Prologue

“A traitor to the Empire!”

Someone at the front shouted this. Then soldiers in imperial armor, holding spears that seemed to pierce the sky, let out a furious cry.

“Traitor!”

“Treason!”

“Execute him!”

The sharp tips of their spears were pointed at one man—Crown Prince Josef Restec, standing in opposition to the Imperial Army. Behind him, there were only about fifty soldiers.

Crown Prince Josef silently listened to the imperial soldiers’ cries accusing him of treason. The soldiers who had followed him, now branded as traitors, were also silent. With determined eyes, they looked at Josef’s back as if they had all agreed upon it.

Josef readjusted the spear he was holding under his arm. The opposing forces seemed to outnumber them by at least several times. He wasn’t concerned about that—he’d won battles with fewer men before.

What troubled him was that his opponent was the imperial cavalry—the very force he had created, trained, and made unbeatable against any soldiers on the continent. Today, he would have to face them, prepared for death.

“Today, we fight for Brienne,” Josef said amid the unrelenting jeers and shouts.

“If any of you don’t want to follow me, you’re free to leave.”

His low voice sounded as loud as a war horn to his soldiers.

“But if you want to be victorious, fight. We will win again today.”

Josef smiled. At that signal, the soldiers raised their spears toward the sky and shouted loudly.

“For Brienne!”

“For Brienne!”

Both armies charged at each other at once. The ground shook as horses kicked up dust, making it feel like an earthquake. The imperial cavalry and Josef’s soldiers pointed their weapons at each other. Josef was the first to make a move.

He quickly raised his spear and aimed at the necks of the charging imperial soldiers. His spear pierced through the heads of three men in an instant. The riderless horses screamed as they tumbled to the ground. The enemy ranks quickly crumbled, and fear began to spread across the once-confident faces of the enemy soldiers.

“Your Highness! Don’t push too far ahead!”

Henrik, the captain of the royal guard, shouted as he struck down soldiers coming at Josef. They were now in the middle of the battlefield. Josef ignored Henrik’s warning and continued to swing his weapon.

As his spear pierced the waist of a soldier caught in the chaos, blood spurted like a fountain. Josef’s eyes remained calm as he watched. The desperate cries for mercy never reached his ears.

Josef thought about his false vow to fight for Brienne. This wasn’t a battle for Brienne. There was no reason to risk his life for a tiny, insignificant nation.

“Let the retreating enemies go!”

But he couldn’t bring himself to say that he was fighting for Amelia. He had no right. It was too late to earn such a privilege from her.

“Our priority is to protect His Highness!”

He had broken too many promises—to leave, to never return, to be forgotten. He hadn’t kept any of them.

He had lied too, saying she meant nothing, only to ask her to become something.

If Amelia commanded him to kneel at her feet and weep, he would do so. If she ordered him to cut off his own head, he would gladly obey. But she no longer asked anything of him.

So there was nothing Josef could do. All he could do was make a hollow vow to protect Brienne, where Amelia was, as an excuse to fight desperately. Wearing armor soaked in the blood of his sins.

“Your Highness! It’s dangerous!”

Josef breathed heavily like a lion. He had felled dozens of soldiers, but the imperial army was still overwhelmingly numerous. The sharp tips of their spears rained down like a storm.

Blood splattered into Josef’s eyes after he beheaded an enemy soldier, causing him to blink. In that brief moment, an imperial soldier’s spear pierced Josef’s side from front to back.

“Your Highness!”

Josef’s body tilted, and he slid off his horse.