As the first light of dawn broke, heavy flakes of blue-tinged snow fell. The weather was hardly ideal for an escape.

Sveta rose carefully. The firm arms that had held her loosened their grip and slipped away.

The n*ked man beside her lifted his eyelids slowly and looked at her. Meeting his drowsy gaze, Sveta pulled on the robe hanging loosely over her shoulders.

“Go back to sleep.”

He pressed his cheek to the spot where her warmth remained.

Her eyes travelled over the straight line of his back, the taut muscles of his sides, the breadth of his shoulders, the strong curve of his neck, and his golden hair tumbling down.

“Sleep more, Aiden.”

“…You.”

The voice that slipped out was rough, yet tender.

“I will, once you do first, my lord.”

He closed his eyes again slowly and languidly, a faint smile on his face.

Courteous Aiden. Gentle Aiden.

And merciless Aiden.

I will never speak your name again.

Sveta carefully lifted the lid of the censer and lit potent sleeping incense. The heavy, sweet fragrance spread swiftly through the air.

The man’s breathing became steady, then calm.

“……”

She shivered at the chill. The transition from late autumn to early winter seemed to cut through her skin. Then again, perhaps it was simply fear and regret.

“I will become Your Grace’s mistress.”

“In return, spare me for one year.”

She was nothing more than his mistress.

Sleeping with him did not mean that she could claim him as her own. The end would always be ruin.

Soon, he would become another woman’s husband. Staying by his side and clinging to a threadbare love was too much for a shattered heart.

Even his mother and father had once tried to kill her.

She had to leave now.

Sveta bit down on her lip. Wrapping a thick shawl around her shoulders, she left the bedchamber at once.

The knight guarding the entrance was fast asleep. She whispered softly to her loyal protector, who had devoted himself to her all along.

“I am sorry, Sir Pailin…”

The chill pressed in again, sharp and uneasy. The shawl slipped from her arms and fell to the floor.

She would accept her fear. She would accept her regrets. Only then could she move forward.

Resolute once more, Sveta cut through the pale dawn and ran to the stables.

“I’m here.”

In reply to her quiet murmur, the waiting brown mare snorted heavily.

She pulled the men’s clothes she had hidden away from the corner and hurriedly got dressed. The clothes were loose, but at least they did not hinder her movements.

With a quiet sigh, Sveta lifted the pile of straw to reveal a large leather pouch that she had hidden there. She tied it firmly around her waist. Weighted down with jewels, it sagged heavily. She adjusted it repeatedly.

“Good girl. Take me far away from your master.”

The horse snorted and bobbed its head. It was as though it had said, ‘You can count on me.’

Perhaps it was only her imagination. But she was desperate enough to find meaning in even the slightest movement.

Sveta mounted and gripped the reins with all her strength.

It was time to say farewell.

◯◯◯

A cold, still breeze brushed against his cheek. Aiden rubbed his throbbing temple and opened his eyes.

The space beside him, where Sveta had lain, was empty.

“…Sveta.”

She was gone.

Only the thick, suffocating smoke curling from the censer lingered. A sense of unfamiliar loss crept across his face.

He pulled on a grey gown and flung open the chamber doors.

“Pailin.”

At his call, the knight he had stationed to guard her woke at once.

“Did you see her?”

Pailin’s face went slack with dismay as he grasped the situation.

“Find her. Immediately.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Aiden picked up the shawl that had once been wrapped around Sveta’s body. The air was cold. Only last year, she had been laid low by a severe fever.

She hated the cold more than anything. How could she have wandered alone in such weather, in a strange fortress?

A dark premonition furrowed his brows.

At his summons, the steward, the head maid and several knights rushed in. He ordered sharply.

“Find my mistress.”

The servants scattered at once. But before the echo of their footsteps had faded, his aide appeared, out of breath and holding a letter.

“A dispatch from the ducal estate, my lord. Urgent.”

It was from his old friend, Ivan. Aiden took it in hand.

[…I have always carried the burden of knowing the lady miscarried your child last year. I am sorry to confess it only now. I will explain fully when I arrive…]

A storm broke in his chest. His pulse thundered, unbearably violent.

‘The burden of knowing the lady miscarried your child last year.’

When?

He searched his memories of the times she had been unwell.

It was impossible to single out a particular moment. Sveta had often been unwell, and during those times he had been nothing but a callous bastard.

But when? When had it happened?

He hadn’t even known she was carrying his child.

Had he really been that cruel to her? Had he treated her so coldly?

Pailin returned, urgently reporting something, but Aiden could hardly understand a word.

“…Something… grave…!”

He narrowed his brow, reading the same sentence again and again. A harsh breath tore from his chest.

Pailin cried out once more.

“My lord, the old duke has disappeared with the knights!”

“…What?”

“The young lady’s horse from the stables is gone as well.”

At such a moment, the disappearance of Charles Strilland—his father—could mean only one thing.

Aiden strode back into the chamber and pulled on his clothes.

“Ready the horses. We find her first.”

◯◯◯

As soon as Sveta reached the foothills of the border mountains, her pursuers closed in on her. Her plan had been exposed.

She heard a sharp hiss as an arrow whistled past her. She bent low over her horse’s neck.

The crimson fletching marked it as an arrow from her father-in-law. The old duke.

She urged the mare on, and the brown horse thundered madly uphill.

Arrow after arrow scraped past her, close enough to cut her.

‘This won’t do.’

She deliberately turned towards the rougher terrain. The further she strayed from the path, the more difficult it became to ride, but the same would be true for her pursuers.

‘Just a little further.’

When the forest became denser, Sveta hastily dismounted. There was no time for a farewell.

Glancing back at the horse one last time, she ran forward.

Crunch, crunch — dry leaves shattered beneath her feet. Out of season, large snowflakes whirled brilliantly through the air.

Another arrow whined past.

“Ugh…!”

Something hit her leg with brutal force, throwing her to the ground.

Agonising pain seared through her calf.

Sveta clutched at the shaft lodged in her leg, her hands trembling.

“Ahh!”

She bit her lip until it bled and snapped the arrow in two.

Through the trampled leaves she saw them—the old duke on horseback, his knights closing in.

“No…”

She staggered to her feet and murmured the word. Thankfully, the wound was not fatal, and although she was unsteady on her feet, she could still walk.

She pressed on, hiding behind tree trunks and advancing step by step.

Led by the old duke, the knights raised their bows together. Dozens of arrows looked ready to rain down. This time, they would not miss.

Her heart threatened to burst. The crushing weight made her clench her fists with all her might.

But just as the bowstrings sang—

Thud!

The old duke fell from his horse. The knights’ eyes snapped towards him in shock.

Suddenly, a black stallion charged out of the trees, blocking their path.

It was him: Aiden Strilland.

With an arrow nocked and his bow drawn, he aimed at his father. His voice cracked like thunder.

“Seize the old duke! Take one more step and you will not be forgiven.”

The force of his words alone chilled the blood in every vein.

‘How could he have known…?’

She had spent so long preparing for this moment. It was a gamble that had cost her her life.

Yet barely half a day had passed before she was before him again.

The thought that she could never escape him fuelled her, propelling her forward in a desperate and hopeless attempt to get away.

With every step, dry leaves rustled beneath her feet, betraying her position.

His footsteps sounded unhurried and almost leisurely behind her, as though he were on a stroll.

Meanwhile, the snowfall thickened, smothering everything in white.

Rustle, rustle — until even the leaves’ frantic cries went silent. She reached the place where the fallen foliage ended.

“Sveta.”

“……”

Aiden cast his bow aside. The long sword at his hip fell heavily to the ground.

Sveta stared at him, her back to the cliff. Her legs trembled dangerously beneath her.

As he approached her, he removed his black leather gloves one by one.

“Was this all a deception, just to end like this?”

“……”

“Sveta.”

Was it her imagination? Her name sounded like a sigh.

“You should answer me.”

“…Don’t come any closer. Let me go…”

A sharp pain stabbed into her side, dragging her body across the ground. Like a flickering candle flame in the wind, she struggled desperately to maintain her balance.

“It’s dangerous. Let’s go down and talk.”

“Stop coming closer!”

He reached out a large hand, carefully, cautiously.

“You must remain by my side. That is how you will live.”

The low cadence of his voice was both coaxing and seductive, luring her in with its tenderness. Once, her heart had fluttered at that very sound.

His eyes, the color of verdant leaves, wavered softly. They had always unnerved her. Sveta turned her gaze away.

“No. You’re wrong, my lord. You cannot protect me from anyone.”

“Then you would rather die?”

“I’m leaving you. Because I want to live.”

Aiden took a step forward. Sveta took a step back.

A bleak wind swept across her back. Snow lashed at the nape of her neck.

“I cannot allow it. Your place is at my side.”

“No…!”

Her shaking legs shifted back once more.

“There’s nowhere left for you to go.”

He held out his hand gently and invitingly.

If she took it, he would undoubtedly forgive her.

But she could not go back to him.

Her heart was already broken. Even if her body broke too, she no longer feared that.

“Is there truly no other way?”

When she lifted one foot into the void, his face twisted in anguish at last.

“Very well. I will do as you wish.”

“……”

“Please.”

She found it strange that he sounded almost as though he were pleading.

You, who had always been so immaculate and unwavering. You, who had always been so indifferent.

It was regrettable that the last face she saw of his was so contorted.

Sveta lifted her lips in a gentle smile.

His face paled instantly, as if he understood.

Slowly, she leaned her body backwards.

The fall came in a heartbeat.

“Sveta!”

She caught a glimpse of his beautiful face through the strands of her fluttering hair.

He called her name repeatedly.

Sveta fixed her gaze on the man she had once loved until the very end.

Darkness consumed her vision.