The palace’s restoration work progressed rapidly. Burned pillars were replaced and new silk hung in place of torn curtains. Everything was returning to its proper place.

Only human hearts failed to find their place and drifted aimlessly.

Soon the day of rewarding merit arrived.

In the audience hall, knights and nobles who’d distinguished themselves in war stood in formation. Their faces brimmed with anticipation. They’d been promised the honor of founding contributors who reclaimed the kingdom and the vast wealth that came with it.

Isolet sat on the throne, looking down at them. The crown’s weight was heavier than expected. 

Each time that weight pressed down on his head, he had to recall what he’d sacrificed to sit here.

“Guard Knight Kyrie.”

The chamberlain called the name.

The audience hall’s atmosphere instantly quieted. Every gaze converged on Kyrie standing by the door. She wore her dress uniform, but her bandaged arm still stood out.

Kyrie walked forward steadily and knelt before the throne.

“You called, Your Highness?”

Isolet looked down at her. Her black hair, only the crown of her head visible. Suppressing the urge to stroke that hair, he unfolded the parchment he’d prepared.

“You have rendered great service in guarding us and reclaiming the kingdom. Therefore, we bestow upon you the title of Count Rosen and the fertile southern territory of Emerald Plains.”

The crowd murmured. It was an exceptional treatment. A guard knight of common birth becoming a count overnight. 

Moreover, Emerald Plains was the kingdom’s most abundant and peaceful land. A paradise without war or famine.

Isolet felt relief inside. There, she would be safe. She wouldn’t need to hold a sword anymore or smell blood. She could live comfortably for life, tending flowers.

“Accept it.”

Isolet held out the certificate of peerage.

But Kyrie didn’t reach for it. She remained silent, head bowed. As that silence lengthened, the murmuring turned to doubt.

“…Your Highness.”

After a long while, Kyrie spoke.

“Though your grace is immense, I cannot accept that reward.”

Isolet’s brow furrowed.

“What are you saying? It’s modest compared to your merit. Don’t refuse.”

“This isn’t a refusal. It’s rejection.”

Kyrie raised her head. Her amber eyes gazed at Isolet without wavering.

“I’m a knight. I know neither how to govern territory nor noble society. For someone like me, a count’s title is an ill-fitting garment.”

“You can learn. You fought a war—can’t you manage one estate?”

“I can’t. No, I won’t.”

Kyrie’s voice became resolute.

“I don’t want to put down my sword.”

Isolet was speechless. He’d tried to create the safest prison for her. But she was refusing that golden cage.

“Then what do you want? Gold coins? Jewels? Or a higher title?”

Isolet asked anxiously. Please ask for anything. If it’ll make you happy, I’ll rip out my heart and give it to you.

Kyrie took a breath. Then she spoke the cruelest words to him.

“I want the position of northern border garrison commander.”

The audience hall fell silent like cold water had been poured over it.

The northern border. That place where Isolet and Kyrie had lived in exile, that barren land where blizzards raged year-round. Going there essentially meant volunteering for banishment from central politics.

Isolet’s fists trembled.

“…Are you joking with me right now?”

“That place was most comfortable for me. Those days catching rats and chopping firewood… were far happier than this splendid palace.”

Those words gouged Isolet’s chest. She knew. That he was trying to send her away. 

And that it was a consideration for her sake. But she was accepting that consideration as ‘discarding a hunting dog after the hunt’ and trying to withdraw on her own.

Isolet bit his lip. He tasted blood. If he stopped her here, she’d spend her life at his side, reading the Princess’s mood, enduring nobles’ contempt, treated like a mistress and withering away.

He had to let her go.

If he loved her, he had to cut her free.

Isolet opened his trembling lips, about to accept, when—

“Wait.”

A clear, distinct voice broke the audience hall’s silence.

It was Princess Adelaide, who was seated in the VIP section. She rose from her seat. Countless nobles’ gazes converged on her.

“Your Highness the Princess?”

Isolet asked, puzzled. Adelaide descended from the platform with elegant steps. She looked between the kneeling Kyrie and Isolet on the throne and smiled.

“My, this is too heartbreaking to watch. Why are you two, who can’t live without each other, so desperate to push each other away?”

“…What rude words are these?”

Isolet’s voice turned cold, but Adelaide wasn’t intimidated at all.

“Let’s be honest, Your Highness. You don’t love me. And that knight sees you as more than just her liege.”

The hall buzzed. It was a statement implying annulment.

“I have no intention of living lonely for life in a loveless marriage. My pride as an imperial princess won’t allow it. What’s the point of obtaining a husband who’s only an empty shell?”

“…I will honor the promise.”

“Let’s change the promise.”

Adelaide produced a document she’d seemingly prepared in advance.

“Instead of marriage, let’s establish ‘tariff abolition rights’ and a ‘permanent military alliance’ between our Empire and your kingdom. Truth is, the imperial council wants practical benefits more than marriage to a king who rebuilt a fallen nation.”

She held out the document to Isolet.

“Instead of a husband, I’ll obtain a king of a reliable allied nation to protect the Empire. That’s a far better deal for me.”

Isolet took the document in a daze. It was a perfect annulment agreement and a new alliance treaty.

“And Dame Kyrie.”

Adelaide winked at the dazed Kyrie.

“Stop thinking only of running away and take good care of His Highness. You’ll be cursed by heaven if you abandon a man with eyes like that.”

The situation had reversed.

The greatest shackle binding Isolet—‘the political marriage to the Empire’—had vanished.

Isolet gripped the document so hard his hand turned white. The sound of crinkling paper broke the silence.

He’d wandered through h*ll these past days. 

To save her, to prevent her from bearing the stigma of ‘the prince’s mistress’ and becoming a sacrifice in palace intrigue, he’d ordered her north with the feeling of carving out his own heart. 

Because he didn’t want her to see him become another woman’s husband.

But the situation had changed. Adelaide had withdrawn on her own, and naturally the massive shackle of political marriage had been released. 

Then there was no longer any reason to exile Kyrie to that cold northern blizzard. No, now he could keep her by his side without worrying about anyone.

He slowly rose from his seat.

“…Kyrie.”

His voice trembled with joy and regret.

“Did you hear? I’m free now.”

Kyrie blinked her amber eyes in disbelief.

“But… Your Highness, I’ve already prepared to leave…”

“That order was given because I had to become another’s husband. Because keeping you by my side would hurt you. I made that decision because I didn’t want to turn you into a miserable shadow.”

Isolet’s blue eyes rippled intensely.

“But now there’s no need for that. The obstacle binding me has vanished. There’s not a single reason left for me to push you away to protect you.”

“…”

“So I refuse your northern assignment.”

Isolet declared firmly.

“The justification for sending you away has disappeared. No, I never wanted to send you away in the first place. I was just forcing myself to endure it.”

He descended from the platform and stood before Kyrie.

“Tonight, come to the training grounds. Let’s settle things between just the two of us there.”

It wasn’t an order. After such a long journey, having finally broken his shackles, it was the most desperate and pure proposal a man could send to the woman he loved.

* * *

The night before the wedding—no, the night the wedding was canceled.

The training grounds behind the palace were submerged in pitch-black darkness and pouring rain.

Kyrie stared blankly at the rain. Everything felt like a dream. She’d finished preparing to leave for the north, then suddenly the entire situation flipped. She was still confused. 

Could she really be by his side? Could someone like her, a shadow, dare to?

“There you are.”