damn it.”

He had lost Rohana. The fact that she could hear the song of the Caladrius must have driven her to take action.

‘It won’t be that simple.’

Dealing with a beast wasn’t something easily done. Even Kaiden, a genius of the century, had never handled one before.

Could she really have a secret, as Lazar had suggested? Rohana’s actions were often strangely peculiar, too much so for someone who merely claimed to have heard his voice in a dream.

As Heath quickly prepared for battle, he recalled a conversation he’d had with Kaiden.

It had been a winter’s day, in the midst of recovery after being attacked by Lazar.

Heath had watched from his bed as Kaiden lit several more candles. His whole body still ached, broken by the aftereffects of dark magic.

“Do you still light that many candles?”

In a teasing tone, Heath spoke. Kaiden merely shrugged. Heath was one of the few people who knew what had happened to him in the underground, and the only one who could poke fun at his fear of darkness.

“Is there a problem with me teaching her about magic?”

As Kaiden sat down sideways, snuffing out the match, his face looked troubled. Heath continued.

“She shot a golden arrow at Lazar. If the Lady joins our side, we can deal with both R.D. and the imperial forces this time…”

“I know. Rohana isn’t an ordinary person.”

“Isn’t it unsettling that she’s like us?”

Kaiden furrowed his brow and ran a hand through his hair.

“Whether the Arin tribe’s magic is impressive or whether Rohana has some connection to the Caladrius…”

His voice was low and strained.

“What good will it do for her?”

At his bitter tone, a crack appeared in Heath’s stoic expression.

“In the end, she’ll just end up fighting on the battlefield, limbs being torn apart. She nearly did this time too. It’s all because I wasn’t good enough.”

Kaiden’s face was darker than ever, suppressing his emotions. Heath pressed his lips tightly together. He had been the one who was captured and used as leverage against Lazar.

After a long silence, Heath spoke slowly.

“Then what if we don’t teach her at all? If we just say we don’t know…”

“Do we have the right?”

Kaiden let out a hollow laugh.

“I’ve already lied and hidden too much.”

Kaiden’s eyes narrowed as he lowered his gaze.

“She has the right to live her life the way she chooses.”

“So what do you want to do?”

The candlelight cast deep shadows over Kaiden’s high cheekbones and sunken eyes.

“I don’t know.”

After a long pause, that was his only response.

It was the first time Heath had ever heard Kaiden say he didn’t know.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, Heath snapped back to attention at the sound of people screaming. It was chaos. The cries of wounded soldiers and civilians were drowned out by the sound of things collapsing or breaking.

Riding his horse, Heath anxiously scanned the area. Rohana was nowhere to be found.

This was what he had feared.

From the very beginning, Kaiden had known. Heath himself had known, too, from back then.

She must have moved toward ‘that sound,’ but he had no idea where it was.

It had been just a brief moment.

His heart pounded as if it were about to explode, filled with a sense of foreboding. His palms, gripping the bow, were sweaty.

Even when he had been struck by Lazar’s dark magic, it hadn’t been this bad.

That’s when it happened.

Screams and shouts tore through the air. In the blink of an eye, he spotted a flaming cannonball flying towards them.

He quickly aimed his bow with his strong arms.

‘Which one?’

Multiple cannonballs were already flying at once. His eyes darted around, searching for cover, and he prepared to shoot toward the tallest building.

At that moment.

Crack, crack, crack.

The sound of something freezing echoed as ice shot up from the ground.

The cannonball, mid-flight, became encased in ice and was suspended in the air.

The screams of the people swelled even louder.

Slowly, Heath lowered the taut bowstring he had been holding with great force.

Amid the panicked cries, the sound of galloping hooves rang out. On a swiftly approaching horse, a figure in a black cloak with striking silver hair flowing behind them appeared.

Everyone was staring in awe at the pillar of ice that had surged up from the ground.

Though there were many magic users, they had never seen anything like this.

“Any injuries?”

In front of Kaiden, a princess with fiery red hair was securely held in his arms.

Serin, eyes closed amidst the chaos, seemed either asleep or unconscious, peaceful despite the turmoil. Heath shook his head as he asked.

“The princess?”

“She’s fine. What about Rohana?”

Heath shook his head in dismay.

“The Caladrius has appeared.”

Kaiden cursed. He had already seen it flying in the southern sky on his way here.

Just then, Heath spotted something strange—people on horseback, following behind Kaiden.

“What is that?”

He immediately recognized the R.D. insignia. And leading them at the front…

“Aurelia?”

He couldn’t believe it.