Chapter 1: Their Gazes Met

Their gazes met. When she realized this, Alicia immediately opened her arms wide and hugged the child.

Ba-bump, ba-bump.

She didn’t know if that was her own fast-beating heart or the child’s who had been running. Maybe a part of her didn’t want to know. Alicia hugged the child tighter.

“So he is your child.”

When she heard that condemning voice, her vision blurred for a moment. The sensation of sweat dripping down her back made her cower in fear. If she could, she would run away. But there was a child in her arms.

“Well, it doesn’t matter.” The man walked towards Alicia.

Knowing it was futile, Alicia fumbled to cover the child’s face with her hands to hide him from the man. Though he had inherited her reddish-brown hair and grey eyes, the child looked more like someone else. She feared that the man would notice this.

“Alicia.”

He had merely called her name, but she felt the heat rise in her cheeks and she lowered her head.

In the past, she had liked it when he called her name like that. Alicia knew that every time he did, a faint smile appeared on his otherwise composed face. Now though, he would not smile as he spoke her name.

“I’m pretty sure I told you not to lower your head in front of me.”

A firm hand lifted Alicia’s chin. When she felt the warmth of his skin on hers, Alicia bit down on her bottom lip. Her eyes twitched, and she felt like she might burst into tears if she didn’t resist. Though his standing meant he was used to giving orders, the way he touched her was gentle then and now. This fact made her choke up.

“The child is right here.”

Though enough time had passed for her to forget, his familiar touch always brought back the past. Alicia pushed the man’s hand away.

“What have I done?” he asked. He hadn’t even done what he really wanted to yet. His lips twisted slightly.

“Please leave. Nothing’s changed,” Alicia said.

She avoided the man’s gaze. She knew his eyes would be fixed on her the entire time and this fact made her throat burn even more.

“Nothing’s changed?” The man laughed. “Hah, fine. You’re right, nothing’s changed…”

The man firmly grabbed Alicia’s shoulders. Alicia gulped, though her mouth was dry. He looked at her intently.

“…Only if you return.” His lips touched the back of Alicia’s hand as she tried to push him away.

Alicia felt like she might cry at any moment and tried to turn her head away, but it was no use. The warmth of his lips was something else she still hadn’t forgotten.

“Let’s go back, Alicia.”

His hand gently stroked her face. His hand was calloused from having wielded a sword for a long time and it smelled faintly of metal. His rough and rugged hands contradicted his social position.

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I have a child.”

“If that bothered me, I wouldn’t even have come here.”

The man turned his gaze towards the child. When his attention turned to the boy, she pulled the child closer to her.

“It’s not that simple. I don’t want to be a shameful parent to my child. And Your Highness probably already has a wife...”

“A wife?” Before Alicia could even finish, the man gritted his teeth and stepped closer towards her.

Their noses were almost touching. When she felt his breath on her lips, she stopped breathing. His breath felt very warm as it brushed her lips.

“Hah! Right. I will have a wife starting today.” The man glared at Alicia with his lips twisted. “Gazeff.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Take the child.”

Before Alicia could even register what the man had said, he lifted his hand.

“Mom!”

“Michael!”

Sensing he was in danger, the child started crying and reaching for his mother. Alicia tried to run after him, but his firm arm held her back.

“What are you doing?! Give him back! He’s my child! My son!”

“Don’t worry. I won’t kill him. I would not dare harm a child who is soon to be of a noble bloodline.”

“Cabelenus!”

“Only in situations like this can I hear you call me by my name...” The man chuckled and lifted his head up.

Alicia bit down on her lip as her eyes trembled.

“Once I make a decision, I don’t change my mind. If you want your child, become my wife. That’s the only way you can get him back from me.”

“Do you even know whose child it is...?”

“If I thought that was important, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Cabelenus.”

Tears welling in her eyes, she grabbed the man’s arm. She was not used to his cold eyes, but she couldn’t turn away for the sake of her child.

“I don’t care if he’s another man’s child. Even if my blood doesn’t flow in his veins, or even if he’s the child of a traitor, I will raise him as my own.”

“You’re going to raise him as your own even though you don’t know who the father is?”

“Yes.”

There was no hesitation in his answer. Alicia held her breath as she stared at him. Even in this moment, his golden eyes that only held her in them were still as dazzling as the sun. In the past, she had been blinded by that splendor.

“Don’t think about using the child as an excuse to run away anymore.” The man snarled like a hungry beast, his hands still on Alicia’s shoulders. “I’m barely stopping myself from crushing that little creature who took you away from me.”

Alicia bit down harder on her lips and clenched her fists to keep her tears from flowing. It felt hot where his large rough and calloused hands touched her skin.

* * *

There was a lot of bloodshed that year. It began with the cavalry that arrived with blazing torches. Blood flowed between the cracks in the ground instead of rain. The sounds of sharp blades colliding made one shiver, and then there were the piercing chaotic screams and shouts.

In haste, the armored knights of Neustein fought against their enemies, but everyone already knew—resistance was futile. The more they fought, the difference in skill became more obvious, and the outcome was clearer.

It was the Wolf of Schwarhan, Cabelenus von Schwarhan Blanche, who led the cavalry unit in iron armor. He never lost a fight.

Cabelenus lifted his sword up into the sky. The sword gleamed golden under the sun. Although he had swung it countless times, not a drop of blood was stained on his sword. The soldiers’ cries became louder.

Where Cabelenus had passed through, there was no longer anything worthy of being called an enemy. Blood flowed endlessly, and it was impossible to tell who it once belonged to, but their sense of smell had dulled, and they felt numb. Only the accumulating corpses spoke of the passage of time.

It was more of a slaughter than a fight. The king of Neustein despaired as he saw his soldiers helpless. He deserted his vassals and family and ran away holding as much gold and silver treasure in his arms as he could, but he didn’t get far before a maid discovered and reported him. The Wolf of Schwarhan eventually beheaded the king who had begged for his life and hung it at the top of the castle. What a futile ending for a king who had ruled a country, but history belonged to the victors.

The Neustein royal family had a long five-hundred-year history but had been eradicated in just one day. In the castle of the fallen royal family, bells rang to announce the executions almost every day.

“Execution!”

Whenever the executioner's cry was heard, heads and bodies that had not yet been recovered rolled beneath the guillotine. The survivors remained silent in fear of death. They were well aware that the corpse that rolled under the guillotine tomorrow could be theirs.

The foreign man who now occupied the royal palace had no mercy. He could determine everyone’s fate with just one gesture of his hand. Each time Cabelenus, who sat arrogantly cross-legged on the throne, raised and lowered his hand, someone died, and someone lived.

“Next.”

His voice was flat and dry, but this was much more threatening than shouts and abusive language.

The soldiers quickly brought in the next round of prisoners and made them kneel before Cabelenus. The wailing prisoners fell silent each time they heard the bell announcing the next execution. At that point, they became docile like chickens with all their feathers plucked out.

Cabelenus watched the prisoners with a blank look on his face. Gazeff, his aide, who stood next to the throne, calmly read the names and charges of the prisoners. The prisoners cautiously looked around the room with a glimmer of hope in them that they may yet survive. But they were not aware of how the prisoners before them had met their end—since the executions began, Cabelenus had never lifted his hand. There was a running joke among the soldiers that only when he was done thoroughly enjoying his seat at the throne would he raise his hand to lift his drink to toast.

“Wait.”

Cabelenus, who had been looking down at the prisoners, narrowed his eyes.

“What’s the matter, my lord?” Gazeff, who was about to scribble “death” next to the prisoner’s name on the paper, paused. He turned to follow his lord’s gaze. Cabelenus was looking at a woman.

“You there. What’s your name?”

The woman did not answer. Instead, she tried to clench her fists to keep them from shaking. Though she was wearing loose-fitting clothes, her thin body remained unhidden, and she looked pitiful.

“I asked for your name.”

Gazeff, glanced at his lord, and quickly read out the woman’s name for Cabelenus. Despite this, Cabelenus paid little attention to his aide and could not keep his gaze off the woman. Gazeff frowned, surprised by his lord’s uncharacteristic behavior. Cabelenous had been indifferent to the temptations of the beauties of the empire, but here he was, taking an interest in an ordinary woman. Her soft features were different from that of a typical beauty, and her reddish-brown hair and grey eyes were plain and not very attractive.

“It seems the princess of Neustein cannot speak.”

The only thing that did distinguish her was that she was the youngest daughter of the king who was hanging from the wall.

Gazeff fiddled with the sheet of paper containing information about the woman.

Alicia Neustein. She was classified as a maid earlier because of her shabby appearance but was identified as the princess later on and faced trial. The woman, who appeared different from her splendidly dressed brothers, had managed to survive, but it seemed her luck was running out. Her fate would be like that of her father and brothers, and she would be executed.

“No. I can’t.” Alicia, who had been hesitant to meet Cabelenus’ insistent gaze, finally managed a reply.

“No?” Cabelenus tilted his head.

Alicia hesitated for a moment and then slowly lifted her head. “You’re going to kill me anyway.”

This was not something one should say while pale-faced and trembling, but Alicia was not afraid to speak up. Though she was shaking, she did not look away from Cabelenus.

Cabelenus frowned. He wasn’t mistaken. He knew this woman.

“Why do you think I will kill you?”

Cabelenus looked at Alicia’s clenched hand. Her hands seemed too rough for a princess’.

“Well...” Alicia spoke, her lips slightly parting. She mulled over her words carefully and then let out a small sigh as she continued. “Because you’ve killed everyone.”

“Not everyone.”

Yet.

His arrogant gaze looked over Alicia from head to toe.

“Do you want to live?”

“If I do, will you spare me?”

In that moment, Alicia’s eyes lit up slightly.

“It’s true I caught the king because of you. Perhaps I can have mercy on the heartless daughter who betrayed her own father.”

He’d never imagined she’d sell out her own father, no matter how desperately she wanted to survive.

Gazeff realized that the maid who had helped capture the king of Neustein was none other than the princess herself. He licked his tongue.

“Then spare the maids in the castle.”

“The maids?”

“They have no power to stand up to royalty or nobility. Nor can they fight back in any way. There’s no value in keeping them as hostages. Unless you plan to kill all the Neusteins in the castle, I ask that you spare them.”

“I was talking about your life.”

“You’ll only regret saving a member of a fallen royal family.”

Is she smiling?

Cabelenus’ eyes narrowed when he saw a faint smile on Alicia’s lips.

“If I agree to spare the maids in exchange for your life, will you do it?”

“If I can.”

It wasn’t that Alicia didn’t fear him. She was terrified, just like the other prisoners. But something about the princess before him was different. This is what bothered Cabelenus.