Soaring through the dazzling blue sky was an eagle.

Ellienne found herself captivated by the eagle’s movements as it circled the heavens majestically with its wings spread wide.

Even for just a moment, she wanted to get drunk on that freedom, to fly to her heart’s content, to live according to her own will and dreams, even if only for an instant.

That desperate dream was as fleeting as the cold breath escaping from Ellienne’s parched lips.

Her gaze, which had been looking up at the sky, slowly descended and stopped on the ground.

The sweet dream ended, leaving only the cruel reality of the earth.

Before Ellienne stood the massive, desolate Northern Castle, blocking her path.

The northern castle guarded by the House of Grand Duke Helios was enormous and magnificent, befitting its reputation as “the protective wall that guards the Kingdom of Luhan.”

The massive stone walls were like an impregnable fortress, and the northern gate facing the border was made of gigantic iron doors.

The iron gates opened for only two reasons: when the Northern Knights departed to annihilate enemies or monsters, and when Grand Duke Karadion returned victorious from battle.

Standing before those iron gates, Ellienne pulled her hooded robe tighter. The harsh wind wildly disheveled her brown hair. The hem of her plain, unadorned brown dress swayed weakly.

The cold northern wind swept past Ellienne’s thin body like a blade. She trembled all over, barely enduring the cold.

Two carriages waited behind Ellienne—the carriage she’d arrived in and a luggage cart.

Beside them stood a stern-looking middle-aged woman watching her with cold eyes.

“Lady Ellienne. As a concubine, it is your duty to wait until His Grace the Grand Duke returns. You must not act rashly and bring shame to House Nosent.”

Ellienne let out a thin sigh. Her breath danced through the air like a butterfly before disappearing.

“I know, Madam Küsen.”

Küsen was the head maid and governess to the Duchess of Nosent. When Ellienne became the Grand Duke’s concubine, the Duchess sent Küsen under the pretext of overseeing her education.

Perhaps burdened by a noblewoman continuing to stand before the iron gates, the soldiers exchanged troubled glances. An armed knight carefully approached Ellienne and bowed respectfully.

“Are you Lady Ellienne of House Nosent?”

“Yes.”

“I am the knight commander responsible for defending the northern walls. His Grace the Grand Duke has gone to subjugate monsters. It’s dangerous here, so please wait inside the inner castle. He’ll arrive soon.”

Though her whole body trembled from the cold, Ellienne shook her head.

“I’m fine. I’ll wait for His Grace the Grand Duke here.”

Boooom—

Just then, a soldier keeping watch from the high watchtower on the walls began blowing a horn. The clear, high sound of the horn echoed far and wide. It was the sound announcing the Grand Duke’s return.

The knight commander shouted loudly to the assembled soldiers with a solemn expression.

“Open the gates! His Grace Grand Duke Helios returns!”

As the gatekeeper soldiers simultaneously grabbed and turned the pulley handles, a bridge slowly lowered over the moat.

As dust rose and a path formed over the moat, Grand Duke Helios and dozens of knights entered through the walls, their horses’ hooves kicking up dust.

Through the hazy cloud of dirt, a massive figure on a black horse slowly approached Ellienne.

Grand Duke Karadion Helios and his black-clad knights, revealing their majesty through the cold northwestern wind, reeked of the fishy blood of monsters.

The Grand Duke and his knights, having returned from fierce battle, were drenched in monster blood and filled with k*lling intent. Perhaps because they’d witnessed brutal combat and monster blood, that heat seemed not yet to have subsided.

Their eyes were bloodshot and glowed fiercely, and their weap*ns bore vivid traces of intense battle.

The Grand Duke’s silver armor was stained with blood that hadn’t yet cooled, and faint steam rose from his body.

Karadion didn’t relax his vigilance even as he entered the walls, and his massive sword dripped with blood.

His black hair was soaked with sweat and blood. Below it, his contrasting pale white face made his masculine cheekbones stand out even more. Especially his cold violet eyes exuded a ruthless yet captivating atmosphere.

Grand Duke Karadion’s cold eyes stopped on the slender woman standing before the gates.

The woman with her hood pulled low bowed her head respectfully. Karadion’s brow furrowed instantly.

“Why is there a woman before the gates?”

His emotionless, cold voice pierced Ellienne’s ears. Following the rough neighing of the snorting horse came the sound of heavy armor clanking.

Ellienne stood quietly without moving, her gaze lowered.

Before she knew it, a dark shadow had fallen over her feet. When she slowly raised her head, there stood Karadion in his blood-stained armor. The massive sense of oppression that filled her vision made it hard to breathe.

Was this the overlord who trampled the earth and dominated the sky?

Ellienne found herself staring blankly up at the monster Grand Duke before her.

She’d heard the maids joke several times that a monster Grand Duke lived in the north.

The cruel and merciless monster Grand Duke who beheaded monsters with a few swings of his sword and drank monster blood like wine.

The kingdom’s guardian sword who protected the harsh northern borderlands.

Karadion Helios.

“Who are you?”

Violet eyes filled with cold contempt looked down at Ellienne.

“I, I am…”

She flinched and trembled, crushed by fear and intimidation. Trying to straighten her constantly shrinking shoulders, she pushed back her hood.

Her soft brown hair, seemingly holding sunlight, fluttered in the cold winter wind. Ellienne, with her gentle and graceful appearance, bowed her head. Her brown eyes sparkled beneath her lowered long lashes.

“Your Grace Grand Duke Helios, it is an honor to meet you. I am Ellienne Nosent of House Nosent.”

Ellienne held the hem of her dress with both hands, stepped one foot back, and lowered her waist in greeting. A cold voice rang in her ears.

“Duke Nosent must have been quite desperate. To offer his own daughter as a concubine.”

At the Grand Duke’s expressionless face, like looking at a stone on the road, Ellienne trembled with shame and humiliation. But she couldn’t even utter a word of protest.

Karadion was the hero who had saved the Kingdom of Luhan from enemy invasion.

When the hostile Kingdom of Bedan suddenly attacked, the Kingdom of Luhan was greatly shaken and its people trembled in fear.

Just as the Kingdom of Luhan was about to be trampled by the Kingdom of Bedan’s brutal attack, Karadion led his black-clad knights and stopped the enemy invasion.

For his service in saving the kingdom, the King of Luhan gave Karadion dominion over the north. When Karadion became the Grand Duke ruling the north, the northern nobles were seized with fear.

Karadion was called the bloodthirsty destroyer who didn’t leave a single enemy alive on the battlefield. He was also a merciless, cruel warmonger who showed no mercy.

Therefore, the northern nobles feared losing the power and wealth they’d accumulated under Karadion’s rule.

Duke Nosent in particular trembled with fear more than anyone. He was the only noble in the northern region who owned a mine.

The mine, inherited through generations of the family, was operated by House Nosent and had accumulated tremendous wealth.

But with Karadion becoming the new ruler of the north, their prosperity faced the crisis of vanishing in an instant.

To appease Karadion and buy time to negotiate over the mine’s operating rights, Duke Nosent sent his daughter Ellienne as the Grand Duke’s concubine.

Over this, the northern nobles whispered and showed contempt, saying Duke Nosent had offered his daughter as a war trophy to Grand Duke Karadion to protect his family’s business.

Karadion took a step closer to her.

The stench of blood and beasts hit her nose sharply. His blood-stained hand unhesitatingly gripped her slender chin.

Ellienne’s long lashes trembled. Like a butterfly struggling with its delicate wings caught.

But she didn’t move. Karadion’s ruthless eyes swept over Ellienne.

“I don’t need a woman. Duke Nosent has done something pointless.”

Ellienne bit her lips hard enough to draw blood. Tears welled up in her large, clear eyes, ready to fall at any moment. But in the end, no tears fell.

Ellienne steadied her breath and opened her lips with difficulty. The reality of having to speak her own circumstances—circumstances she couldn’t bear to accept—with her own mouth was devastating.

“Your, Your Grace. Please… I beg you to accept me. I will devote myself to serving you as your concubine.”

Ellienne’s father, Duke Nosent, had ordered her: if Grand Duke Karadion rejected her, she was to kneel at his feet and beg like a dog.

He’d threatened that if she returned to House Nosent, he would sell her as an old noble’s mistress.

The corners of Karadion’s mouth twisted upward as he looked down at Ellienne, who was trembling and pleading in a thin voice. His grip on her chin tightened further, almost making her cry out, but Ellienne endured the pain.

Karadion released Ellienne’s chin and spoke in a cold voice.

“I never intended to take a concubine in the first place. This is merely Duke Nosent’s arbitrary action. I’m only displeased at receiving an unwanted war trophy.”

Ellienne’s dry lips trembled finely. Fear and despair settled heavily in her clear brown eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut.

She knew that marriages among noble families were decided entirely by power interests. That she herself was an ornament to be sold here and there.

Ellienne felt wretched, like she’d been pushed off a cliff’s edge. The harsh, cold northern wind mercilessly swept through her slender body.

Beyond her wavering vision, she saw weeds growing in the barren land. Weeds so frail and insignificant they could be trampled at any time. But they rose again and grew.